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Look for General Convention News and Updates here: Diocese of South Carolina Facebook page The Very Rev. John Burwell's Daily Reports Titusonenine Anglican Ink The Living Church The Episcopal Church Media Hub Resolution tracking View a declaration from the Standing Committee regarding General Convention: here.
The 77th Episcopal Church General Convention will be held July 5 through July 12 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN.
The Episcopal Church’s General Convention is held every three years, and is the bicameral governing body of the Church. It is composed of the House of Bishops, with upwards of 200 active and retired bishops and the House of Deputies, with clergy and lay representatives elected from the 110 dioceses of the Church, at more than 800 members.
For extensive information about General Convention 2012 visit http://generalconvention.org/gc.
Meet the Diocese of South Carolina General Convention deputies.
Q&A About the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church
By The Very Rev. John Burwell, Rector, Holy Cross, Sullivan’s and Daniel Island, Head of Diocese of South Carolina Deputation to the 77th General Convention
What is General Convention?General Convention is a huge, complicated, confusing, unwieldy, political event that bears an
uncanny resemblance to the United States Congress in the manner in which it operates.
Seniority and political correctness decides who gets to serve on the various legislative
committees, and political leanings determine who chairs each committee. Caucuses determine
what language various bills will contain. Special interests join together in lobbies and plot
strategy to defeat their opponents. Partisan political speeches are made in favor or against
particular bills before the House of Deputies or the House of Bishops votes on them. We vote on
issues of morality as if we could decide right and wrong by majority vote. The political battle for
power and control is accepted as normal. There are winners and there are losers. To me, it is a
huge mess and as I’ve said before, I believe we are under Divine judgment because we choose
to operate the way we do.
Where and When Will it Be Held?This is the 77th General Convention of the Church, and we will meet this time in Indianapolis,
Indiana in the Diocese of Indiana. General Convention officially runs from Thursday, July 5th,
through Thursday, July 12th. We who represent you begin our duties on Wednesday, July 4th
with required legislative committee meetings. Some of us will actually be in meetings until 7:00
pm on the 4th. A complete schedule and general Convention information can be found on the
National Church’s Convention website, http://www.generalconvention.org.
What is the Difference Between Delegates and Deputies?According to the Episcopal Church Constitution, each Diocese is to send four lay and four
clerical representatives to General Convention. Convention refers to us as Deputies, rather than
Delegates. By definition, a delegate is someone sent and empowered to act for another and
instructed how to vote on a particular issue, for or against. A deputy, on the other hand would be
one deputed to represent; a representative who has the authority to decide issues in the manner
she or he thinks would be best for the people he or she represents.
Who Will Be Attending From The Diocese of South Carolina?South Carolina will be represented in Indianapolis by Reid Boylston, Lydia Evans, Lonnie
Hamilton, Elizabeth Pennewill, John Burwell, Jim Lewis, Haden McCormick, David Thurlow, and
Bishop Lawrence. Our lay alternates are Dorothy Gervais Carter, John Dugue, and David
Wright. This will be the sixth time I’ve served as the chairman of the South Carolina
representation and I plan for this to be my last Convention.
How is Legislation Offered and Passed at Convention?Legislation to come before Convention can be offered by any National Church committee,
commission, agency or board, by any bishop, by any diocese or province, and/or by any deputy.
As I write this, there are already over a hundred pre-filled resolutions and more are being added
almost daily. All resolutions first go to a legislative committee for review and revision, and
probably over half of them will not make it out of committee. The resolutions that do survive are
placed on the convention calendar and eventually debated by both the House of Bishops and the
House of Deputies. A resolution must pass in both houses in order to be enacted.
What Resolutions Can We Expect to Make it to the Floor?Of course, at this point it is impossible to predict what resolutions will make it out onto the House
floors, or to predict the language they will contain if and when they do arrive on the calendar. As
we could expect, there are a number of pre-filled resolutions concerning human sexuality. Titus
One Nine (http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/) can fill you on what we will be facing. (Editor’s
Note: The Standing Committee has responded to a proposed Convention resolution. Read their
statement here.
How Can We Stay Informed About What is Happening During Convention?The Diocese has created a Facebook page on which deputies will post from time to time. As I have done since my first Convention in 1997, I plan to report back to our Diocese on all
Convention activities (with pictures) every single night. God willing, the official reports will begin
Tuesday night, July 3rd, and continue through Thursday night, July 12th at www.HolyCross.net.
God willing, beginning June 29th there will be a convention link on the website with
pre-convention material ready for your viewing. I humbly ask for your daily prayers for us and
especially for our Bishop and for the Church.
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