Welcome to Hong Kong. This is the night time view from the Peak after the journey up in the Peak Tram. The gradient is so steep that the buildings all appear to be leaning backward. I expect that all visitors to Hong Kong make this journey. But we had some other experiences as well
The church worldwide is a remarkable organisation. In part of the whirlwind of hospitality which descended on us, we found ourselves caught up in a ‘blessing of pets’ service with Very Revd Samson Fan of All Saints Cathedral. Alison obviously thought that the idea of blessing a snake – or in any way encouraging one – was not at all the thing. So she sought the reassuring presence of this cat.
The subtext of all this is the Anglican Communion Continuing Indaba initiative. The church in Hong Kong took part with Jamaica and Toronto and Samson was part of that. I serve as the Chair of the Reference Group at the Anglican Communion Office in London. Indaba is an African word – it’s about handling conflict across difference – talking about mission in the context of difference.
Tomorrow we’ll be meeting Archbishop Paul Kwong – we are both members of the Anglican Communion Standing Committee and he too will be in Auckland next week.