West Tennessee Representation at 80th General Convention

The 80th General Convention of The Episcopal Church will be held this summer, July 7-14, 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. It meets every three years and is the governing body of The Episcopal Church, composed of the House of Deputies (four clergy and four lay deputies from each diocese) and the House of Bishops.

The deputies and alternate deputies from the Diocese of West Tennessee began working several months ago to prepare for General Convention during Summer 2021. While General Convention normally meets every three years, the meeting scheduled for July 2021 was postponed because of COVID to July 7-14, 2022. The pandemic slowed the work of the commissions and task forces that convene between meetings of the General Convention, which has resulted in several adaptations that will likely continue for future meetings. Normally, the bulk of the work of General Convention’s Legislative Committees, which review and hold hearings on resolutions that have been submitted, is done just before and during Convention. This year, much of that work is being done virtually, which has expanded opportunities for people who will not be attending in Baltimore. Anyone who would like to observe or testify at a hearing can sign up to participate. To view the entire schedule of General Convention open hearings and submit a request to join, please go to tinyurl.com/TECHearings and click on “House of Deputies” or “House of Bishops” for a link to the legislative committee hearings.

Having the virtual meetings and hearings well ahead of this summer is giving our deputies and alternates a new, and much easier, way to become familiar with the resolutions they will be voting on at General Convention. Several of our deputies, as well as Bishop Phoebe, are serving on Legislative Committees and have been attending virtual meetings since early January. It is estimated that 500 or more resolutions will be submitted by the deadline of July 8, which means that the deputies and alternates have to divide the resolutions among themselves for review and discussion.

While most of the time in Baltimore will be spent in legislative committee meetings and legislative sessions, participants also participate in worship, events sponsored by a variety of groups ranging from the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP) to the Union of Black Episcopalians to our seminaries, a large exhibit hall, and many opportunities for fellowship. Some of our deputies will be making posts on social media and we will share the hashtags to follow as they are developed.