Albany Via Media

April 1, 2011

To the Editor:

Whether accidentally or by design, the Presiding Bishop's full schedule in Albany left her little time to talk with Albany lay persons who do not hold diocesan offices but firmly support the national Church. We could have learned much from Bp. Katharine, who has been at ground zero for the recent struggles in our Church and the Anglican Communion. She in turn would have left Albany with a more rounded view of our “conservative” diocese.

I had this in mind on Sunday morning, when Marya and I drove to the Cathedral of All Saints for the 10:00 a.m. Eucharist. We arrived an hour early to get seats near the front from which I could record Bp. Katharine's sermon.

As the Cathedral filled slowly, we thought at first that the diocese's rightward bent might express itself in a small turnout for the service. We could not have been more wrong! By 10:00 a.m. 450 people had gathered, a crowd whose enthusiastic response to the sermon, lusty participation in hymns and prayers, and eagerness to receive communion from Bp. Katharine showed her that she was surrounded by friends.

Leaving All Saints after exchanging pleasantries with Bishops Jefferts Schori, Love, and Ball, it occurred to me that this glorious service, which drew together left and right, high church and low, showed the Diocese of Albany at its finest.

This was a family reunion!

Robert T. Dodd