General Convention Report
For the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
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Bishop Sean Rowe addresses the 81st General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, after his election and confirmation as the 28th presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church. He takes office on Nov. 1. Photo: Scott Gunn | |
Sean Rowe elected 28th presiding bishop, will begin nine-year term Nov. 1
[Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky – June 26, 2024] The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, bishop of Northwest Pennsylvania and bishop provisional of Western New York, was elected and confirmed June 26 at the 81st General Convention to serve as the 28th presiding bishop. His nine-year term as presiding bishop, the face and voice of The Episcopal Church and its chief pastor, begins Nov. 1.
The House of Bishops elected Rowe on their first ballot in a closed session at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Louisville. The result later was announced publicly in the afternoon session of the House of Deputies, which greeted the news with cheers. The deputies proceeded to confirm him with a nearly unanimous majority, 95% in favor, and the standing-room-only crowd erupted in applause across the hall at the Kentucky International Convention Center.
Rowe was elected from a slate of five nominees chosen through a process led by the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop, which is made up of 20 bishops, clergy and lay leaders. The other presiding bishop nominees were Nebraska Bishop J. Scott Barker, Central New York Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe, Pennsylvania Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez and Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright.
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Bishop Sean Rowe participates with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry in a June 26 news conference after Rowe's election and confirmation as the 28th presiding bishop. Photo: Janet Kawamoto | |
Bishop John Harvey Taylor of Los Angeles, second from right, and other bishops walk to Christ Church Cathedral (pictured below) for the election of the 28th presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church. | |
Los Angeles bishop, deputies applaud election of Sean Rowe as next presiding bishop
The June 26 election of the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe as presiding bishop drew approving comments from members of the Los Angeles deputation to General Convention.
Rowe was elected on the first ballot from a slate of five candidates, four of whom – Rowe, bishop of Northwestern Pennsylvania and bishop provisional of the Diocese of Western New York; Bishop Robert Wright of Atlanta; Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez of Pennsylvania; and Bishop J. Scott Barker of Central Nebraska – were nominated by the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop, co-chaired by Canon Steven Nishibayashi, secretary of convention for the Diocese of Los Angeles. The fifth candidate, Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe, was nominated later by petition.
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L.A. Deputies Thomas Diaz of All Saints Church, Pasadena, and the Rev. Antonia Gallardo, rector of St. Luke’s Church, Long Beach, also served on the nominating committee.
Rowe will succeed the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry as presiding bishop. His term will begin on Nov. 1, 2024.
After he was elected by the House of Bishops and confirmed by the House of Deputies, Rowe addressed the combined houses. He acknowledged some of the challenges facing The Episcopal Church, saying that it was time for the church to examine its structures and make sure its polity helped, rather than hindered its work in the world.
Bishop John Harvey Taylor approved Rowe’s vision. “As we could hear from his moving address to the church this afternoon, Presiding Bishop-elect Rowe is a great choice for our church,” Taylor told The Episcopal News. “He knows its structures and its suffering; he leavens his skills at adaptive reform and consolidation with a palpable optimism about the future of the church he and we love so much and which our changing culture needs so much.
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Going off the grid for election of a new presiding bishop
By John Harvey Taylor
My scrapbook from Wednesday at the 81st General Convention in Louisville comprises San Diego Bishop Susan Brown Snook’s photo of our new presiding bishop-elect, Sean Rowe, at Christ Church Cathedral, flanked by his predecessors, Katharine Jefferts Schori and Michael Curry.
Where were my photos? Nonexistent. Because where was my phone? Back at the hotel. Fearful of leaks via social media or text, those running the election urged us to leave our electronics home or, if we felt we just couldn’t do without them, turn them off during the election. I was among a handful of bishops who didn’t drive through that giant loophole. I ventured forth first thing in the morning without RAM in hand.
I actually looked forward to spending most of the day dedigitized. During the breaks in the action, I chatted with colleagues or prayed in the balcony. No selfies, no emails. I only reached for my absent phone ten or 15 times, tops. After Sean’s election was announced, and officials announced the all clear, and about 130 bishops instantly engaged in rephonation of life, I did regret not being able to get my own art. When I got back to my devices about 3:30, they showed how much they had pined for me those seven long hours by erupting with dozens of impossibly urgent messages.
Yet all the better to live fully into an historic moment without the temptation of chronicling it in real time. The walk en masse from the 8:30 a.m. convention center Holy Eucharist to the cathedral, chatting with a wise colleague about the secular world and its discontents. Smiling at the volunteer who held aside the black curtain that officials had hung along the cathedral’s courtyard fence, so no one could see in. Drinking in the stately Federalist-era beauty of Louisville’s oldest church building, 200 years old this year. Singing “Come Down, O Love Divine” before the first and only ballot.
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June 25 was Camp Tee Shirt Day at General Convention, and the Los Angeles deputation proudly wore Camp Stevens tee shirts. Back row, from left; Alan Herendich, Dominique Piper, Gue Leemhuis, Courtney Johnson, Rachel Nyback (deputation chair), Andy Tomat and Kelli-Grace Kurtz. In front: Fennie Chang, Thomas Diaz, and Kathryn Nishibayashi. | |
Lester Mackenzie, rector of St. Mary's Church, Laguna Beach, and chaplain to the House of Deputies for the fourth time, was elected June 26 as a clergy member of Executive Council on the first ballot. | |
Nancy Frausto (in blue), formerly a priest of the Diocese of Los Angeles, now director of Latinx Studies at Seminary of the Southwest, poses with a group of friends. | |
ECW Triennial delegates from the Diocese of Los Angeles Martha Estes, Christine Budzowski and Kimberly Cortner join in a hymn at General Convention's June 26 Eucharist. | |
Suzanne Edwards-Acton and a friend staff the Union of Black Episcopalians booth in the exhibit hall. Photo: John Taylor | |
Kate Lewis, volunteer coordinator and priest of the Diocese of Los Angeles is usually on the run at General Convention, but she stopped long enough to sit down with Canon Steven Nishibayashi at the House of Deputies. Photo: John Taylor | |
Bishop John Harvey Taylor takes a selfie with Kathy O'Connor, Bishop Mary Glasspool and Becki Sander. Glasspool, formerly a bishop suffragan in the Diocese of L.A., now serves as bishop assistant in the Diocese of New York. | |
GC81 Daily Digest, June 26: Fiesta Latina, budget advances, deputies convene ‘Episco Disco’
[Episcopal News Service — Louisville, Kentucky – June 26, 2024] The 81st General Convention continues to meet at the Kentucky International Convention Center. Legislative committees are still holding 7 a.m. meetings and the House of Deputies is meeting in a legislative session while the House of Bishops is gathered at Christ Church Cathedral to elect the 28th presiding bishop.
Fourth priest declares candidacy for House of Deputies vice president; election is June 27
[Episcopal News Service — Louisville, Kentucky – June 26, 2024] The Rev. John Floberg, a priest in the Diocese of North Dakota, has declared his candidacy for House of Deputies vice president, joining three other declared candidates in the election scheduled for June 27.
Indigenous Ministries hosts boarding schools panel discussion at 81st General Convention
[Episcopal News Service — Louisville, Kentucky – June 26, 2024] The Episcopal Church’s Office of Indigenous Ministries hosted a June 25 panel discussion on Indigenous boarding schools and the church’s historic role in operating at least 34 of them of throughout the United States.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations call on convention to listen to Palestinian Christians
[Episcopal News Service — Louisville, Kentucky – June 26, 2024] Toward the end of the House of Deputies June 25 afternoon legislative session pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered at the back of the deputies’ hall holding signs and a banner that read “Listen to Palestinian Christians.” This is the second demonstration staged by Episcopalians representing Palestinian Anglicans and Clergy Allies and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine Israel Network.
General Convention elects members to Executive Council
[Episcopal News Service — Louisville, Kentucky – June 26, 2024] The House of Bishops and the House of Deputies have elected 10 new members to serve on Executive Council, the church’s governing body between meetings of General Convention. These members all will serve a six-year term.
Committees hear testimony on creating a Committee on Disability and Deaf Inclusion, expanding childcare at General Convention
[Episcopal News Service — Louisville, Kentucky – June 26, 2024] The deputies’ and bishops’ legislative committees on Accessibility & Inclusion heard testimony June 26 on two resolutions:
D080, which would create a Committee on Disability and Deaf Inclusion; and
D081, to expand the childcare provided during General Convention.
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Except as noted, reporting and photos by Janet Kawamoto, editor, The Episcopal News | | | | |