Approximately half of the 43 diocesan bishops who voted against the confirmation of the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson to be Bishop Coadjutor of New Hampshire attended a special meeting convened by the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Jenkins, Bishop of Louisiana and president of the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice. The purpose of the Nov. 29-30 meeting in Houston was in part to discuss the Windsor Report and its implications for the Episcopal Church.

Guests brought the total attendance closer to 40 and included a number of bishops suffragan, staff from the Episcopal Church Foundation, and the Rt. Rev. F. Clayton Matthews, executive director of pastoral development at the Episcopal Church Center. Discussion was informal and conversation about the special House of Bishops’ meeting to be held next month in Salt Lake City occupied a significant amount of time.

“I think the overwhelming consensus among those who were present is that the Windsor Report represents a strong, positive instrument for maintaining a viable Communion,” said the Rt. Rev. Peter H. Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield. “There was hope and an expectation that when we meet in Salt Lake City, the House of Bishops will fully embrace and hold itself accountable to all of the report’s recommendations,” he said.