Oasis president Tom Jackson is on the ground in London and preparing to participate in the Witness at Lambeth initiative. He will be blogging about his experiences at his personal blog site. His first blog follows:

Greetings from London!

We're on the first stage of my pilgrimage to Canterbury during the Lambeth Conference, and are spending a few days in London with family. Today's headlines present an interesting perspective on the place of women in the church and the nature of those who oppose this apparently radical notion.

Read the rest of Tom Jackson's blog.

Some delegates vow to 'Remain Episcopal'; Presiding Bishop comments on action

By Pat McCaughan, December 08, 2007

[Episcopal News Service, Fresno, California] Delegates attending the 48th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin on Saturday, December 8, overwhelmingly voted to leave the Episcopal Church and to align with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

Read the rest of the story.

www.GraceCathedral.org has provided this information about response to the recent oil spill in the San Francisco Bay. 

From Santa Barbara to San Diego, 8,000 firefighters are on the front lines battling fires that have caused the evacuations of nearly one million people -- the most in California's history. The dioceses of Los Angeles and San Diego are acting quickly and heroically to help the evacuees and those who have lost property in the fires.

The Diocese of California asks you to pray for our sisters and brothers in Southern California, and to donate to diocesan relief efforts. The Diocese of San Diego is receiving donations, and Bishop Mathes has written the following:

To prepare for the long-term recovery work, we have established a 2007 Fire Relief Fund. Individuals can make a gift to our fund. Please add: “Fire Relief” to the memo line. Please send gifts designated for that fund to:

The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego
2728 6th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103

Donate Online »

In addition, we are collecting gift cards to Target, K-Mart, Walmart, and JC Penney to be distributed to people who have lost property. These gift cards can be sent to the above address to the attention of Canon Howard F. Smith. Any communication of these requests would be a blessing.

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes
Bishop of San Diego

San Diego has also posted this prayer list. 

A Prayer

We thank you gracious God for the gift of fire, fire which enables industry, fire which propels our cars, and fire which keeps us free from winter’s chill.

But this day, O God, your gift has again turned dangerous and destructive. Humbly we ask your intervention in our county to help save us from the blowing winds and growing fires that threaten our neighbors.

Bring a change in weather to this district, that the winds may drop and the ocean’s moisture may weaken the burning flames.

Send helpers to our neighbors who suffer shortness of breath with the smoke in the air.

Protect those who fight these fires, and heal those who have suffered burns.

Sustain those who have lost homes.

Help us each in our own way to be good neighbors to those who need our compassion and care.

And at the last, heal us within, that fires of jealousy and the winds of intemperance may die down, that at the last we may dwell in peace and find in you our soothing balm.

By the grace of our savior we pray this.
Amen.

-Fr. Gardner, St. James, La Jolla

The diocesan strategic visioning process -- begun at the May 2007 Beloved Community Visioning Conference -- will continue through the fall and spring with a series of intimate conversations with Bishop Marc about our hopes for the diocese.

Worship, music, arts, and storytelling in small groups are the contexts for imagining the community to which God calls us. The resulting vision -- to be presented at a special convention in 2008 -- will not be complete without your participation! 

Plan to attend one of the following conversational events with Bishop Marc --

Oct. 6 (Sat)  Our Saviour, Mill Valley      2-6 p.m.
Nov. 17 (Sat.)    St. Paul's, Walnut Creek   10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (especially for families and children)
Jan 19 (Sat.)   St. Mark's, Palo Alto    11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (especially for youth)
Feb. 24 (Sun.)   St. Paul's, Oakland    5 to 9 p.m.

Or engage via an alternative forum --

Diocese-wide "Retreat-in-Daily-Life" (Advent Eve--Sat., 1 Dec 2007)
Watch DioBytes for the November release of retreat materials that will guide individuals and small groups in reflection and prayer for the diocese we are becoming.

Online participation (beginning Epiphany 2008)
Log in anytime, anywhere to follow Bishop Marc's address and have an opportunity to post responses to the same questions that groups all around the diocese are discussing in small groups

Visioning curriculum (for release Lent 2008)
With these multimedia materials, create your own "Visioning Conference" anywhere -- in your parish, school colleague group, or diocesan department or ministry. Watch DioBytes for information about the scheduled release of this curriculum.

To learn more --

To inquire about the Beloved Community ... in Conversation programs, contact Julia McCray-Goldsmith at 415.869.7826 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

To register for an event with Bishop Marc, call 415.869.7815 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

View artist Mel Ahlborn's flash movie of the May 5 visioning event. 

To view posts of the ongoing conversation -- or to seek online information about upcoming forums and events, visit the Beloved Community website.

Spring House of Bishops Meeting
Camp Allen Episcopal Conference Center
Navasota, Texas
March 16-21, 2007

As we prepare for Easter and the joyous celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we send you greetings from Navasota, Texas where we gathered for the spring meeting of the House of Bishops. We represent fifteen sovereign nations, the fifty United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, and Micronesia bearing witness to the Gospel of Our Lord and the wonders of Christ's redeeming work in the world. We were reminded of the health and vitality of our Church as our new Presiding Bishop recounted her travels. We have experienced a sense of identity, clarity, and purpose in fulfilling our vocation as bishops. We were blessed by the presence of the Primate and the House of Bishops of the Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico. Together we discovered a growing unity as we seek the mind of Christ. Our meeting was marked by a spirit of thanksgiving and respect, lived in a rich rhythm of worship, work, study, and rest.

Three mind of house resolutions adopted.

[Episcopal News Service: Tuesday, March 20, 2007]  Responding to the recent Anglican Primates' Communiqué, the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops, meeting March 20 in Navasota, Texas, expressed "an urgent need for us to meet face to face with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the members of the Primates' Standing Committee.

[Episcopal News Service: Tuesday, March 20, 2007] The Episcopal Church's House of Bishops on March 19 considered the proposed Anglican Covenant and the recent Primates' Communiqué in ''a spirit of mutual respect,'' said Virginia's Bishop Peter Lee, media briefing officer for the day's sessions.

''There has been a spirit of mutual respect in the House especially as we dealt with the Covenant and the Communiqué,'' Lee said after the agenda's conclusion at 9 p.m.

''There are strongly held views, but also a desire to listen carefully to one another, to the wider Communion, and to our gay and lesbian members.

''I want to follow the direction that our Presiding Bishop has offered in terms of being gracious, generous and adaptive in response to the Primates, not reactive.''

Bishop Marc, along with eight other pilgrims from the Diocese of California, ten from Alabama, sixteen from Rhode Island, and two from Washington state, have touched down in Johannesburg to attend the TEAM (Towards Effective Anglican Mission) Conference in Boksburg, South Africa.

The group of mostly young adults was invited by the Most Rev Njongonkulu Ndungane, Archbishop of Capetown, and will find time to meet with the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and to listen to the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. The pilgrims, members of Pilgrimage for Peace (P4P), will be reporting with blogs, photos, audio, and video at Bishop Marc's blog, www.BishopMarc.com, and his Flickr account, www.flickr.com/photos/bishopmarc 

[Episcopal News Service] While I welcome President Bush's recognition that the situation in Iraq is unacceptable, I am deeply saddened by his failure to address peacemaking in the context of the whole region. It is a mistake to view Iraq only through the prism of terrorism. Others have pointed out that the road to peace goes through Jerusalem, not Baghdad. In order to bring peace to the Middle East, not just Iraq, and the land we Christians call holy, there must be a comprehensive regional plan that culminates in a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. Our country must engage diplomatically not only the U.N., European Union and Russia, but all the nations in the Middle East, including Iran and Syria. Diplomacy, built on a foundation of mutual respect and interest among people of good will, not more troops, can bring an end to this tragic conflict. We continue to pray for our soldiers and their families, as well as for all the people of the Middle East, seeking God's wisdom in the search for peace with justice, for shalom and salaam. 

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church