Committee Meetings Underway


A hearing on a resolution being considered by the Evangelism Committee.

The work of the General Convention is well underway through the work of committees. These meetings started in meeting rooms scattered among several Indianapolis hotels all close to the main meeting site of the Indianapolis Convention Center. These 24 committees are getting their arms around the hundreds of resolutions submitted so far to the Convention. 

Each resolution proposed to Convention is assigned to one of these committees which works on the resolution, eventually sending it to either the House of Bishops or the House of Deputies. The committe sends resoltuions with a recommendation. The recommendations are limited to: 1) adopt, 2) adopt with ammendment, 3) adopt with a substitute, 4) reject, 5) re-refer to a different committee, or 6) discharged as either having been dealt with by a previous convention or by other action at this convention.

Bishop Benhase is serving on the Pension Fund committee. Canon Logue serves for the second time on Dispatch of Business, which functions in an “air traffic control” role for legislation, and on behalf of that group serves the Evangelism Committee to ensure their resolutions get due consideration in the flow of the Convention. Bill Steinhauser is on the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Mission where he is also on the subcommittee on the proposed Blessing of Same Gender Relationships. The Rev. Lonnie Lacy serves on the Committee on Small Congregations.

The committees hold hearings on resolutions to permit anyone in the Church (not limited to elected Deputies) to sign up to speak to the resolution to inform the committees’ work. Some of these meetings are immense with hundreds of people in a large ballroom, while other resolutions are looked at in smaller gatherings with a small gallery present in addition to the two dozen or so committee members. The hard work of considering and perfecting resolutions takes place most fully in these many dispersed meetings.

Deputies not assigned to a committee are sitting in on committee meetings to track legislation on behalf of the Diocese, especially the work on the budget and restructuring the church.


Deputies stand as Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefforts Schori and President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson shake hands after Bishop Katherine made a presentation to Anderson.Z

 

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