Letter From Bishop vonRosenberg

I am writing this article soon after my return from the Spring House of Bishops meeting at Camp Allen in the Diocese of Texas. In a few paragraphs, I want to try to convey to you the spirit and atmosphere of these meetings, as I have experienced them.

My first House of Bishops meeting - almost exactly three years ago, also at Camp Allen - was quite eye-opening for me. Indeed, as we were leaving the room following one session, an older Bishop asked me "Do you know how different this meeting is from what we used to do?" I replied that I had no idea since this was my first meeting and that I had been a Bishop at that point for less than a week! He then spoke of earlier days in which issues and disagreements seemed to dominate meetings of the House of Bishops. That certainly has not been my experience, from that first meeting at Camp Allen until now.

A particular theme which has captured our attention recently as Bishops is the fundamental Christian calling of "reconciliation." Indeed, "Christ's work of reconciliation in the world" is mentioned in the Prayer Book Catechism as fundamental to the ministry of lay persons. In addition, that calling is basic to the Catechism's description of the ministry of bishops. Further, the work of reconciliation is implied quite directly in descriptions of the ministries of priests and of deacons as well.

The spiritual dimension of our consideration of reconciliation and of our entire meeting at Camp Allen became quite clear to us all, I believe. We began at a personal level, for we considered reconciliation in terms of our own relationships with God in Christ. Next, we encountered other bishops in our differences and identified the need that we all have to seek forgiveness from one another as we attempt to be reconciled with each other. Finally, we spent a good deal of time looking at concerns of the Church in the world and at the desperate need for the Church to be an agent of reconciliation in our communities, in our nation, and in the world. I commend this topic of reconciliation and the particular sequence by which we addressed it to your personal prayer lives and to our churches. Surely, no more significant work can be done in the name of Jesus Christ.

In addition to the community of Bishops gathered, we were blessed to be joined by wonderful resource people, as well as by guests from other parts of the Anglican Communion. For instance, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a speaker for one of our sessions and the preacher for the Sunday Eucharist. In addition, in my small group, we were joined by The Most Reverend Peter Akinola, Archbishop of the Church of Nigeria. To hear witnesses from these impressive Christian leaders, as well as from Bishops of Iran and Colombia certainly made American Bishops aware of the life-and-death nature of the work of reconciliation. Our rather insignificant differences in this country certainly were put in a helpful perspective as well, and we were appropriately humbled by the work of Christians in other settings.

I left this meeting with a renewed sense of blessing - in the associations I have with other Bishops in our country and in the world, in the ministry we are called to fulfill, and in my particular responsibilities in the Diocese of East Tennessee!

May 28, 2002 at St. John’s, Johnson City

To schedule an appointment on one of these dates, contact Tami Dyke by eMail (tmac@etdiocese.net) or phone (865.521.2900).