Moving Diagonally

Up and out in time to open the Roundhouse for a 10am Standing Committee meeting, which I then attended. They interviewed a candidate for ordination to the transitional diaconate (and duly certified him for such), considered and approved two requests for consent to episcopal elections (West Texas and Southeast Florida), and then acted as my Council of Advice on sundry matters. Afterward, I had brief private meetings with two of its members. Spent the afternoon around the house on various small projects, which included worrying about how predicted snowfall would affect my planned visitation to St Bartholomew's, Granite City tomorrow. In the evening, as snow began to fall, we attended a theater production at the Hoogland Theater.

Task planning and a little blog reading at home. Morning Prayer in the cathedral. Left a text message with Bishop Godfrey (Peru) with a question about tentative travel plans this summer. Worked on electronically collating and organizing General Ordination Exam essays from our three candidates who took them so as to facilitate getting other eyes on them to the end of second-guessing the assessments of the official readers. (If that sounds turgid ... the whole enterprise is turgid). Took a phone call from a capital fundraising consultant trying to drum up business. It seems to be the season for such calls. Spent some quality time with commentaries, both ancient and modern, on Psalm 22, in preparation for preaching on Palm Sunday. Lunch from the Chinese section of the to-go kitchen at HyVee, eaten at home. Attended via email to a bit of business regarding somebody in the front end of the ordination process. Responded to an email from another capital fundraising consultant with wh...

Woke up to the news of overnight snowfall, which meant I was soon thereafter behind a snowblower. Fortunately, with such equipment, clearing the driveway is not a very long job. While still at home, I processed (mostly into tasks) the usual pile of email that accumulates when I'm traveling. Upon arriving at the cathedral-office complex, there was a small but substantive list of administrative and pastoral items that invited themselves to be considered in consultation with the Archdeacon. Morning Prayer in the cathedral. Prepared to preside and preach at the midday Mass in the cathedral chapel. Took care of some minor hard-copy flotsam and jetsam that appeared on my desk while I was away (e.g. "Letters Dimissory" for a priest who is leaving the diocese, signing a consent form for the election of a bishop in another diocese, etc.). Attended, via email and phone, to an emerging pastoral/administrative matter (one of those I had earlier conferred with the Archdeacon ab...

I was supposed to leave the Orlando area by air around noon, in time to land in St Louis late in the afternoon and be at the first Lenten teaching series event at St Michael's, O'Fallon. But word came via text from Delta in the pre-dawn hours that my flight from Orlando to Atlanta was canceled due to snow (of all things!) in Atlanta. They rerouted me through Cincinnati, but later in the day, which meant I missed the event at St Michael's. (Fr Wetmore and I worked out a Plan B by email.) The silver lining was that I got to spend more time at the meeting I was in Orlando for in the first place. It was valuable time, well spent.

Productive day at the Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center in Oviedo, Florida with the Communion Partners Group of bishops, along with our "Gracious Restraint" Canadian colleagues. We are honored to be joined as well by two distinguished primates of the Anglican Communion. In odd moments, I was also able to process a fair number of emails. It's good to catch up with old friends and make some new ones.

Each of the travel commitments I made several months ago seemed like a good idea at the time. But they have combined to make me feel like a visitor in my own home. Anyway ... I left the house at 6:30 AM in order to make a 9:50 AM departure from St. Louis. All went well, and I am now safely ensconced in the conference center of the diocese of Central Florida, near Orlando. I'm here to join a gathering of the Communion Partners group of bishops. some of our Canadian counterparts are with us, along with two primates from Africa and Asia.

We "beat down Satan under feet" with verve this morning at the Episcopal Parish of Alton (Trinity Chapel at 8:15 and St Paul's Church at 10:30), where they have apparently not prayed the Great Litany in living memory. It generally got rave reviews. Home mid-afternoon for some much-needed rest before going airborne again Monday morning.