I am at Kanuga with a good portion of the deputation from the Diocese of Mississippi. Province IV (consisting of dioceses in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and Louisiana, although the Diocese of Western Louisiana is in a different Province) of the Episcopal Church meets here every year for Synod, but on GC years it is much more heavily attended. We were told this was the largest Synod gathering ever for the Province. As several folks have commented, there seems to be a new energy and a wonderful spirit of hope, cooperation, and rededication to following Christ and moving more clearly away from the things that have caused conflict in our church and towards mission and growth.

This new attitude was evident in some very real ways. Yesterday, as members of the Task Force on the Study of Marriage, I joined with Joan Geiszler-Ludlam (East Carolina) and Bishop Andrew Waldo (Upper South Carolina) for a two part presentation on the work of our task force. In the afternoon we gave an overview of the work and pointed people to resources, discussed the resolution we submitted to change the marriage canon, and took a few questions. Last night for almost two hours we held a breakout session where we mainly just threw out some questions for the group (of over 70 people) to discuss. While we tried to bring the conversation to focus on marriage, it really was all over the map on issues of human sexuality. It was a very good conversation which bubbled up and flowed where it wanted to go. As a participant noted, it was striking how respectful the conversation was and while some very real concerns were raised, there was no hint of animosity or hard feelings. I think people felt safe expressing themselves and even, perhaps, learning from each other. There is obviously a lot of energy around this topic and I am sure it will occupy much time and attention at GC.

The other two hot topics for #GC78 (the twitter hashtag for General Convention this year) will be the election of a new Presiding Bishop, and the resolutions coming from TREC (Task force to Reimagine the Episcopal Church). I will have more to say on both of those topics soon.

Meanwhile it’s almost time for the Kanuga bugle to call us to breakfast, followed by a morning meeting and a long drive home. More to come…..