What is General Convention?

The 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church will take place July 5-13, 2018 in Austin, Texas. The General Convention is the governing body of The Episcopal Church. The Convention is a bicameral legislature that includes the House of Deputies, which has more than 800 members (up to four clergy and four lay people from each diocese), and the House of Bishops, which is comprised of more than 300 active and retired bishops. The Convention meets every three years.

General Convention website - www.generalconvention.org

How does General Convention work?

The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in the Episcopal Church. General Convention comprises two houses: the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. It meets regularly once every three years; however, the House of Bishops meets regularly in between sessions of General Convention. All bishops, whether active or retired, have seat and vote in the House of Bishops. Each diocese of the Episcopal Church, as well as the Navajoland Area Mission and the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, are entitled to representation in the House of Deputies by four clergy deputies, and four lay deputies. Resolutions must pass both houses in order to take effect.

How a resolution moves through General Convention

When our representatives gather at General Convention they take council together through a legislative process. That process begins with resolutions that are proposed by Deputies, Bishops, Committees, Commissions, Provinces, and Diocese of the Episcopal Church. Resolutions, when adopted by the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops, become the Acts of the General Convention and govern the way we live our understanding of the Christian faith as a community of believers.

Resolutions have four sources:
"A" resolutions are submitted by Committees, Commissions, Agencies and Boards
"B" resolutions are submitted by Bishops
"C" Resolutions are submitted by Dioceses or Provinces
"D" Resolutions are submitted by Deputies

The Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies assign each resolution to one of the parallel or joint legislative committees in the House of Bishops and in the House of Deputies. They also designate the resolutions to start in one House or the other. Parallel committees meet jointly to review resolutions and hold hearings, but vote separately on their recommendations. Resolutions with funding implications also go to the Program, Budget & Finance Committee for review.

The committees decide if the resolutions are accepted as is, or are amended or combined with another resolution. The committees then decide to whether to endorse the resolution.

Resolutions then go to the House of Bishops and House of Deputies where they are debated, sometimes amended, and then voted on. Once a resolution is adopted by one House, it then goes to the other for debate, amendment and adoption. Both Houses must concur on a resolution for it to be adopted by General Convention. 

The first General Convention - Virginians were there!

Before the American Revolution, there had been no Anglican dioceses or bishops in the colonies, thus when the American congregations were separated from the Church of England, "the chain which held them together [was] broken". In 1782, William White, the father of the Episcopal Church, wrote in his pamphlet The Case of the Episcopal Churches in the United States Considered, "it would seem, that their future continuance can be provided for only by voluntary associations for union and good government". The first General Convention of Episcopal Church was held in Philadelphia in 1785, with clergy and lay representatives from Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia. The convention authorized the preparation of an American Prayer Book and named itself the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.