8th Day: General Convention – Discussing Mission, Structure

After worship accompanied by an excellent gospel choir, and a welcome to GC from Gary Herbert, the Governor of Utah, the 78th Episcopal General Convention (GC) spent the morning discussing the Five Marks of Mission, followed by a well-deserved tribute to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. At the end, the former, current, and elected Presiding Bishop (PB) stood together on the platform:

• Frank Tracy Griswold III (25th PB, 1998-2006)
• Katharine Jefferts Schori (26th and current PB – first woman PB, 2006-2015)
• Michael Bruce Curry (elected to be 27th PB – first African American PB, 2015-)

In the afternoon, the House of Deputies began debate on restructuring the church. The Deputation from Diocese of El Camino Real (ECR) is actively involved in these discussions!  Two of our members were particularly prominent today:

• Jeff Diehl was elected for Province VIII to the Joint Nominating Committee for Presiding Bishop
• Tim Gee spoke to the House of Deputies in support of a resolution

Unfortunately, after an initial questioning period on three key church restructuring resolutions, discussion could not continue because materials had not been translated into Spanish. The discussion on governance and structure will continue tomorrow on:

• A004 Amend I.4.1-8 – Restructure Executive Council
• D013 Budget Process for The Episcopal Church
• A006 Amend I.1.2 – Restructure Standing Commissions and Interim Bodies of General Convention

Discussion will also resume tomorrow on the topic of marriage. It will be a busy day! Tonight, John Plocher and I went to the dinner for The University of the South – School of Theology and had a fun time.

Images Copyright 2015 by Katy Dickinson