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The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of The Episcopal Church. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in The Episcopal Church, being the bureaucratic facility through which the collegial function of the episcopate is exercised. General Convention comprises two houses: the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. It meets regularly once every three years. The 80th General Convention is being held July 8, 2023 through July 11, 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland. This year's convention is being held a year late due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the schedule is much shorter than normal with fewer people due to continued concerns about COVID-19. There are a multitude of other pandemic measures, some of which make sense to me (daily testing requirements for all bishops and deputies, masks, no eating or drinking on the floor, etc.) and some of which do not. For example, the Deputies and Bishops are worshipping in separate rooms rather than together, and even more bizarre, the President of the House of Deputies will not allow singing during the worship services while the Bishops are permitted to sing. There are about as many resolutions for the Convention to consider as there were four years ago, but with half the amount of time to get the work done. This piece gives a great overview of all of this. Many of the controversial resolutions have been slated as “reject” or “take no action,” and otherwise referred them to one of the church’s interim bodies for further study. While it's impossible to predict exactly which resolutions will come to the floor at this stage, I will provide commentary throughout the Convention on my thoughts on the various acts of Convention. Please join me in praying for our Bishop and Deputies: Amanda Perschall, Alexandra Connors, Curtis Hamilton, Spencer Orr, Christine Morrison, Mtr. Anne Kyle, Fr. Jonathan Frazier, Fr. Chas Marks, Fr. Larry Ehren, and Fr. Sean Kim. Leave a Reply. |