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Thursday, September 30, 2004


Guesthouse 

Here I am in DC, writing on the College of Preachers' guest house computer - a nice commodity. My arrival last night was quite clandestine, which was a very interesting experience. Catching a cab from the airport, we drove about 15 minutes to the College where we pulled up into a driveway that was very dark. I paid the man and stepped out of the cab as he pulled away. In front of me was a large gothic, stone structure penetrated by a huge oaken door, illuminated by a solitary light. I felt like the Bishop arriving at the house in "The Exorcist", bag in hand - though mine contained clothes and study books rather than demon-fighting materials. I punched a code into the keypad on the door and it swung open at my touch. Inside, I was greeted by no one; in fact, it was utterly silent and I did not get the impression that anyone at all was present save myself. Following the instructions on my email, I turned to the left and found a bulletin board with my room assignment on it. A good bit of wandering ensued before I located my cozy room. Returning downstairs, I attended a coffee and tea reception that was set up, but alas, I was not much company for myself. So, I retired to shower and do some studying. The morning came to find the building appropriately populated by conference participants, so I was relieved that I was in fact in the right place. So far, we've had lunch. I have met lots of interesting persons from a variety of dioceses and the old rule of six degrees of separation seems to be knocked down to no more than two degrees in the Episcopal Church. One man, working for the Episcopal Relief and Development team, spent hours on the phone yesterday with my Canon to the Ordinary. Another man, a chaplain at Portland State University, went to seminary with Jim Lemler, the former dean of Seabury, and assisted Jim once by acting as translator when they were on a trip to Germany and Jim came down with a serious bout of appendicitis! I met a priest from Long Island who knows Kassinda, a classmate of mine. I ran into a couple from Lubbock, TX who knows "the other Ryan" from my summer CPE group. Yes, indeed, the Episcopal Church is quite small when you get right down to it. So, now the conference is about to begin, and from the materials I received this morning at registration, it looks like it's going to be excellent. More to come later, no doubt.

-R

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