|
General Convention Report
For the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
| |
The Kentucky International Convention Center is the site of The Episcopal Church's 81st convention. Photo: KICC | |
Episcopalians begin to gather in Louisville for 2024 General Convention
[Louisville, KY] The 81st General Convention of The Episcopal Church hasn't officially started yet, but Episcopalians are arriving in Louisville, Kentucky, from all over the United States and the 22 countries or territories where dioceses of the church are found. The secretary of the convention, Michael Barlowe, estimates that the triennial meeting may draw as many as 10,000 people, including bishops, deputies, delegates to the Episcopal Church Women's Triennial (held concurrently), exhibitors, volunteers and visitors.
The Episcopal News will file daily reports from the convention highlighting the work of the Diocese of Los Angeles bishop, deputation, volunteers and visitors.
Clergy deputies are: the Rev. Fennie Chang, the Rev. Antonio Gallardo, the Rev. Kelli-Grace Kurtz and the Rev. Rachel Nyback; the Rev. Dominique Piper and the Rev. Guy Leemhuis are alternates.
Lay deputies are Thomas Diaz, Alan Herendich, Kathryn Nishibayashi, and Canon Andy Tomat; alternate is Cameron Johnson.
More about the deputies and their specific responsibilities and areas of interest is here. Note: The Rev. Canon Melissa McCarthy, who is included in the article, had to step down as a deputy in order to recover from recent surgery.
Bishop John Harvey Taylor will represent the L.A. Diocese in the House of Bishops. He is co-chair of the Bishops’ Legislative Committee 6 on Social Justice and International Affairs. Below is a reflection Taylor wrote for the Juneteenth holiday in which he muses on the work The Episcopal Church needs to do to counteract racism. (See From the Bishop's Blog, below.)
| |
Juneteenth and the work yet to be done
by John Harvey Taylor
It’s hard to read the raw statistics without cringing. Sixty percent of the U.S. population is white but just 30% of those in federal prison. Just over 12% of us are people of African descent compared to nearly 35% of prisoners.
People don’t vary according to race in their moral and ethical capacity, although I fear some are still tempted to think otherwise. The only explanation for the disparity is the hard truth that we haven’t reckoned fully with the sins of slavery, Jim Crow, and continuing racism. It’s been 159 years since the Union army arrived in Galveston on that June 19 and proclaimed that Texas’s quarter million enslaved people were free. Let’s break down the walls of the jails and prisons and set free those held unjustly in our time.
It’s a matter first of all of basic human decency. Jail and prison chaplains give us chapter and verse about appalling conditions behind bars. U.S. justice metes out harsh retribution. Those who favor reform and rehabilitation get drawn into wearying arguments about victims’ rights and crime rates. But one can support sending deserving criminals to jail without losing sight of the way prejudice and the iron laws of socio-economics lay disproportionate burdens on the shoulders of young men of color, especially those of African descent. It exacerbates the indecency when we beat the scales of justice into a sword of vengeance.
We all share the urgent responsibility for breaking this cycle of injustice. But how many of us even notice it? Doing so requires white people to do our personal, sometimes unpleasant Juneteenth work.
Here’s mine. At 17, in the late forties in Detroit, when racism was rampant, my mother got a job at a department store. I think of all the Black girls who didn’t have the same shot. My alcohol-addicted father left us when I was two. By then, my mom could afford a babysitter. As a teenager, I was thoughtless and irresponsible. I came home alone after school because my mom worked long hours. But by that time, we had a nice house in a safe neighborhood. At 15, though I wasn’t really qualified, I was admitted to an elite boarding school where my dad had an ancient family connection.
Read more
| |
The Rt. Rev. John Harvey Taylor is seventh bishop diocesan of the Diocese of Los Angeles. His blog may be found here, or follow him on Facebook here. | |
Candidates for presiding bishop are, from left: J. Scott Barker (Nebraska), Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez (Pennsylvania), Sean Rowe (Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York), Robert Wright (Atlanta), and DeDe Duncan-Probe (Central New York). Below: Thomas Diaz, deputy from the Diocese of Los Angeles, will moderate the forum. | |
Presiding bishop candidates to be introduced today at afternoon forum
The most-watched action of this year's convention will be the election of a new presiding bishop to succeed the Most Rev. Michael Curry, whose nine-year term ends in November.
Thomas Diaz, deputy from the Diocese of Los Angeles and a member of the Joint Nominating Committee for the Presiding Bishop, will moderate a forum today at 3 p.m. (12 p.m. PT) at which deputies, visitors and others may meet the candidates: Bishop J. Scott Barker (Nebraska), Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez (Pennsylvania), Bishop Sean Rowe (Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York), Bishop Robert Wright (Atlanta) and Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe (Central New York). The forum will be livestreamed and available for on-demand viewing here.
After video introductions of each nominee, the nominees will respond to questions prepared by the committee. Questions will be drawn randomly from five categories: diversity, inclusion and equity; leadership and administration; reconciliation; spiritual and self-care; and care of creation. The nominees will be allotted three minutes for each response. (More about the candidates is here.)
On Tuesday, June 25, the JNCPB will formally present the nominees during a joint session of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies “for the consideration of the two Houses in the choice of a Presiding Bishop” (Canon 1.2.1.g). There will be no other nominations from the floor. The joint session is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT (7:30 - 9 a.m. PT). A livestream will be available here.
On June 26, the House of Bishops will convene in closed session at Christ Church Cathedral for the election. The result will be conveyed to the House of Deputies, which will be asked to confirm the winner. The 28th presiding bishop is scheduled begin a new nine-year term on Nov. 1, and an installation is scheduled for Nov. 2 at Washington National Cathedral.
In addition, the three declared nominees for president of the House of Deputies will participate in an in-person forum at 2 p.m. on Friday, June 20, at the Marriott Hotel near the convention center. The nominees are: Ayala Harris, incumbent House of Deputies president; Zena Link; and the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, who is the sitting vice president. The forum will be live-streamed here.
In addition to Diaz, two other members of the Joint Nominating committee are from the Diocese of Los Angeles: Canon Steven Nishibayashi, JNCPB committee co-chair; and the Rev. Antonio Gallardo, rector of St. Luke's Church, Long Beach.
| |
|
More about General Convention
Click on highlighted titles to read the articles.
Hundreds of bishops, deputies converge on Louisville as 81st General Convention gets underway
[Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky– June 21, 2024] The Episcopal Church’s home base for the next week will be at the corner of Fourth and Jefferson streets, where a steady stream of bishops and deputies have begun filing through the Kentucky International Convention Center as they check in for the 81st General Convention.
Louisville set to host 81st General Convention in return of large, churchwide gathering
[ENS – June 18, 2024] However you pronounce Louisville, the city’s downtown soon will become a hub of Episcopal Church governance, networking, fellowship and celebration when the Diocese of Kentucky hosts the 81st General Convention from June 23-28.
Civil War-era House of Deputies president’s pro-slavery views were long overlooked, until now
[ENS – June 20, 2004] One of the longest-serving presidents in House of Deputies history, the Rev. James Craik, was a Civil War-era Kentucky priest and slaveholder whose racist views on slavery and African Americans have since been disavowed by his diocese for openly promoting white supremacy.
House of Deputies vice presidential candidates participate in online forum
[ENS – June 17, 2024] The three declared candidates for House of Deputies vice president, in a June 15 online forum, addressed topics ranging from contemporary challenges The Episcopal Church is facing today to proposed changes to the deputies’ Rules of Order.
Episcopal News Service articles about General Convention are collected here
| |
How does General Convention
handle resolutions?
Resolutions at General Convention may be proposed by bishops, deputies, diocesan conventions or committees and commissions of The Episcopal Church. Before the convention, the resolutions are assigned to one of 19 legislative committees, made up of deputy and bishop representatives as assigned by the presiding officer of each house. The committees examine the resolutions, combine similar ones, and refine the language to make sure it fits canonical requirements. Then the committees submit the resolutions to one of the houses of convention. Both houses must concur for a resolution to become an official act of convention.
A graphic outlining how a resolution moves through General Convention is here.
| |
Keeping up with General Convention | |
|
Click the blue headings to find a wide range of information about General Convention.
General Convention Office
This is communication central for the convention, with links to information about schedules, legislative actions, resolutions and more.
Media Hub
On this page you'll find live video coverage of the House of Bishops, House of Deputies, and worship services, along with a photo gallery and short videos.
The General Convention schedule
How resolutions move through General Convention
The General Convention Virtual Binder
For true church nerds: this is the information used by bishops and deputies as they go about their work at the convention, including texts and progress of all resolutions. It is updated regularly.
House of Bishops
House of Deputies
Social Media
Follow social media updates from General Convention with the hashtag #GC81
| |
Except as noted, reporting by Janet Kawamoto, editor, The Episcopal News | | | | |
