It is time for noon Eucharist. The bishops had just given a standing ovation for author and television essayist Richard Rodriguez's challenge to them to welcome more fully a multi-ethnic community, and to become a learning church.

Now, the Rev. Dr. Michael Battle, 40, rises from his seat to read the Gospel. He faces the awesome tasks of following Rodriguez, and incorporating his presentation into a short homily. He also focuses on the Gospel, and on the life and ministry of St. Sergius of Russia, who is commemorated this day.

Preaching and offering daily meditations are among the duties shared by Battle and by the Rev. Mark McIntosh, 44, who are in their fourth year as chaplains to the House of Bishops. Both are academic theologians who also serve on the theology committee of the House of Bishops.

"It is a wonderful opportunity to be in touch with the rhythms of the larger church, and it's a daunting task to be counsel for bishops. But, it's a service that has to be done," says Battle.

"There's a great deal of struggle on the part of the bishops," Battle says. "They go through a whole lot in their dioceses. The Episcopal Church is in the spotlight in a way we have never been before. We've always been a minority in the country but lately we've been getting a lot of attention, a lot of press.

"The crises of our culture are being played out in the lives of our bishops who are, in our theology, the unifying figure for the diocese, so they are bound to be conduits of a lot of tension and conflict at this time," says Battle, who is rector of St. Ambrose Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, and professor of Spirituality and Black Church Studies at Duke University in Durham.

"And I have to say, that I think they're holding up pretty well."

Since they were appointed chaplains by Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, he and McIntosh attend planning committee meetings and are present twice yearly for the bishops' gatherings, as well as serving once every three years when General Convention meets. Originally appointed for a three-year term, Griswold reappointed them through 2006, to serve out the duration of his ministry as presiding bishop.

Their role is to support the bishops, to serve as spiritual companions, listeners, as priests and confessors, and to remind the bishops to nourish themselves, McIntosh said.

"We try to be aware of what we can do to encourage them to nourish themselves. We are tremendously aware of how depleted they can get as spiritual leaders."

McIntosh is a professor at Loyola University in Chicago, where he teaches systematic theology and spirituality. He also serves weekends at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Barrington, Illinois.

What they offer, says McIntosh, is a kind of ad hoc spiritual direction, more a spiritual conversation.

Preaching and performing as quasi-spiritual directors for a slew of bishops might seem an intimidating task, but McIntosh says he handles it by freeing himself from ego needs, control and concerns.

"It's difficult to have to always be on, in the role as teachers of the faith, to model the fact that being teacher of faith and person of prayer deeply inform each other, and are necessary to each other," says McIntosh, who has authored "Discernment and Truth", released this spring by New York's Crossroad Press. He also authored "Mysteries of Faith," the Christian discourse volume in the New Church Teaching Series.

Developing friendships has made the difference for Battle.

"At first it was pretty difficult," he recalls. "We'd be up there preaching, with our legs shaking, we'd be pretty nervous."

Now, he focuses on the present moment, like today, "as opposed to giving a ready-made sermon. In other words, listening to what goes on and incorporating it, listening to the Spirit, communicating what we're hearing as chaplains."

McIntosh agrees.

"Michael and I are always listening for things that don't fit in a box easily. That's where most of life is, it doesn't fit in the usual space."

McIntosh has a couple of 'spiritual conversations' scheduled for later today.

"When you are a church leader, everyone assumes you make things happen. It's hard to remind yourself that God makes things happen. It becomes painful for you, the burden of having to make things happen," McIntosh says.

"The role of embodying the community of the church at large is an awesome one. I have immense respect and regard for the self-giving present in them. It's extensive, how deep it goes, contrast to each other."

By and large, Battle says, the bishops are handling the current culture wars well.

"They've really become a community. From what Mark and I have seen, the House of Bishops is a healthy environment. These bishops are really trying to create community and to practice it, allowing conflict without that conflict destroying the community."

The Gospel today is from Matthew (13:47-52), and includes one of Jesus' parables about what the kingdom of heaven is like. But it also speaks of separation, lack of understanding, of faith and trust.

Battle masterfully ties in the story of Sergius of Russia, who "had the kind of faith that inspired him to build a small wooden church in the middle of nowhere with his bare hands.

"We find it hard to understand Sergius," he tells the gathered community. "He was not listening to the mythology and fairytales of the day that said not to build using wood. He wasn't listening to the wisdom of the day that said: 'location, location, location.' He had the kind of faith that pushed ahead without worrying how it turned out."

As it turned out, the church Sergius began blossomed into one of the greatest monasteries in the world.

"It is a spiritual practice for us all to practice trust. It is crucial for us not to turn to the desperation and anxiety that has plagued the 21st century," Battle told the bishops. "It shortens the vision of the little wooden building that became a massive institution."