The council of the Diocese of Atlanta met Nov. 13-14 at the Gwinnett Civic and Cultural Center, Duluth, Ga., with the Northeast Metro Convocation as host.

About 400 delegates voted to change diocesan canons to clarify the number of persons elected to the standing committee, the time frame for nominating candidates additional to those proposed by the committee for nominations, and to allow parish vestries to do business as a unit for a full year.

They also passed a resolution asking the diocese, the community ministries' office and Episcopal Charities, as well as the committee nominating candidates for the episcopal election next year, to make the needs of the poor a priority in the diocese.

Delegates also voted to implement a policy of racial and ethnic diversity in the diocesan staff and appointments and clergy positions over which the bishop has influence, to continue its companion relationship with the Diocese of Ecuador, and to support efforts of the General Convention in urging the U.S. government to close the School of the Americas at Ft. Benning, Ga., as well as cease training intended to suppress democratic values, and to ask parishes to consider useful ways to assist the persecuted church in other parts of the world.

The convention passed a 1999 budget of more than $2.7 million.