The last two days of General Convention are always a time of much work for deputies and bishops as they consider, amend and vote on the hundreds of resolutions placed on their calendars. July 2 will see the last of the legislative committee hearings, which usually take place in the early morning hours. Jim White, at left, chair of the Los Angeles deputation, cheered as the Governance and Structure Legislative Committee - on which Bishop Mary Glasspool also served -  concluded the last of its hearings on July 1. Legislative sessions will continue today, July 2, and into the evening if the presiding officers deem it necessary in order to get through the calendar.
                                                                                                       Photo / Susan Russell

Things got a whole lot quieter at General Convention after exhibitors ranging from clergy and church supply houses to Episcopal Relief & Development and other agencies took down their booths, packed up their displays and merchandise and headed for home as the Exhibit Hall closed for this convention.
At left, the Rev. James Prendergast, chancellor of the Diocese of Los Angeles and a visitor to convention, pays a last visit to the Exhibit Hall. Below, the Rev. Canon Michael Bamberger, deputy from Los Angeles, poses at the Episcopal Relief & Development booth with Katie Mears, the agency's director of U.S. disaster programs. Bamberger  is disaster relief coordinator for the Diocese of Los Angeles. He has worked with Mears and others at Episcopal Relief & Development on creating an asset map that locates emergency and relief services available in each diocese of the Episcopal Church.


Joanne Leslie, archdeacon of the Diocese of Los Angeles (pictured at left), and other deacons "and friends with diaconal hearts," she said, spent part of July 1 working at the local branch of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, helping to sort and pack supplies to be used when disaster strikes. The deacons weren't the only one to jump into local relief efforts; the Episcopal Church Women and Girls Friendly Society collected toiletries and supplies for Homeless Youth Resource Center in Salt Lake City for this year's "Community Connection" project, in which ECW members support a charity in the city hosting the General Convention.