March 2022
Welcome to the House of Deputies Newsletter

Welcome to the Episcopal Church House of Deputies monthly email newsletter. If you're a deputy or alternate, you've been subscribed automatically. If you've come across this issue in another way and would like to subscribe yourself, you can sign up on our website or on our Facebook page.

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Walking Toward General Convention:
A Message from Chaplain Lester Mackenzie
House of Deputies Chaplain Lester Mackenzie offers a blessing of prayer and song for deputies walking toward General Convention. Watch it on YouTube.
New LGBTQ+ Caucus To Advocate, Organize
 in House of Deputies
Deputy Cameron Partridge of California and alternate deputy Susan Russell of Los Angeles recently spoke with Episcopal News Service about the work of the new LGBTQ+ Caucus in the House of Deputies.

The caucus, leaders say, will advocate for gender-expansive language and resolutions opposing anti-transgender laws, and for measures that make the application of existing canons on equal access to the sacraments consistent across the church.

“'Caucuses are the lifeblood of General Convention,' [President] Jennings told ENS, adding that she owes her ordination as a priest to the now-defunct Episcopal Women’s Caucus, which pushed General Convention to open the priesthood to women in 1976. General Convention 'needs to include the voices and perspectives of LGBTQI+ people, whose journey to full inclusion has been slow and is still unfinished,' Jennings said. 'Caucuses help ensure that those voices are heard.'”
TransEpiscopal Marks Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31
In a post published on the TransEpiscopal blog to mark the Transgender Day of Visibility, which takes place each year on March 31, the organization's leaders wrote, "On this day TransEpiscopal lifts up the beauty, courage, audacity, and strength of transgender and non-binary people. We celebrate that we are are made in God’s image. We reject actions aimed at our erasure. We reject theologies based in rigidly binary, complementarian ideas of the human person and uplift the whole spectrum and goodness of our genders. We celebrate transgender and non-binary lives in all our multiplicity of shapes, sizes, ethnicities, races, abilities, and ages. Today we stand up in love!"

Presiding Officers' Working Group Recommends New Racial Equity Coalition
The Presiding Officers’ Working Group on Truth-Telling, Reckoning, and Healing has released a report that proposes the creation of a new organization within The Episcopal Church called the Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice. The new entity would be "a voluntary association of Episcopal dioceses, parishes, organizations, and individuals dedicated to the work of becoming beloved community." It would be funded from a tithe of the financial holdings of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the corporation that transacts business for The Episcopal Church.

"We are proposing an organization that would allow this work to expand beyond the confines of the typical ways we go about the business of doing church," Deputy Julia Ayala Harris of Oklahoma, who served on the working group, said. "Further, The Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice is about creating a mechanism for a multigenerational effort to reckon with our past in order to create a more just, inclusive, and authentic future for our church."

“The working group shows what can happen when laypeople, clergy and bishops come together to share experiences and perspectives, listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and debate how the church should participate in God’s mission," said President Jennings.
Communications in the House of Deputies:
A Webinar with Episcopal Communicators
On Friday, April 8 from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern, join Episcopal Communicators and other communicators across the church for a webinar about communications in the House of Deputies at the 80th General Convention. Deputy News chairs and vice chair will discuss plans for news and feature coverage at convention, and the House of Deputies staff will discuss plans for the media gallery in the House of Deputies and deputy media briefings. The webinar is open to everyone.

Register in advance and send questions in advance to contact@houseofdeputies.org.
The Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance welcomes feedback from all Episcopalians on the 2023-2024 Episcopal Church budget as it was received from Executive Council. Download the budget and fill out the feedback form by April 8.

Alternate Deputy Rohrbach Serves on UN Commission on Status of Women Delegation
Alternate deputy Marissa Rohrbach of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut served on the Presiding Bishop’s delegation at the 66th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women from March 14 to 25. She joined a delegation of women and men from across the church.

Rohrbach told Episcopal News Service, "It’s a really powerful thing for the church to be present in these spaces, for The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion to have voices in these rooms."


Image: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry meets with members of the Episcopal delegation to the UNCSW on March 24. Screenshot: Marissa Rohrbach
Legislative Hearings Continue Through May
Online legislative hearings began on February 17 and will continue through May. Hearings are open to the public to observe or testify: register at least two days in advance in order to receive a Zoom link.

Power in the Form of Relationality:
A Message from the HoD Theologian
This month, House of Deputies Theologian Dr. Scott MacDougall reflects on the role of power in our lives as Christians and our work in the church.

At the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP), we offer a course called “Organizing for Public Ministry.” We require all CDSP M.Div. students to take this week-long intensive during the January intersession of their very first year. The course consists of a standard five-day training in community organizing offered by the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the nation’s oldest network of broad-based community organizations, along with daily theological reflection on and integration of that work with the particular emphases of the overall CDSP M.Div. curriculum.

As the faculty member who currently facilitates the theological and integrative aspect of the course, one of the things that I have observed over time—an observation shared by colleagues who have done this in the past—is that when the IAF trainers raise the crucial concept of building power as a step toward creating meaningful social change for some communally discerned good, it commonly makes our students profoundly uneasy. To a marked extent, our students tend to be highly suspicious of power. They are suspicious of those who want it. They are suspicious of those who have it or who claim to have it. They are particularly suspicious of the exercise of it. Yet, they often seem strangely unaware that they themselves might actually possess it.
Deputation Chairs Meeting April 7
President Jennings's next meeting with deputation chairs will take place on April 7 at 3 p.m. Eastern on Zoom. Please send questions in advance to 

House of Deputies Legislative Chairs,
Vice-Chairs Meeting on April 26
Legislative committee chairs and vice-chairs will next meet on April 26 at 2 p.m. Eastern via Zoom. This will be a chance to ask questions, share experiences so far, and seek advice about your work. Please send questions in advance to 
contact@houseofdeputies.org, and look for a reminder of the Zoom link in your email in advance of the meeting.
Submit Deputation Zoom Photos
Has your deputation begun to meet via Zoom? Take a screen shot and send it to contact@houseofdeputies.org for our collection of #GC80 deputation photos!

image: Deputies from the Diocese of Montana met on Zoom on October 26 with Bishop Marty Stebbins.
Deputations Invited to Zoom
with President Jennings
President Jennings is available to meet via Zoom with deputations preparing for the 80th General Convention. Meetings are currently being scheduled through April.

To schedule a meeting with President Jennings--and the #GC79 pigeon--email the House of Deputies office.
Deputy News
Celebrations and Kudos

Deputy Elaine de la Paz Sarraff of Cuba and Alejandro Guerra Ajo were married March 12.
 
Deputy Nurya Love Parish of Western Michigan delivered the Harvey Lecture at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Her lecture was titled “One Person, One Step: Faith Practice in Climate Crisis.”
 
Transitions

Alternate deputy Gary Butterworth of Western North Carolina is interim rector at St. Paul’s Church in Morganton, North Carolina.
 
Alternate deputy Amy Chambers Cortright of Lexington is canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of Lexington.
 
Deputy Karen Davis-Lawson of Long Island is rector of St. David’s Church in Cambria Heights, New York.
 
Alternate deputy Wendy Huber of Colorado is rector of St. Peter’s Church in Basalt, Colorado.
 
Former deputy Julia Sierra Reyes is interim associate for ministries for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.
 
Deputy William Simerly of East Tennessee will be chaplain in residence in one of the undergraduate housing communities at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he is a middler in the School of Theology.
 
Deputy Dante Tavolaro of Rhode Island is rector of St. Thomas Church in Greenville, Rhode Island.

Appointments, Elections, and Ordinations

Former deputy Shari Bishop Harrison of Alabama will be ordained as a transitional deacon April 7 at Church of the Epiphany in Guntersville, Alabama.
 
Deputy Kathryn McCormick of Mississippi was elected to serve as the next chair of the Church Pension Fund board of trustees upon the adjournment of General Convention in July.
 
Former deputies Thomas Reeder and Douglas Scharf are nominees for bishop of the Diocese of Southwest Florida. The election is scheduled for April 2.
 
Deputy Phyllis Spiegel of Southern Ohio and former deputy Janet Waggoner of North Texas are nominees for bishop of the Diocese of Utah. The election is scheduled for April 30.
 
Deputy Wiley Ammons of Florida and former deputies Charlie Holt, Fletcher Montgomery, and Beth Tjoflat are nominees for bishop of the Diocese of Florida. The election is scheduled for May 14.
 
Former deputies Alan James and Mark Stevenson are nominees for bishop of the Diocese of Virginia. The election is scheduled for June 4.
 
In Memoriam
 
Former deputy Ray Arcario of Bethlehem died on March 22. He was an active member of the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, where he served as director of the youth camp for more than 15 years, as a Sunday School mentor, and as a member of the vestry. He was also a member of the Diocesan Standing Committee. He is survived by his wife, Karyn, their sons, and his brothers and sisters. Read his obituary.

Gordon George “Junior” Gordy, brother of Deputy GJ Gordy of Navajoland, died March 17. He was laid to rest in the family burial plot in Coal Mine, New Mexico with Deputy Cathlena Plummer presiding at the service. Junior collected and played acoustic and electric guitars and was close to his family.
 
Matthew Henriksen, husband of Deputy Samantha Clare of Arkansas, died March 17. Matthew was a teacher, poet, editor, and publisher. He was a tireless advocate for justice and human rights. He was known and respected for his love of his family and community. Read his obituary.
 
Former deputy Anne Robbins died March 23 in Bonita Springs, Florida where she resided. A six-time deputy from Southern Ohio, Anne served as rector of St. Patrick’s Church in Dublin, Ohio for 17 years. She served in multiple leadership roles on a diocesan and churchwide level. Her daughter, the Rev. Becky Robbins-Penniman, is a former deputy from Southwest Florida. Read her obituary.
 
Daniel A. Sherrod of Richardson, Texas, brother of Deputy Katie Sherrod of North Texas, died March 20. An insurance executive with an enduring love of motor sports, he was known for his big heart and deep faith. Read his obituary.
 
Deputy William J. Spaid of Western Michigan died March 20. A four-time deputy, Bill served as canon to the ordinary in Western Michigan for 17 years. As written in his obituary, Bill was known as a gracious and kind “teacher, mentor, mediator, counselor, comforter, and friend.” He is survived by his partner of 25 years, Greg Fitzgerald, and his children, Michael and Laura. Read his obituary.

Theodore Gordon Williams, husband of Deputy Sandy Williams of Montana, died February 25. Ted was well known for his spirit of generosity and commitment to community service. He loved his family, the outdoors, and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church where he served as warden multiple times. Read his obituary.