General Convention in Pictures

There’s been a lot of words written about the 2018 General Convention in Austin, Texas. Here are the pictures.

Gary Allman Ten-minute read. Resources

For the 78^th General Convention in 2015, I stayed at home and watched the events in Salt Lake City unfold on my computer screen. I felt that I was constantly missing a piece of the puzzle. In 2017 I applied for funding to attend the 79^th General Convention. My request was approved, and there I was in the midst of things, and it was totally overwhelming.

I arrived in Austin, Texas on July 4, and things were already in full swing. First lesson arrive earlier to get the lay of the land, and to be able to hit the ground running when things switch up a gear. We — the diocesan, church, and general media, in total over 100 registered media people covered the convention — were allocated a briefing room, recording area (I won’t call it a studio), the services of the Office of Public Affairs, and set-aside areas in both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies to work from. The days were long, with early starts and carrying on late into the evening. Meals were taken ‘on-the-hoof’, between sessions. There were Morning and evening media briefings and so much more to take in and try to follow.

It was tiring, but a fantastic and often moving experience not to be missed.

During the convention I left most of the word smithing to my media expert colleagues and concentrated on curating the fire hose of information they produced. I Relayed the important bits on our Social Media and the in the daily General Convention Round-up magazine I produced. The truth is that that the learning curve is steep, and while the ‘old hands’ take it all in their stride, the many ‘newbies’, myself included, wandered around looking a bit lost for the first couple of days!

Did I find the missing pieces of the puzzle? Not really, what I found was that the puzzle was a whole lot bigger and complicated than the view from my computer screen led me to believe.

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Rather than bombard you with more words about Convention, I’ve picked some of my favorite pictures, which I hope will give you a flavor of what it was like. As always, you can click/tap on any picture to see it bigger and start a slide show of all the images in the article.

You can see a lot more pictures in our Flickr General Convention album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/diowestmo/albums/72157670856010488

You can read about the diocesan youth’s experience at General Convention in this article: spirit.diowestmo.org/2018/09/wemo-youth-at-general-convention/

Our General Convention Team

Deputies: L-R Fr. Jonathan Frazier, Fr. Tim Coppinger, Mthr. Anne Kyle, Curtis Hamilton, Linda Robertson, Fr. Marshall Scott, Liz Trader, Amanda Perschall. Alternate Deputies: Fr. Stan Runnels (far Right). At Convention, but not pictured here: Mthr. Megan Castellan, Channing Horner, Christine Morrison. Also pictured: Bishop Marty, and … WEMO Jesus. Image: Gary Allman

Lay Deputy Linda Robertson (left), Convention Volunteer Louise Horner, Alternate Lay Deputy Channing Horner, Clergy Deputy Mthr. Anne Kyle. Image: Gary Allman

Alternate Deputy Christine Morrison, Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, in the House of Deputies. Christine is also a Lay Eucharistic Minister. Image: Gary Allman

Louise Channing, St. Paul’s, Maryville, Missouri, is assisting at the Convention Help Desk. Louise also serves the Church as a Lay Eucharistic Visitor. Image: Gary Allman

For the duration of the convention WEMO Jesus lives on top of our diocesan sign. Image: Gary Allman

Opening Eucharist

Opening Eucharist of the 2018 General Convention Image: Gary Allman

Image credit: Gary Allman

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry at the opening Eucharist. Image: Gary Allman

Bread & Wine. Image: Gary Allman

Opening Eucharist of the 79th General Convention of The Episcopal Church. Image: Gary Allman

Revival

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry: ‘God is love and gives life’ Image: Gary Allman

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry: ‘God is love and gives life’ Image: Gary Allman

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry: ‘God is love and gives life’ Image credit: Gary Allman

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry: ‘God is love and gives life’ Image: Gary Allman

Even Bishops get selfies with the PB.’ Image: Gary Allman

Bishop’s United Against Gun Violence

Phil and April Schentrup’s daughter, Carmen, was killed in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Image: Gary Allman

Bishops Against Gun Violence. Image: Gary Allman

Bishops United Against Gun Violence. Image: Gary Allman

The Unofficial Official Flag Bearer of General Convention. Fr. Stan Runnels of St. Paul’s Kansas City. Image: Gary Allman

Bishops United Against Gun Violence. Bishop Marty leaves the podium. Image: Gary Allman

Prayers for Justice

Disembarking from the Buses to attend the Prayers for Justice. Image: Gary Allman

Prayers for Justice at T. Don Hutto Residential Center. Image: Gary Allman

Facing the T. Don Hutto Residential Center during Prayers for Justice . Image: Gary Allman

The youth arrive — Prayers for Justice at T. Don Hutto Residential Center. Image: Gary Allman

Presiding Bishop Micheal Curry addresses the people from General Convention at Prayers for Justice outside the T. Don Hutto Residential Center. Image: Gary Allman

Fr. Jonathan Frazier recording the Presiding Bishop’s address at Prayers for Justice at T. Don Hutto Residential Center. Image: Gary Allman

Prayers for Justice at T. Don Hutto Residential Center. Image: Gary Allman

Fr. Jonathan Frazier Expresses his Support for the women held at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center. Image: Gary Allman

Business Sessions

House of Deputies

It’s the Deputation from The Diocese of West Missouri. Image: Gary Allman

A068, more comonly known as the proposed revision of the Book of Common Prayer. Image: Gary Allman

The Official Youth Presence Visits the House of Deputies Image: Gary Allman

Image: Gary Allman

TEConversations – Racial Reconciliation Image: Gary Allman

The Deputies from Puerto Rico welcome Cuba into the House of Deputies. Image: Gary Allman

Cuba responds to the successful vote to admit the Episcopal Diocese of Cuba into the House of Deputies. Image: Gary Allman

The Episcopal Diocese of Cuba takes their seat on the floor of the House of Deputies. Image: Gary Allman

Curtis Hamilton, Deputy from The Diocese of West Missouri speaking from the floor in the House of Deputies. Image: Gary Allman

Mthr. Megan Castellan addresses the House of Deputies. Image: Gary Allman

Fr. Jonathan Frazier Addresses the House of Deputies. Image: Gary Allman

House of Bishops

Bishop Marty and Fellow Bishops on the floor of the House of Bishops. Image: Gary Allman

House of Bishops. Image: Gary Allman

Media

Evening Media Briefing. Image: Gary Allman

House of Deputies Media Area. Image: Gary Allman

Media and Visitors in the House of Deputies. Image: Gary Allman

Province VII Meeting

Province VII Meeting. Image: Gary Allman

Fr. Stan Runnels at the Province VII Meeting. Has he been fishing? Image: Gary Allman

Around Convention

People gathered near the ‘stage’ in the General Convention Exhibition Area. Image: Gary Allman

Welcome. Image: Gary Allman

Austin Convention Center Image: Gary Allman

Communications Central Image: Gary Allman

We bumped into the Seventh Bishop of The Diocese of West Missouri, Barry Howe and Mary Howe in the Exhibition Hall this afternoon. Image: Gary Allman

Volunteer Kim Lehnhoff from Lake Jackson, Texas. Image: Gary Allman

Angela Smith – The St. Francis Foundation. Image: Gary Allman

These guys were manning The Brotherhood of St. Andrew Stand in the exhibition hall. Image: Gary Allman

Tom Welch, Executive Director (Left) and Jeff Butcher, President of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. Image: Gary Allman

The Rev. Dr. Isaac Poobalan traveled from Aberdeen, Scotland to be at General Convention. Image: Gary Allman

Amanda Perschall (Trinity Lebanon) is a Lay Alternate Deputy. Image: Gary Allman

L-R. Susan Anslow Williams, Deon Johnson, Eric Travis – all from the Diocese of Michigan, and Liz Trader, The Diocese of West Missouri. Image: Gary Allman

Fr. Smokey Oats, The St. Francis Foundation. Image: Gary Allman

Shane Schneider on The St. Francis Foundation stand. Image: Gary Allman

Take note – Tamara looks after the Episcopal Asset Map. Image: Gary Allman

On the Episcopal Relief & Development Stand. Image: Gary Allman

Andrea McKellar of Former takes a selfie on The Order of Saint Helena stand. L-R: Ellen Francis, Andrea McKellar, Miriam Elizabeth, and Faith Anthony Image: Gary Allman

Tina – Episcopal Church Women. Image: Gary Allman

New Frock Image: Gary Allman

Last Minute Shopping, the Exhibition Space closes this afternoon. Image: Gary Allman

$Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Karen Mackey, Diocese of Louisiana, Bill Solcumb, Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers. One day I\'ll have my picture taken with the PB! Image: Gary Allman$

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Karen Mackey, Diocese of Louisiana, Bill Solcumb, Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers. One day I\’ll have my picture taken with the PB! Image: Gary Allman