Delegates to the Diocese of Los Angeles convention met Dec. 5 at the convention center in Riverside, Calif. They voted to adjust the term of an ecclesiastical trial court judge to provide continuity during a trial. The measure assures that one judge is seated through an entire process, rather than having the possibility of a term ending in the middle of a trial.

Another action makes 16-year-olds qualified electors. Questions were raised from the floor asking clarification on where liability would rest, should a complaint be raised on decisions voted upon by youth delegates. According to Brade Clarke, diocesan chancellor, although personal and corporate liability would accompany this position, corporate liability would rank first and the teenagers' parents would "not likely" be held liable in such a case.

Delegates passed a $3.3 million budget for 1999, an increase of about 4 percent over the 1998 budget. They also voted to establish a program group on stewardship and to streamline submissions of annual parochial reports and audits.

Resolutions were adopted which: oppose the continuance of the U.S. embargo against Cuba; ask the Presiding Bishop to ask all dioceses to contribute 0.7 percent of their diocesan income to support economic development projects in the third world; and designates the Diocese of Los Angeles as a Peace and Justice Diocese.

A fourth resolution passed which combined Section C of the Lambeth sexuality resolution with current diocesan policy and practice wherein "membership in and opportunity for lay and ordained ministry shall not be restricted on the basis of 'race, color, ethnic or national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities, or age'." With that resolution, the diocese joined others in the Episcopal Church which have rejected the portion of Section D which states "... (w)hile rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with scripture..."