[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.''

March 20 sessions will begin in a ''Town Hall'' format with a presentation recapping the recent international ''Toward Effective Anglican Mission'' (TEAM) conference in South Africa. A business session chaired by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will follow in the afternoon.

A drafting committee will continue to prepare for the House's review and adoption of a written message to be released at the meeting's end on March 21. 

Media briefing officer for the day's sessions will be the Rt. Rev. Catherine Roskam, bishop suffragan of New York.

The bishops' annual spring retreat meeting has been in session since March 16 at the Camp Allen Episcopal conference center in Navasota, Texas.

A manuscript on the proposed Anglican Covenant is available here.