General Convention Coordinator Named
Diocesan Press Service. June 8, 1972 [72077]
NEW YORK, N.Y. (DPS) -- The Rev. John F. Stevens has been appointed Coordinator of the Episcopal Church's General Convention which will be held in Louisville, Ky., in the fall of 1973.
Mr. Stevens will serve as Coordinator in addition to his present duties as Administrative Officer of the Executive Council staff and as Secretary of the Executive Council.
The appointment was made by the presiding officers of the two Houses that make up the General Convention -- the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Bishops, and the Rev. John B. Coburn, rector of St. James' Church, New York City and President of the House of Deputies.
As Coordinator of the General Convention, Mr. Stevens will be responsible for coordinating and negotiating with individuals and groups which have operations and/or programs in connection with the Convention.
Mr. Stevens, in his new assignment, will be the liaison between the Presidents of the two Houses and the Convention's Joint Committee on Agenda and Arrangements, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Convention, and the General Convention Manager.
He will attend meetings of the Agenda and Arrangements Committee, of which Dr. Bruce Merrifield of Niagara Falls, N.Y., is chairman, and represent and report to the two presiding officers on all actions taken at the meetings.
Mr. Stevens, in cooperation with the Manager and Secretary-Treasurer, will coordinate all General Convention meetings and hearings and will distribute all materials from those meetings to the appropriate bodies and people.
A full-time Executive Office for the General Convention was established by the Convention in Houston, Tex., in October, 1970, and the Rev. Canon Charles M. Guilbert, Secretary of the House of Deputies, became the General Convention Secretary- Treasurer on January 1, 1971.
Bob N. Wallace, the General Convention Manager, was recently appointed to head the office through which all housing arrangements, registration, exhibit space, and other facilities are coordinated. Unlike previous General Conventions, the 1973 Convention has no host diocese to make the arrangements.
Mr. Stevens will be responsible also for representing all Executive Council functions in negotiations with the General Convention Manager, and in coordinating with the Manager all activities of the Diocese of Kentucky related to the Convention and of special interest groups.