What is General Convention?

The 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church will meet in Salt Lake City, UT this summer, June 25 to July 3. The General Convention gathers every three years and 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.

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.

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.