The Acts of Convention

House of Bishops

Original Text of Resolution:

(B001)

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That Article I, Sec. 2 of the Constitution be amended to read as follows:

Each The Presiding Bishop, every Bishop of this Church having jurisdiction, every Bishop Coadjutor, every Suffragan Bishop, every and Assistant Bishop and every Bishop who by reason of advanced age or bodily infirmity, or who, under an election to an office created by General Convention, or for reasons of mission strategy determined by action of the General Convention or the House of Bishops, has resigned his jurisdiction, while acting as such within a Diocese, the Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces and the Suffragan Bishop of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, shall have a seat , with voice and a vote, in the House of Bishops . All other Bishops of this Church shall have a seat, with voice but without vote. A majority of all Bishops entitled to vote, exclusive of Bishops who have resigned their jurisdiction or positions, shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Proposed Committee Amendment:

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution be amended to read as follows:

Each The Presiding Bishop, every Bishop of this Church having jurisdiction, every Bishop Coadjutor, every Suffragan Bishop, every and Assistant Bishop and every Bishop who by reason of advanced age or bodily infirmity, or who, under an election to an office created by General Convention, or for reasons of mission strategy determined by action of the General Convention or the House of Bishops, has resigned his jurisdiction, while acting as such within a Diocese, the Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces and the Suffragan Bishop of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, shall have a seat , with voice and a vote, in the House of Bishops . All other Bishops of this Church shall have a seat, with voice but without vote. Every other Bishop by reason of advanced age or bodily infirmity, or who are under an election to an office created by the General Convention, or for reasons of mission strategy determined by action of the General Convention or the House of Bishops, has resigned a jurisdiction, shall have a seat and a voice in the House of Bishops, but without a vote. A majority of all Bishops entitled to vote, exclusive of Bishops who have resigned their jurisdiction or positions, shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Bishop Charlton moved a substitute to the committee amendment.

Proposed Substitute:

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution be amended to read as follows:

Each The Presiding Bishop, every Bishop of this Church having jurisdiction, every Bishop Coadjutor, every Suffragan Bishop, every and Assistant Bishop and every Bishop who by reason of advanced age or bodily infirmity, or who, under an election to an office created by General Convention, or for reasons of mission strategy determined by action of the General Convention or the House of Bishops, has resigned his jurisdiction, while acting as such within a Diocese, the Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces and the Suffragan Bishop of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, shall have a seat , with voice and a vote, in the House of Bishops . All other Bishops of this Church shall have a seat, with voice but without vote. Every other Bishop by reason of advanced age or bodily infirmity, or who are under an election to an office created by the General Convention, or for reasons of mission strategy determined by action of the General Convention or the House of Bishops, has resigned a jurisdiction, shall have a seat and a voice in the House of Bishops , but without a vote. A majority of all Bishops entitled to vote, exclusive of Bishops who have resigned their jurisdiction or positions, shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. However, the House of Bishops may, by a two-thirds majority, restrict the voting on a particular question to those bishops exercising jurisdiction or delegated oversight.

The substitute was seconded.

Bishop Gray moved the previous question on the substitute motion.

Motion carried

Debate terminated

A vote was taken on the substitute for Resolution B001.

Motion defeated

Resolution rejected

Bishop Spong moved the previous question on the committee amendment.

Motion defeated

Bishop Tennis moved to refer the resolution back to Committee to be perfected.

Motion carried

Resolution referred to Legislative Committee

The Committee on Privilege and Courtesy presented its Report #1-A on Resolution B001 (First Reading: Amend Constitution I.2 to Limit Vote to Active Bishops), moved the resolution, and recommended adoption of a substitute.

Proposed Committee Substitute:

Resolved, The House of Deputies concurring, That Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution be amended as follows:

All Bishops, unless under discipline, have seat and voice in the House of Bishops. Each Bishop of this Church having jurisdiction, every Bishop Coadjutor, every Suffragan Bishop, every Assistant Bishop, and every Bishop who by reason of advanced age or bodily infirmity, or who, under an election to an office created by the General Convention, or for reasons of mission strategy determined by action of the General Convention or the House of Bishops, has resigned a jurisdiction, or upon the recommendation of the Committee on the Resignation of Bishops (made prior to the acceptance of a resignation) and upon acceptance of the resignation by the House of Bishops, shall have a seat, voice and a vote in the House of Bishops. A majority of all Bishops entitled to vote, exclusive of Bishops who have resigned their jurisdiction or positions, shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Bishop Harris (Southwest Florida) moved an amendment to the substitute.

Proposed Amendment:

In the substitute, lines 7-9, delete the italics from "jurisdiction" to "shall have a seat".

Bishop Gray (Northern Indiana) moved to call the question.

Motion carried

Debate terminated

A vote was taken on the proposed amendment to the substitute for Resolution B001.

Motion carried

Amendment adopted

Bishop Hampton (Assistant, Olympia) moved an amendment to the substitute.

Proposed Amendment:

At the end of the substitute, add: "; and be it further

Resolved, That Bishops currently sitting in the House of Bishops would be exempt from these provisions."

Bishop Bartlett (Pennsylvania) moved to call the question.

Motion carried

Debate terminated

A vote was taken on the proposed amendment to the substitute for Resolution B001.

Motion defeated

Amendment defeated

Bishop Smalley moved to call the question.

Motion carried

Debate terminated

A vote was taken on the substitute as amended for Resolution B001.

The Secretary read the results of the vote on the substitute as amended for Resolution B001.

Motion carried

It was noted that B001 should be further amended as follows:

Resolved, That this resolution in accordance with Article XII of the Constitution, be sent to the Secretary of the Convention of every Diocese, to be made known to the Diocesan Convention at its next meeting.

The chair ruled that the amendment in order.

Substitute resolution adopted

Motion carried

(Communicated to the House of Deputies in HB Message #111)