The Acts of Convention

House of Bishops

Original Text of Resolution:

(A142)

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, that Article 1, Sections 3 and 6; Article 11, Section 7, and Article Ill of the Constitution be amended as follows:

ARTICLE I.

Sec. 3. At the General Convention next before the expiration of the term of office of the Presiding Bishop Archbishop, it shall elect the Presiding Bishop Archbishop of the Church. The House of Bishops shall choose one of the Bishops of this Church to be the Presiding Bishop Archbishop of the Church by a majority of all Bishops, excluding retired Bishops not present, except that whenever two-thirds of the House of Bishops are present a majority vote shall suffice, such choice to be subject to confirmation by the House of Deputies. His term and tenure of office and duties and particulars of his election not inconsistent with the preceding provisions shall be prescribed by the Canons of the General Convention.

But if the Presiding Bishop Archbishop of the Church shall resign his office as such, or if by reason of infirmity he shall become disabled, or in case of his death, the Bishop who, according to the Rules of the House of Bishops, becomes its Presiding Officer, shall (unless the date of the next General Convention is within three months) immediately call a special meeting of the House of Bishops, to elect a member thereof to be the Presiding Bishop Archbishop. The certificate of election on the part of the House of Bishops shall be sent by the Presiding Officer to the Standing Committees of the several Dioceses, and if a majority of the Standing Committees of all the Dioceses shall concur in the election, the Bishop elected shall become the Presiding Bishop Archbishop of the Church.

Sec. 6. The General Convention shall meet not less than once in each three years, at a time and place appointed by a preceding Convention; but if there shall appear to the Presiding Bishop Archbishop, acting with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the Church or of a successor canonical body having substantially the powers now vested in the Executive Council, sufficient cause for changing the place or date so appointed, he, with the advice and consent of such body, shall appoint another place or date, or both, for such meeting. Special meetings may be provided for by Canon.

ARTICLE II.

Sec. 7. It shall be lawful for the House of Bishops to elect a Suffragan Bishop who, under the direction of the Presiding Bishop Archbishop, shall be in charge of the work of those chaplains in the Armed Forces of the United States who are ordained Ministers of this Church. The Suffragan Bishop so elected shall be consecrated and hold office under such conditions and limitations other than those provided in this Article as may be provided by Canons of the General Convention. He shall be eligible as Bishop or Bishop Coadjutor or Suffragan Bishop of a Diocese, or he may be elected by the House of Bishops as a Bishop of a Missionary Diocese.

ARTICLE III.

Bishops may be consecrated for foreign lands upon due application therefrom, with the approbation of a majority of the Bishops of this Church entitled to vote in the House of Bishops, certified to the Presiding Bishop Archbishop; under such conditions as may be prescribed by Canons of the General Convention. Bishops so consecrated shall not be eligible to the office of Diocesan or of Bishop Coadjutor of any Diocese in the United States or be entitled to vote in the House of Bishops, nor shall they perform any act of the episcopal office in any Diocese or Missionary Diocese of this Church, unless requested so to do by the Ecclesiastical Authority thereof. If a Bishop so consecrated shall be subsequently duly elected as a Bishop of a Missionary Diocese of this Church he shall then enjoy all the rights and privileges given in the Canon to such Bishops.

On the second day, the Committee moved the adoption of Resolution A-142 (Primate).

Seconded by the Bishop of Eau Claire.

The Bishop of Northern Indiana moved a substitute resolution.

Proposed Substitute:

Resolved, that Canon I.2 Sec. 4. (a) be amended as follows:

Sec. 4 (a). The Presiding Bishop of the Church shall be the chief Pastor and Primate thereof. As such he shall: ...

Seconded by the Bishop of West Missouri.

The Bishop of Rhode Island moved the issue be referred to Committee.

Seconded by the Bishop of East Carolina.

Motion carried

Resolution re-referred

On the fourth day, the Bishop of Western Massachusetts, Chairman of the Committee on Structure, moved a substitute for A-142.

Proposed Committee Substitute:

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the words "and Primate" be added to Canon 2, Title 1, Sec. 4(a) immediately after the words "Chief Pastor," with the request that the words, "Primate", "Chief" and "Pastor" each begin with a capital letter.

Seconded by the Bishop of Northern California.

Motion carried

(Communicated to the House of Deputies in HB Message #75)