Sep 26, 2023 | #DidYouKnow, #FunFacts
Eligibility to vote in the Electing Convention is determined by the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of California, which are publicly available from both the DioCal and Diocesan Convention websites: diocal.org and diocalconvention.org; and the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church.
Lay eligibility
Lay Delegates for the Electing Convention
Congregational leadership (Vicars, Rectors, and Wardens) should be prepared to report their elected delegates and alternates as soon as possible following their congregational annual meetings for 2023. An online form is available for this purpose.
Clergy eligibility
All clergy who are canonically resident are eligible to participate and vote at the Electing Convention scheduled in December:
All canonically resident clergy are eligible and expected to participate at Convention, including:
- All canonically resident clergy who are elected or appointed to offices of ministry within congregations or institutions of the Diocese up to 30 days prior to the Convention; DioCal Article VI – 6.2(a)(i)&(ii)
-
All canonically resident clergy who have the Bishop’s consent to work outside of the Church, provided they have filed their 2023 annual report on their ministry prior to the Convention; DioCal Article VI – 6.2(a)(iii) and TEC Canon I.6.2
All canonically resident clergy not included in a parochial report of a church in the Diocese of California must complete the Report of Non-Parochial Ministry. Click here for more information about clergy whose ministries are not in parochial reports.
-
A list of all clerics eligible to vote will be prepared by the Bishop’s office well ahead of the Electing Convention. Any dispute regarding a cleric’s eligibility to vote will be resolved by the Convention after reviewing the recommend
-
All canonically resident retired clergy who, according to the Church Pension Fund, have retired or are on permanent disability leave from ministry within the Diocese. DioCal Article VI – 6.2(b)
-
All retired clergy are asked to complete a Retired Clergy Report.
A list of all clerics eligible to vote will be prepared by the Bishop’s office well ahead of the Electing Convention. Any dispute regarding a cleric’s eligibility to vote will be resolved by the Convention after reviewing the recommendations of the Committee on Credentials. DioCal Canons 2.01-2.03
If you have questions about your eligibility to participate in Convention, please contact Denise Obando, the Diocesan Canon for Transition Ministry ([email protected]).
Aug 15, 2023 | #DidYouKnow, #FunFacts
Welcome to the Social Justice Timeline of The Episcopal Church in the San Francisco Bay Area!
Discover our proud history of involvement in Social Justice movements:
At the forefront of social justice for decades, The Episcopal Church in the San Francisco Bay Area has a rich history of advocating for equality, compassion, and inclusivity in our communities. Our historical timeline, spanning from pre-colonial times to modernity and postmodernity, showcases our commitment to making a positive impact.
Key Moments from Our Timeline:
- In 1579, the San Francisco Bay Area witnessed the first Christian service and the use of the Book of Common Prayer in North America.
- During 1963-4, the Ad Hoc Committee to End Discrimination was formed, paving the way for civil rights activism.
- In 2003, The Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, a significant step towards inclusivity.
- In 2008, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus was the first to allow open blessings of same-gender unions in The Episcopal Church after the passing of Proposition 8, which prohibited marriage equality.
- In 2015, the Breaking the Glass Ceiling Facebook Group was established by Canon Stefani Schatz, providing a safe space for women in The Episcopal Church to share their experiences and advocate for change.
- In 2020, the global pandemic of COVID-19 arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area, disproportionately affecting communities of color, especially Hispanic/Latinx communities.
- In 2022, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus played a key role in moving multiple resolutions on the environment to the House of Bishops’ Consent Calendar during the General Convention of The Episcopal Church.
- In 2023, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus participated in an interfaith Black Lives Matter die-in and rally held at Berkeley’s All Souls Episcopal Church, demonstrating our continued commitment to fighting racial injustice.
Explore our legacy of positive change
Our timeline is a testament to our dedication to creating a more just and compassionate society. Dive deeper into our inspiring journey by exploring the complete Social Justice Timeline.
Join Us in Celebrating Our Legacy
We invite you to celebrate our legacy and join us in working towards a brighter future. Together, we can continue making a difference in the lives of those we serve.
Explore the Social Justice Historical Timeline now!
Jul 18, 2023 | #DidYouKnow, #FunFacts
Canon Davey Gerhard
Davey Gerhard, Canon for Stewardship, describes successful Expanding Horizons capital campaign
An interview by Donald Miller
The Diocese of California is uniquely positioned to face post-pandemic realities by providing resources that address critical issues, especially among congregations and the wider community of the San Francisco Bay Area. Through extensive fundraising, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus, working closely with Canon for Stewardship Davey Gerhard, secured an unprecedented amount of funding that will equip the Diocese of California to face the future with confidence. Important institutions such as the Bishop’s Ranch and Episcopal Impact Fund, among many others, were the beneficiaries of the Expanding Horizons campaign.
The Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg, one of the beneficiaries of the Expanding Horizons campaign.
The Diocese of California is one of only a few Episcopal dioceses with a staff role dedicated to stewardship and development. In this Q&A interview with Canon Davey he described the Expanding Horizons capital campaign, which raised more than $15 million for congregations, ministries, and diocesan institutions between 2016 to 2019.
Q: What were the origins of the Expanding Horizons Campaign?
Gerhard: One of the conversations that the bishop and I had right from the outset was that we need to run a capital campaign to increase capacity in the diocesan budget to help congregations and to shore up some diocesan institutions and give them essential help. In 2013, such was the landscape in San Francisco with the tech boom and unprecedented wealth in the Bay Area, that we thought, “This is the time to run the kind of campaign that could really ensure the diocese could operate well and serve its congregations.”
And the other thing that Bishop Marc and I wanted to accomplish was to continue the work of the diocese as a thought leader in the Bay Area. So, really establishing, reminding, that we are relevant and that we have something to say about what our civic Bay Area life is and how a community should function. A lot of our work with Expanding Horizons was to raise that awareness as well.
Q: Did the campaign address essential housing?
Gerhard: Absolutely. We weren’t going to do that initially. We got feedback. What kept coming back was, if The Episcopal Church is to engage in anything meaningful, housing has to be one of the things that it does. It’s the biggest crisis that we’re facing outside of climate in the Bay Area.
Q: Who made the decision about how the campaign funds would be allocated?
Gerhard: We had a steering committee of about 25 that met in the early months of 2015. They were comprised of members from our institutions (specifically, the Bishop’s Ranch, St. Dorothy’s Rest, and the Episcopal Impact Fund), a collection of rectors and vicars who represented congregations that said they would participate or that had underrepresentation in the diocese, and also some representatives from the Executive Council and the Standing Committee.
Q: What can you say about the donors and the congregations that participated?
Gerhard: The largest gift we received, $10 million, came from the legendary, amazing philanthropist Bill Bowes, a faithful Episcopalian, a member of Grace Cathedral, the grandfather of venture capital. Just a stunning human being. He died a few years ago and the world lost a beautiful man, but his generosity continues through his foundation, the William K. Bowes Jr. Foundation, and through his wife, Ute, who is also a gift to the world.
The thing that got Bill to say, “Here’s my ten million dollars,” was the big idea. The big idea was that congregations are the hub of community action, and that the capital campaign would strengthen and support congregations to engage in the five practices, which are: invitation, diversity, collaboration, sustainability, and neighborhood embeddedness. His donation encouraged other generous donations.
We raised great money with the congregations that participated. These congregations raised lots of money for their programs, for their infrastructure, or for whatever they needed to do. Great money was raised, great work is being done.
At the end of the day, seven hundred donors made gifts to the campaign. And those gifts ranged from the tiny to the miraculous. And every one of them mattered to us. It was beautiful to get a one-time gift of $50 from someone who said they just wanted to participate, as beautiful as it was to get those really large gifts that came in to us. That says to me we are raising awareness and relevance, we have great influence, and we have great people and generosity in this diocese.
Q: Of the people who worked on the campaign, who do you think deserves credit?
Gerhard: Bishop Marc. Bishop Marc solicited almost every major donor gift himself. At the end of the day, our donors, like me, wanted to hear from the bishop what the big idea was. I also don’t want to discount Dr. Sheila’s work in this. Much of the hospitality fell on Sheila, to organize and plan and be there by his side. Also deserving much credit are the diocesan staff, our communications team, myself and the development staff at the time.
Q: What obstacles did you face?
Gerhard: One of the obstacles was convincing everyone that we weren’t going to take money away from them, but that what we were going to do was add money to them, through service, through gifts, through increased capacity. And so, we made a pledge that clergy would be involved in the solicitation of their donors and that they would be offered a chance to collaborate, make a gift both to the campaign and to the congregation.
Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of the campaign for you?
Gerhard: The one thing I most wanted to see and the thing that makes me feel best about it, is the capacity we have to give money back to congregations that need it. Investing in our congregations is the best bang for the buck that the diocese could hope for. It’s the big idea; it’s where everything is happening.
Q: Is there anything else you want to share about the campaign, or stewardship and development in general?
Gerhard: The work of the Canon for Stewardship is to bring in stewardship, planned giving, fundraising, events, and development work. Not just to do work in the diocese, but I have colleagues all around in our congregations who call on me for support at all levels. That we’re able to do that across the diocese, to support fundraising initiatives at our congregations, is a real gift. I’m proud and excited every day to engage in this work at the diocese.
