The 81st General Convention of The Episcopal Church / 81ª Convención General de la Iglesia Episcopal

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Haiti, The Episcopal Church’s largest diocese by membership, has been in leadership limbo since its last bishop election in 2018 failed to receive churchwide backing over procedural concerns and allegations of favoritism. Since then, the Caribbean nation, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, has been torn by civil unrest and gang violence, and scandals have ensnared some top diocesan officials. An internal fight over control of the diocese broke out last year, with two rival factions claiming they had elected the diocese’s legitimate standing committee. The 81st General Convention, meeting last week in Louisville, Kentucky, chose not to intervene directly in that diocesan dispute, though the bishops and deputies took what they hope are initial steps toward canonical changes that will help Haitian Episcopalians eventually elect a new bishop. The convention passed Resolution D071, which calls for a study of “the leadership obstacles faced by the Diocese of Haiti” and for the development of a new canonical process that would allow churchwide leaders to assist Haiti – and any other diocese that faces a similar crisis in the future. The Standing Commission on Structure, Governance, Constitution and Canons is expected to draft and submit its proposal for consideration in 2027 by the 82nd General Convention. Bishop Todd Ousley, who heads the church’s Office of Pastoral Development, provided guidance to the General Convention committees that amended D071, and he spoke in favor of it in the House of Bishops on June 27 before the bishops’ vote. The standing commission’s task will be to “provide us mechanisms, in those rare instances when a diocese is unable to move forward, to create a solution and [offer] support from churchwide structures,” Ousley said. One of Ousley’s duties is to assist dioceses during their leadership transitions and bishop elections. He alluded to one of the central challenges in responding to the Diocese of Haiti. “We are faced with canonical hurdles to doing those things which will enable autonomous leadership and practical solutions through unusual and overwhelming crises in a diocese.” The current crisis came into focus in June 2018 when the diocese elected the Very Rev. Joseph Kerwin Delicat, dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, as bishop coadjutor. That election failed to receive the necessary churchwide consents from a majority of bishops and diocesan standing committees. When Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin retired in March 2019 without a successor, the standing committee assumed authority over the diocese, which counts nearly 100,000 members. Since then, the diocese reportedly has devolved into chaos and infighting, and in July 2022, at least a half dozen current and former diocesan officials were implicated in an arms trafficking case, including the standing committee president. The case remains under investigation. The Rev. Jean Madoché Vil, the standing committee president, said in May 2023 that electing a new bishop remained a priority, crucial to the survival of the diocese. Vil, however, gave no timeline or plan for holding an election, and rival Episcopal leaders said they had convened their own synod to elect a standing committee to replace the one headed by Vil. The Diocese of Haiti is the largest Episcopal diocese numerically. Some Episcopalians have urged The Episcopal Church to play a greater role in resolving the turmoil in the Diocese of Haiti, though churchwide officials’ ability to intervene is limited by the church’s Constitution and Canons – at least until potential revisions can be proposed, considered and approved. The 81st General Convention passed three resolutions total relating to Haiti. D060 addresses the civil turmoil in the country, which it describes as “an environment of political chaos, insecurity and fear for many Haitians.” It pledges support to global efforts to find solutions to the crisis, and it commits the presiding bishop’s office to working “with the clergy of Haiti to bring a bishop’s presence to Haiti.” Resolution D070, one sentence long, encourages “all Episcopal congregations and other worshipping communities to include the people of Haiti in their intercessory prayers regularly.” The initial draft of Resolution D071 proposed recognizing “the interim Standing Committee of the Diocese of Haiti as the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese,” which Ousley warned could be seen as General Convention taking sides in the unresolved internal dispute. The “interim standing committee” was not elected by the officially recognized synod of the diocese, Ousley explained in a June 22 meeting of the committees on Governance & Structure. “We’ve got these competing entities for legitimacy,” he said, and The Episcopal Church Canons do not yet specify a role for churchwide leaders in resolving such a standoff. “The reality is the clergy and the laity in the diocese are still severely broken into factions and unable to come together as a leadership,” Ousley said. The hope behind the revised D071 was to address “those rare circumstances when a diocese is so severely imperiled,” he said. “It’s a rare instance, but when we need it, we need it.” The Rev. Susan Fortunato, who crafted D071’s initial text, agreed that the Diocese of Haiti is a complex case, and one of great interest and concern to the wider church and to her own Diocese of New York. “We have an incredible relationship with the Diocese of Haiti,” Fortunato said. New York is home to many Haitian immigrants “who are really suffering right now because they have family and friends in Haiti. We need to find one way to move forward in the midst of this complexity.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

[Episcopal News Service] It was the first post-pandemic General Convention, but COVID-19 was still spreading last month when bishops and deputies gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, for the triennial churchwide gathering. Several bishops and an unconfirmed number of deputies tested positive during or after their participation in the 81st General Convention, the first such large gathering since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the church in 2022 to plan a shorter four-day General Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. That gathering two years ago featured limited attendance, restrictions on interactions and additional precautions, such as mandatory masking and testing. This year, church leaders – acting on information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – chose not to maintain the same restrictions and precaution in Louisville, now that the public health emergency has subsided. “The Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements made decisions for the [2024] gathering in accordance with the CDC’s current advice on COVID,” the church’s Office of Public Affairs said in response to an inquiry from Episcopal News Service. “While we are unable to confirm counts of COVID cases posted on social media, our prayers are with all those who are now feeling unwell.” The World Health Organization announced the official end of the pandemic emergency in May 2023, and though COVID-19 infections have continued to spread, the CDC no longer recommends precautions like the ones The Episcopal Church implemented in 2022. About 1,200 or so bishops, deputies, staff members and volunteers had traveled to Baltimore in 2022 for the 80th General Convention. A week after that convention, church officials said at least 32 people had tested positive, and more were thought to have been infected without reporting their cases. Two years later, the 81st General Convention was expected to bring up to 10,000 people to Louisville for the June 23-28 legislative sessions and for several days more of pre-convention meetings and events. Some wore masks, though the majority did not. The church did not request attendees test for COVID-19 or report infections, though some conventiongoers have been posting to social media about falling ill or know others who got sick. The House of Deputies sent a message to its members after the convention with a health notice. “In the days after the conclusion of the General Convention, we have been informed that several attendees from the recent General Convention have tested positive for COVID-19,” the message to deputies said. “In light of this, we strongly recommend that all General Convention participants review the Center for Disease Control’s most recent guidelines … and confer with their medical professional.” West Missouri Bishop Provisional Diane Jardine Bruce reported a runny nose, sinus and eye aches but no fever on June 30 and canceled her Sunday visitation. “Praying for all those who, like me, were infected with COVID at the General Convention,” she wrote on Facebook. On July 2, she reported feeling better but that she was still taking meetings for home. Arizona Bishop Jennifer Reddall also posted a positive result on Facebook on July 1. “Well, add me to those who left General Convention with more than a love of Jesus and the children of God. Feeling better than yesterday actually (when I tested negative) so hoping this passes quickly,” Reddall said.

[Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky] The triennial Episcopal family reunion, worship extravaganza and legislative session that is General Convention was back in full force during its meeting here after the pandemic had pared down the previous gathering. This year’s June 20-28 convention, six legislative days that began June 23 with three days of events before, was shorter than most past conventions, where legislative sessions typically spanned eight days or longer. The 80th General Convention, on the other hand, was postponed from 2021 to 2022 because of the pandemic, was shorted to just four days and had limited face-to-face engagement. That gathering also implemented other health precautions, such as daily testing, to slow the spread of COVID-19. This week’s 81st General Convention was not without an appearance by COVID-19. Enough participants came down with the virus that some others wore masks and a nearby pharmacy reportedly ran out of Paxlovid, the antiviral used to treat the virus. General Convention, as the church’s primary governing body, splits its authority between the House of Bishops and House of Deputies. The two houses handled 390 resolutions, many passing via daily, sometimes massive, consent calendars. While in Louisville, the convention elected the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe to be its the 28th presiding bishop, reelected Julia Ayala Harris as House of Deputies president, elected the Rev. Steve Pankey as deputies’ vice president, passed a $143 million budget for the next triennium, approved a constitutional change to clearly define the Book of Common Prayer, reexamined its clergy disciplinary canons while agreeing to consider how lay leaders might be disciplined for wrongdoing, and supported changes in the structures of seven of its dioceses. Outside the legislative chambers, several events brought together bishops, deputies and visitors to mingle, socialize, pray, worship and advocate. Convention continued the church’s public witness against gun violence and hosted a panel discussion on the church’s role in Indigenous boarding schools. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s last signature revival service at the KFC Yum! Center drew a crowd of more than 2,000 people who heard him urge everyone to “choose love because love can save us.” Bishop Sean W. Rowe was elected presiding bishop The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, bishop diocesan of Northwest Pennsylvania and bishop provisional of Western New York, was elected June 26 on the first ballot by the House of Bishops to serve as the 28th presiding bishop. His election was confirmed by the House of Deputies. Rowe’s election was announced by House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris on the house’s afternoon session, and the deputies confirmed that act with a nearly unanimous majority, 95% in favor. He will begin his nine-year term as the public face and voice of The Episcopal Church and its chief pastor on Nov. 1, succeeding Curry, whose last day is Oct. 31. The traditional elaborate installation service at Washington National Cathedral will not occur as originally announced. Instead, a simpler rite will take place Nov. 2 in the small chapel at the Church Center in New York. Rowe said he has “decided to begin this ministry in a new way.” The service will be livestreamed, and simultaneous interpretation will be available in multiple languages to ensure churchwide access. To win, Rowe needed at least 82 votes from the 158 bishops who cast handwritten ballots. He received 89 votes, while Nebraska Bishop J. Scott Barker received 24, Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright received 19, Pennsylvania Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez received 17 and Central New York Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe received 9. Rowe becomes the youngest bishop ever elected to serve as the church’s presiding bishop and the second youngest overall since the first, William White, who was 41 when his first of two terms began in 1789. Complete ENS coverage is here. House of Deputies elections House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris was reelected June 25, winning decisively on the first ballot and fending off challenges from the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, the deputies’ vice president, and Zena Link, a former Executive Council member. Ayala Harris received 521 votes out of the 829 certified deputies on the floor for the election. Link placed second with 241 votes and Taber-Hamilton a distant third with 64. An election on that ballot required 414 votes. The election was unusual for featuring an incumbent House of Deputies president facing a challenge. A sitting president has only faced a challenger once in modern history. That was in 2003 when the Very Rev. George L. W. Werner was reelected after being challenged by Louie Crew, lay deputy from Newark. Unlike the presiding bishop, who is elected to head the House of Bishops for a nine-year term, the House of Deputies president is elected to a term that spans from one General Convention to the next – typically three years – and can be reelected for two additional terms. Taber-Hamilton did not run for reelection as vice president. The Rev. Steve Pankey, a deputy from the Diocese of Kentucky, was elected to that post from a slate of four candidates. The others were the Rev. John Floberg, a North Dakota deputy and priest at St. Luke’s, Fort Yates, Church of the Cross, Selfridge and St. James’, Cannon Ball; the Rev. Charles Graves IV, a campus missioner and deputy from the Diocese of Texas; and the Rev. Ruth Meyers, a Diocese of California deputy and professor at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. Episcopal Church Canons require that the two positions be held by leaders from different orders, clergy and lay, so the outcome of the presidential election determines who is eligible on the ballot for vice president. In other elections, the convention chose 10 new members of Executive Council, which is the church’s governing body between meetings of General Convention. It also elected Episcopalians to several other positions and bodies. The results of those and other elections are here. Elections by the House of Bishops are here. Convention approves a $143 million budget for 2025-27

[Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky] In the final two days of General Convention, the House of Deputies acted on the last of the 43 resolutions from the legislative committees on Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music. All of them first were considered by the House of Bishops, the house of initial action for all resolutions from these committees. On June 27 the House of Deputies took action on these resolutions, all of which required votes by orders, in which lay and clergy deputations vote separately and each order casts a single vote, as required by the church’s Constitution: Adopted with amendment A112, which provides for use over the next three years of an optional “Expanded Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings” prepared by the ecumenical Consultation on Common Texts. Concurred with the bishops on A114 in authorizing two alternative versions of Prayer C in Holy Eucharist Rite II that congregations can use with the approval of a diocese’s ecclesiastical authority. Concurred with the bishops on A115, which provides a variety of alternative readings or parts of readings for the Good Friday liturgy that many see as antisemitic. Use requires the approval of a diocese’s ecclesiastical authority. Approved on second and final reading A117, removing William Porcher DuBose from the church calendar in Lesser Feasts and Fasts. DuBose was a noted theologian who also espoused white supremacist views. On June 28, the convention’s final day, deputies concurred with action by the bishops in passing seven resolutions, all by a vote of orders. Two of them are changes that reflect church Canons regarding the marriage of same-sex couples, and each prompted remarks from deputies describing the importance of these changes to them and their families: A116 (with substitute), which authorizes for trial use additional marriage rites in addition to the one included in the Book of Common Prayer. A160, which revises the catechism to state that marriage is between two people, rather than a man and woman, to bring the catechism into conformity with church Canons. This will take place under the provision for trial use. The other resolutions are: D035, which authorizes for trial use marriage liturgies that previously had been approved by General Convention under a different section of the Constitution. A126, which transfers seven commemorations in Lesser Feasts and Fasts to other dates so they don’t occur on the date of another commemoration. B011, authorizing the commemoration of Harriet Tubman on the church calendar. A121, which adds three commemorations to the church calendar: the consecration of Bishop Barbara Harris, the first women bishop in the Anglican Communion; Simeon Bachos, the Ethiopian eunuch; and Frederick Howden, Jr. C023, which begins trial use of five calendar commemorations: the ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven, the first women ordained in The Episcopal Church; Élie Naud; George of Lydda; Liliʻuokalani of Hawai’i; and Adeline Blanchard Tyler and her Companions. After the vote on C023, all ordained women in the House of Deputies were asked to stand as their ministries were acknowledged with enthusiastic applause.  — Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

[Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky] Resolution D013, “Affirm the Imperative of a Palestinian State,” has become an act of General Convention. Both houses passed the resolution June 28, finishing the slate of resolutions related to the Holy Land. The resolution affirms the need for an independent Palestinian state to exist alongside the state of Israel. Since the start of convention, the resolution’s wording was a source of contention. Bishops originally struck the line that accused the current Israeli government of pursuing an “apartheid policy” against Palestinians. However, the deputies’ Social Justice & International Policy Committee reinserted the mention of apartheid, and the House of Deputies passed it, sending the resolution back to the bishops. A conference committee that included bishops and deputies met and produced a compromise resolution that reflected much of the discussions across the two houses. Conference committees are created when there is a language dispute between the two houses. Resolution D013 no longer contains the word “apartheid.” Instead, it states that the Israeli government “continues to commit acts and pass laws that result in fragmentation, segregation, and dispossession against the Palestinian people and the Occupied Territories.” “We found a way as a church to address this difficult issue in terms of verbiage, terminology and the situation that has weighed heavy on our hearts,” said Pennsylvania Bishop Daniel Gutiérrez, who chaired the bishops’ Social Justice & International Policy Committee. Gutiérrez emphasized the inclusion of a paragraph naming the difficulty of finding language that unites the church and a final resolve that expresses solidarity with the Diocese of Jerusalem. The last paragraph also calls upon Episcopalians to engage in philanthropy, study and advocacy; to invest in Palestinian enterprises; and to divest from all firms doing business in or with Israel’s West Bank settlements. Before the House of Deputies debated and voted on the resolution, Janet Day-Strehlow of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, chair of the deputies’ Social Justice & International Policy Committee, told deputies that this is a vote of conscience. Deputies who spoke in support of the resolution said they did so reluctantly. Eva Warren from the Diocese of Ohio rose in opposition, saying other resolutions passed have already called the church to action, and this resolution is a chance to make a bold statement. “I know that we as a house need not settle for language that refuses to confront the very real historic and contemporary harms being done to Palestinians,” Warren said. “I know that we need not fear that refusing to concur leaves us silent on this issue; see D007 and D012. It is not enough to say this resolution is naming apartheid through adjectives. We cannot be afraid to use the words that matter.” Convention’s actions on Holy Land resolutions have drawn considerable attention. Two demonstrations and a Compline for Palestine prayer service were held during convention. Episcopalians representing Palestinian Anglicans and Clergy Allies, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine Israel Network and other Episcopalians concerned about The Episcopal Church’s response to the violence in the Holy Land participated. Demonstrators called on the houses to “Listen to Palestinian Christians” and name the Israeli government’s policies and violence against the Palestinian people as apartheid and ongoing genocide. Resolution D056 – which calls for a ceasefire – originally used the term “ongoing genocide” but both houses passed a version that instead calls for prayers that the “conflict not end in genocide.” Prior to House of Deputies’ discussion of D013, President Julia Ayala Harris addressed criticism she received regarding the “Episco Disco” which bookended the house’s special order on Israel and Palestine resolutions June 26. She said the singing and dancing following the difficult house discussion didn’t work for everyone. “In my capacity I had to put aside my needs and try to figure out what your needs were,” Ayala Harris said. “And I don’t think I did that well.” When the House of Deputies turned to D013 for the final vote, the chaplain offered a prayer. Southeast Florida Bishop Peter Eaton opposed D013 as originally presented, saying he would not vote for any resolution that uses the word “apartheid.” He served on the bishops’ conference committee and spoke following the vote on the compromise resolution, saying the work on Israel-Palestine resolutions has made this the most challenging convention he has ever experienced. “This is the real work of peace-building,” Eaton said. “It’s work that can be accomplished and that can unite us. But it is hard work, and it will demand a new kind of commitment from this house and this church if we want to be serious companions with our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land on the pathway of peace.” –Logan Crews, a former Episcopal Church Ecojustice Fellow, is a seminarian at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale who serves on the student leadership team of the World Student Christian Federation-United States.