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Deputy Churn: More Than One-Fourth of Deputies Have Resigned Amid Pandemic Concerns

By Linda S. Comins

COVID-19’s impact on the 80th General Convention has led to a significant number of resignations by members of the House of Deputies.

As of June 8, a total of 234 deputies have resigned or indicated they are not attending GC80. That figure represents 27 percent of 868 originally certified deputies. Among those not attending are the entire deputations of the Dioceses of Cuba, Honduras and Venezuela.

In addition, 99 of an estimated 455 certified alternate deputies—22 percent—have resigned, and 55 of the 483 deputies—11 percent—appointed to legislative committees have resigned from their committees, although some have remained as deputies.

Turnover, or “deputy churn” as it is referred to in the office of the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, has been especially intense in the last ten weeks as the start of convention approaches. Since April 1, 128 deputies and 12 alternates representing some 60 dioceses have resigned or said they would not attend. This includes the deputies from Cuba, Honduras and Venezuela.

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State of the Church resolutions could change membership categories, parochial report requirements

By Dave Seifert 

Is the Episcopal Church collecting the best information possible in the annual parochial reports? And then, is the church measuring the right things?

Those questions have been among the most pressing examined by the House of Deputies Committee on the State of the Church. Now the committee is proposing resolutions that would not only significantly change the parochial report and definitions of membership but also the ways the church collects data and makes decisions. President Gay Clark Jennings has already determined that the resolutions will be debated during a special order of business in the House of Deputies, although a date has not yet been set during the shortened convention.

Membership

The question of membership has been at the heart of work led by Deputy Carlos de la Torre from the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. In conversations with deputies and lay employees, de la Torre asked how often they think of categorizing an individual as a baptized member, a communicant, or a communicant in good standing; they told him “almost never. It only comes up when it’s time to fill out the parochial report or select vestry nominees.”

He said although the church’s canons outline what is required to be considered a baptized member, communicant or communicant in good standing, the committee found “many parishes have developed their own interpretation when it comes to calculating who is counted under each category — especially baptized members and communicants in good standing, since these are the two that parishes are required to report on the parochial report.”

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After Whirlwind Process, Convention Design Group’s Plans Secure Approval

By Jim Naughton

Episcopal Church leaders today approved plans for a shortened, streamlined General Convention with significant COVID-19 mitigation protocols. The convention will take place July 8-11 in Baltimore, where deputies and bishops will follow a tight legislative schedule that has the House of Bishops and House of Deputies in legislative session morning, afternoon and evening for periods of two to three hours.

There were no surprises in the meetings of the Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements or of the Executive Council, which both approved resolutions submitted by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies. The plans that were approved track closely with the details offered in three letters Curry and Jennings had previously sent to the church outlining the recommendations of the design group they assembled to make emergency arrangements for the convention after COVID-related concerns came to a head at an Executive Council meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico in late April. [Read the letters of May 17, May 26 and June 1.]

At that meeting, the council approved funds for the House of Deputies to hire a public health officer, and also held a session, which was at times emotional, at which members expressed their concerns about COVID protocols for the General Convention. After the meeting, some 12 to 15 percent of attendees reported testing positive for Covid, heightening concerns that the convention might become a nexus for spreading the pandemic.

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