Present were delegates from India, Pakistan, Africa, the Philippines, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., China, Taiwan, Korea, Haiti,  Jamaica,  England and Ireland.
Despite long flights and visa challenges, most delegates managed to arrive in Canterbury for the first day.  Canterbury Christ Church University College hosted the initial leg of the conference.  Dr. Michael Wright, principal, and Dame Janet Trotter, Chair of the UK Planning Committee, were on hand to greet the participants.
 Delegates were welcomed in the Opening Eucharist by the Rt. Rev. Stephen Venner, Bishop in Canterbury, on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury.   The Rt. Rev. Martin Wharton, Bishop of Newcastle, preached on the kind of love and respect that has to be lived to realize how to “Learn through Each Other’s Living”, the theme of the 2005 CUAC Triennial conference.
That evening, delegates from India told powerful stories from their colleges as to how they had responded to the Tsunami devastation last December, and how they have been helping with, as well as teaching and learning from that event.  Students and faculty alike responded to the disaster in all kinds of practical ways and have continued to be actively involved in many of their adjacent villages to aid survivors.
The first key-note address was given by the Rt. Rev. Stephen Sykes, Principal of St. John's College, Durham, on different patterns of relationships in the churches of the Communion.  He contrasted an early church "family" model (parents and children) with the later "autonomy" model (independence), and then identified a further "societal" model (social choice) as contrasting ways in which churches in the Communion have related in faith to their own cultures and then relate "in conversation" to each other.  Following this illuminating address a panel reflected on the different ways in which the church colleges around the world do and do not relate to their diocesan and provincial churches, and to what degree they operate as a prophetic sign and witness.
One of the features of the Conference were the contributions of delegates, with papers and presentations sharing the insights each had brought from their own cultures, disciplines, teaching, and programs. Of special interest among these were reports from colleges in Liberia, Haiti, and Zimbabwe and their continuing dedication and contributions to their societies during times of major conflict and civil upheaval.
Following the Conference photograph the Conference attended the Sung Eucharist at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday morning.  It was also the start of some unusually hot weather for England.
Canon Nicholas Sagovsky, Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey, arrived in Canterbury that afternoon in spite of train delays.  He gave the key-note address on modern cultures and Christian faith.  Simply put, culture is the "way of life" of a particular region or area, and Christian faith operates within it - sometimes challenging it, sometimes affirming it, but inevitably a part of it.
 At the evening banquet,  the Rt. Rev. John Sentamu, Bishop of  Birmingham was the speaker.  It was an added coup that his appointment as the next Archbishop of York had been announced the previous day.. His global and culturally sensitive perspective signalled well the role he is expected to play in England and in the Anglican Communion as the Archbishop of York.
Conference delegates then traveled by bus to York, stopping on the way to see St. Albans Abbey or Belvoir castle.  Principal Dianne Wilcocks and her team greeted the group prior to a welcome dinner, and provided an overview of York St. John College.
After dinner, Dr. Linda Chisholm, of the International Partnership of Leadership and Service Learning, spoke on the need to integrate community and service learning more intentionally into the college curricula.  From her long experience in working with students and colleges, Dr. Chisholm presented a vision  and challenge for future work in this area for CUAC, which  was very warmly received.
Throughout our stay the Chaplains, Jeremy and Simon in Canterbury and Jem in York, provided the daily worship, led tours and interacted with Conference members.  Jeremy and Simon shared their unique way of reaching students in person,by text messages, and by E mail, publicizing themselves on drink coasters and pictured as “the men in black”.  Jem as a tour leader provided his own unique interpretation of the importance of the Council of Whitby on the tour there from York!
On Tuesday, June 21, youth became the focus of the day.  A panel discussion of chaplains from different countries reflected on the diversity of “Young People and their Spirituality”. How various events and pressures have shaped youth culture in different countries became the topic of conversation.  One new resource cited was IAYN, the International Adult Youth Network, which can link students to a larger international Anglican community.
Then Canon John Hall, Chief Education Office of the Church of England, reflected on the role church colleges, chaplaincies and schools have played in England, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as the "head teacher", seeking a "translation" of the Body of Christ into daily details of priority, discipline and management of schools and colleges.  All of these are the "opportunities for engagement" that church schools and colleges represent to reach many young people with or without any Christian background or heritage.
In the afternoon CUAC‘s newest work amongst theological colleges was introduced.    With TEAC (Theological Education in the Anglican Communion – a working committee of the Primates of the Communion), CUAC is assisting in the formation of a network (via the Internet) to coordinate, focus and resource theological training in colleges throughout the Communion.
 Further papers were presented that afternoon on differences in chaplaincies in various parts of the world.  York St. John chaplaincy reported on its intriguing project of a "Virtual Church" on the Internet. The afternoon concluded with a tour and sung Evensong at York Minster.
Globalization and global living in the Communion was the theme on the next day.  The Rt. Rev. Mano Rumalshah, from the Diocese of Peshawar in Pakistan, talked of the fundamental roles both colleges and churches play in providing "education for life".  He concluded with a litany of things that most threaten such crucial educational work, namely "corruption", "self-aggrandizement", and "imitation".  He concluded with the words a former missionary, William Carey, "expect great things from God, attempt great things for God!"
After a coffee break the Rev. Dr. Sabina Alkire of the Harvard Global Equity Project, spoke on "Global Reconciliation".  She demonstrated through simple statistics that global poverty can be eradicated.   Pointing out that 2 billion of the 6 billion people on this earth are Christian, she challenged the conference with the question to all Christians: "What can we do?"  The God of love calls us to respond, especially to global poverty.  We must be the human face of God’s love. Students of our universities have to become aware of the holistic and inter-related causes of poverty, and should become part of a world-wide movement in their various fields to "make poverty history".
On the last day of the Conference, Dr. Gerald Pillay, Rector of Liverpool-Hope University, gave the final address. He stressed that while we are now in a phase of global co-existence, our global awareness has actually become narrow rather than broad.  We travel more, but know less - visiting other parts of the world as if they were places in a zoo.  Our churches should return to a pre-Constantine practice of faith where we see ourselves as simply being a vital and creative minority in our various societies.  And for the Communion, CUAC should see its ministry as producing solid and committed Christians, who can be a part of spontaneous and creative “risings” of faith across the globe and within various cultures.
CUAC’s business meeting  elected a new Board of Trustees, with Dr. Nirmala Jeyaraj of Lady Doak College, India, as the new Chair.  It also decided to explore the possibility of holding the next Triennial in 2008  in the east following the invitation from Chung Chi College in Hong Kong.
The Conference concluded with a dinner cruise down the River Ouse.  Memories were made as Jem led the lower deck group in singing,  as our ship handed over extra plates to a sister ship, and the four women principals from India sang “Row, Row, your boat”. The mood of good camaraderie was apparent as Dianne Wilcocks handed out farewell gifts, and delegates began to disperse for their journeys home.
The success of the conference was due to the fine planning and daily administrative work of Jan Bowman, her staff and the students of Canterbury Christ Church University College, and of Dianne Watson and her team at York St John College, who worked so hard to host such a large international conference. CUAC’s thanks to them for a job well done!
As General Secretary Dr. Don Thompson said at the end of the Conference, “CUAC is not me, but us – all of us!” And this Conference has made clear that  the way Christ "gifts" us all, is through the gift of him we find in each other.  May that be the "Learning" we have found in through this Conference's "Living."
CUAC looks forward to gathering together its members both currently through the Internet, and through the next Triennial in Hong Kong in 2008.  It personifies good cross-cultural relationships, interdependence, and collaboration across the Communion, and strengthens its members to be the Body of Christ in their particular time and place.