The 2017 Diocesan Clergy Conference

About 50 clergy from around the diocese gathered with Bishop Skip Adams at Santee State Park for the annual Diocesan Clergy Conference May 7-9, reflecting with the Bishop on what it means to be an ordained person in the Church, and enjoying some relaxed time to be together as friends and colleagues.

The format for the three-day conference was a series of four meditations from Bishop Adams on a theme drawn from a quotation by Father Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016), the Jesuit priest, poet and peace activist who said, “If you want to follow Jesus, you better look good on wood.”

Bishop Adams prefaced the event by asking the clergy to go into “retreat mode” with one another for a few days. “One of my favorite things to do is to talk about God, he said. “I enjoy that conversation – not just the conversation in prayer with God, but the prayerful conversation with God’s people.”

Recalling the ordination to the diaconate of Jason Roberson on Saturday, May 6, he talked about being an ordained person as a gift: “not just for me, but a gift to be giving away.”

The Bishop’s meditations drew from the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, as well as John 21 in which Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” and tells him to “Feed my sheep.” He then offered some of his own experiences in Calcutta, India and Amman, Jordan.

He detailed several moving, personal encounters with people living in great poverty and pain, but also in faith and joy, and how those experiences shaped his own ministry and his understanding of who God is calling him to be. After each meditation, interspersed with periods of silence, Bishop Adams left the clergy with some questions to ponder about their own lives and ministries, and encouraged them to share their thoughts and stories with him, and with each other.

Monday afternoon was devoted to free time for the clergy to enjoy the beautiful lakeside setting and the fine spring weather before the evening social time and supper. The retreat concluded Tuesday with Holy Eucharist, the Bishop’s final meditation, and a time for conversation with Bishop Adams.
See photos from the conference here