Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Equality of Representation

Equality of representation between lay persons and priests was enshrined from the beginning of General Convention, as was the equal representation of states - the words "state" and "diocese" were synonymous in the church's early years.

To protect the rights of states with fewer church members the constitution made provision for votes by states for major issues. This provision was the ancestor of our votes by orders in which each diocese casts one clerical and one lay vote on amendments to the constitution, revisions of the Book of Common Prayer and other weighty matters.

Because the organizing conventions and the first General Convention under its constitution did not include bishops, the House of Deputies is sometimes referred to as the senior house (by date of establishment). To encourage the church in New England to join the General Convention, provision was made in the church's first constitution for a House of Bishops at such time in the future as there would be at least three bishops. After the passage of the constitution, the election of bishops required the consent of both houses of the General Convention, and consecrations could take place only during a meeting of the convention. When this proved unworkable, the convention voted in 1799 to allow diocesan standing committees to vote consent in place of the House of Deputies, except when the election fell within a reasonable time before a meeting of the General Convention.

Even after the formation of the House of Bishops, the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies could override a "no" vote in the House of Bishops by a 4/5's vote. This provision was amended in 1808, allowing the bishops to veto legislation passed by deputies, but only if they did so within three days of passage. (The House of Bishops did not get parity with the House of Deputies until 1901, when the "three days clause" was deleted from a revision of the constitution.) Since then, for legislation to be enacted, it must be passed in identical language by both houses. If either house fails to concur, the resolution does not pass.

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