An announcement from Bonnie Anderson, President of the Episcopal Church House of Deputies

The Episcopal Church
Office of Public Affairs

May 23, 2012 (All day)

Episcopal Church House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson has issued the following letter to Deputies and First Alternates.
The following is the text of the letter:

May 23, 2012

Dear Deputies and First Alternates,

I write to you for two reasons:  to thank you for your support, friendship, prayers, challenges, brilliance and love that has inspired and humbled me during these 6 years and second, to let you know that I do not plan to stand for election as President of the House of Deputies for another term.

What is this thing called General Convention, now in video or graphic novel form!

Page from the graphic novel.

Carol Barnwell from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas has just uploaded two pieces that Bonnie Anderson asked her to create for churches to learn about General Convention. One is a brief audio slide show and the other is a “comic book” take on GC. Both are incredibly helpful.


Illustrated pdf


Slideshow on Vimeo

A Fine Summary of the Province V Meeting

Beth Felice, Director of Communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, provided a great summary of our participation in the Province V meeting on April 24-25, 2012.  Read her fine report here -- complete with a fine overview of the meeting as well as photos.

Of the Care and Feeding of Deputies

Wednesday morning of the Province V meeting was set aside for a “General Convention Orientation,” particularly for those of us who are new Deputies to General Convention.  Bonnie Anderson (President of the House of Deputies) led the session, hilariously assisted by The Rev. Canon Dr. Gregory Straub (Executive Officer and Secretary of the General Convention). They led us through the procedures and protocols of General Convention.

On the Structure of the Episcopal Church

On Tuesday evening, the Province V delegates heard a presentation about the Structure of the Episcopal Church.  Since Bishop Stacy Sauls became Chief Operating Officer, there has been a great deal of conversation on this topic. Bishop Sauls joined in a conversation with the Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows (Standing Commission the Structure of the Church), the Rev. Gay Jennings (Chair, House of Deputies Legislative Committee on Structure), and Bishop Jeff Lee (Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church).

The Presiding Bishop in Province V

After the business of the Provincial Synod ended, we heard an address from the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori.  As she began her address, I had my pen in hand, intending to capture her talking points. But within a few minutes, I set my pen aside, for her address called us to more than talking points.  I’m not unduly enamored of the Presiding Bishop, but her address was like poetry. I can’t capture what she said.  Here are the key points I took away.

Spring Training for Deputies

Did you know that the Episcopal Church organizes itself into nine Provinces?  It sure does. TEC’s provinces are analogous to Missouri’s convocations.  We in Missouri belong to Province V of The Episcopal Church – along with 14 dioceses in the upper Midwest.  You can see the map here. Like our convocations, Province V meets to share information and do business for The Episcopal Church.

Province V Synod in Chicago

What it is. The Episcopal Church has nine "associations of dioceses" known as provinces, and Missouri is in Province V. The synod meets at least once each triennium, at a time in the same year of, but prior to, General Convention. The synod's April 24, 2012 meeting included election of officers (Bishop Wayne was the vice-president and continues on for another term), budget review and several "ministry moments' similar to our convention's Diocesan Council vignettes, that explained provinicial ministry networks to the gathered.

Pre-Convention Listening Sessions planned

Missouri's General Convention Deputation Offers Pre-Convention Listening Sessions

What is a listening session? It is you and your voice, your observations and concerns and questions. And a chance for the Missouri deputation to listen, and also to share some of the nuts and bolts of convention process and the Blue Book contents and expected resolutions. Each session will have several members of the deputation present.

Live webcast to address Episcopal Church General Convention 2012

Live webcast to address Episcopal General Convention 2012

Presiding Bishop, PHOD, others to field questions from audience, online

[April 12, 2012] General Convention 2012 of the Episcopal Church will be the topic of a live webcast on Wednesday, May 9 at 1 pm Eastern (noon Central, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific, 9 am Alaska, 8 am Hawaii). The webcast, originating from Indianapolis, the site of this year’s General Convention, can be accessed live or on demand at www.episcopalchurch.org.