Episcopal Church's General Convention Will Meet
Episcopal News Service. April 2, 1976 [76122]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Episcopalians from throughout the world will meet in Minnesota in September to make major decisions on the work of the Church for the next three years.
The triennial General Convention, the highest legislative body of the three million member Church, will meet in Minneapolis/St. Paul September 11-23. Up to 25,000 persons, sons, including bishops, deputies, delegates to the women's meeting, visitors, exhibitors, and special guests, are expected to attend part or all of the sessions.
There are about 225 bishops eligible for seat and vote in the House of Bishops and there are 912 elected members of the House of Deputies. About 500 delegates to the Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Church, which meets concurrently with the two houses of Convention, are also expected to be present.
The Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will preside over the sessions of the House of Bishops, and the Rev. John B. Coburn, Boston, Mass., Bishop-elect of the Diocese of Massachusetts, will preside over the meetings of the House of Deputies.
Issues which are expected to come before the Convention for action include the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate; the revision of the Book of Common Prayer; world and domestic hunger; theological education; ecumenical relations; the structure of the Church; work with ethnic minorities; evangelism; Christian education; lay ministry; social concerns; development/stewardship; and others. The Convention will elect members to serve on the Executive Council and the House of Deputies will elect a President and Vice President.
According to the agenda that will be proposed to the two houses, the first major item of business will be a consideration of the Draft Proposed Book of Common Prayer, which will probably be considered by the Convention September 13-14. If this Draft Proposed Book receives an affirmative vote of the two houses, it will become the Proposed Book of Common Prayer, and will require a second affirmative vote at the Convention in Denver in 1979 to become the Standard Book of Common Prayer.
The proposal to enact legislation to permit the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate will be offered as the second major issue for debate and action in the two houses.
The proposed agenda calls for the Convention to receive from the Executive Council at a joint session of the two houses on September 13 at 11 a.m., and to consider for adoption, a general church program proposal for the next triennium, calling for a 1977 proposed budget of $14.1 million. The 1976 budget is $13.8 million.
The opening service of the 65th General Convention will be on Saturday, September 11, at 4 p.m., at the St. Paul Civic Center. At this Service of Praise and Witness, which will include a procession of the Convention principals -- bishops, deputies, delegates, ecumenical guests, Executive Council members -- Bishop Allin will give his address to the Convention.
The two houses will meet for organizing sessions from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 12, followed by a joint convocation of bishops and deputies at 7:30 p.m. on Prayer Book Revision.
On weekdays, the various committees of the two houses will meet from 8 to 9:30 a.m., as called, followed by a joint worship service at 9:40. At 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. each day, legislative sessions of the two houses will be held.
No legislative sessions are scheduled for Saturday afternoon, September 18, or Sunday, September 19. The Convention will adjourn at noon on Thursday, September 23.
Some evenings will be available for open hearings on pending Convention legislative issues as required. No evening legislative sessions for either house have been scheduled in preliminary planning.
On Friday evening, September 17, the Bicentennial Commission and the Diocese of Minnesota are planning an occasion in honor of the Presiding Bishop and in celebration of the bicentennial of the nation.
The Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance will make its report to the bishops and deputies in a joint meeting, Saturday, September 18, at 11:45 a.m., with an open hearing on the proposed triennial program and budget scheduled for Sunday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m., if the tentative agenda is adopted.
Early morning services of Holy Communion will be held each day in the various hotels where bishops, deputies, and visitors will be housed. Corporate worship is planned within the regular calendar of business at 9:40 a.m. each day in the House of Deputies meeting hall for members of the Convention and visitors.
Each of the two houses will have its own noonday prayers and there will also be the less formal Eucharistic celebrations in the evening.
No Convention corporate worship service or Eucharist is planned for Sunday, September 12, but all are invited to worship at local churches. Many of the Episcopal churches in the Diocese of Minnesota will have guest preachers and celebrants from among the visiting bishops and priests.
The General Convention Eucharist will be on Sunday, September 19 at 11 a.m., in the Minneapolis Auditorium, where the women will hold their meetings every day. Bishop Allin will be the celebrant, assisted by Bishop Philip F. McNairy of Minnesota and the Rev. Dr. Coburn. Overseas bishops, the bishop presidents of the nine provinces, and Minnesota clergy will also be attendants at the Eucharist.
The preacher at the Eucharist will be the Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican family of churches, of which the Episcopal Church is a member. The United Thank Offering presentation by the women of the Church will take place at that service also.
The Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Church will be held concurrently with the General Convention, adjourning on September 22, twenty-four hours before the Convention closes at noon on the 23rd. Mrs. Carter C. Chinnis, Alexandria, Va., is Presiding Officer of the women's meeting.
The Episcopal Church is governed by a bi-cameral General Convention which usually meets every three years. The Convention is a meeting of the House of Bishops and of clerical and lay members of the House of Deputies. Each house can originate legislation which must be concurred in by the other before it becomes effective.
The House of Bishops is composed of diocesan bishops; bishops coadjutor; suffragan bishops; bishops retired because of age or infirmity; bishops elected to an office created by General Convention; and bishops who have resigned because of mission strategy. Bishops who resign for other reasons do not have seat and vote unless granted by the House.
The House of Deputies is composed of 912 elected members -- four clerical and four lay deputies from each of the 93 domestic dioceses, 20 overseas missionary dioceses, and the Convocation of American Churches in Europe.
It is traditional for the House of Bishops to meet annually in special session in the interim years between Conventions, without legislative power. When the two houses meet together in General Convention every three years, legislation is enacted, church programs are approved, and a budget for the next triennial period is adopted.
Pre-Convention open hearings will be conducted September 8-10 by the Standing Liturgical Commission on Prayer Book Revision and by the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance. The 41-member Executive Council will hold a one-day meeting on September 10.
The Episcopal Communicators will hold its annual meeting at the Normandy Motor Inn on Saturday, September 11. The Religion Newswriters Association, composed of the religion newswriters in the secular press, will hold its annual meeting at the Radisson Hotel Downtown September 18-19.
After the opening service on September 11 at the St. Paul Civic Center, all of the remaining sessions and services of the Convention will be held at the Minneapolis Auditorium and Convention Hall, a modern downtown complex within walking distance of many hotels, restaurants, and shops.
The House of Deputies will meet in the convention hall on the first floor while the bishops will hold their sessions in a large meeting room on the second level, easily accessible by escalators, stairs, and ramps. The women will hold their triennial meeting in the auditorium arena.
The press room will be located on the first floor, in the Plaza Area, opening on an outdoor patio-plaza. The Common Ground, a lounge area where Convention members and visitors may gather for relaxation and for viewing the action in the two houses on closed circuit television, is located on the ground level just off the main lobby.
The exhibit hall on the lower level is serviced by escalators and contains 34, 000 square feet of floor space for commercial and church exhibits.
Meals will be available at the convention hall in a cafeteria and dining hall equipped to serve the thousands of Convention members and visitors. It is located on the mezzanine between the first level and the lower level exhibit hall.
President of the House of Bishops is the Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and the spiritual and administrative leader of the Church. The Rev. John B. Coburn, Bishop-elect of the Diocese of Massachusetts, is President of the House of Deputies.
The Rt. Rev. Scott Field Bailey, Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of West Texas, is Executive Officer of the Convention and Secretary of the House of Bishops. The Rev. James Gundrum, Des Moines, Iowa, is Secretary-Treasurer of the General Convention and Secretary of the House of Deputies.
Bob N. Wallace, Louisville, Ky., is General Convention Manager.
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