The Riverside Convention Center will host the Diocese of Los Angeles convention on Nov. 11 – 12.
[The Episcopal News] September is here and it’s time to prepare for the 127th annual meeting of Diocesan Convention, to be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 11 – 12 at the Riverside Convention Center with the theme “Back to the Holy City: The Hope of Christ in Our Time.”
Archbishop Hosam Naoum of Jerusalem and the Middle East will address the Nov. 11 – 12 meeting of Diocesan Convention. Photo: Diocese of Jerusalem
The literal Holy City of Jerusalem will be represented in the person of its archbishop, the Most Rev. Hosam Naoum, who will attend the two-day convention and give an address, according to Bishop John Harvey Taylor.
Taylor met most recently with Naoum during a late-August visit to the Holy Land. The dioceses of Los Angeles and Jerusalem have maintained a companion relationship since 2005.
“While mission and ministry in our diocese barely skipped a beat during the pandemic, we also spent a lot of emotional energy just getting through our days, individually and institutionally,” said Bishop John Harvey Taylor as he announced the convention theme. “This is the year for fixing our eyes once again on God’s vision of a holy city of love and justice for all God’s people — taking what we’ve learned about what church and society are doing well, and what they’re not doing well, and rededicating ourselves to making it better.”
The 2022 convention, like its 2021 predecessor, will be a hybrid meeting; delegates and clergy will have the option to attend and vote remotely via Zoom webinar, according to Samantha Wylie, convention coordinator. Convention registration will begin at the Riverside Convention Center (3637 5th Street, Riverside 92501) at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11; the business session will begin at 3 p.m. An evening reception and dinner will follow. (Dinner tickets will be available for order soon on the convention website.) The convention will reconvene with Eucharist on Saturday morning and adjourn by 4 p.m.
All sessions will be live-streamed on the diocesan Facebook page and YouTube channel. Simultaneous Spanish-language and American Sign Language interpretation will be provided. Visitors will be welcome to attend convention and will be seated in a designated gallery in the meeting hall.
Young people (high school and college age) who would like to be part of the youth presence at convention may contact Gabe Vazquez-Reyes, youth missioner, at gvazquez-reyes@ladiocese.org.
Exhibits, nominations and convention housing
The Exhibit Hall will be back in full in-person swing before and during the convention, featuring diocesan and congregation ministries as well as vendors, who also will be invited to participate in a virtual exhibit hall. Potential exhibitors will find more information here.
Nominations for diocesan offices now are being accepted: click here for more information. The convention also will elect clergy and lay deputies and alternates to the 2024 General Convention, to be held in Louisville, in the Diocese of Kentucky. The convention will elect the next presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church as the Most Rev. Michael Curry concludes his term Nov. 1 of that year.
Secretary of Convention Steve Nishibayashi encourages all congregations to register their 2022 convention delegates with his office using the form on the convention website. The website will be migrated to a new server within the next two weeks; a notice of the new URL will be sent to all delegates and clergy as soon as the transition is complete. [The new website is www.diocesela.org/convention.]
Rooms for convention-goers are available for a block rate on Nov. 11 and 12 at a group rate at the Riverside Marriott (make reservations here) and the historic Mission Inn (reservations here). Additional housing information is here. Pre-convention meetings planned
A Zoom format will be used for three pre-convention meetings for clergy, delegates and interested Episcopalians (Please note corrected dates):
- Deaneries 3, 4 and 5: Sunday, October 16, 3 p.m.
- Deaneries 6, 7 and 8: Saturday, October 29,10 a.m.
- Deaneries 1, 2, 9 and 10: Sunday, October 30, 3 p.m.
Spanish translation will be provided at all three meetings.
In addition, the convention office will hold a convention Q&A and tech support meeting via Zoom on Monday, Nov. 9, 6 – 6:30 p.m. for delegates and clergy needing assistance. The link will be provided as the date approaches.