GC81 Daily Update: Friday, June 28

Greetings from Louisville, Kentucky, site of The Episcopal Church’s 81st General Convention, which concluded this afternoon. This final daily update from the Office of Public Affairs contains news, events, and resources related to GC81.

GC81 photos: Visit The Episcopal Church’s Flickr page for daily photo albums from convention. You are welcome to download any photos; please credit photographer Randall Gornowich.  

Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe addresses deputies and bishops in the House of Deputies after his election and confirmation June 26. Photo by Randall Gornowich


Watch GC81 content on demand: Did you miss something or want to see it again? Find worship services, legislative sessions, press conferences, and special forums on demand on the GC81 Media Hub.

Today’s highlights

  • Closing Eucharist: The final day of the 81st General Convention began with a Eucharist service. Presiding Bishop-Elect Sean Rowe preached; Presiding Bishop Michael Curry presided. Watch video of the sermon and read a transcript.
  • Installation plans for presiding bishop-elect: Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe, together with the planning committees for his transition and installation, announced today that they will forego the traditional installation service in Washington National Cathedral in favor of a smaller, simpler ceremony in the chapel at the church’s New York headquarters. Read press release.
  • Diocesan mergers, updates: On the final legislative day, General Convention approved the mergers of three Wisconsin dioceses (Resolution D051) and two Michigan dioceses (C025), and a much anticipated change in status to missionary diocese for the Episcopal Church in Navajoland (C009). Earlier it approved the expansion of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii to include Guam and Saipan, which formerly comprised the Episcopal Church in Micronesia. Read press release.
  • Election of vice president of House of Bishops: The Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis, was elected to serve as the vice president of the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church. Her tenure will begin Nov. 1, when Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe takes office. Read press release
  • Legislation: Both houses met throughout the day and concluded their business in the afternoon, expressing gratitude for the outgoing Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Secretary of the General Convention and Executive Officer Michael Barlowe. Learn more about what happened today in the Episcopal News Service’s GC81 Daily Digest and its other convention coverage.
  • Prayer card: We invite all to download this prayer card remembering all Indigenous children who were in residential and boarding schools in Canada and the United States. 

In case you missed it

  • Victims of gun violence were remembered June 27 in the House of Deputies with a placard distribution to deputations noting mass shootings in their regions and with a Bishops United Against Gun Violence public witness event at nearby Jefferson Square Park. Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe offered remarks, as did participants in Youth Working to End Gun Violence. Watch a video of the day’s highlights:

Did you know?

  • From The Archives of The Episcopal Church: Washington National Cathedral became the seat of the presiding bishops of The Episcopal Church in 1941 as a result of an action at the 1940 General Convention. Bishop Henry St. George Tucker had his installation there in 1938, and all subsequent presiding bishops have had their installation there as well. 

GC81 in the news

  • 81st General Convention wraps up in Louisville
    Episcopal News Service
    The triennial Episcopal family reunion, worship extravaganza and legislative session that is General Convention was back in full force during its meeting here after the pandemic had pared down the previous gathering.
  • Presiding bishop-elect calls the church to ‘think different’ about how it should work for the sake of sharing the Gospel
    Episcopal News Service
    In his first sermon as presiding bishop-elect, the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe said The Episcopal Church needs to be ready to tolerate uncertainty, make sacrifices and think differently about how the church should work so it can better share the Gospel of Jesus with a world that needs to hear it.
  • Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan celebrate approval of merger as Diocese of the Great Lakes
    Episcopal News Service
    A nearly five-year journey of experimentation and collaboration between the dioceses of Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan culminated in jubilant votes June 28, as the 81st General Convention authorized their merger as the new Diocese of the Great Lakes. 
  • 81st General Convention finalizes reunion of the Diocese of Wisconsin
    Episcopal News Service
    As one of its final acts of its June 23-28 meeting, the 81st General Convention approved the reunion of the dioceses of Milwaukee, Fond du Lac and Eau Claire, after a nearly three-year process of discernment that was celebrated on the floor of the House of Deputies and later in the House of Bishops.
  • Bishops, deputies unanimously vote to adopt prayer to remember Indigenous children forced to attend boarding school
    Episcopal News Service
    The House of Deputies unanimously voted on June 27 to adopt Resolution C032, “A Prayer to Remember the Innocents,” which expresses the church’s remorse for its role “in the irreparable harm suffered by Indigenous children who attended Indigenous boarding and residential schools in the 1800s and 1900s, and acknowledges that the effect of that harm carries on in boarding school survivors and their descendants.”
  • ‘Youth are the church now’
    The Living Church
    This week hundreds of young people have descended on Louisville, Kentucky, for the 81st General Convention. Here are a few of those emerging leaders.
  • Convention’s Official Youth Presence delegates represent future of the church
    Episcopal News Service
    The 18 high school students making up the Official Youth Presence of the 81st General Convention have brought energy and fresh insight to the week’s proceedings. Representing every province of The Episcopal Church, they exhibit passionate opinions and say they’re ready for the church to listen to their voices.
  • Bishops, youth working to end gun violence unite in Louisville rally
    Episcopal News Service
    As of June 27, 254 mass shootings have occurred nationwide, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an American nonprofit that catalogs every gun-related death in the United States. A mass shooting is defined as one in which at least four people are shot, either fatally or non-fatally, excluding the shooter. “This has become an increasingly serious issue, as the leading cause of death for people my age is gun violence,” Sophie Gable, a youth delegate, said in front of a crowd of hundreds of people.
  • Deputies elect Steve Pankey as vice president
    The Living Church
    At a Thursday morning candidates’ forum, Pankey said he wants “to follow God’s call in service to the church.” He cited his extensive committee work. “That is what I do. That’s important. But more important is who I am. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I am committed to deep listening, compassionate leadership, and standing with those who have been on the margins for too long.”

Informational resources 

Social media links