Eligible Voters for Diocesan Convention
A new policy of the Diocese of Georgia, as announced in January, calls for the Secretary of Convention to publish a list of eligible voters for our 120 days before the Diocesan Convention starts. The Standing Committee approved our beginning this best practice as a part of their setting policies and procedures for a bishop election years before we need to follow the full process:
Policies and Procedures for a Bishop Election PDF
Other dioceses have faced serious conflict over who can vote in a bishop election. To avoid those concerns when we elect a new bishop at some point in the future, the Standing Committee’s policy states that the Secretary of Convention shall annually publish the number of delegates for each congregation and the list of the canonically resident clergy entitled to a vote in keeping with the canons of the Diocese. Acting in her role as the Secretary of Convention, Canon Katie Willoughby is publishing here those lists 121 days prior to the diocese meeting in Tifton.
Delegate Count
The Canons of the Diocese of Georgia approved in 2022 define the delegate count as follows: Every Congregation shall be entitled to send lay delegates to convention with the number of delegates determined by the Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) of the congregation as “reported on the previous three parochial reports extant.”
- 2 delegates for congregations with 99 or less in ASA
- 3 delegates for congregations with 100-199 in ASA
- 4 delegates for congregations with 200 or more in ASA
Click here to see the 2024 delegate count.
Address any concerns with the delegate count to the Secretary of Convention at kwilloughby@gaepiscopal.org.
Canonically Resident Clergy
Clergy serving under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical authority of a diocese (typically the diocesan bishop) are canonically resident in that diocese. All deacons and priests canonically resident on the list linked below are entitled to seat and voice in every convention of the Diocese. Our canons require that those voting in our conventions, including a bishop election, have a current, active role in ministry within the Diocese
Canon I.1.3 of the Diocese of Georgia’s Constitution and Canons offers three ways a canonically resident member of clergy may have vote in convention. A member of clergy must be:
- ecclesiastically employed within the Diocese; or
- continually exercising clerical functions in some Congregation within the Diocese; or
- exercising a ministry specially approved by the Bishop.
In announcing the list to the clergy in a prior email, Bishop Logue clarified point number three above saying, “I am of the firm conviction that someone serving as a supply priest meets that last test as does someone serving as a peer coach in our coaching network as could other service in the Diocese whether compensated or not. On the current attached list, supply priests on whom we absolutely rely for our common life are the prime reason I list someone as exercising a ministry specially approved by me.”
Bishop Logue added, “The main reason for not having a vote is that the person is serving outside the Diocese as often happens in retirement, or they are serving as an associate in another diocese during a first call out of seminary while maintaining their connection here. The second reason is that the member of clergy has needed to fully retire for health or other reasons who is not, with only very rare exception, regularly serving in a church.”
Click here for the voting status of canonically resident clergy.
Address any concerns with the status of canonically resident clergy to the President of the Standing Committee, the Rev. Walter Hobgood. Contact the diocesan office through Canon Willoughby above for an email address for him.