ACC: First Impressions

And we're off.  First day off ACC and I wanted to give a few first impressions although it won't be a long post - the schedule already is pretty exacting and after being awake for two days while travelling, bed is calling.

It's been a real privilege to meet the other delegates and attendees and get a sense of the Anglican Communion's global reach.  Hearing the Lord's Prayer in multiple languages at the opening Morning Prayer was very moving and I'm looking forward to more discussions with table colleagues from Australia, Canada, Kenya, Malaysia and South Sudan as the meeting continues.

This is where the Council meeting will be based for the next 10 days in the Cathedral in Lusaka:

And this is a detail of one of the big windows:

Today was a getting-to-know each other kind of day with bible study based on the book of Ruth as it will be every day of the Council meeting.  The highlight for me (and I think many others) was the choir who joined us for afternoon Eucharist.  During the service they sang beautifully but, as it turned out, were being pretty restrained.  After most of the delegates had left for lunch, the choir kept singing and really turned it on.  And they sounded glorious as - hopefully - you'll hear in this clip (you might want to turn your sound down.)

We've also started to get into the 'business' and I'll reflect on that in my next post.