Are you ready for the General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky? Well, your deputies, alternates, and Bishop Kym are!

The General Convention meets every three years and is the governing body of the Episcopal Church. This year the 81^st General Convention will commence on June 23^rd and continue through June 28^th.

General Convention is held every three years and consists of “two houses,” the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies and any legislation must pass both houses. All bishops and elected deputies are appointed to serve on the 26 legislative committees. These committees hold hearings on their respective resolutions, inviting testimonies to understand various perspectives, and fine tune each resolution before the matter comes before the houses for deliberation. The 6-day convention will open with a Revival the evening of Saturday June 22^nd and promises to be filled with prayer, worship and lively discussion of the issues.

This year some of the major topics will be around the election of a new Presiding Bishop as Michael Curry concludes his 9-year term in 2024. As the first term of current President of the House of Deputies, Julia Ayala-Harris comes to a close, she will face, in a very unusual move, two deputies in the election for her current seat. Other topics slated for resolution include raising the mandatory retirement age for clergy from 72 to 75, mergers of several diocese with particular interest to Wisconsin and Michigan, and Constitutional changes to the Prayer Book and Hymnal as well as additions to the Church Calendar, and discussion on what full inclusion for ALL in the church looks like. There will also undoubtedly be revisions to the clergy disciplinary canons set forth in Title IV of the Canons of the Church as well as a proposal to reduce the diocesan assessment to The Episcopal Church from 15% to 10% over a period of time, and a proposal that Navajoland would become a missionary diocese so that it has a greater voice in its own governance.

Conversation and studies on the requirement of Baptism to Receive Holy Communion will continue as well as approving the approximately $143 million budget for the next three years. Lastly, the General Convention will consider world reaching resolutions ranging from the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the war in Ukraine, as well as full communion with the Methodist Church and other denominations.

This year’s Lay Deputies representing the Episcopal Church in Colorado are Zoe Cole from St. Andrew’s in Denver, Chuck Theobald from Grace and St. Stephens in Colorado Springs, Erica Pomerenk from St. Thomas in Denver and Lawrence Hitt II from Good Shepherd, Centennial/and St. John the Baptist, Breckenridge.

Our clergy deputies are Brian Winter from Christ’s Episcopal Church in Castle Rock, Melissa Adzima from St. Stephen’s, Longmont, Tory Moir, and Anne Richter.

Br. Scott Michael Pomerenk, St. Thomas Denver for the lay order and Debra Shew from St. Marks, Durango in the clergy order will serve as attending alternates.

For more information, all things General Convention can be found at this link including the full schedule and listing of all the resolutions. https://generalconvention.org/gc81/. You can also find out more about the Episcopal Church of Colorado on our website: https://episcopalcolorado.org/diocesan-resources/governance/general-convention/ . The deputation will also be posting on the Facebook page for The Episcopal Church in Colorado.

Please keep our Bishop and the deputation in your prayers.