On June 5, 2008, which will be the anniversary of my ordination as a deacon, I will celebrate 35 years of ordained ministry. Of those 35 years, I have learned along with St. Paul how to be abased and how to abound. Like Joseph, I have observed lean years and fat years, but never—and I want you to hear this—never have I felt so lavishly blessed, so joy filled, so humbled by grace upon grace as this past year as bishop of this amazing diocese! In fact, twice I said to Barbara—which probably reveals my neurosis more than my faith—that I feel so joyful I hope I am not about to die. Why such joy?

■ One morning I attended something called Freedom School to be the “guest reader.”  I watched inner city African American youth being engaged and being transformed by this amazing program and met some brilliant young college students who were serving as their mentors.

■ Within a week of that experience, I served as the co-chaplain for this year’s Senior High Camp. I gave a talk on the sacraments because Ben Linder [the diocese’s director of youth and young adults programs] wanted the Senior High Camp to be a kind of practice happening, and that program includes the sacraments talk. After that talk, two young people who were at that camp came and asked me to administer the baptism to them.

■ I ordained in the past year six of the most amazingly different, brilliant, faithful clergy I have ever engaged who are and will be a tremendous gift to this diocese. 

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