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General Convention Report
The Episcopal News, Diocese of Los Angeles
Reporting from Salt Lake City, Utah
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Bishop Glasspool celebrates
Community Eucharist
Bishop Mary Glasspool celebrated the Eucharist on June 26, marking the feast day of Isabel Florence Hapgood, "who introduced the Divine Liturgy of the Russian Orthodox Church to English-speaking
Christians, and encouraged dialogue between Anglicans and Orthodox" (Collect for the Feast of Isabel Florence Hapgood, Holy Women, Holy Men).
Preacher for the day was the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings (pictured below with a sign language interpreter), who later in the day was elected to a second term as president of the House of Deputies. In her sermon, Jennings referred to the visions described in the readings from Isaiah and Revelation, and suggested that, like Hapgood, who translated the Orthodox liturgy into English, Christians are called to be translators. "As Christians, it is our job to take the ecstatic, frightening, demanding dreams of our great prophets and seers, and make them sensible to the people around us. It is our task to speak and act in ways that make it obvious what we believe and why we believe it. It is our task to give people some sense of the incredible power of the magnificent, living God whom we worship."  (The full text of her sermon is here.)
Glasspool concluded the service in a similar vein, using a blessing written by William Sloan Coffin:
May God give you grace never to sell yourself short, grace to risk something big for something good, and grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.
At left, Glasspool is pictured after the service with her spouse, Becki Sander.
Andy Barnett and Theodicy perform at GC Eucharist
Theodicy Jazz collective, led by the Rev. Andrew Barnett of Campbell Hall, provided music for the Eucharist on June 26. In addition to service music and hymns, they called the congregation to dance and sing along to "We're Marching to Zion" in celebration of the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality that was announced an hour or so before the service began. The congregation responded with enthusiasm -- several conga lines formed throughout the worship space.
Theodicy members pictured above are, from left, Andy Barnett, Ann Phelps, Dan Loomis, Sarah Politz, Will Cleary, Charlie Dye and Jonathan Parker.
According to Barnett, Theodicy has just released two albums, both available at theodicyjazz.com and on iTunes. The first album includes the Canterbury jazz mass commissioned by Canterbury Cathedral and recorded with the cathedral choir of Christ Churc,h Cincinnati. The second album is focused on jazz vespers, a service of prayer for the evening.
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Questions of structure
The House of Deputies and the House of Bishops met again in joint session on June 26 to hear the four candidates for presiding bishop officially placed in nomination, and to carry out an extended discussion of church structures, much of the conversation taking place in small groups consisting of deputies and bishops from two or more dioceses. Some of the restructuring committee's questions are pictured above: click on the images for larger versions. (Photos by Diane Jardine Bruce).
After the session, the deputation and bishops gathered for a group photo. Pictured, from left: Canon Jim White (deputation chair); Canon Gary Commins, Kathryn Nishibayashi, Dan Valdez, Canon Janet Wylie, Bishop Mary Glasspool, Bishop Jon Bruno, Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce, Lester Mackenzie, Melissa McCarthy and Canon Michael Bamberger. Not pictured is Bishop Catherine Roskam.
The big day: presiding bishop election is June 27
The House of Bishops will gather on Saturday, June 27, to choose the next presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. The bishops will board buses right after the morning Eucharist, at about 11 a.m., for the short trip to St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral (pictured below), where they will remain in closed session until an election takes place. Once the bishops have made their decision, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will send a delegation of bishops to the House of Deputies, where President Gay Jennings will receive the news. A committee of deputies will then meet to decide whether they will recommend that the House of Deputies approve the election, and draft a resolution to that effect. Only then will the decision be announced to the full House, which will then vote on whether to ratify the election. If the expected ratification takes place, the presiding bishop-elect will enter the House to be presented to them. Alternate deputies, Triennial delegates, visitors, press and exhibitors will also wait in designated visitors' areas of the House of Deputies to hear the news.
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 Presiding bishop
issues statement on
Supreme Court decision
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori issued the following statement following the Supreme Court's June 26 ruling of marriage equality:
"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. [1Corinthians 13:4-8]
"I rejoice that the Supreme Court has opened the way for the love of two people to be recognized by all the states of this Union, and that the Court has recognized that it is this enduring, humble love that extends beyond the grave that is to be treasured by society wherever it exists. Our society will be enriched by the public recognition of such enduring faithful love in families headed by two men or two women as well as by a woman and a man. The children of this land will be stronger when they grow up in families that cannot be unmade by prejudice or discrimination. May love endure and flourish wherever it is to be found."
Photo / Janet Kawamoto
Episcopalians join local equality rally
Many Episcopalians attending General Convention in Salt Lake City took part in a June 26 rally in a local part to celebrate the Supreme Court ruling that made marriage equality the law of the land. Above: the crowd attends to a speaker (just off camera at right) from Equality Utah, which organized the event in conjunction with other LGBT groups. Below: Mel Soriano of All Saints Church, Pasadena, and Nik Dumas of Integrity Idaho, and Randy Kimmler of Holy Spirit Fellowship in Los Angeles and fellow Episcopalian Betty Cordoza join the celebration.
Photos / Mel Soriano/Facebook
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People at General Convention
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 Mackenzie meets
a church pioneer
Testimony from L.A. deputies, bishop Several members of the L.A. deputation have testified at various committee hearings during the first few days of General Convention.
Bishop J. Jon Bruno, pictured above, testified on Resolution A084, which proposes changes in how churches are defined and included in their dioceses -- changes that will mostly affect emergent and nontraditional churches such as Thad's and Thom's in Santa Monica and Orange County, respectively. "I have congregations I can't count because they don't fit into a slot," Bruno told the committee. "And I don't think Jesus fits into a slot." (Photo and reporting / Johnna Dominguez Paredes)
Alternate Deputy Charleen Crean spoke against Resolution D104 at a hearing on alcohol and substance abuse issues, saying she feels it is wrong to put responsibility on commissions on ministry to question seminarians about possible addiction and substance abuse. COMs may not have the skills to do so, Crean said, and it is better for someone with expertise in dealing with those issues to handle them. (Reporting / Pat McCaughan)
Deputy Gary Commins, along with fellow members of Episcopal Peace Fellowship, took part in a discussion of several gun violence resolutions that have been submitted to General Convention.
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Laguna Hills church to support
bishops' march with prayer
The people of St. George's Church, Laguna Hills, will hold a prayer vigil in support of a scheduled march to be held in Salt Lake City by Bishops United Against Gun Violence on Sunday, June 28. St. George's will pray for the bishops' work, for an end to violence and for the nine African-Americans shot during a Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina. St. George's prayer vigil will begin at 6 a.m. on Sunday, with prayers and readings and time to sit in silence.
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Today at General Convention
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On the schedule for Saturday, June 27:
- Legislative committee meetings
- Community Eucharist: Bishop Michael Smith of North Dakota, celebrant. The Rev. Cathlena Plummer of Navajoland, preacher
- Presiding bishop election (House of Bishops)
- Legislative sessions (House of Deputies)
- Hearings, including Program, Budget & Finance
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Reports from Episcopal News Service
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With cheers, shouts and a standing ovation from deputies June 26, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings was re-elected president of the House of Deputies.
The United Thank Offering of The Episcopal Church awarded 55 grants for a total of $1,558,006.85 for the mission and ministry of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
More General Convention-related stories from Episcopal News Service may be found here.
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The Report will be emailed each day from the 78th meeting of General Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 25 - July 3.
Photos, except as noted, by Janet Kawamoto.
To subscribe to the Update list, click on the link below, or send a request to news@ladiocese.org
Janet Kawamoto, editor
The Rev. Pat McCaughan, correspondent
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