Day Eight--More Chow

It was a fairly quiet day, not without several good conversations. This morning at Bible study, I got some reassurances from the members of my group that that most of them had no desire to see the American Church disciplined in some sort of a Covenant. This was welcomed news because I had been feeling a bit paranoid that this might be the case. This afternoon I also had a chance to talk with our partner bishop in Dar es Salaam, Valentine Mokiwa, now Archbishop of Tanzania. It was good to catch up with him and to clear up a few misunderstandings. This afternoon I took a break from things directly churchy and went to a presentation by the staff of the Lambeth Library. They already have over half of their extensive holdings digitalized and on line, and expect the rest to be shortly. If you are a person with an interest in church history, this is an invaluable resource. If you are a church architecture buff, you might want to take a look at their online collection of hundreds of church plans and drawings. You can find it all at www.lambethpalacelibrary.org This evening was a dinner (only for one hundred this time!) with the Archbishop and his wife. They have broken the conference up into sections and host a segment each working day. He did not get over to our table, but was sitting across from me (see attached video). Upon leaving they presented each guest with a commemorative plate. I suspect after all this eating that I will have to be on bread and water when I get home. Laura is still attending our late night plenary session on the environmental crisis and the church's response. We heard a great presentation by the head of the national science museum and from the "Tree Lady" of Africa (I've forgotten her name) who just won a Nobel Prize for 30 years of planting trees in Africa. Tomorrow, more meetings and our group picture!