[Episcopal News – Sept. 17, 2025] – Diocesan Convention’s upcoming Nov. 7-8 “Resilience and Renewal” meeting and election of the eighth Bishop of Los Angeles were central topics discussed by Diocesan Council at its Sept. 11 online meeting, chaired by Canon Dr. Steve Nishibayashi, secretary of Diocesan Convention.
Treasurer Andy Tomat reported that a summary 2026 draft budget will be presented at the Oct. 16 meeting of Council after a Joint Budget Committee meeting called for later this month by Bishop John Harvey Taylor.
In the Dominican Republic to attend a meeting of the churchwide House of Bishops, Taylor tapped Nishibayashi to chair the Council meeting. Canon to the Ordinary Melissa McCarthy also was out of town.
Council also approved, and sent to members of both the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church and the California Senate and House of Representatives, a resolution commending that dioceses, congregations and institutions, and state politicians, “work, study and pray for a just national immigration policy that will respect the dignity of every human being.”
The resolution is available here.
Treasurers’ report
Tomat applauded the diocesan community’s generosity, noting particularly donations through July 31, totaling more than $1 million, for fire relief ($790,000); IRIS’s emergency appeal ($170,544); as well as donations to the diocesan endowment fund and the 2025 annual appeal.
Stable Mission Share Fund assessment payments “probably more than anything, are really what’s helping fiscal matters remain stable in the diocese this year, despite the fires, and everything else,” Tomat said. Diocesan operations continued to run well through July 31, 2025, through minimizing discretionary expenses, but don’t yet include most of the bishop’s search and election expenses. MSF payments tracked closely to budget and past-due assessments were reduced by $5,776 in July.
“Overall, we thank the leadership of all our churches, especially those affected by the fires, for their continued commitment to the shared mission work of the diocese. And (we) welcome continued interest in communicating to everyone how their contributions are utilized to support the work of our mission congregations, diocesan programs and the larger Episcopal Church.”
The proposed 2026 budget will include the additions for Children and Youth Ministry, funded by the Lilly Foundation and other generous donors, as well as disaster recovery efforts funded by Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD),” Tomat told Council.
“The budget will be presented in summary form to allow the eighth bishop flexibility to make program allocations during the year. Bishop Taylor has avoided making any multi-year funding commitments to avoid encumbering the next bishop,” he said.
Convention and the Bishop’s Election
The Rev. Dr. Kate Cress, president of the diocesan Standing Committee, and Samantha Wylie, convention coordinator, reviewed rules approved for the bishop’s election, including allowing petitioners to be added to the slate until Sept. 19; precluding floor nominations; and barring off-site voting; among other provisions.
The diocesan community will have opportunities to meet bishop candidates Oct. 21-24 and to attend online pre-convention deanery assemblies Oct. 25 and Nov. 1.
Additional details may be found at the Call to Convention.
Convention business will be livestreamed on the diocese’s Facebook and YouTube channels. The election will be decided by majority vote in both lay and clergy orders. If no one is elected by 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 8, Convention will reconvene from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9, at All Saints Church in Pasadena, also the site for the Saturday, July 11, 2026, consecration.
Convention Resolutions and Amendments to the Constitution and Canons
Delegates to the 130th annual meeting of the diocese will also: select diocesan officers; elect deputies to the 82nd General Convention of the Episcopal Church, July 3-8, 2027 in Phoenix, and will consider three resolutions, two regarding immigration policy and one governing pastoral care and death and dying (https://diocesela.org/convention/resolutions/).
Also to be considered: a change to the diocesan Constitution and Canons, to group youth delegates (ages 16 to 18 years and still enrolled in high school at the time of convention) and young adults (18 to 22 years) separately, in accordance with The Episcopal Church Constitution and Canons and with safe church policies, according to Missy Morain, diocesan Missioner for Christian Formation, Children, Youth.
The amendment requires approval of two meetings of diocesan conventions.
Reports of Mission
The Very Rev. Gary Hall reported the Program Group on Mission Congregations received 2026 grant requests from 24 congregations totaling $970,000, up from a budget of $862,000 in 2025. “A lot of our congregations have been impacted by the ICE raids,” Hall said. “Therefore, their attendance is down, and their giving is down, so they have higher needs for subsidy.” Cost of living increases and inflation tariffs have also impacted congregations, he said. As the Program Group had not yet received budget guidance from the treasurer and bishop at the time of the Council meeting, they will be reconvening later this month to finalize their recommendations.
The Corporation of the Diocese (COTD) and the Standing Committee each approved tenant lease agreements for schools at both St. Mark’s, Downey and at St. Michael and All Angels, Corona del Mar. Also approved were revised terms between a developer and St. Ambrose, Claremont, where an affordable housing project is underway.
Additionally, a real estate firm has been selected to oversee sale of the episcopal residence in Pasadena. Proceeds are designated for the next bishop’s housing needs, COTD member Sharon Ellis reported.
The Standing Committee also consented to the consecration of the Rev. Dean Rob Price as bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Dallas, according to Cress, the Standing Committee’s president.
Tammy Smecker-Hayne reported the United Thank Offering Fall Ingathering is set for Nov. 1, All Saints’ Day. UTO, dedicated to funding mission and ministry, distributed slightly over $1 million to assist water projects in 2025 to Episcopal groups in the United States and across the Anglican Communion. Grants will be awarded in 2026 for projects focused on both justice and building bridges. “This summer in L.A., justice has been on a lot of our minds,” she said. Grant proposers must include another organization, “with whom they (the proposer) do not regularly work, so it’s about justice as well as bridging divides,” she said.
Episcopal Church Women President Christine Budzowski reported that a four-member delegation from the L.A. diocese will attend the ECW’s Sept. 26-28 Provincial Gathering on the Shoshone Bannock Reservation in Fort Hall, Idaho. The gathering’s focus will include conversations about the Doctrine of Discovery, missing and murdered Indigenous People, and boarding school issues, she said.
The Council meeting closed with a remembrance of those who perished in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and with a prayer led by the Rev. Canon Ian Davies, rector of St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood, and dean of Deanery 3.
Diocesan Council meets next at 4 pm., Thursday, Oct. 16 via Zoom.