The Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High, Jr., and lay and clergy deputies from the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth will be taking part in the General Convention of The Episcopal Church June 25 to July 3 in Salt Lake City.
The General Convention is the governing body of The Episcopal Church. It meets every three years as a bi-cameral legislature that includes the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops., which are made up of deputies and bishops representing each diocese of the church.
Our deputies and alternates were elected at the 2013 diocesan Convention. Lay deputies are Marti Fagley, St. Francis, Willow Park; Kathleen Wells, Trinity, Fort Worth; Katie Sherrod, St. Luke’s in the Meadow, Fort Worth; and Brent Walker, the Episcopal Church of Wichita Falls.
Clergy deputies are Carlye Hughes, Trinity, Fort Worth; Curt Norman, St. Luke’s, Stephenville; David Madison, All Saints’ Episcopal School; and Hope Benko, All Saints’ Episcopal School.
It is important to note that these elected representatives are deputies, not delegates. They each are expected to use prayerful discernment in making decisions and casting votes, rather than simply follow instructions from their dioceses or bishops. Openness to the working of the Holy Spirit is a necessary attribute of a deputy.
This General Convention will deal with recommendations of the Task Force to Reimagine the Church (TREC) as well as resolutions from the commissions, committees, agencies, and boards (CCABs) of The Episcopal Church, diocesan conventions, and individual bishops and deputies. Most resolutions can be found in the Blue Book reports of the various bodies of the church. Both the TREC report and the Blue Book are at generalconvention.org.
This convention also will elect the next presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church. Nominees for presiding bishop will be announced in early May. The House of Bishops elects and the House of Deputies confirms the election. The closing Eucharist of convention on July 3 will be a service of welcome for the new presiding bishop, who will be formally seated in office at the National Cathedral in November.
Follow events leading up to and during General Convention at our diocesan website, episcopaldiocesefortworth.org.