Sounds arcane - Lay Deputy to General Convention.  What does it mean?

Well, the Episcopal Church is governed by a Constitution and Canons.  The governance of the Episcopal Church was established at the same time the United States Constitution came into being, so it turns out that there are many similarities.  Think of the Episcopal Church's Constitution playing a role in the Church much as the Constitution does for the country.  And think of the Canons as playing the roles that Legal Codes do in the country's governance.  The Congress can amend the Constitution (with difficulty) and pass legislation that adds to, deletes from, or amends the Legal Codes.  In the Episcopal Church, the General Convention can amend the Church's Constitution (with some difficulty), pass legislation to add, delete, and amend the Canons, and pass legislation directing Church staff and Dioceses to act on specific issues.

General Convention is said to be the largest legislative body in the United States.  It is bicameral, with a House of Bishops and a House of Deputies.

The House of Bishops includes all of the ordained Bishops of the Episcopal Church, 109 of whom are Diocesan Bishops, ecclesiastical leaders of the Church's Dioceses, but also included are Bishops Coadjutor (elected to serve after a Diocesan Bishop retires), Suffragan Bishops elected in a Diocese to assist the Diocesan Bishop, Assisting Bishops ordained for a previous ministry from which they have resigned or retired and now assist a Diocesan Bishop, and retired Bishops.  Note: very few Episcopal clergy really "retire;" they usually serve in a congregation and do interim ministries until they simply wear out.  There could be nearly 400 in the House of Bishops for GC2015, although the total is likely to be closer to 300 since many retired Bishops will not attend. Loosely speaking, the House of Bishops has been likened to the United States Senate.

The House of Deputies has been likened to the U.S. House of Representatives.  That analogy is OK for a high level appreciation of its role, but in fact the structure of the House of Deputies is quite different.  The House consists of 436 (ordained) Clergy Deputies, four elected by each of 109 Diocesean Conventions, and 436 (non-ordained) Lay Deputies, similarly elected.  In most Dioceses, four Clergy Alternates and four Lay Alternates are also elected.  The Alternates are ranked and most First Alternates, at least, participate on the floor of Convention, filling in for a temporarily absent Deputy.

According to the Constitution and Canons, there are different voting rules for different resolutions - the term for legislation.  For passage and adoption by the Church, all require at least majority votes in both Houses.  Some require majorities in each order (Clergy and Lay) in the House of Deputies - the result of a "vote by orders."

So, however elated one may feel being elected one of four Deputies from one's Diocese, the reality is that one is elected to be one of 872 Deputies.  A cog in the machinery of a really big legislative bureaucracy.

The journey started on October 19, or maybe it started decades ago.  Fact is, though, I didn't know I was on this particular journey until after the Russian River Deanery convocation on October 19.  Fall convocations are devoted to preparing for Diocesan Conventions, important in the Episcopal Church since the people, gathered in Convention, make the policy decisions and some operational decisions, for the Diocese.  For the most part Episcopal Church Dioceses are autonomous, but operate within the framework of the (mostly U.S., but with ten non-U.S. dioceses) Episcopal Church. It's important to know what you are will vote on when you go to Convention - so if you are a delegate, you go to the fall convocation.

Not an exciting meeting - typical batch of policy resolutions - not very contentious since the Church has  pretty much come down on the side of inclusion.  And then there were the introductions of nominees for Diocesan governance offices.  What caught my eye were the nominees for Lay Deputy to the Episcopal Church's 2015 General Convention (GC2015) in Salt Lake City - there were four very good nominees, but only four and there were eight positions to be filled (four Deputies and four Alternates).  Not good - every Diocese should have a full representation - but there's a nomination from the floor process, so more folks could be nominated and elected.

Driving back to The Sea Ranch that afternoon, I thought (or maybe the Holy Spirit nudged - we shall see) about offering myself as a nominee.  As the miles passed, the thoughts congealed into a coherent whole.  Although I'd never been a Deputy, I do know my way around General Convention, having represented the Church's Committee on Science, Technology, and Faith in 2006 and 2009 (Convention happens every three years).  And I've been part of the Diocesan governance structure.  Restructuring the Episcopal Church is going to be a big deal at GC2015 and I've worked on the restructuring of the Diocese of Northern California.  For nearly ten years I've been following the HoB/D (House of Bishops/House of Deputies) listserv, an informal list where a subset of Deputies and a few Bishops hash out ideas on issues they think are important.  And anyway, Joan and I have been planning to be at GC2015 since we have family in Salt Lake City.  Offering myself as Deputy seemed less and less crazy.

So I did.  The Very Reverend Matthew Lawrence, Dean of the Russian River Deanery, graciously nominated me.  Three or four others were nominated from the floor.  The nomination and balloting process seemed pretty chaotic.  Suffice to say by the third ballot three Deputies had been chosen and I had no clue re my chances of election.  I figured it would take many more ballots to elect the fourth Deputy and to get the order of Alternates set.  Also figured this was a good time to let the Holy Spirit sort things out.  Lo and behold, on the next ballot, I was elected Deputy, the order of the Alternates was set, and the election was over.

So, what next?  Lots of prep work, lots of digging into issues, all leading up the ten days in June/July 2015 as a member of what is thought to be the largest legislative body in the United States.  My ambitious goal for this blog is to keep a record of this experience; to do so will be a good discipline and provide insights into the Church's journey (and mine) for folks who don't find slogging through this kind of stuff completely boring.