Category Archives: Politics

This is the fourth and final legislative day for the deputation of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real (ECR) at the General Convention (“GC-80”) in Baltimore, Maryland. Today, after morning worship and an inspiring sermon by the newly-elected President of the House of Deputies, Julia Ayala Harris, we discussed changes to the Book of Common Prayer, heard a health report by Dr. Rodney Coldren (only 26 COVID cases reported during GC-80) who thanked us for protecting our fellow deputies, celebrated many House of Deputies awards by outgoing President, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, thanked many remarkable people who have worked for years to make this event happen, planned for GC-81 in Louisville in two years, and filled a variety of positions by election. We particularly celebrated the ten years of the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings as HofD President and gave her many standing ovations.

The historic change of leadership was symbolized by a hand off of the President’s gavel from the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings to Julia Ayala Harris. Both are inspiring and remarkable women who make the world change for the better. In her concluding remarks, Rev. Gay Clark Jennings said it was not enough to appoint and elect change makers, we must also actively encourage and support them to stop the racism and misogyny endemic in our church. People of color and women face real gritty situations and structural barriers, not theoretical problems. We must commit ourselves to this work, seize the opportunity, and not assume others will take care of it.

Check out the Diocese of El Camino Real’s daily GC-80 “Updates from the Floor.”

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right on Katysblog home). Images Copyright 2022 by Katy Dickinson, and Jeff Diehl.

This is the third legislative day for the deputation of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real (ECR) at the General Convention (“GC-80”) in Baltimore, Maryland. Today, despite persistent technical challenges, the House of Deputies (HOD) passed a variety of resolutions and amendments, including the church’s budget, the election of Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton as Vice President of the HOD (the first ordained woman to be so elected), and the celebration of the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, the first woman to serve as President of HOD as her term nears its end. There are so many remarkable faith and community leaders here – it is inspiring!

I have mostly stayed in the hotel and convention center but from time to time we go out to eat. Tomorrow night, we celebrate Maryland Night, so I will see more of Baltimore. Check out the Diocese of El Camino Real’s daily GC-80 “Updates from the Floor.”

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right on Katysblog home). Images Copyright 2022 by Katy Dickinson.

This is the second legislative day for the deputation of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real (ECR) at the General Convention (“GC-80”) in Baltimore, Maryland. The big excitement so far was this morning’s election of Julia Ayala Harris as the next President of the House of Deputies (PHoD). She is the first Latina lay person to hold that role, was endorsed by the LGBTQ+ Caucus, and is from the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma. After the HoD ballot count was announced, Ayala Harris thanked the other candidates who ran, thanked her predecessor the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, and said her election was “for justice, for inclusion, and for Jesus.” A good start!

Today’s House of Deputies session opened with worship and a sermon by the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings. There are about 800 deputies from 107 Episcopal dioceses present. We get a health and safety update from Dr. Rodney Coldren daily. As of this morning, only eight people had reported having COVID-19, which is about 1% of the House of Deputies. Dr. Coldren urged us to follow the guidelines not only to protect the immunocompromised but to respect and protect other people’s choice not to get your COVID. In these pandemic times, assume that symptoms of “just a cold” means COVID, even if you test negative. In more general news, it is raining in Baltimore. Our deputation enjoyed pizza dinner together between the afternoon and evening sessions.

If you want to follow General Convention in real time and detail, check out the Virtual Binder: “The Virtual Binder contains all of the legislative information for the meeting of General Convention. The website is vbinder.net and accessible to the public.” Also, read the Diocese of El Camino Real daily GC-80 “Updates from the Floor.”

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right on Katysblog home). Images Copyright 2022 by Katy Dickinson, and Jeff Diehl.

I am part of the deputation of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real (ECR) to the General Convention (“GC-80”) in Baltimore, Maryland, this week. This is the eightieth General Convention since the House of Deputies was formed in 1785. (The House of Bishops was formed in 1789.) This is the third time I have been part of an ECR deputation: you can read about my adventures at GC-79-Austin and GC-78-Salt-Lake-City on this blog. Many of us arrived in Baltimore from California and registered yesterday. Today is the first day of business. The Episcopal Church has taken many measures to try to minimize the potential danger of the pandemic to GC participants. For example, GC-80 was postponed for a year, the event was shortened from two weeks to four days, all participants must prove that they are vaccinated or exempted, and we all must mask and test every day. This morning’s sessions opened with worship, including an inspiring sermon by our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

Baltimore is different than where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, especially in terms of water. It is hot and humid here and rain is frequent, unlike our drought-plagued west. Attending a convention in a big city presents dangers beyond the pandemic. As we were arriving at our hotel, a man was killed on the street nearby. Tonight, Bishops Against Gun Violence is holding a prayer service for him.

Additional photos after the legislative session:

9 July 2022 update: check out the Diocese of El Camino Real daily GC-80 “Updates from the Floor“

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right on Katysblog home). Images Copyright 2022 by Katy Dickinson, Ruth Casipit Paguio, and Jeff Diehl.