General Convention

What is General Convention?

General Convention is the national legislative body of the Episcopal Church. The General Convention sets policy for our denomination, including in worship, discipline, mission, finance, and vision. It consists of a House of Bishops, which includes all active and retired bishops, and a House of Deputies, which includes four lay persons and four clergy from each diocese, each area mission, and the Convocation of the American Churches in Europe. The Convention typically meets every three years. The Houses meet and act separately, and both must concur to adopt legislation. The General Convention alone has authority to amend the Prayer Book and the church's Constitution, to amend the canons (laws) of the church, and to determine the program and budget of the General Convention and the programs it authorizes. The General Convention also elects twenty of the forty members of the Executive Council, which administers policy and program between the triennial meetings of the General Convention.

Deputation of the Diocese of East Carolina to the 80th General Convention

The deputation from our diocese consisted of lay and clergy delegates who were elected at our 137th Annual Diocesan Convention in February 2020. As representatives of our diocese, they worked in the House of Deputies at the legislation and governance business on the schedule. This year, there were two major elections happening in the House of Deputies: the elections of a new President and Vice President, as both position holders (President Rev. Gay Clark Jennings and Vice President Byron Rushing) served their maximum terms. Other business included elections to committees and councils, budget matters, and the legislative work around resolutions received.

Of course, our diocese is represented in the House of Bishops by Bishop Skirving.

Our deputies are as follows:

Clergy Order

• The Rev. Paul Canady, Christ Church, New Bern (Chair of the Deputation)
• The Rev. Robert Alves, St. John's, Fayetteville
• The Rev. Stephen Batten, Trinity, Chocowinity
• The Rev. Tambria Lee, St. Paul's, Beaufort

Alternates to the Clergy Order

• The Rev. Richard Elliott, St. Andrew's on the Sound, Wilmington

Lay Order

• Mrs. Joan Geiszler-Ludlum, Church of the Servant, Wilmington (Secretary of Province IV)
• Mrs. Susan Holmes, St. Timothy's, Greenville
• Mrs. Tess Judge, All Saints, Southern Shores (Chair of the Lay Order & Treasurer of Province IV)
• Ms. Ginger Powell, Trinity, Chocowinity

Alternates to the Lay Order

• Ms. Karen Smith, St. Paul's, Wilmington

The 80th General Convention, July 8-11, 2022

The 80th General Convention (GC80) of The Episcopal Church will be held in Baltimore, Maryland this summer from July 8-11. Originally scheduled for 2021, General Convention is working to balance the canonical need to meet in person to attend to the business of the Church with ongoing COVID concerns.

Even with an abbreviated and tightened General Convention, strong efforts are being made to enable the whole Church to participate from afar. Below you will find links from the national Church, and we at the Diocese of East Carolina will also provided reporting here on our website and on our Facebook page.

Below you will find links from the national Church that provide the most extensive coverage of the 80th General Convention.

For comprehensive links and materials from General Convention, click the link below:

Office of Public Affairs GC80 Hub

To see what news came out of General Convention, click the link below:

Episcopal News Service Reporting on GC80