General Convention and its role in the life of The Episcopal Church

Jun 18, 2024 | #GeneralConvention, #Stories

The Episcopal Church’s General Convention will meet for the 81st time June 23- 28 in Louisville, Kentucky at the Kentucky International Convention Center. If you’re asking, “So, what is this exactly, and what does it have to do with me?”, you’re not alone. General Convention can feel as far removed from people in local churches as Congress does from everyday life. But the role it plays impacts a lot of what Episcopalians see and do in their local churches.

Let’s look at three questions:
1. What is General Convention? 2. What does it do?
3. Why does it matter?

What is General Convention?

General Convention is the highest decision-making body in The Episcopal Church. Normally it meets every three years, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting that was to have taken place in 2021 was moved to 2022 and was shortened to four legislative days. In 2024, it will meet for six legislative days, although other activities take place before the convention officially gets underway.

It’s been around long time, dating to the period when The Episcopal Church was getting formed just two years after the end of the American War of Independence. In 1785, laymen and clergy from six states (Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia) gathered as the first General Convention to start forming an Anglican church for the new United States, naming it the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The new U.S. church had only one bishop then, Samuel Seabury, so they couldn’t form a House of Bishops until two other bishops were consecrated in 1787. In that year, General Convention adopted the structure of the church we have today and approved the church’s first Book of Common Prayer.

It has two houses, like Congress – the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops – and members of both houses have been elected by their diocesan conventions. Not every denomination elects the people who serve at the highest legislative level, but The Episcopal Church does. Each house meets separately and has its own officers, and legislation must pass both houses with the same language for it to take effect.

It’s big. The House of Deputies includes four lay people and four clergy from each diocese – and there are 110 dioceses. So, its membership is close to 900 people – and yes, it takes a really big room to accommodate everyone! It also will include 18 young people – two from each of the nine provinces of The Episcopal Church – who make up the Official Youth Presence. They will have seat and voice but cannot vote but nevertheless, they play an important role in sharing ideas with deputies.

The House of Bishops is made up of all active and retired bishops, although many retired bishops don’t attend – those who regularly participate currently are about 300 bishops.

But General Convention is more than just legislation. It also includes official worship services, a large exhibit hall where groups around the church can show people who they are and offer items for sale, and a special day camp for children. Other groups around the church – like organizations and seminaries – have their own events, and it often feels like a big reunion.

A revival is scheduled to take place the night before the convention officially begins at the KFC YUM! Center, usually the site of concerts, ice shows and athletic events, including games of the men’s and women’s basketball teams of the University of Louisville.

In addition, the Episcopal Church Women hold their Triennial meeting concurrently with General Convention, and this year will mark the organization’s 150th anniversary as a ministry within The Episcopal Church.

What does General Convention do?

Its purpose is to pass legislation that affects the church – everything from stating the church’s position on things like immigration and the death penalty, to changing canons on clergy conduct and what Bible translations are authorized for use in public worship. Proposed legislation, called resolutions, can come from bishops, deputies, diocesan conventions or from the task forces and commissions that meet between conventions.

All resolutions are referred to one of the convention legislative committees. Deputies and bishops have their own committees on various topics but meet together. Committees are required to conduct an open hearing on every resolution assigned to them. People can sign up to speak on those topics, and the public is welcome to be present.

This year’s convention is following a format that was adopted for the shortened convention in 2022 of having legislative committees meet online before the start of General Convention to hear testimony on proposed resolutions. Anyone can sign up to testify or just observe legislative committee meetings.

After being considered by a committee, every resolution then starts in one of the two houses where it is voted on, either individually or, in the case of resolutions that appear to be non- controversial, grouped into a consent calendar. If a resolution passes both houses with the same language, it then takes effect.

Why does it matter?

Some crucial elements of the life of The Episcopal Church and Episcopalians come from actions of General Convention. This year there is a major one – the election of a new presiding bishop. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry concludes his nine-year term this year, and his successor will be chosen from among the list of nominees. The House of Bishops will meet at Christ Church

Cathedral on June 26 at 11 a.m. to elect the next presiding bishop, and then it is up to the House of Deputies to ratify (or decline) that election.

But General Convention is responsible for many other actions that affect all Episcopalians. Here are some major ones:

  • Deciding the text of the Book of Common Prayer, as well as supplemental liturgical materials, like the Book of Occasional Services. It also decides what goes into The Hymnal, as well as what other musical resources are authorized.
  • Setting the calendar of saints, currently called Lesser Feasts and Fasts. This year, bishops and deputies will vote on adding feast days for Harriet Tubman and the Consecration of Barbara Harris, among others.
  • Creating the process for being ordained a deacon, priest or bishop. In 1976 General Convention recognized that women could be ordained, and the first out gay bishop was welcomed in 2003.
  • Providing parameters for marriage in the church, which now require all dioceses to make provision for marriage of same-sex couples.
  • Deciding the process for identifying and dealing with clergy misconduct and protecting all church members through required Safe Church training.
  • Defining the physical boundaries of every diocese and setting up mechanisms for a diocese to split or merge with another. It also decides what dioceses are part of The Episcopal Church. This year it will vote on the juncture of the Dioceses of Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan into the Diocese of the Great Lakes, as well as the reunion of the three dioceses in Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Fond du Lac and Eau Claire) into one Diocese of Wisconsin.
  • Declaring when The Episcopal Church is in full communion with another Christian body. The Episcopal Church currently is in full communion with six other churches, and this year, a resolution proposes establishing full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria.

Want to be part of this year’s General Convention?

If you want to follow along closely, sessions of General Convention will be livestreamed, with links available closer to its start in late June.

In addition, anyone can serve as one of the many volunteers that help General Convention run smoothly. Volunteers may serve for as little as a half a day or for multiple shifts over many days.

– Information provided by freelance reporter Melodie Woerman and Cynde Bimbi, director of communications and public relations for the Episcopal Church in Delaware.

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General Convention Basics: A Conversation between an experienced General Convention Deputy and a first-timer

General Convention Basics: A Conversation between an experienced General Convention Deputy and a first-timer

Jun 7, 2024 | #GeneralConvention, #Stories

Pictured: First Row (left to right): Christopher Hayes, Debbie Low-Skinner, Warren Wong, Deb White, Laura Curlin, Karma Quick-Panwala Second Row: Cameron Partridge, Sarah Lawton, Emily Hopkins, Ron Hermanson, Ruth Myers, Mauricio Wilson, Eric Metoyer Third Row: Jennifer Nelson, Bishop Marc, Richard Edward Helmer, Joseph Dashiell, Bishop Austin. 

Quick topics:

If you’re interesetd in a specific topic discussed click on the question to jump to that section in the article

Introduction

The General Convention is the highest governing body of The Episcopal Church (TEC). It meets every three years and is made up of the Church’s bishops and elected lay and ordained deputies from each diocese. The 81st General Convention (GC) of The Episcopal Church will take place from June 20-28 in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Very Rev. Dr. Deb White is a first-time deputy to the General Convention this year. Sarah Lawton, Co-Chair of the DioCal Deputation, is a veteran of nine General Conventions. Being a General Convention Deputy is in her blood, as her mom, Nancy Luther Lawton, also attended five conventions!

When they talked recently, Sarah and Deb went over the overall structure and work of the General Convention, after which Deb had a lot of follow-up questions for Sarah, including trying to figure out exactly what a GC deputy does.

Deputies – representatives from all over the church – perform the work of church governance as part of the General Convention. There are two houses of representatives: The House of Bishops and The House of Deputies. In 2022 our Diocesan Convention elected sixteen people to serve as our deputation to the 81st General Convention. Eight deputies (four clergy/four lay) and eight alternates (four clergy/four lay), along with Bishop Marc and Bishop Austin, have been attending online committee meetings and hearings for several months in preparation for GC and will soon travel to Louisville to participate in the in-person event.

Since we are a people who believe in spiritual growth and learning, our system allows us to adapt to new information and changing times while protecting the foundations of our belief system. We do all this in community. It’s not always easy, and it can be complicated. The simplest way to explain our governance system is like this: A local congregation is like a city and the Rector/Vicar is the Mayor and the Vestry/Bishop’s Committee (BC) is the City Council. The Deanery is like a County and the Diocese resembles state governance. Management at each of these levels of “church,” is different; the larger the number of parishes and people involved, the more complex the system becomes.

Q&A with Deb & Sarah

Deb: I am a life-long Episcopalian and have served in several capacities in Diocesan leadership, but being a member of a General Convention Deputation has the toughest learning curve I have encountered. Can you explain what deputation members do?

Sarah: Deputies attend the General Convention in person, which is a commitment of about a week of vacation time for many of us. Our big responsibility is to sit on the floor of the House of Deputies and vote on resolutions, canon (rule) changes, and public policy statements, all of which clarify our beliefs and dictate how we do things.

In recent conventions, we have had over 400 resolutions! Many of these are voted on via a daily consent calendar; others are debated on the floor of the House. Ultimately, resolutions must pass in identical form in both the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. Deputies also vote in elections, such as selecting a President and Vice-President of the House of Deputies (kind of like the Senior and Junior Wardens of TEC). It’s quite a responsibility. And although the House of Bishops is responsible for electing the Presiding Bishop every nine years, the House of Deputies must confirm that election.

To prepare for all this work, deputies read the so-called Blue Book of reports that provide information on the work that has happened since the last Convention. The Blue Book has hundreds of pages of reports. We also have to be familiar with the Rules of Order for the House of Deputies and the Constitution and Canons of the Church.

Deputies also serve on legislative committees that hold hearings on proposed resolutions and perfect and recommend action on them. For this convention, most public hearings have been held on Zoom for the last several months. Hearings are open to all, not just deputies.

To your point about the learning curve, then, the simple answer is that deputies are stepping up to governance for the whole Episcopal Church. The House of Deputies has over 800 members representing over 100 dioceses – one of the largest continuing legislative bodies in the world. There is a curve in learning how it all works, and there is also a curve in getting to know deputies from other dioceses.

Deb: Okay, speaking of deputies, here is a simple question. Why are we “deputies” and not “delegates”?

Sarah: The House of Deputies is the first and senior house as it was first formed, with the House of Bishops added four years later. The term originates from the Latin deputare, meaning “to ponder.” This reminds us to prayerfully listen to others and be led by the Holy Spirit.

Deb: What kinds of committees do deputies serve on?

 Sarah: There are 25 legislative committees which are responsible for covering specific areas. Legislative committee members and officers are appointed by the President of the House of Deputies. About half of the House of Deputies are asked to serve on a committee. Currently, nine of our sixteen deputies serve on committees, with three acting as Vice-Chairs and one as the Chair.

We also assign deputies to attend committee meetings that are working on issues that the deputation has agreed are important to the Diocese of California, leading to more meeting hours!

Deb: If the General Convention is every three years, doesn’t that mean the deputies only work for a couple of months? Why don’t we just elect them for the year of the GC?

Sarah: General Convention deputies serve continuously until a new deputation is elected. In DioCal, we elect two years before the General Convention and we use that long runway to bring new deputies and alternates up to speed, discuss priorities for our deputation, and sometimes propose diocesan convention resolutions to bring to the General Convention. Just before we go to the Convention, we try to meet with our bishop(s) to discuss our work and hear from them. During the Convention itself, we caucus just about every day to discuss what is happening in committee and on the floor.

Deb: What do you think people should think about when they vote for deputies? How can they know what work that person may need to be able to do?

Sarah: That’s a great question! We’re very glad that our deputation as a whole is fairly diverse across a variety of metrics (gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, age), so that’s one factor, to elect deputies who can bring different experience and voices to the table. Overall, I would say we want to elect deputies who are enthusiastic about church governance and can be faithful to the work of the church in its various dimensions.

Deb: Is there ranking among the deputies? What is the difference between a “deputy” and an “alternate”?

Sarah: Deputies get the badge to sit on the floor of the House (in chairs!) and vote. Alternates are elected to fill in for the deputies when needed.  In DioCal, we work as a team, meaning that all our deputies and alternates help with our work.

Deb: If people don’t want to follow all the General Convention news but are very interested in certain topics – like the election of the Presiding Bishop, changes in liturgy and issues in the news – how can they do that?

Sarah: The General Convention website is a great first stop for information. Our wonderful DioCal Canon for Communications, Stephanie Martin-Taylor, will be in Louisville with us and she’ll be reporting about what’s happening in the DioCal newsletter and on our social media. Episcopal News Service, which is a daily online newsletter that you can subscribe to, will be reporting every day as well.

Deb: Can people contact the deputies? How can they know which deputy is working on what issues?

Sarah: You can contact us through the two co-chairs, The Very Rev. Eric Metoyer (Metoyer.ericm82@gmail.com) or me, Sarah Lawton (SarahELawton@gmail.com). If you are interested in a particular issue, we can direct you to the person working on it. We are happy to work with you.

The DioCal Deputation is:

Laura Curlin (Lay Deputy), Member, Evangelism and Future Church Legislative Committee
Joseph Dashiell (Lay Alternate), covering Governance and Structure
Christopher Hayes (Lay Deputy), Chair, Title IV Disciplinary Canons Legislative Committee
The Rev. Richard Helmer (Clergy Deputy), Vice-Chair, Resolution Review Legislative Committee
Ron Hermanson (Lay Alternate), Covering Congregational Vitality
Emily Hopkins (Lay Alternate), Covering Environmental Stewardship and Care of Creation
Sarah Lawton (Lay Deputy), Lay Co-Chair of the DioCal Deputation and member of the Stewardship and Socially Responsible Investing Legislative Committee
The Rev. Debbie Low-Skinner (Clergy Alternate), Covering Racial Truth-telling, Reckoning, and Hearing
The Very Rev. Eric Metoyer, (Clergy Deputy), Clergy Co-Chair of the DioCal Deputation and Vice-Chair of the Evangelism and Future Church Legislative Committee
The Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers (Clergy Deputy), Vice-Chair of the Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music Legislative Committee and Candidate for the Vice-President of the House of Deputies
Jennifer Nelson (Lay Alternate), Covering Social Justice and US policy
The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge (Clergy Alternate) Member, Resolution Review Legislative Committee
Karma Quick-Panwala (Lay Alternate), Member, Resolution Review Legislative Committee
The Very Rev. Dr. Deb White, (Clergy Deputy), Member, Safety, Wellness, and Mental Health Legislative Committee
The Rev. Dr. Mauricio Wilson (Clergy Alternate), Covering Agencies and Boards
Warren Wong (Lay Deputy, Coordinating resolution tracking and testimony

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Marc H. Andrus, Bishop Diocesan
The Rt. Rev. Austin K. Rios, Bishop Coadjutor

DioCal churches to be featured in General Convention slideshow

DioCal churches to be featured in General Convention slideshow

Apr 3, 2024 | #GeneralConvention, #Stories

Story by Canon Stephanie Martin Taylor
Photo above taken by Canon Stephanie at Holy Child & St. Martin, Daly City 

Leading up to this summer’s Episcopal Church General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, the Rev. David M. Rider, a photographer and priest resident in the Diocese of New York, has been visiting a wide range of Episcopal dioceses around the Church. He’s been looking for, in his words, “outreach ministries, joyful multicultural parishes, [and] urban ministries that General Convention attendees might not have seen.”

Rev. David says the photographs will be featured in a slideshow that will loop on the big screens at the 81st General Convention, which takes place June 23 to 28, 2024. He says the Episcopal Church’s Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society assigned him the project to “visually capture the wide diversity of our Church.”

Holy Child & St. Martin, Daly City

On Sunday, February 25, Rev. David photographed the Sunday morning Eucharist at Holy Child & St. Martin, Daly City. One of our diocese’s most culturally diverse congregations. Under the leadership of the Rev. Jurek Fernandez, the church was on that day celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Manaoag, a tradition observed by many Filipino Christians.

Click here to see Rev. David’s photos from Holy Child & St. Martin.

Saint John the Evangelist, San Francisco

Earlier that week, Rev. David also visited Saint John the Evangelist in San Francisco’s Mission District. Click here to view the photographs, which include images of the Rev. Kevin Deal, St. John’s rector, and the Gubbio Project, a shelter that St. John’s hosts inside its sanctuary.

All Saints, San Francisco

The DioCal tour also included All Saints in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury neighborhood. Click here to see photos from his tour of the church and neighborhood with the Rev. Dan Scheid.

St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco 

Rev. David says in 2021, he took photos of worship at St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco, and those will be included in the General Convention slideshow as well.

See more of Rev. David’s photography at davidrider.photoshelter.com.

DioCal at the General Convention Deputies of Color meeting

DioCal at the General Convention Deputies of Color meeting

Mar 5, 2024 | #GeneralConvention, #Stories

From February 29 to March 3, the General Convention (GC) Deputies of Color (DOC), with over 110 in attendance, convened for orientation, networking, and strategizing on GC legislative priorities among our Asian, Black, Indigenous, and Latino Caucuses.

Those in attendance lodged at the historic Seelbach Hilton Hotel in downtown Louisville. This is where F. Scott Fitzgerald frequented the Rathskeller Bar where he was inspired and write “The Great Gatsby.” It was also known that Al Capone gambled at Rathskeller en route to collect local bourbon shipments.

Representing DioCal were our “merry band” of Deputies of Color: Warren Wong, Joseph Dashiell, The Rev. Dr. Mauricio Wilson, myself, The Very Rev. Eric Metoyer, and The Rev. Dcn. Jennifer Nelson.

The Deputies of Color gathering commenced at the historic Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Louisville, with a welcome from DOC Convener Joe McDaniel. Long-time, veteran Deputies The Very Rev. Sandye Wilson and Diane Pollard of the Black Caucus outlined the legislative process. The Rev. Isaiah Shaneequa Brokenleg, Staff Officer of the Office of Racial Reconciliation, delivered a presentation on the effects of intergenerational trauma and the importance of storytelling to find connections with one another.

The Opening Eucharist at the Cathedral featured Vice President of the House of Deputies (HoD) and a member of the Indigenous Caucus, The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, as Presider, and The Very Rev. Matthew Bradley, Cathedral Dean, delivered an excellent, thought-provoking homily which referenced the racist past of the Episcopal Church and of Christ Church Cathedral under the tenure of its first Dean, The Very Rev. James Craik.  (Craik was a slave owner and served as GC Delegate and President of the HoD in 1862-77, during the Civil War/Reconstruction.)  Dean Bradley ended his homily by encouraging us to persevere in our DOC work by bringing God’s dream to fruition, for the flourishing of all people and all Creation for the life of the world.

Our second day began soberly with a prayer offered by our own, the Very Rev. Eric Metoyer, who prayed for safety from gun violence and for healing for the victim who was shot earlier that morning in front of the Seelbach Hotel. The day continued with greetings from the GC Executive Officer, The Rev. Cn. Michael Barlowe, and from the President of the HoD, Julia Ayala Harris, who is a member of the Latino Caucus. The rest of the day consisted of presentations on:

  • The history of the GC and DOC by long-time Deputy and former VP of the HoD, The Honorable Byron Rushing (former Congressman of Boston in 1982-2018 and member of the DioMass Deputation and the Black Caucus)
  • An explanation of the GC schedule and Blue Book by GC Deputy Executive Officer, The Rev. Dr. Molly James.
  • Clergy Demographics by the Church Pension Group. It was interesting to learn that women now constitute 39% of active clergy and 30% of active bishops and that bishops and deacons are slightly more diverse than priests.
  • Office of Government Relations (EPPN) by Church Relations Officer Alan Yarborough
  • Environmental Racism by The Episcopal Church Director of Creation Care and Justice, The Rev. Melanie Mullen.
  • The Coalition of Racial Equity and Justice, which will be a 501(c)(3) organization in parallel to The Episcopal Church continuing the work begun with GC80 Resolution A125 and with the Presiding Officers’ Working Group on (Racial) Truth-Telling, Reckoning, and Healing. Co-conveners for the Coalition are Ryan Kusumoto and The Rt. Rev. Dr. Ian Douglas.
  • The 2024-2027 Proposed Episcopal Church Budget by Kurt Barnes, Treasurer and CFO of The Episcopal Church.
  • Farewell presentation of retirement gifts to Angeline Cabanban (who, for over 30 years, was the faithful, devoted, and hardworking Associate for Ethnic Ministries) by The Rev. Stephanie Spellers, The Rev. Anthony Guillen, Heidi Kim, and others.
  • Individual Caucus gatherings. (Below is a photo of the Asian Caucus members, of which Warren Wong and Canon Debbie are members.)

On the final day, the closing Holy Eucharist was held in the hotel ballroom where The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton presided. DioCal members Canon Debbie read Psalm 19 and Rev. Jennifer led us in two Taizé chants. An excellent homily, delivered by The Rev. Isaiah Shaneequa Brokenleg, referred to John 2:13-22. It highlighted that Jesus up-turned the moneychangers’ tables in the Temple because the Temple authorities forgot that Jesus and his followers were family—that all are members of the family of God. Additionally, it affirmed that it is acceptable for us to be righteously angry when we use that energy to transform the Church, utilizing the power of our truth and concern for the marginalized to foster collaboration and manifest the fullness of God’s kingdom of love.

From the House of Bishops to a 17th century alehouse: General Convention climate statement authors reunite in Canterbury

From the House of Bishops to a 17th century alehouse: General Convention climate statement authors reunite in Canterbury

Jul 29, 2022 | #GeneralConvention, #Lambeth, #Press&BishopStatements

In front, center: Bishop and Regional Canon Carol Gallagher (Massachusetts) Next row, from left to right: Bishop Daniel Paul Richards and Mrs. Amy Rose Richards (Upper South Carolina); Mr. Mark Gallagher (Massachusetts); Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde (Washington); Bishop Marc Handley Andrus (California); Mr. Tim Bascom (Kansas); Dr. Sheila Andrus (California), Bishop Cathleen Chittenden Bascom (Kansas); Bishop David Rice (San Joaquin); Mrs. Patricia Hull Lattime (Alaska) Back corner, left to right: Bishop Mark Lattime (Alaska); Bishop Robert Hirschfeld (New Hampshire)

 

Story and photos by Stephanie Martin Taylor, DioCal Canon for Communications

[Canterbury, U.K.] California Bishop Marc Andrus and several of the other bishops who wrote the “Mind of the House” climate emergency statement adopted at the 80th General Convention in Baltimore reunited in Canterbury at a 17th-century pub. Over fish and chips, glasses of ale, and other traditional pub fare, they celebrated their collective work on the statement and rallied for the tasks that lay ahead, which included sharing the document with others in the Anglican Communion.  An excerpt from the statement:

Many of God’s people – especially our children – are in despair as they observe the frightening shifts in our environmental narrative. The risen Christ continues to send us out to proclaim the Gospel to the whole of Creation (Mark 16:15). Like Mary, we go out to all proclaiming God’s love in deed and word. It is our work to lead the way for change, to model good stewardship, and to move forward with  courage and purpose.

Click here to read the full statement. The gathering at the pub, aptly—albeit rather strangely*—named “The Bishop’s Finger,” offered a welcome break for the bishops and several spouses attending Lambeth. Fresh off a whirlwind General Convention in Baltimore, they are once again following a busy conference schedule, with activities scheduled from early mornings to late evenings. As the pub gathering concluded, Bishop Marc, who wrote the original draft of the “Mind of the House” statement, praised the group for their collective input on the document and their help in bringing the draft to its final form. Click here to read more about the process that took place in the House of Bishops.

Trivia time: So, what does “the bishop’s finger” mean?

The sign that hangs over the entrance to the Bishop’s Finger alehouse

With a little help from Google, I learned that “The Bishop’s Finger” is a reference to the finger-shaped signposts that pointed pilgrims to Canterbury and the tomb of Thomas Becket. Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury when, in 1170, knights of King Henry II murdered him in a side chapel of the cathedral (see image below). If you look closely at the pub placard’s upper right corner, you’ll notice one of these finger-shaped signs.

The Becket Martyrdom Altar at Canterbury Cathedral