Good evening. We have just completed our first 24 hours here in Charm City, the city of Baltimore, as we begin the general convention of the Episcopal Church, our 80th convention. Unfortunately, how things began was difficult. We were all getting ready for dinner last night and getting into our cars in just two blocks away in front of the Marriott Hotel. A man was shot and killed. That really did mark the way we thought about the start of this convention because this theme of gun violence has been a part of what it is that we have considered. So two poignant things happened today. First of all, in both the House of Deputies and then later in the House of Viships, the right-weathering Blender Curry Bishop of Alabama and her deputation stood in front of the convention and expressed their appreciation for the prayers and the support that they have had after the shooting at St. Stephen's Church in their diocese in a suburb of Birmingham. After that happened at the close of the evening session today, hundreds of bishops and other laypeople gathered directly across the street from where the shooting happened last night to both protest the amount of gun violence that continues to riddle our country, as well as offer prayers for the victim and that victim's family. The strong commitment that marked both of those vigils was a commitment to continue to welcome the stranger and the commitment to love one another even in the face of this violence. In fact, the resolution that was passed around the killing in Alabama was to note the three who died as martyrs who continued to welcome the stranger and as a result died for their faith. It seems to me that is in fact the right way to think about how we move forward in the midst of all that it is that we are enduring. It's not that we should not protect ourselves but the last thing we should be guilty of is the level of retaliation that makes us no better than those who would come and attack us. Outside of that most of the resolutions that happen at convention today are only partial. You see a resolution has to pass a majority of both houses, house of deputies and house of bishops and so while there are things that have been churning in both houses, especially in bishops a long conversation about the nature of what it means to hold on to the book of common prayer is our standard of worship as of yet everything is still very very just getting started. It's a packed schedule with meetings morning afternoon and evening with hundreds of resolutions to be dealt with so it's rapid fire. We don't have a lot of opportunity for debate and sometimes things just slip through and get passed because everything is just moving too fast and because people feel that pressure in the midst of a very truncated four day convention people just want to hurry up and get things done. So unfortunately what's happening particularly in deputies is that it's marked by a lack of reflective debate and the opportunity to really reflect on the import of what it is in front of them. So do pray for us, pray for wisdom, for quick wins for the capacity to think well on our feet, to be able to speak up on behalf of the truth and to listen carefully not only to the people who agree with us but also to the people that who oppose us. We are committed as a diocese to working across differences and particularly in this highly politically driven environment that's a very difficult posture to maintain but our Christian witnesses at stake and so I want to thank you for praying for us and supporting us. I look forward to talking with you again at the end of the next 24-hour session to give you an update on how things are progressing. Thank you so much for your support and prayers.