And we're walking, we're walking

Walking in the light of God.

Walking on eggshells.

Walking the walk, talking the talk.

Walking on water.

Jesus walked.   Oops!  That's Jesus wept.

Well, in any case, Sunday evening begins the official Walk About Week in the Diocese of East Tennessee.  We start in Chattanooga and end in Chattanooga.  While we are there, we will visit six churches.  Wending our way to Knoxville on Tuesday, we will visit three more and a school.  Making the great hike to Upper East on Wednesday, three more congregations will greet our bishop nominees and their spouses.  And, just in case we haven't seen enough at that point, we will stop at the Cathedral, the Diocesan House and Grace Point on Thursday.  Are you tired yet?

This really is an exciting time for our Diocese.  Five people are walking with us through the process of discerning our next bishop.  That means five families, five congregations and even five other dioceses have allowed us to disrupt their routine so that we might hear the Holy Spirit.  How gracious they all are! 

So many people have made all of this possible.  There's the Standing Committee, the Search Committee and the Transition Committee for starters.  But there are lots of people at all those churches who will greet the Walk About group, feed us and host the three "meet the nominees" events.  There are many on the diocesan staff who have helped us on this journey starting with Bishop vonRosenberg and his wife, Annie, who isn't even on staff but is pitching in.  I think it is clear to all of us that the Spirit is already moving, calling us to a new place and a new day which will be built on all that has come before.

So in our walking, we need to remember one more "walking" phrase:  And he walks with me, and he talks with me.  All of us who will be meeting nominees, caring for them and their spouses, showing off our churches and Diocese to them are walking with God.

It's going to be a great week!