On April 26-28, the Little Rock Network of the Anglican Mission in The Americas met in Little Rock at St. Andrew’s Church for one of their regular gatherings of fellowship, worship, prayer, training, and information sharing. Since the group is geographically scattered, coming from as far away as Florida and Colorado and as near as Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, the conferences are vital for building the cohesiveness and interdependence that priests, deacons, and lay leaders want to experience.

Conflict Resolution was the topic for the meeting. Conrad Lowe, the guest coach for the gathering, delivered a forthright talk drawing poignant discussion from the group. Providing directional leadership while helping to solve disagreements over where money is to be spent, where to locate a new church building, staff issues, or difficult personalities is energy and spirit expending. Understanding and accepting the realities of these issues is important to the balance of the lives of the clergy and their congregations. Noland Pipes followed Conrad’s teaching and discussion with the information that he and Bishop Alex Dickson have been asked by the Chairman of the Anglican Mission, Bishop Chuck Murphy, to prepare to assist any Anglican Mission congregation or church plant with conflict resolution. Matt Kessler’s outstanding presentation on the process of developing potential leaders, from the discernment process to the ordination process, clarified how this is chiefly the responsibility of the local pastor and the local church discernment team, then the network leader and, finally, the bishop and the Council of Bishops. The Office of Clergy Credentialing assists, but does not spear-head, the process.


Paul Briggs, the Anglican Mission’s Chief Operating Officer, laid out data that helped the group better understand the operation of the National Mission Resource Center, the variety of support that his office wants to provide and overall development of the Anglican Mission. Jay Fowler led morning worship, and Alan Reid and Chas Williams led the morning Bible Study. The Intercessory Prayer Team was led by Patti Gould and several members from around the network were present for the meetings and worship. Mary Kay Graves and Mary Canada made a presentation about the St. Andrew's Church Prayer Shawl Ministry concluding with a drawing for a hand-knitted shawl that, as with all of the shawls they make and distribute, had been covered in prayer. The winner was Doug McCurry of Montgomery, Alabama. Bishop TJ Johnston celebrated the Eucharist during the Thursday night worship service after a teaching by Augustine Ogbunugwu. Church plant and network leader, David Young, moderated the meeting.

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