General Convention preparations continue

By Sharon Rasmussen,
communication director

The Church meets in General Convention every three years for two weeks, and this year that meeting will occur in Minneapolis, beginning July 27. Episcopal Church Women will hold its Triennial Meeting there during the same time.

An estimated 10,000 people participate in General Convention. That’s just a fraction of total church membership who get to experience the event firsthand. So what’s it like to be there?

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold communicated his impressions in recorded remarks last fall to the Minne-sota diocesan convention. He said, in part, “Once people come together, it is amazing how the Spirit takes over and something happens that no one had anticipated. Yes, people come with their own agendas and fully formed points of view, but it is amazing how their own perspectives can be enlarged and enriched – and many times changed – simply by being with other members of Christ’s body as they seek to be the Church together.”

The Rev. Canon Rosemari Sullivan, executive officer and secretary of the General Convention, also spoke at that time about how the event effects those who attend: “You finally feel at the end of the two weeks that you’ve been at summer camp for adults or at an Outward Bound experience. You can’t duplicate the experience,” she said. “... Remember that this is a Council of the Church. We really are seeking one another’s wisdom, and to be a part of that is to be a part of something very special.”

The deputation that will represent the Diocese of East Tennessee at the 74th General Convention includes Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, who will join his counterparts in the House of Bishops. The East Tennesseans who were elected at diocesan convention to join the House of Deputies are shown above, along with a recounting of their previous Convention experiences and what they anticipate for this summer’s gathering. The diocesan communications officer, Sharon Rasmussen, also will attend for a few days.

The deputies are preparing to consider a broad range of issues: canonical changes, especially the Title III canons, which deal with the ministry of lay and ordained people; the 20/20 resolution, which challenges the Episcopal Church to double its membership by the year 2020; finances in a time of scarcity; ecumenical issues, including full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; and human sexuality, including the question of rites to bless same-sex relationships.

In addition, the process to revise the Book of Common Prayer may begin – a process that likely will take many General Conventions and involve the whole Church.

The Convention also will elect the president of the House of Deputies, and the process to elect the next Presiding Bishop will begin. That election will take place at the 2006 General Convention.

Look for a full report on the Convention in the next issue of the Episcopalian.

Related story:

• Deputies describe, anticipate General Convention