Dear Members of the Diocese of Georgia,
As the 78th General Convention concludes, your Bishop and Deputies from the Diocese of Georgia leave excited and energized by the election of the Right Reverend Michael Bruce Curry as our next Presiding Bishop. Presiding Bishop-Elect Curry has set forth a vision for the future of The Episcopal Church to go and make disciples of all peoples. The General Convention supported his vision by allocating extraordinary resources for church planting, evangelism, and racial reconciliation. (Pictured are Cissy Bowden, Kelly Benhase, Presiding Bishop Elect Michael Curry, and the Rev. Joe Bowden)
Another joyful highlight was the Convention’s approval and now the Church’s recognition of our own Deaconess Anna Ellison Butler Alexander for inclusion in Holy Women, Holy Men, our calendar of saints in the Episcopal Church.
The Convention also addressed structural changes to the governance of the Church. It passed resolutions to clarify the roles of the Presiding Bishop and Executive Council, the parties tasked with leading the Church between meetings of the General Convention. The Convention also addressed the budget process and changed the current practice of an “asking” from each diocese at a high percentage and replacing it with a mandatory assessment at a lower percentage (much like the Diocese of Georgia has done with its own budgetary process). The Diocese of Georgia, lead by Canon Frank Logue, took a leadership role in this work (Canon Logue is shown here addressing the House of Deputies).
On the issue of same sex marriage, your Bishop and Deputies were very cognizant of the input received at the multiple listening sessions held around the diocese before the Convention. As you may have read in our daily blog posts or from the media, the Convention approved for trial use, rites for marriage that could be used for the marriage of same-sex and different-sex couples. The use of these rites in the Diocese of Georgia will be subject to the approval and supervision of our Bishop and are not effective until the first Sunday of Advent, 2015. The votes among your deputation were divided on the implementing resolutions, as reflective of the input received from around the diocese. Our Bishop will be consulting with the Chancellor and leaders of various diocesan bodies before making a decision as to how these resolutions will be implemented in our diocese.
Nine legislative days running from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. obviously addressed many other issues, too numerous to address in this letter. Additional information on passed legislation is available at www.generalconvention.org. Your deputation appreciates your confidence and prayers in allowing us to represent the Diocese at the 78th General Convention and will be happy to address any questions that members of the diocese may have about the actions of General Convention.
Signed,
The Deputation of the Diocese of Georgia
at the 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church
