Today is "reading day," an opportunity for us to review the draft reports and resolutions produced by all four sections of the conference, before consideration for adoption begins Tuesday. Because I have contracted the "Canterbury cold" that is making the rounds, I struggle (following Holy Eucharist and Morning Prayer) between the need to sleep and the need to study. In the evening a group of us departs for St. Augustine's Abbey (founded by the blessed saint himself in 598 A.D., and the present site of his earthly remains). The Presiding Bishop has asked me to attend a meeting sponsored by the Ecclesiastical Law Society (because of my experience as an attorney?); the subject is "Where does Authority Reside in the Anglican Communion?" As I boarded the bus my question, "Is this the bus for those of us with authority problems?", received only stares - no sense of humor, these guys! Behind me is the Bishop of London; during the evening he and I discuss the role of canon law in the life of the church, and the decline of academic discipline in "doing" theology. The primary event of the evening was the lecture delivered by the Rev. Canon Edward Norman, treasurer of York Minster, who also holds/held several notable academic posts. His presentation was much too important to attempt a summary here, but in an hour and a half he did a right thorough job of describing the "disbursed authority" which characterizes our polity; this, he added, contributes to the crisis of identity and unity which is Anglicanism.

Holy Eucharist was celebrated this morning by the Church of Nigeria, and the sermon, agenda oriented, pointed to the sexuality debates ahead without actually naming them. After our daily Bible study and prayer, the groups of Section III spent the remainder of the morning studying reports and resolutions. We share frustration over the report prepared on behalf of our section, and the absence therein of a thread tying it all together. On the other hand, we recognize the difficulty of addressing adequately such a diversity of subjects. There is some feeling that there has been insufficient time to develop the theological context for these issues and to respond to the implied questions. At 3:30, we begin our consideration and debate; the subject today: Christian-Islamic relations and other interfaith-related resolutions from Section Four ("Called to Be One").

Today's plenary business session quite dramatically (1) brought the sexuality issues to the floor of the entire conference for the first time; and (2) brought home in a specific way the general issue which has pervaded the campus of Kent University since we arrived: How is the Bible to be read and understood by Christians? Many here, especially some from the developing nations, look at the literal meaning; and they see any search for truth beyond what is perceived from the "plain reading" as equivalent to rejection of the authority of scripture. They appear as baffled by those who have been trained in the critical study of the Bible as the latter are shocked to discover so-called "literalists" within the Anglican Communion. With the amendment process finally completed, but before the final vote on the proposed resolution is taken, the Archbishop of Canterbury speaks, strongly endorsing it. Archbishop Eames, the Primate of Ireland who has chaired this session with both precision and brilliant pastoral skill, asks us to refrain from vocal or other outward responses to the results. We vote, the tension heavy in the air. The overwhelming margin between the "ayes" and the "nays" provokes gasps, even from those whose conviction prevailed.

This Feast of the Transfiguration is also the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the Holy Catholic Church in Japan, celebrants of Holy Eucharist, while remembering the victims of those bombings, constructed its intercessions around the victims of Japanese militarism and the "responsibility for those acts" as shared by "our own wartime church." The vote on today's most controversial resolution produces the 80 percent approval of the resolution which, for the sake of "maintaining the overall unity of the Anglican Communion," calls upon provinces "to affirm that those who dissent from, as well as those who assent to, the ordination of women ... are both loyal Anglicans" and to provide ways, including "appropriate episcopal ministry," which will promote "the highest degree of Communion possible." In the evening, another "you-had-to-be-there" experience: The spouses, who have shared frequently with us but separated occasionally for their own program, produced "Crowning Glory," a musical drama, with great fun and color. It is the story of the transforming power of love.

We approach today's plenary business session aware of the logjam which has occurred as a result of spending considerable time with the few (but most controversial) debatable resolutions. The key item today is the proposed resolution on euthanasia, but it is resolved, with other business, more expeditiously than we anticipated. We have during the past three days adopted or rejected numerous resolutions, and received the reports of all four sections of the conference. At the opening of the afternoon plenary business session, the Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Rev. David M. Gitari - a member of the Bible study/prayer group to which I also belong - announced the bombing of the two American embassies, one in his Diocese of Nairobi. His personal pain is obvious as he asks for prayers for the victims and all others affected. The evening is free, so the Bishop of Louisiana, the Rt. Rev. Charles Jenkins, and I take to the downtown, for a lager, fish and chips. I return to our facilities at Kent University to pack. Encountering a number of bishops and spouses as I walk across the campus, a question which had occurred to me early in the day returns: Is it my imagination, or does there seem to be a renewed effort to be friendly, courteous - something like an unspoken but corporate - what, conspiracy? commitment? - to contribute personally, in the aftermath of tension and disagreement, to Christian community? Or is this wishful thinking?

On Friday Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold had announced a special time of prayer for the U.S. bishops, so I set the alarm for 5:30 a.m.; at 6:30 we gathered in the rather elegant Spouses' Tent - my first time there. He noted the obvious - the variety of personal and corporate reactions to the decisions of Lambeth Conference - and called upon us to be both prayerful and reflective in drawing our conclusions about our experience at Canterbury. Once again he used his familiarity with the church fathers and mothers, with classical Anglicanism, with solid catholic spirituality, to assist us in placing the products of these meetings into an appropriate Christian context. A biblical reflection by Brother Martin Smith, SSJE, recent chaplain to the House of Bishops, was helpful in the same way. At the morning's plenary session, the Archbishop of Canterbury expresses our appreciation to those (hundreds!) who had contributed to the success of the conference. In the afternoon, we divide again into our four main sections for the purpose of evaluation and critique (of process more than product). The Holy Eucharist is celebrated with exceeding joy, it seems to me, Archbishop Carey preaching. He reviewed our time together, recognizing our obvious diversity as a means of seeing God in each other, "for the building up of the body." Returning to the theme of his opening sermon at Canterbury Cathedral three weeks prior, he asked us to take back to our dioceses the materials "to transform and to renew." Above all, he said: ourselves - the transformed and renewed persons we have become during the past three weeks. I wonder: What will our dioceses see in our faces; will my diocese see transformation and renewal in my face? The evening ends with great fun: a barbecue on the grounds with great convenience and elegance, a band of wide-range ability -and, finally, a fireworks display entirely worthy of the Anglican Communion.

Very early in the morning, armed with a cup of coffee, I find my way onto the green field which was the site of last night's revelry, overlooking the town of Canterbury and its majestic cathedral, anticipating the sunrise. I am, if not depressed, at least pensive. In the excitement of the hot, sexy issues, will the church and the world note the comprehensive, truly gospel-oriented work that has been done here? Or, as in this very journal, will we so spend our attention and energy on emotional questions that we are too exhausted to respond to the Lord's broad call which has found eloquent expression here? Twenty-one days of worship, sharing, study, deliberation and downright hard work has brought dramatic proposals for economic justice, stewardship of the environment, urbanization and its consequences in urban and rural communities, the ministry of our young people, mission, marriage and family life, political, social, and religious freedom, holy scripture, prayer and worship, ecumenical relations, poverty, transformation and renewal, streamlining the structures of the church, peace, the Virginia Report. What will come of it? Will they gather archival dust - or become blueprints for ministry? And what of the personal relationships established at Lambeth? Through them this has not been merely a flight across the ocean, it has been a journey around the world. Heretofore I have only preached and taught the universality of the church; this has been a genuine experience of that great truth. In a few hours I depart Gatwick Airport for home (and God knows I'm ready to be there). We were invited to bring our dioceses to Lambeth - do I take something of the whole church back with me? The words of the last hymn of the closing liturgy suddenly come to mind: "Glorify your name ... in all the earth."

The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson is the Bishop of Upper South Carolina