General Convention Report
For the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
| |
Diocese of Los Angeles storms General Convention | |
A goodly number of the many Diocese of Los Angeles representatives at this year's General Convention, meeting in Louisville, Kentucky – including deputies, bishops, ECW reps, diocesan staff, volunteers, exhibitors and others – gather for a photo. |
|
Bishop John Harvey Taylor and the L.A. deputies and alternates sport blue polo shirts with the "Feeding Hungry Hearts" cross, reminding all of the theme of Taylor's episcopate. From left: Taylor, Guy Leemhuis, Fennie Chang, Rachel Nyback, Kelli Grace Kurtz, Andy Tomat, Cameron Johnson, Alan Herendich, Dominique Piper, Thomas Diaz and Kathryn Nishibayashi. | |
Randy Heyn-Lamb of the Diocese of Los Angeles (fifth from left) was one of the demonstrators who protested the bishops' "no" vote on several resolutions addressing the Israel-Palestine crisis. | |
Demonstrators call out bishops for inaction on Holy Land resolutions; bishops later change course on one
By Logan Crews
[Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky – June 24, 2024] Some 15 Episcopalians – lay and ordained – mostly representing the group Palestinian Anglicans and Clergy Allies and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine Israel Network began gathering outside the House of Bishop’s 30 minutes before the start of the June 24 afternoon legislative session.
They held signs quoting pleas of Palestinian Christians and calling for peace in Israel-Palestine. As a bishop walked by, one person called out, “Bishop, the light is on you.”
A day earlier, bishops voted no on four Holy Land resolutions and passed three. Two of the three resolutions passed with amendments. The Deputies’ Social Justice & International Justice Committee considered those amendments the morning of June 24 and further amended the resolutions. Those resolutions were then referred to the full House of Deputies.
Read more
|
Deputies’ committee amends Palestine resolution before sending it to House’s floor
[Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky – June 24, 2024] The House of Deputies’ Social Justice & International Policy Committee met June 24 to discuss resolutions heard in the House of Bishops the previous day and resolutions still pending on the bishops’ legislative calendar.
| |
Deputies reject proposal calling for Episcopal Church to sharply reduce diocesan assessment by 2033
By David Paulsen
Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky – June 24, 2024] The House of Deputies engaged in a deeply divided debate during its June 24 legislative session over how much money The Episcopal Church should collect from dioceses, with deputies trading arguments over the need to ensure churchwide capacity for ministry and the need to ensure congregational vitality at the local level.
The debate spanned a half hour, with 16 deputies speaking on Resolution C008 – almost evenly split, for and against – and when Presiding Julia Ayala Harris announced the allotted time for debate had expired, 53 deputies wishing to speak were turned away.
Under C008, the 81st General Convention would “ask the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church to set a plan to reduce diocesan assessments to 10% by 2033.” That would be a sharp reduction from the current 15% rate that dioceses contribute to the churchwide budget. Assessments are the church’s largest revenue source.
Read more
| |
L.A. voices are heard in budget debate
Andy Tomat, treasurer of the Diocese of Los Angeles, rose several times to speak during the House of Deputies' June 24 discussions on budget matters. He spoke against Resolution A101, which proposes to provide "equitable churchwide pricing of [Defined Health Benefit] plans offered by the Episcopal Church Medical Trust." However, the deputies passed the measure overwhelmingly.
| |
Tomat, joined by L.A. alternate deputy the Rev. Guy Leemhuis (pictured at right), also opposed Resolution C008, which would have lowered the assessments that determine how much each diocese will pay to the wider church from 15% to 10%, saying the measure would "lead the church on a nine-year journey of decline that will result in the end, per my calculations, approximately $30 million less per triennium to support the work of programs, committees and task forces as approved by this and prior General Conventions." This, he said, would damage the church's ability to care for its clergy and people and support its ministry.
Resolution C008 failed to pass, though the voting was close enough to require a vote by orders.
Leemhuis photo: Kelli Grace Kurtz
| |
Deputies’ vice president accuses president of leadership failures; president calls it ‘misrepresentation’
By David Paulsen
[Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky – June 24, 2024] On the eve of the House of Deputies’ presidential election, the incumbent vice president, the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, published a blog post June 24 laying out specific allegations she previously had only alluded to against incumbent President Julia Ayala Harris.
Taber-Hamilton’s blog post accuses Ayala Harris of using her office to “manipulate, intimidate, silence, mistreat and marginalize people” – including by excluding Taber-Hamilton from leadership roles – and of treating Taber-Hamilton and certain other church leaders as potential threats rather than as collaborative partners.
“Over the past two years, the president has journeyed to this General Convention on a veritable corduroy road of people that she has thrown under the bus,” Taber-Hamilton said.
Read more
| |
LGBTQ+ bishops, deputies and others celebrate progress toward inclusion with photo op
More than 80 bishops, deputies and other convention-goers who identify as LGBTQ+ gathered June 24 in the Kentucky International Convention Center for a photo opportunity arranged by the Task Force on LGBTQ+ Ministries. Most of them had just attended a joint session of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies at which they discussed the budget for the next triennium.
Six LGBTQ+ bishops, including Deon Johnson (Missouri), Thomas Brown (Maine), Bonnie Perry (Michigan), Phyllis Spiegel (Utah), Mary Glasspool (New York) and Jeffrey Mello (Connecticut), also posed for their own photo.
"Today's photo op was truly an outward and visible sign of how much progress the Episcopal Church has made toward fully including LGBTQ people in the work and witness of church," said the Rev. Susan Russell of the Diocese of Los Angeles, a veteran of what she calls the "inclusion wars" for recognition of gay Episcopalians in all orders and sacraments of the church.
"I remember 24 years ago at the General Convention in Denver when a handful of us planned to vest and serve at an Integrity Eucharist as out gay clergy, and we were warned 'you will never work in the church again,'” said Russell, who serves on Bishop John Harvey Taylor's staff as canon for Engagement Across Difference. "There is of course still work to do, but today's gathering of LGBTQ clergy and laity – including members of our House of Bishops – was literally more than we could have imagined in Denver. I am so grateful."
Bishops' photo by Susan Russell
| |
New Community Festival
In the photo above: Clergy and laypeople of color attending General Convention gather at the New Community Festival on June 23, held at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, where General Convention in in progress. Below: Diocese of Los Angeles deputies and volunteers of Asian descent, along with new and old friends, pose with with the Rev. Pamela Tang, center, interim missioner for Asiamerica Ministries, a division of the department of Ethnic Ministries at the Episcopal Church Center, which hosted the event. "Such a gathering would not have been possible without financial support from The Episcopal Church," Deputy Fennie Chang told The News.
Photos courtesy of Fennie Chang
| |
"Always a treat to see Archbishop Thabo," says the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, chaplain to the House of Deputies, pictured here with his countryman from South Africa, the Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba, archbishop of Cape Town. At the time of his election in 2007, Makgoba was the youngest person ever to be chosen for that position. Photo courtesy of Lester Mackenzie | |
For the record
In the June 23 issue of Convention Report, Triennial delegate Kimberly Cortner's name was misspelled. Also, the photo of the deputies' stanchion was courtesy of Kathryn Nishibayashi. The News regrets the errors.
| |
Click on highlighted titles to read the articles.
GC81 Daily Digest, June 24: Ethnic Ministries festival, and a vote on 83rd General Convention cities
[ENS – Louisville, Kentucky – June 24, 2024] The 81st General Convention is in its second full day, meeting at the Kentucky International Convention Center. Legislative committees continue to meet and the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops are meeting in their respective houses for legislative sessions.
Party celebrates Episcopal Church Women’s 150th birthday
[ENS – Louisville, Kentucky – June 24, 2024] A 150th birthday party thrown by the Episcopal Church Women drew 200 people to festivities that included a photo booth, 1970s music, a dance floor and themed cupcakes. The June 23 event took place in a ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, where the 81st General Convention also is happening.
Goal of full communion with United Methodist Church gets approval by House of Bishops
[Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky] On June 24 the House of Bishops approved the next step toward full communion between The Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church by adopting Resolution A049, as amended.
| |
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 and photos by Janet Kawamoto, editor, The Episcopal News | | | | |