August 3, 2008

Sunday morning some people sleep in! I don’t know when I last did that! The Listeners were at work at 7 am reading the last version of the Reflections document. By the end of last night we were quite silly and thought “Capturing the Indaba” was a good title for it. We have a cartoonist in residence and we thought he would have fun with it! There was a big sigh of relief when we gave it to the photocopy folks for reproduction.

There was Morning Prayer this morning with the Chaplains group but I missed it reading the final draft of the Reflections document.

Bible study was focused on John 20:19-31. One of the questions was “What does being sent mean in your setting?” One bishop told us that being sent meant the bishop had chosen you so you would be pleased that the bishop thinks you are a good person to do the job. It also means that you might die because you go. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Jesus was sent and died. If the prospect of death accompanying priesthood were a reality in our Diocese, how many people would offer for ordination? The end of Bible Study was ‘commissioning’ those in our group who wished it for work back in their Diocese.

After the morning coffee/tea break, we moved on to our last Indaba group. There has been an ongoing joke about how to pronounce Indaba. It is actually In DAH ba, but some have been using something like In da Bar! Some were apparently in da bar last evening so they were AWOL this morning. We spent some time doing the inevitable evaluation form. We considered what had surprised us about the conference. We had another go round for those who wanted resolutions and now don’t have any to take home. We talked about what we are taking home with us. You will hear more about this when I am home.

There has been a clear change of atmosphere from fear to hope. People spoke of their fear when they arrived and their hope as they prepare to return home. As one said, “++Rowan has a brilliant mind and he chose to have us use a process that is not intellectual but builds relationships.” Another said, “When we meet together we begin to know each other. As we get to know each other better, we become even more open in our disagreements because we are able to, in a solid relationship. We become frustrated when we do not have the time to work things through because we care about each other.”

After the many Thank you’s to the folks who kept things running, we had ++Rowan’s closing address. It was beautifully crafted. The only news that nearly caused a groan aloud was that he is going to call a Primates’ meeting in the fall. Having read 16 sets of notes about the “Instruments of Communion”, I know that there is little support for the Primates’ as currently structured. However, there were people who said this Lambeth wouldn’t work either and it has worked very well, so as the Holy Spirit is at work here, maybe it will also bring life to the primates’ meeting.

The closing liturgy was less formal and quite lovely in the Cathedral in Canterbury. As we were boarding the coaches to get there, another group of youth pilgrims were arriving. Someone should consider how a group from our Diocese could do the pilgrimage at Canterbury. I would be happy to chaperone! The Cathedral provided dinner after the liturgy. Unfortunately it began to rain so we couldn’t eat out doors in the Cathedral grounds, so we walked around and around to a huge hall that easily held 600 people. There was a band playing big band dance music so some of the folks took up dancing – it was a purple dance floor!

So now I am packing things up to return home. Would you believe that I have books?

See you soon.

+Sue