The Diocese of Los Angeles annual convention will meet on Friday evening and Saturday this week with the theme “Church Inside Out: Episcopal Identity in Our Neighborhoods.” The meeting will be at the Riverside Convention Center, 3637 5th Street, Riverside.
The convention will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia 11, the first women ordained in The Episcopal Church. The Rev. Carter Heyward, one of the 11, will deliver a keynote address at about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9. That morning’s convention Eucharist, which will begin at 8:30 a.m., will also be a celebration of women’s ministries. All members of the altar party will be women and girls. Heyward will be the celebrant; preacher will be the Rev. Norma Guerra, associate for formation and vocation of the diocese. All women clergy present at the service will be invited to come together afterwards for a photo with Heyward. All members of the diocesan community are welcome to attend the Eucharist and the address.
Carter Heyward
Visitors will also be welcome in the exhibit hall and the visitors’ gallery near the convention floor. Convention’s business meeting will begin after the Saturday morning Eucharist and conclude by 4 p.m.
In addition to Heyward’s address, this year’s convention will hear live and video reports of work by various ministries of the diocese, focusing on chaplaincy, service and advocacy. Bishop John Harvey Taylor and Canon to the Ordinary Melissa McCarthy will also give reports. Lay and clergy delegates will vote for various officers; nominees are listed here. (Nominations from the floor also may be made before the vote.) Delegates also will vote on a resolution that would renew the diocese’s longstanding companion relationship with the Diocese of Jerusalem.
An early order of business for the convention will be a vote on the application of St. Andrew’s Church, Irvine, to move from mission to parish status.
Comprehensive convention information is here. The Episcopal News will report on the convention on its website and in the Episcopal News Update.