Dear Friends,
Every three years the General Convention of The Episcopal Church meets to consider and act upon legislation affecting the governance and the concerns of our church. This year, Convention will take place July 5 through July 13 in Austin, TX.
For those of you for whom General Convention (GC) may be a mystery, GC consists of a House of Deputies (four lay persons and four clergy from each diocese, each area mission, and the Convocation of the American Churches in Europe), and a House of Bishops (all bishops, active and retired). While the two Houses meet and act separately, they must agree for legislation to be adopted. Only the GC has authority to amend the Prayer Book, the church’s Constitution, and the canons (laws) of the church. It also authorizes missionary, educational, and social programs of the church and determines the budget.
To learn more, a terrific source of information is the GC website’s orientation page, found here. I hope to be able to update you about some of the goings-on at GC through our own bishop and deputies in the coming weeks! Please pray for the Convention, its participants, and its decisions.
Wishing you every blessing,
Mtr. TJ