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.