This is the second post about The Annual Mission Conference of the Companions in Mission Committee
of the Episcopal Church is Connecticut Walking Together - Living God's Mission. My first post was a prologue, establishing what was going on in my life and the life of my parish as I came to the conference. I was tired, but my mind was full of thoughts.

It was a nice day. The weather was a little bit nippy. As I came around the green I saw signs for the conference and men in blue aprons directing traffic. It was very organized and welcoming. I went and checked in, picking up the folder with materials for the conference and my name tag. There was an orange dot in the upper right hand corner. I suspected it indicated that I was a first time attendee, which a member of the Companions in Mission Committee later confirmed. There was WiFi available, which was described in the materials.

We were directed to the chapel where there was music. It was a praise band with two guitars, two keyboards, a bass, drums and a vocalist. It has been a long time since I’ve been to a church with a band like this. Mostly, I’ve been going to services with familiar music played on a pipe organ. Some of my friends are not keen on this sort of music, and there have been times such music has felt empty to me. Yet other friends love this style of worship and there have been times that it has felt very spirit filled. Today, was one of those days. God’s presence seemed palpable and the songs seemed a heart felt response to God’s love.

I’d say there was a crowd of around a hundred people in the chapel. I suspect many had come to hear the keynote speaker, The Most Rev. Dr. Josiah Atkins Idowu-Fearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, especially in light of the Primates meeting where the Anglican Primates recommended that

that for a period of three years The Episcopal Church no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies, should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee and that while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, they will not take part in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity.

Both Bishop Josiah as he was referred to as, and Bishop Ian Douglas of the Diocese of Connecticut, who serves on the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) were there talking about the role of The Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion and about the upcoming conference in Lusaka. The setting of the discussion, at a conference on missions help set the tone. The description of the ACC says

The role of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) is to facilitate the co-operative work of the churches of the Anglican Communion, exchange information between the Provinces and churches, and help to co-ordinate common action. It advises on the organisation and structures of the Communion, and seeks to develop common policies with respect to the world mission of the Church, including ecumenical matters

Bishop Josiah said that the ACC would address the recommendation of the Primates, but noted that there was a lot of other business to be addressed.

Bishop Ian spoke about his hopes for the ACC meeting. He put the meeting into an historical and global context which was extremely helpful and which I hope to write about next.