Two shows to provide daily coverage of General Convention

Two daily shows originating from General Convention will offer an insider’s view to Episcopalians across the church.

“For a lot of people, General Convention can be overwhelming,” said the Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, host of both Inside General Convention and Adentro de la convención general. “But this year we’re aiming to change that. We’re going to take you all over the convention hall. We’re going to meet different people from throughout the church and give you an insider’s look.”

The 30-minute magazine-format shows are produced by the Episcopal Church's Office of Communications and will premiere July 4 at 4:30 p.m. Central (5:30 p.m. Eastern) in English and at 6:30 p.m. Central (7:30 p.m. Eastern) in Spanish. Each show will offer news and highlights as well as its own lineup of interviews and guests. 

Beginning July 4, viewers can find Inside General Convention and Adentro de la convención general here.

Prayer service set at detention center during General Convention

Responding to calls from Episcopalians across the church to act on behalf of families seeking asylum at the southern U. S. border, a team of concerned leaders heading to General Convention has planned a prayer service outside the T. Don Hutto Residential Detention Center in Taylor, Texas at about noon on Sunday, July 8. 

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, have arranged for a one-hour delay in Sunday’s legislative calendar to facilitate participation by bishops and deputies.

The event, which Curry and Jennings will attend, is open to all who are committed to praying for an end to the inhumane treatment of those seeking asylum in the United States. 

More details on this event are here.  

Mobile app released for General Convention

The Episcopal Church’s Office of the General Convention has announced the release of a mobile app for the upcoming 79th General Convention. The event app, powered by Eventmobi, is compatible with cell phones, tablets, and other data devices, offering attendees pertinent General Convention information including schedules, maps, worship bulletins, restaurant guide, a link to the Virtual Binder for legislative progress and resources, as well as other general convention information. Information related to the Episcopal Church Women’s Triennial Meeting 2018 is also provided.

The app is accessed two ways:

• Go to https://eventmobi.com/79gc/ This opens it as a website on any device.
• Download the Eventmobi app from the appstore and input the event code: 79gc.
  

If you have any questions about the event app, please contact Twila Rios at trios@episcopalchurch.org.

General Convention continues to use Virtual Binder instead of paper

It used to be that General Convention conducted all of its legislative business on paper – approximately 1.2 million pieces of paper in 2012. No more. For the second convention running, when each deputy, alternate deputy and bishop arrives in Austin, Texas, for the 79^th General Convention, they will get a loaner iPad to use as their “Virtual Binder.”

Replacing each actual binder with the digital system will save the cost of those estimated 2,400 reams of paper, which amounted to about six tons, plus the copying costs. Tracking the progress of resolutions was impossible for people who did not attend convention.

The Virtual Binder is an app that runs on the bishops’ and deputies’ iPads, and can be accessed online. Those without a General Convention iPad can access the online version here. That latter version mirrors the app running on the iPads and changes along with it in real time.

No matter how it is accessed, the Virtual Binder enables users to track the progress of convention resolutions. It also includes each house’s daily agendas, calendars, and reports. It contains tabs for checking on current action and floor amendments in each house.

A free General Convention app is available for anyone using a smartphone or tablet running Android 4.4 or IOS 8.0 or later. The app contains General Convention schedules, maps, vendor information, daily orders of worship services and other useful materials.

Download the app here or from the App Store or Google Play, and then enter the code 79GC when prompted. The app can also be used on a computer. That link is here.