Executive Council
What is Executive Council and what does it do?
Executive Council shares primary responsibility for planning and directing the temporal affairs of the diocese with the bishop and the Standing Committee, as provided by the constitution and canons of the diocese and of The Episcopal Church. Council acts for the diocesan convention between its annual meetings to implement the programs, policies and budgets convention approved. Additionally, Council serves as the board of directors of the diocesan corporation, exercising, except where canonically restricted, all the fiduciary responsibilities and powers of such a board under California law governing religious corporations. In consultation with the Department of Finance and the treasurer, Council oversees the management of the operating fund and of investments (including real estate), and develops prudent policies and procedures governing the use of diocesan funds. The bishop is president of Council while the other members are elected to staggered three-year terms: two per deanery (one of whom must be lay), six at large by the Convention; the bishop has the right to appoint up to six members and the chancellor, treasurer, and secretary of the convention are ex officio members. Council officers are chair, vice chair, and secretary; we are elected by Council from among its elected members.
Contact Executive Council at: executivecouncil@diocal.org
Officers
The Rev. Kirsten Spalding
Chair
Leigh Flesher
Vice Chair
Peter Fairfield
Secretary
Class of 2024
Bill Burrell
Marin Deanery Representative
St. Columba’s, Inverness
Mike Diamond
Peninsula Deanery Representative
Christ Church, Los Altos
The Rev. David Erickson
Convention Representative
St. Mary’s, San Francisco
Peter Fairfield
Convention Representative
St. Aidan’s, San Francisco
Mary Frances Leopold
South Alameda Deanery Representative
St. James, Fremont
Bruno Peguese
Class of 2025
The Rev. Will Scott
Alameda Deanery Representative
Christ Episcopal Church, Alameda
The Rev. Kirsten Spalding
Convention Representative
Church of the Nativity, San Rafael
Jim Wiant
Contra Costa Deanery Representative
St. Anna’s, Antioch
Vance Frost
Marin Deanery Representative
St. John’s, Ross
Carolyn George
Convention Representative
St. John’s, Oakland
The Rev. John Kirkley
San Francisco Deanery Representative
St. James Episcopal, San Francisco
Class of 2026
Christine Bensen
San Francisco Deanery Representative
Grace Cathedral
The Rev. Todd Bryant
Contra Costa Deanery Representative
St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. Justin Cannon
Southern Alameda Deanery Representative
All Saints, San Leandro
Leigh Flesher
Peninsula Deanery Representative
Trinity Church, Menlo Park
The Rev. AnnaMarie Hoos
Convention Representative
Church of the Epiphany, San Carlos
George Strait
Alameda Deanery Representative
St. Paul’s, Oakland
Bishop’s Appointees
Bruno Peguese
Class of 2024
St. Cyprian’s, San Francisco
Leigh Flesher
Class of 2025
Trinity Church, Menlo Park
Tish Busselle
Class of 2026
St. Paul’s Burlingame
Ex-Officio Members
Lane Ringlee
Treasurer of the Diocese
St. Stephen’s, Orinda
Christopher Hayes, Esq.
Chancellor
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
SubCommittees of the Executive Council
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee meets on the second Thursday of each month
The Executive Council maintains and supervises a Finance Committee, which shall be composed of: a Chair and up to four other persons appointed by the Bishop with the advice and consent of the Executive Council; two persons appointed by (but who need not be members of) the Executive Council; and, ex officio, the Treasurer, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Chancellor of the Diocese, all of whom shall be nonvoting members of the Finance Committee.
The detailed duties of the Finance Committee are described in Section 8.04 of the Diocesan Canons.
Put simply, they are: To maintain general supervision of the financial affairs of the Diocese and to make financial recommendations to the Executive Council and to Convention. The Executive Council requires that all matters of significant financial consequence that come to it for a decision first be reviewed by the Finance Committee and a recommendation made.
Bob McCaskill
Class of 2024
Brad Barber
Class of 2025
Rev. Debbie Hawkins
Class of 2025
Bruce Deal
Class of 2026
Susan Aley
Class of 2026
Finance Committee
Ex Officio members
Lane Ringlee
Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair
The Rev. Canon Michele Racusin
CFO
Canon Christopher Hayes
Chancellor
Finance Committee
Staff Resources
Canon Jim Forsyth
CFO Emeritus
Canon J. Davey Gerhard
Canon for Stewardship
Rev. Canon Debbie Low-Skinner
Canon to the Ordinary