(Welcome to Episcopal GC 81)
By The Rev. Ken Howard
Founder and President – The FaithX Project
What Are Denominational Conventions Good For?
No, really, it’s a question worth asking…and even answering.
What are denominational conventions good for?
I have been to at least a half-dozen conventions over the decades I’ve been a clergy person in my denomination, the Episcopal Church, both as a delegate, as a member of a working group, and as an exhibitor.
I am writing this blog post as I prepare to depart for Episcopal General Convention 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky. For the uninitiated and our non-Episcopal readers, the General Convention is the highest legislative body in the Episcopal Church, akin to the Congress of the United States. A bit of historical trivia: the U.S. congress was actually modeled after the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. A convention delegate once told me that the U.S. Congress is like Episcopal General Convention, except it meets more often and gets less done.
Both have an “upper” house and a “lower” house. The House of Bishops is more like the U.S. Senate and the House of Delegates (composed of elected lay people and clergy) is more like the U.S. House of Representatives.
I’ve asked delegates from my home diocese (Washington, DC) what the experience of the Episcopal General Convention was like for them. Some thought it was exciting to be part of the legislative process, listening to presentations, debating resolutions. Others said it was “like watching paint dry.” When I once asked an Episcopal bishop what her experience of the legislative process in the House of Bishops was like, she offered a trenchant analogy which was “not suitable for mixed company,” as they say.
I always found myself somewhere between those extremes. Since I was an “alternate delegate,” I spent much more of my time in committee meetings and working groups than I did on the convention floor. And while I did find some of the floor debates interesting, I personally found those smaller, less formal, and more practical gatherings more pleasant, as they provided more opportunities for face-to-face interaction and interpersonal learning.
But what I have always found most interesting, even when I was an elected delegate, was the Exhibition Hall. Hundreds of booths, staffed with even more hundreds of interesting people, who were there to share practical things for the benefit of the church as a whole (much of it for a price, but still…). Most of all was a great opportunity for networking, learning, and stoking my creativity.
This year, as at the last several conventions, I am coming as an exhibitor with two co-workers, Mary Frances and Steve Matthews, representing our organization, The FaithX Project. Our mission at FaithX is to help congregations and the judicatories that support them survive and thrive in challenging times through data-grounded discern. We will have exciting resources to share, including our Congregational Vitality Assessment, our new Judicatory Vitality Assessment, our ever-popular Neighborhood Insights Reports, and more. Even our tchotchkes are useful.
So if you are planning to be at General Convention #81 of the Episcopal Church, come on by and visit us in the Exhibition Hall at Booth 915. We can even run a Neighborhood Insight Report for your congregation on the spot. Not going to the convention? Email us info@faithx.net
