Inspiring, Fun, Strategic, Convicting, Hopeful, and Snowed-in for 3 days, wow, lots happened in Greensboro, NC during the last week of January. In many ways I am still gathering my thoughts from the conference. Here are some highlights.

One significant message I came away with came from Archbishop Kolini.  He ended his sermon during the opening worship service and also a tribute session for him hosted by the Mission, with this question, “Will you obey the Lord?” He speaks from personal experience and the personal experiences of many Rwandan and other African priests and bishops. They have been shot at, threatened and some killed in service to Christ and his Church. “Will you obey the Lord?” is no simple question. Instead, will we obey when we lose a building, see a program fail, lose members or gain others? Will we obey in the face of opposition? Will we obey as the Lord guides, for it is His church into which we are called and given roles to play?  This is what ++Emmanual Kolini asks. Will you sacrifice your finances, time, convenience, and priorities—whatever it may be—to obey the Lord?

Much sacrifice has gone into the formation of the AM. It isn’t perfect, but it is working. It has been hard work. It is work with a long view to end goals and it takes willingness to obey as God leads-even through change and sacrifice. ++Kolini will retire at the end of this year. This is the charge to the Anglican Mission for the journey ahead. Will you obey the Lord? Let us answer, “Yes,” with conviction.

Inspiring Worship
To capture a sense of what it feels like to experience worship with over 1,400 excited Anglican Mission members challenges me. But this comes to mind: in Revelation 5 and 7, John describes hearing thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand upon ten thousand all declaring in one voice the glory of God. The opening worship service gives me insight into the power of worship in heaven, which our way of worship attempts to replicate for us now through liturgy and inspired, skilled musicianship. When the people are louder than the band as they shout out praise to God, that is powerful!

O, how the Anglican Mission has grown! From 11 churches 10 years ago to 158 today. It took 10 minutes just for the clergy to process into the service! Really, this was moving, grand-scale, and praise-worthy time. I have bought video of the opening service to share with you. I hope you get a glimpse into the joy of the evening.

Impacting Change
Believe that a small number of people  -just like us-  can impact their community and the world. God is with us, and the Holy Spirit guides us into a powerful tomorrow to impact the Bay Area and even Africa. Last week I learned of real events which happened in Greensboro 50 years ago. It’s inspiring and a great illustration of what just a few people rightly motivated can accomplish. From my post on Facebook… Our country is different because of what happened 50 years ago today in this city. Four courageous young black men sat down at the lunch counter at downtown Greensboro’s F.W. Woolworth’s five-and-dime on South Elm St. and asked to be served four cups of coffee. They sat at the “whites-only” counter for eight hours and left without being served. Thus began the civil rights sit-in movement of the early 1960s. Today, Feb 1, 2010, the International Civil Rights Center opens in the same FW Woolworth building.

The Anglican Mission is making impact across the country. Small churches and large alike are doing the work of the church and people’s lives are being changed.

Building Relationships
I met for three hours over breakfast with our Bishop, Sandy Greene. We had a great time simply getting to know each other more. We’re both licensed pilots! Big surprise… we both wish we could fly more, too! (and I don’t mean letting someone else do the driving…) He sends his greetings. He holds us dear in his heart and in prayer. Know your bishop truly cares for our well-being and asks about us in some detail.

While meeting with a group of leaders from the Western states, we began to develop ideas about how to better link our churches to each other via technology and travel in order to share best practices, exchange strategic ideas, and build relational bonds. We realize that in only a short time we feel greater friendship and affinity, and we want to help foster our sense of team effort. This meeting led to a few action items: We determined to meet once each year in addition to Winter Conference-likely in California or Arizona. I have been asked to be the “cluster” leader for Anglican Mission churches in northern CA and Nevada. This is an informal role and it means being the point-of-contact for Canon Missioner Keith Andrews and +Sandy with regard to ministry in our three area churches: Campbell, Modesto and Reno. I was able to act on this quickly by having a long leisurely dinner with Fr. Michael from Wellspring Modesto. The parish’s youth and children’s director, Kristy, joined us and I have a better sense of their needs and how to pray for them.

I renewed my friendship with Andy and Judy Piercy, and we began forming plans to host another worship training event in San Jose, which could include more worship leaders from the Western area.

The team of folks from Arizona, especially Fr. Keith and Fr. Shane Copeland, and I spent a lot of time together, too. What a great group of people. Lots of exciting ministry happening there, including two new church plants.

Lastly, I enjoyed getting to know Archbishop Tay and his wife, Cynthia. They are very warm, encouraging and humble people. I also spent 30 minutes visiting with ++Kolini and his wife, Freda. He always asks about CTK Anglican with sincere interest. We had a great time telling stories and laughing about shared friendships we have.