Executive Council
Documents
Minutes
Assessment Appeals
Learn more about an Executive Council Sub-Committee
Finance
Program and Budget
Appeals
What is Executive Council and what does it do?
Executive Council shares primary responsibility for planning and directing the temporal affairs of the diocese with the bishop and the Standing Committee, as provided by the constitution and canons of the diocese and of The Episcopal Church. Council acts for the diocesan convention between its annual meetings to implement the programs, policies and budgets convention approved. Additionally, Council serves as the board of directors of the diocesan corporation, exercising, except where canonically restricted, all the fiduciary responsibilities and powers of such a board under California law governing religious corporations. In consultation with the Department of Finance and the treasurer, Council oversees the management of the operating fund and of investments (including real estate), and develops prudent policies and procedures governing the use of diocesan funds. The bishop is president of Council while the other members are elected to staggered three-year terms: two per deanery (one of whom must be lay), six at large by the Convention; the bishop has the right to appoint up to six members and the chancellor, treasurer, and secretary of the convention are ex officio members. Council officers are chair, vice chair, and secretary; we are elected by Council from among its elected members.
Contact Executive Council at: [email protected]
Officers:
The Rt. Rev. Austin Keith Rios, Bishop, and President
The Rev. Todd Bryant, Chair
Sarah Lawton, Vice Chair
The Rev. AnnaMarie Hoos, Secretary
Class of 2026
- Christine Bensen, San Francisco
- The Rev. Todd Bryant, Contra Costa
- Leigh Flesher, Peninsula
- The Rev. AnnaMarie Hoos, Convention
- George Strait, Convention
Class of 2027
- The Rev. Kira Austin Young, Convention
- Tony Mei, Convention
- Elizabeth Olson Lennon, Alameda
- Kathleen Piraino, Marin
- The Rev. Dr. Marisa Tabizon Thompson, Peninsula
- Shawn Anderson, Southern Alameda
Class of 2028
- The Rev. Hannah Elyse Cornthwaite, Convention
- Lisa Perry, Convention
- The Rev. Jim Dahlin, Alameda
- Ellen Clark, Marin
- Kathleen Crisp, Contra Costa
- Sarah Lawton, San Francisco
- The Very Rev. Jeff Dodge-Hogarth, Southern Alameda
Bishop’s Appointee
- Eric Vezie (St Columba’s)
- Tish Busselle, Peninsula
Standing Committee Representative
- Marj Leeds, Contra Costa, Grace
Ex-officio members
- The Rev. Brother Richard Edward Helmer, Secretary of the Convention
- Lane Ringlee, Treasurer of the Diocese
Diocesan Staff
- The Rev. J. Sierra Reyes, Canon to the Ordinary
- The Rev. Bob Kossler, Interim Canon for Operations and Finance
Chancellor
- Canon Christopher Hayes, Esq. Chancellor of the Diocese
Subcommittees of the Executive Council
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee meets on the second Thursday of each month
The Executive Council maintains and supervises a Finance Committee, which shall be composed of: a Chair and up to four other persons appointed by the Bishop with the advice and consent of the Executive Council; two persons appointed by (but who need not be members of) the Executive Council; and, ex officio, the Treasurer, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Chancellor of the Diocese, all of whom shall be nonvoting members of the Finance Committee.
The detailed duties of the Finance Committee are described in Section 8.04 of the Diocesan Canons.
Put simply, they are: To maintain general supervision of the financial affairs of the Diocese and to make financial recommendations to the Executive Council and to Convention. The Executive Council requires that all matters of significant financial consequence that come to it for a decision first be reviewed by the Finance Committee and a recommendation made.
Bruce Deal
Class of 2026
Vance Frost
Class of 2028
Ellen Clark
Member of EC
Susan Aley
Class of 2026
Arthur Perkins
Class of 2027
Bob McCaskill
Class of 2028
Finance Committee
Ex Officio members
Lane Ringlee
Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair
Canon Christopher Hayes
Chancellor
Finance Committee
Staff Resources
Rev. Canon J. Sierra Reyes
Canon to the Ordinary
Committee on Program and Budget
The Executive Council organizes and supervises the Committee on Program and Budget, which is composed of a member of the Executive Council from each Deanery and three members of the Finance Committee. The Chair is nominated by the Bishop and confirmed by the Executive Council. The duties of the Committee on Program and Budget are described in Section 8.05 of the Diocesan Canons, and include initially evaluating all requirements and requests for funding from the Diocesan Operating Fund, subject to review and approval by the Executive Council.
2026
Committee Roster
Executive Council Members
Tish Busselle
Peninsula Deanery
Eric Vezie
Marin Deanery
Christine Benson
San Francisco Deanery
Elizabeth Olson Lennon
Alameda Deanery
TBD
Contra Costa Deanery
The Rev. Jeff Dodge-Hogarth
Southern Alameda Deanery
Finance Committee
Susan Aley
Arthur Perkins
Lane Ringlee
Committee on Appeals
The Committee on Appeals is composed of a Chair appointed by the Bishop and confirmed by the Executive Council, one person appointed by the Chair of Executive Council, one person appointed by the Finance Committee, and six persons appointed by the Bishop and confirmed by Executive Council. The duties of the Committee on Appeals are described in Section 18.04 of the Diocesan Canons, and include evaluation of and recommendations to Executive Council regarding appeals of assessments by congregations.
2026
Committee Roster
Executive Council Members
Rev. Marisa Tabizon Thompson
Bishop's appointee
Jurek Fernandez
Executive Council Chair appointee
Arthur Perkins
Finance Committee appointee
Carolyn George
Bishop's appointee
Tony Mei
Bishop's appointee
Mike Oliver
Bishop's appointee
Amber Evans
Bishop's appointee
Jeff Dodge-Hogarth
Bishop's appointee
