1.  Our diocesan Commission on Conversation and Reconciliation (John Adler, Ted Copland, Fred Robinson, Randy Hehr, Sharon Lewis, Ed Rich), after spending a 24 hour retreat at DaySpring listening to each others stories, is proposing a resolution to the December Diocesan Convention which Via Media Episcopalians will find easy to support. Final wording will come from the Resolutions committee, but the key points read like this:

2.   Bishop Lipscomb, on September 20, asked the same commission to serve as a sounding board to him for his convention address and to help draft the resolutions which might come from it. All this with an eye toward having the resolutions out for all to read and think about at least a month before the convention. The bishop was committed to the idea that transparency rather than surprise might lead to conversation and reconciliation. He spoke of his hope that this convention would be one where we commend and affirm rather than condemn and deny; one where we might focus on our common mission.

3. At the same meeting September 20, I expressed to the bishop my concern about his concluding remarks in the July 11 "Reflections" posted on the diocesan website. You may remember that many of us were concerned about possible implications of an interpretation of those comments. Bishop Lipscomb encouraged me to read "Part Two" of his reflections, posted in the current "Southern Cross" and on the diocesan website. There he directs our attention to the ECUSA response "To Set Our Hope On Christ" as part of our affirmation of the process of the Windsor Report.

4.  We will be represented Sep 29 - Oct 1 by Greg Fry at the Via Media USA Steering Committee and first general membership meeting in Dallas. The theme is Going Forward, Bearing Hope -- two days filled with practical workshops on skills to help make the voice of the broad middle of the Church heard, and seminars designed to inspire, support, and educate. Look forward to Greg’s report.

As we approach the October meeting of some "global south" Anglicans in Egypt, when there may be a serious split, I take hope from signs of convergence and unity among people in the Diocese of Southwest Florida who are committed to keeping the Episcopal Church together.