When the Episcopal Church holds a General Convention, it can be counted on to produce the most significant news of the year. The 72nd General Convention, meeting in July in Philadelphia, held true to form, being responsible for four of the church's top news stories of 1997.

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The election of the 25th Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Frank T. Griswold, Bishop of Chicago, topped the news from Philadelphia. Meeting in historic Christ Church, the House of Bishops elected Bishop Griswold on the third ballot. Bishop Herbert Thompson of Southern Ohio, a nominee from the floor, surprised many when he led the field of five on the first ballot, but on the second ballot, Bishop Griswold moved in front, and he achieved the necessary majority on the third ballot. The election was ratified quickly by the House of Deputies.

Bishop Griswold, 59, took over as Presiding Bishop Jan. 1, succeeding the Most Rev. Edmond L. Browning, who served in that ministry for 12 years. The new Presiding Bishop will be the first to serve a nine-year term.

Other bishops whose names were put forward by the Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop were: the Rt. Rev. Robert Rowley, Bishop of Northwestern Pennsylvania, the Rt. Rev. Richard Shimpfky, Bishop of El Camino Real, and the Rt. Rev. Don Wimberly, Bishop of Lexington.

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As expected, General Convention overwhelmingly adopted the Concordat of Agreement, a document which would move the church to full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). While not a merger, full communion would allow for an exchange of ordained persons in the two churches.

A month after that vote, the ELCA decided at its Churchwide Assembly, also in Philadelphia, not to approve the Concordat. Failing by six votes, ELCA leaders said some of its members were unable to accept the historic episcopate as found in the Episcopal Church.

Later in the year, officials of both churches were hopeful that the document would be approved when it is presented again at the ELCA assembly in 1999.

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One of the few controversial matters to be dealt with at General Convention was a proposed change in church canons to ensure that ordained women priests would function in every diocese. Despite some late pleas by some moderate members of the House of Bishops and a petition signed by 89 ordained women, the measure was adopted by wide margins in both houses. It was aimed directly at the four dioceses in which women priests are not ordained or licensed - Eau Claire, Fort Worth, Quincy and San Joaquin.

"I have a sense that we really do have the mind of the church on this issue," said Suffragan Bishop Catherine Roskam of New York. "There is a clear sense that this church needs to move on."

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Another major development at the 72nd convention was a piece of legislation which narrowly failed, by vote of one deputation in each house. That resolution called for the Standing Liturgical Commission to prepare liturgies for the blessing of committed same-sex couples for the 73rd General Convention, to be held in Denver in 2000. Most convention observers believed that similar legislation will be adopted at the next convention.

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Among the other noteworthy developments in Philadelphia: Pamela Chinnis of Washington was re-elected president of the House of Deputies, retired bishops regained their vote in the House of Bishops, and health insurance benefits were granted to domestic partners of church employees. Convention adopted a revised Title IV of the canons, dealing with disciplinary matters. The revised title now applies to bishops as well as other clergy, and makes it more difficult to bring presentment charges against bishops than in the past.

Convention also approved the departure of four Central American dioceses to join Costa Rica in creating a new Anglican province in Central America. A resolution for the church to apologize to gays and lesbians "for years of rejection and maltreatment by the church" was adopted.

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The church lost one of its giants when the Rt. Rev. John Hines, 22nd Presiding Bishop, died in Houston following a long illness. He was 86. Bishop Hines served as Presiding Bishop from 1965 to 1974.

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As the year drew to a close, a tense situation had developed in the Diocese of New Jersey. Its bishop, the Rt. Rev. Joe Morris Doss, was under pressure to resign after the standing committee and diocesan council adopted resolutions asking him to step down. In a gathering at Trinity Cathedral in Trenton in November, Bishop Doss said he would not resign and asked for healing and reconciliation.

The unusual situation took place following publication by a report of a Wellness Committee which had been formed last spring. The committee investigated many aspects of diocesan life and proposed solutions to a number of problems, including behavior of the bishop.

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Another diocese plagued by serious problems was Long Island. Following months of investigating into allegations of sexual misconduct by clergy in that diocese, an investigative team issued a report which confirmed some allegations and refuted others. The investigation was called for by Long Island's convention of 1996 after Penthouse magazine published an article which claimed to identify a "secret cadre of gay and bisexual cross-dressing Episcopal priests whose private lives include the most bizarre rituals imaginable."

Long Island's bishop, the Rt. Rev. Orris G. Walker, was charged with violating canon law by three Long Island priests and 21 members of one of his parishes when he refused to approve the rector-elect of St. George's Church, Flushing, N.Y., the Rev. Franco C. Kwan. Bishop Walker said he would oppose the charges.

One of Long Island's rectors, the Rev. Chester LaRue, was arrested in his rectory and charged with felony drug possession. Fr. LaRue, rector of St. John's Church, Bay Ridge, had been hailed as a hero weeks earlier when he drove would-be burglars from the rectory. Fr. LaRue and a church custodian were found smoking crack cocaine when police entered the rectory.

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A charge also was brought against Bishop Browning by a group of persons in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. That group claimed the Presiding Bishop failed "to perform his canonical duty" when he did not summon a board of inquiry to investigate charges against the Bishop of Pennsylvania after he ordained two non-celibate homosexual persons. The charge was dismissed by the vice president of the House of Bishops, the Rt. Rev. Arthur B. Williams, Jr., because the charges were not brought by members of the diocese where Bishop Browning is canonically resident, Hawaii.

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The actions of General Convention led to responses by several conservative groups in the church. Meeting a few days after convention, the Episcopal Synod of America issued its Good Shepherd Statement, which lays the groundwork for a non-geographic province, plans strategy for parishes unable to accept the ministry of their bishops, and addresses "persecution of those who cannot accept the ordination of women."

A 12-point statement on human sexuality, the Kuala Lumpur Statement, was approved by many conservative Episcopalians, included the Irenaeus Council of Bishops.

Two similar statements also attracted followings: The First Promise, produced by a group of clergy meeting in Pawleys Island, S.C., advocates a series of nine actions, and The Dallas Statement, drawn up by 50 bishops from 16 nations who gathered in Dallas to address important issues to come before the 1998 Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops.

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On All Saints' Day, Bishop Browning and Native American leaders gathered in Jamestown, Va., to sign a "new covenant of faith" between the church and indigenous people in the United States.

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Among major conferences held during 1997 were New Wineskins for Global Mission, which brought hundreds of Episcopalians to Ridgecrest, N.C., to discuss, study and share stories of a variety of missions, and Beyond Inclusion: Celebrating Gay and Lesbian Commitments and Ministries in the Episcopal Church, at Pasadena, Calif., which included presentations by prominent theologians on theological, scriptural, ethical and liturgical matters.

The Anglican Institute Conference in Birmingham, Ala., challenged the findings of the Jesus Seminar and included such speakers as former Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie and the Very Rev. N.T. Wright, dean of Lichfield Cathedral in England.

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The national church closed its Philadelphia office and moved some of the functions performed there to the Episcopal Church Center in New York City.

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Bexley Hall, one of the church's 11 theological seminaries, will remain self-governing and on the campus of Colgate Rochester Divinity School after its self-study committee worked for a year to determine its future. The seminary will become involved in collaborative ventures with other institutions.

Another seminary which made news was Virginia, which issued a policy statement on the norms of sexual behavior. The statement makes clear that sexual orientation or identity need not bar a person from admission.

A few weeks later, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. George Carey, preached at Virginia and was emphatic in defending Christian morality. "I do not find any justification, from the Bible or the entire Christian tradition, for sexual activity outside marriage," he said.

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The Rt. Rev. Craig B. Anderson resigned as dean of General Theological Seminary to become president of St. Paul's School, Concord, N.H., and R. William Franklin was named dean of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.

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Four other seminaries unveiled plans for new endeavors. Seabury-Western teamed with the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest to establish the Seabury Institute Southwest, at St. Martin's Church, Houston, which will offer a program of congregation growth and development. Church Divinity School of the Pacific began a new Certificate of Theological Studies program aimed at students who wish to pursue graduate-level theological education. And Nashotah House took steps to make theological education more accessible to lay persons who are not pursuing ordination.

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An appeal by former national church treasurer Ellen F. Cooke that her five-year prison sentence and $75,000 fine exceeded federal sentencing guidelines was denied by a U.S. District Court of Appeals. Mrs. Cooke, currently incarcerated in a federal penitentiary in West Virginia, admitted to the embezzlement of some $2.2 million in church funds.

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The Diocese of Milwaukee was hit with an $11.7 million class-action lawsuit by about 1,700 persons who invested more than $10 million in a senior citizens housing project in Racine, Wis., developed by a diocesan housing corporation. The suit claims diocesan leaders failed to disclose key failings of the project and that they lied to consultants, underwriters and investors.

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A group of Episcopalians asked the attorney general of New York to investigate whether the national church's trust funds were being mishandled. By mid-December, the attorney general's office had not responded.

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The Bishop of Washington, the Rt. Rev. Ronald D. Haines, no stranger to controversy, created some more when he ordained a non-celibate homosexual person to the priesthood. The Rev. Albert Scariato, 41, was ordained following a formal protest.

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The following bishops were consecrated during 1997: David C. Bane, Jr., coadjutor, Southern Virginia; Charles E. Bennison, Jr., coadjutor, Pennsylvania; Bruce E. Caldwell, Wyoming; Theodore Daniels III, Virgin Islands; Daniel W. Herzog, Albany; Mark MacDonald, Alaska; Rodney R. Michel, suffragan, Long Island; C. Wallis Ohl, Jr., Northwest Texas; and Catherine M. Waynick, Indianapolis

Elected but not yet consecrated were: the Very Rev. Barry R. Howe, West Missouri; the Rev. Charles E. Jenkins III, Louisiana; the Rev. Canon Chilton R. Knudsen, Maine; and the Very Rev. Mark S. Sisk, New York.