“Annual Council” is now “Annual Convention.” Before the Civil War, the annual Diocesan meeting was known as a convention. During the war, the meeting was called a council, a custom that continued until last year, when clergy and lay delegates voted to return to the term Convention as the way to refer to the annual gathering of Diocesan representatives.
Annual Convention is like a giant congregational meeting for the whole Diocese.
This year’s Diocese of Virginia Annual Convention is meeting in Reston, VA. Catherine Hicks and Susan Tilt will be attending.
Annual Convention features addresses and meditations by the Bishops. People are elected to serve on the Standing Committee (the Vestry of the Diocese), the Trustees of the Funds, and the Virginia Diocesan Homes. Annual reports for the year just past are available. (These reports are also available online.) The budget for the coming year is debated and ultimately approved.
In the past few years, the Diocese has made presentations on innovative ministries that are taking place all over the Diocese. Seminars provide useful information about many aspects of church life, and worship services throughout the council weekend culminate in a festive Eucharist.
Best of all, this annual meeting provides a time of fellowship with all of the other churches of the Diocese. Clergy and delegates see old friends, make new ones, and learn about what is going on in other parishes—a source of mutual inspiration for all.
So why two this year? The Diocese is moving to holding Annual Convention on a November cycle to avoid the problems of winter weather. To begin the process, a second convention will be held this year on Nov. 4 at St. Stephens in Richmond. This convention will last for only a day, a cost saving measure for parishes in the Diocese.