ECUSA Joint Commissions and Committees

ECUSA Joint Commissions and Committees

Contents

    The Interim Bodies
  1. Council of Advice, House of Bishops
  2. President's Advisory Council, House of Deputies
  3. Standing Commission on the Church in Metropolitan Areas
  4. Standing Commission on Church Music
  5. Standing Commission on the Church in Small Communities
  6. Standing Commission on Constitutions and Canons
  7. Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations
  8. Standing Commission on Evangelism
  9. Standing Commission on Health
  10. The Standing Commission on Human Affairs
  11. Standing Commission on Peace with Justice
  12. Standing Liturgical Commission
  13. Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development
  14. Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church
  15. Standing Commission on World Mission
  16. Joint Standing Committee on Nominations
  17. Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements
  18. Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget & Finance
  19. Committee on the State of the Church
  20. Church Deployment Board
  21. Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop
  22. General Board of Examining Chaplains
  23. Board for Theological Education
  24. House of Bishops' Committee on Pastoral Development
  25. Board of the Archives of the Episcopal Church
  26. Court of Trial of a Bishop
  27. Court of Review of Trial of a Bishop
  28. Executive Council

Overview

These 28 bodies oversee much of the planning and program of the Episcopal Church. Thirteen are called "commissions," 6 "committees," 4 "boards," 2 "courts," and 3 "councils." Each body is charged with specific tasks.

Terms of service vary. Some groups are appointed (most commissions and committees). Others are elected (Executive Council, e.g.). Most bodies shift their membership at the beginning of each triennium, with members typically serving for two triennia.

Most commissions and committees prepare reports published in The Blue Book, sent in advance to all bishops and deputies to General Conventions, as a major source of education for the General Convention itself and of the national church. Interim bodies propose much of the legislation considered at General Convention.

These 28 interim bodies currently have 405 members, plus consultants, liaisons from the national church offices, ex-officio members, and employees of the agencies which report to some of these bodies.

Regarding appointed members: in most instances the Presiding Bishop appoints bishops, and the President of the House of Deputies appoints clergy and lay members. In some cases, members are elected, such as The Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop: each province elects one bishop, one clergy member, and one lay member.

"Joint" commissions have members from both houses of General Convention, as do most "standing commissions." A few bodies are heavily weighted towards one order more than the other two. For example, the House of Bishops' Committee on Pastoral Development has only bishop members, with the exception of two members who are wives of bishops. Both Courts are for bishops only. The Council of Advice for the House of Bishops is for bishops only; The President's Advisory Council for the House of Deputies, has no bishops as members.

Of the members, 122 (30%) are bishops, 111 (27%) are other clergy, and 172 (42%) are lay.

163 (40%) are not members of either house of General Convention.

The membership of these 28 interim bodies mirrors that of the national church in some provinces better than others:

graph of data below: 

     Portion of   Portion of   Portion of     Portion Bp.   Port. Clergy/Lay
Prv  Dioceses     Communicants Commissioners  Commissioners Commissioners

1          6%         15%          8.3%          6.6%          9.0%
2          7%         17%         12.0%         10.7%         12.5%
3         12%         14%         15.0%         11.6%         16.5%
4         18%         13%         18.3%         24.8%         15.4%
5         12%          8%          9.5%         11.6%          8.6%
6          7%          7%          7.0%          5.0%          7.9%
7         11%         11%         10.3%          8.3%         11.1%
8         15%          8%         14.3%         16.5%         13.3%
Extra.    12%          7%          5.5%          5.0%          5.7%
Territorial

Click here to see a map of the provinces.
Gender inequality

The membership of interim bodies is predominately male: 68%. Females have a majority of the membership on only one body, the Committee on the State of the Church.

Male dominance is stronger in some bodies than in others, and the functions of those bodies has much to do with how we structure ourselves: ominously, the current distribution guarantees disproportionate clout to those who already enjoy an unjust portion of the leadership: they have the power to control what changes, if any, are made in the way we re-structure ourselves. Few persons vote for themselves to have less power: 

female	male
 0%    100%     Council of Advice, House of Bishops
 0%    100%	Court of Trial of a Bishop
 0%    100%	Court of Review of Trial of a Bishop
17%	83%	Standing Commission on Constitutions and Canons
18%	82%	Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church
21%	79%	House of Bishops' Committee on Pastoral Development
22%	78%	Standing Liturgical Commission
22%	78%	Standing Commission on Human Affairs
25%	75%	Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget & Finance
27%	73%	General Board of Examining Chaplains
27%	73%	President's Advisory Council, House of Deputies
28%	72%	Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements
29%	71%	Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations
30%	70%	Board of the Archives of the Episcopal Church
31%	69%	Standing Commission on the Church in Metropolitan Areas
31%	69%	Board for Theological Education
33%	67%	Church Deployment Board
33%	67%	Standing Commission on the Church in Small Communities
36%	64%	Executive Council
38%	62%	Standing Commission on World Mission
40%	60%	Standing Commission on Evangelism
42%	58%	Standing Commission on Church Music
42%	58%	Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development
44%	56%	Standing Commission on Health
45%	55%	Standing Commission on Peace with Justice
46%	54%	Joint Standing Committee on Nominations
48%	52%	Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding
56%	44%	Committee on the State of the Church
Some of this imbalance stems from the historic exclusion of women from the House of Deputies (until 1969, 50 years after women's suffrage in the United States) and from the priesthood (until the "irregular" ordinations in 1974 and 1975 and the "regular" ordinations from January 1977). As of November 2, 1996, we have only 3 females who are diocesans (3% of the 100 domestic dioceses) and 3 more females who are suffragan bishops.

Female deputies constitute only 36 percent of the House of Deputies.

Return to the Table of Contents

Council of Advice, House of Bishops

Return to the Table of Contents

President's Advisory Council, House of Deputies

Return to the Table of Contents