Episcopal Press and News
64th General Convention of the Episcopal Church will Meet
Diocesan Press Service. April 30, 1973 [73112]
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (DPS) -- Episcopalians from throughout the world will meet here next fall to make major decisions on the work of the church for the next three years.
The 64th General Convention (1973), highest legislative body of the 3.5 million member church, meets in Louisville's Kentucky Exposition Center September 29 through October 11. Up to 30,000 persons, including about 870 of the 896 elected deputies and 150 of the church's 225 bishops -- voting members of the two legislative houses -- are expected to attend. About 500 delegates to the Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Church, which meets during the first part of the time the Convention is in session, are also expected to be present.
Issues expected to come before the Convention this year include the revision of the Book of Common Prayer; the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopacy; empowerment; ecumenical concerns, including the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) ; marriage and divorce; and the structure of the church.
The Convention will receive from the Executive Council and consider for adoption a general church program and budget proposal for the next triennium, calling for major revisions in some current programs and several new programs. The proposed budget for 1974 is $13,779,300, which is an increase of about $1 million over the 1973 budget.
Also of high interest throughout the church will be the election of a new Presiding Bishop by the House of Bishops with the concurrence of the House of Deputies. The Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop of the church since 1964, has announced his intention to submit his resignation at the 1973 General Convention, to take effect May 1, 1974.
Structure of the Convention
The Episcopal Church is governed by a bi-cameral General Convention which usually meets every three years. The Convention is a meeting of clerical and lay members and consists of the House of Deputies, who are elected by the dioceses and missionary dioceses, and the House of Bishops. Each house can originate legislation which must be concurred in by the other before it becomes effective.
The House of Bishops is composed of bishops having jurisdictions -- diocesan, coadjutor, suffragan -- 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 -- each of whom has a seat and vote. Presiding Bishop John E. Hines will preside over the sessions of the House.
The House of Deputies is composed of 896 elected members -- eight deputies (equal number of clerical and lay) from each of the 112 dioceses and missionary dioceses. The Rev. John B. Coburn, rector of St. James' Church, New York City, is president of the House of Deputies.
It is traditional for the House of Bishops to meet annually in special session, without legislative power. When the two Houses meet together in General Convention, legislation is enacted, church programs are approved, and a budget for the next triennial period is adopted.
Opening of Convention
The Opening Service of the 1973 General Convention will be on Saturday, September 29, from 4 to 6 p.m., in Freedom Hall (coliseum). At this service there will be the celebration of the Eucharist and the presentation of the United Thank Offering of the women of the church.
At 8 o'clock Saturday evening there will be a general briefing session to which visitors as well as official deputies, bishops and delegates are invited.
According to the proposed agenda, the first legislative sessions of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies will be held Sunday afternoon, September 30, from 3 until 5:30.
The program and budget proposal for the next triennium will be presented to both houses in joint session from 7:30 to 8:30 Sunday evening. This will be followed at 9 o'clock by workshops on program and budget.
Worship Services Planned
Early services of Holy Communion will be held at 7 o'clock each morning in chapels provided in the motel clusters where bishops, deputies and visitors will be housed, or in nearby parishes. Local Louisville parishes will arrange these services.
A major schedule change from previous conventions is the inclusion of daily corporate worship within the regular calendar of business for members of all three houses -- Bishops, Deputies, and Triennial -- as well as visitors at 9:40 each morning. This will follow scheduled committee meetings and precede the legislative sessions.
Each of the two Houses of Convention will have its own noonday prayers. There will also be the less formal Eucharistic celebrations in the evening, as arranged by the Gathering Place and Associated Parishes.
A quiet but visible part of the Louisville Convention will be a prayer chapel, a specially designed tent located at the entrance to the Convention complex. A vigil of silent intercessory prayer will be maintained within by volunteers daily during the course of the Convention sessions.
Tentative Daily Schedule
Committees of the two houses are scheduled to meet each morning from 8 to 9 as needed and desired.
Following the joint daily worship service at 9:40, the two houses will meet at 10:30 for separate legislative sessions until 12:30, and again in the afternoons from 2 to 5. During the first full week of Convention, there will be open hearings/workshops on pending Convention legislative issues. These are scheduled for Sunday through Friday evenings with the exception of Wednesday.
The presidents of the two houses and members of the Convention will be guests of the Bishop and Diocese of Kentucky at a "Presidents' Evening" performance of the Louisville Symphony on Wednesday, October 3.
Saturday, October 6, has been set aside for special group dinners, and the weekend of October 6-7 is "free time" after 12:30 on Saturday.
Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Church
The first session of the Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Church will begin at 10 o'clock on Sunday morning, September 30. The service will include a multi-media presentation, the Eucharist, and the Agape. The Triennial will hold morning and afternoon sessions until adjournment on Thursday afternoon, October 4, following the Eucharist with the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines as the celebrant.
In their five-day meeting, the women will hear three major addresses: "Technology and Freedom, " by the Rev. Clem Welsh; " Women and Freedom, " by Dr. Letty Russell, and "The Church and Freedom, " by the Rt. Rev. Bennett Sims. The delegates will also approve United Thank Offering grants.
Mrs. Glenn W. Gilbert, Grand Rapids, Mich., is the Presiding Officer of the Triennial.
The Gathering Place
Continuing a feature of the conventions at South Bend in 1969 and at Houston in 1970, there will be two places where members of Convention and visitors may gather for relaxation and entertainment. A "Day-Time Gathering Place/Lounge " will be located in the west wing of the Exposition Center near the exhibits and cafeteria. This Gathering Place/Lounge, accommodating up to 400 people, will have comfortable chairs, tables, and closed circuit television so that persons using the room can keep up with what is happening in the two houses of Convention as well as relax.
The "Evening Gathering Place" will be located in the Canterbury Room at the Executive Inn, just across the parking lot from the Exposition Center. The after-hours Gathering Place, accommodating a maximum of 420 persons, will have a snack bar and entertainment, which will be drawn from local resources, individuals and groups present at the Convention, and professional talent from outside Louisville.
The two gathering places are sponsored by the neighboring Diocese of Indianapolis. Three priests from the diocese -- the Rev. Messrs. Richard Wyatt, John Roof and Al McClure -- are responsible for staffing the Day-Time Gathering Place/Lounge, and the Rev. Ian Mitchell is the coordinator of the Evening Gathering Place.
Facilities at the Exposition Center
The Kentucky Exposition Center complex, consisting of a central coliseum (Freedom Hall), flanked by two exhibition wings (one of which the Episcopal Convention will occupy), provides space for the Convention to be accommodated conveniently under one roof. The House of Deputies will hold its sessions in the coliseum while the House of Bishops and the Triennial Meeting will meet in rooms extending out from the central hall. The coliseum will seat 17,500 persons.
The west wing of the Center will house the Day-Time Gathering Place/Lounge, a cafeteria, committee/hearing rooms, and exhibits. This hall contains 181,970 square feet of space, equal to three football fields side by side. Nearly 200 display booths will be located in the area, the largest number ever booked for an Episcopal General Convention.
Some 25 hotels and motor inns will house those who will attend part or all of the Convention. Special Convention buses will provide transportation to and from the major hotels/motor inns. Surrounding the Center is a 27,000-space parking lot to accommodate the thousands who will be driving to the Convention. Because of its central location, Louisville is expected to attract thousands of visitors from nearby states and dioceses for part of the convention.
Meals will be available at the Exposition Center, anything from a "hot dog" to a full course meal. In addition to a number of concession stands, there will be a 300-seat restaurant. A fast-service cafeteria -- capable of serving 1,800 persons every 40 minutes -- will be set up in the west wing.
