Even though he’s not present, through his sources, Jim Naughton of the Diocese of Washington and the lead blogger at Episcopal Cafe / Daily Episcopalian has got an interesting post at Episcopal Cafe tonight, detailing a few of the questions posed by ++Rowan to the TEC bishops. Here’s an excerpt:

[blockquote]The archbishop made it clear that he believed the Episcopal Church had acted preemptively in consecrating Bishop Robinson.

In the afternoon Archbishop Williams asked the bishops how far they were willing to go to assure the rest of the Anglican Communion that the Church will refrain from a) consecrating another openly gay bishop and b) authorizing rites of blessing for same-sex unions. He also asked whether the bishops are willing to share episcopal responsibilities with other bishops when necessary. [/blockquote]

Go read it all. It’s brief, but more informative than anything that came out of the press conference! Thanks Jim.

All we’ve had several reports that the T19 RSS feed is not working. It is working fine for this elf who reads the RSS feed in Bloglines. If you are having problems, please let us know what link you are using for your subscription, and what feed reader /aggregator you are using. Thanks.

This link is working fine for the elves in bloglines: http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/rss_2.0/
And this link is working fine for the Anglican News feed: http://kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/rss2.0_Anglican

On her blog, Ruth Gledhill says that Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola spoke with the London Times today (presumably Ruth herself?)

You can read her report here. There’s nothing particularly new, but I appreciated ++Akinola’s closing reminder about hope.

Dr Akinolasaid: “It is still hoped that somehow the good Lord will save His Church from further fragmentation. We are praying for Dr Williams. We are still full of hope. Remember that we are Christians. If we lose hope, then everything is gone.”

ENS / Episcopal Life Online has a video by Louisiana Bishop Charles Jenkins posted. You can watch that here.

Update: Haven’t watched it all yet…, juggling too much else. But, the part we watched was all about Katrina relief.

ENS has also posted a picture gallery from this morning’s Eucharist here.

Anglican TV is going to be streaming today’s press conference which should begin at about 4:30 Central / 5:30 Eastern / 22:30 London

http://www.anglicantv.org/blog/index.cfm/2007/9/20/New-Orleans-HOB-Thursday-Press-Conference

UPDATE: We’ve added links to live blogs of the press conf. by BabyBlue and Matt Kennedy in the comments
UPDATE 2: Link to Integrity’s take on the press conf. is now also in the comments, and now the link to Rachel Zoll’s AP story.

September 20, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I arrived in New Orleans yesterday for the House of Bishops Meeting which officially began this morning and will end on Tuesday night, Sept. 25th. I ask each of you to enter into a period of prayer and fasting, keeping not only me, but the entire House of Bishops in your prayers, as well as ++Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the visiting members of the Primate’s Standing Committee. We are truly at a critical time in the life of the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion. This is NOT “just one more meeting.” I sincerely believe that the decisions made by the House of Bishops at this meeting will be a key factor in determining the future of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
I invite you to join me in praying that the Holy Spirit will come mightily upon this House, touching and transforming the hearts and souls and minds of every Bishop here, helping us to discern and carry out the will of God. May His will and only His will be done. Just as Paul encountered the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, may we too have a Damascus road experience in which we, the House of Bishops, are convicted of that which is not of God, repenting and asking His forgiveness of our sins, and then be given the grace to be faithful and obedient in exercising our ministry as bishops in God’s holy Church, keeping Jesus Christ at the center of all that we do.
Archbishop Rowan Williams will be with us through tomorrow afternoon. I pray the Holy Spirit will speak clearly to and through him as he addressed the House of Bishops. May we be open to what he has to say.
While we will be addressing a variety of issues throughout the meeting, one of the most important things we will deal with is our official response to the Primate’s Communiqué to the House of Bishops regarding the Windsor Report. As most of you are well aware, there is much division within the Church regarding what our response should be. Again, it is my prayer that God’s will be done. Thank you for yours prayers and your faithfulness.

In Christ Jesus,

–(The Rt. Rev.) Bill Love is Bishop of Albany

The Chicago tribune has a new story online about this morning’s Eucharist in New Orleans. Their reporter also got a chance to question ++Rowan Williams briefly. Here’s an excerpt:

At the meeting set to last through Tuesday, the U.S. bishops will discuss how to respond to a directive from Anglican leaders to stop consecrating gay bishops and to ban blessings of same-sex unions until the global church reaches consensus. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the communion, attended, meeting U.S. bishops at home for the first time since the 2003 consecration of openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Speaking to a reporter after the service, Williams praised the worshipful mood that began the event but dodged a question about the visit of Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, who will preach in Wheaton, in the territory of the Diocese of Chicago this Sunday.

The Diocese of Chicago regards the visit as confrontational. But Africans who are incorporating American congregations say they are responding to neglect of U.S. conservatives by the Episcopal Church.

“I really don’t know anything about that,” Williams said.

Full story is here.

Hat tip to Pat Dague

Ok, all of you T19 fans out there HAD to know this was coming!! 🙂 We’re a bit slow on the draw, but yes, we’ve now created a blog category for the Sept07 HoB meeting. Here’s the link.

So with one click now you can get all the latest news from New Orleans.

Don’t forget, we also have an Anglican / Episcopal RSS feed.

Mary’s got a short update posted at Baby Blue (timestamped 2:03, presumably Eastern?). Here’s an excerpt:

House of Bishops: News Update
One of the Network bishops just popped into the newsroom and a small group of us gathered around and he told us what has been going on inside the House of Bishops. They’ve spent the morning talking to Rowan Williams who is listening and taking notes as the American bishops speak. Gene Robinson is seated in the center of the room. Katharine Jefferts Schori and Ed Little are moderating the discussion. One of the major issues of contention by the American bishops was on the topic of “border crossing” which of course means they are complaining about the work of the Global South in providing refuge and pastoral care for the Episcopalian laity and clergy who are in crisis. Also learned that there are at least four different statements/resolutions and Schori has appointed a drafting committee that will meet over the weekend.

The presence of this bishop in the news room, a sitting diocesan bishop, nearly caused the TEC staff to jump out of their skins. It was clear that the only “interviews” they want done are in the controlled area downstairs, not impromptu in the news room. The only briefings they want done are the one’s they put together. What’s not clear is how TEC can schedule a media briefing at 4:00 and then expect all the media in the 9th Ward by 4:30 p.m. for the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Do we want to go to a media briefing and learn what happened this morning in the sessions or do we want to watch the Archbishop of Canterbury do a walkabout?

The full entry is here.