Bishop Hollerith
and a deputation from Diocese of Southern Virginia will head to Salt
Lake City, UT, June 25 - July 3 to take part in the 78th General
Convention of the Episcopal Church. Over the next few weeks, we'll be
giving you some background on General Convention, explain how it works,
and introduce our deputation. You can find lots of information about
General Convention and follow the action in Salt Lake City on our General Convention blog and the diocesan Facebook page.
General Convention goes green: 2015 to be a convention of screens
It won't be 'business as usual' for the 78th General Convention, and not just because the Church will be selecting a Presiding Bishop and considering what a 're-imagined' Church might be. "It will also be the gathering of a Church dedicated to continuing to reducing its carbon footprint, while using innovative software and technology to streamline its legislative work and improve on its efficiencies," said the Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe, Executive Officer of the General Convention.
The Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements and the General Convention Office are focusing on efforts to make GC 2015 as paperless as possible, and to reduce reliance on paper copies and improve legislative efficiencies.
The Rev. David Michaud, Diocese of Easton and advisor in the revision of legislative software and systems, calls GC 2015 a "convention of screens". To that end, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and video monitors will be the primary media of legislative materials, and for the first time, there will be no large, dedicated print shop. This "convention of screens" will be made possible by a robust Wi-Fi system, which will be available for the first time on the floors of the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops.
Barlowe terms these efforts "the greening and screening" of General Convention, and says this "represents but two aspects of the adaptive changes that will make GC 2015 different from previous conventions."
It won't be 'business as usual' for the 78th General Convention, and not just because the Church will be selecting a Presiding Bishop and considering what a 're-imagined' Church might be. "It will also be the gathering of a Church dedicated to continuing to reducing its carbon footprint, while using innovative software and technology to streamline its legislative work and improve on its efficiencies," said the Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe, Executive Officer of the General Convention.
The Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements and the General Convention Office are focusing on efforts to make GC 2015 as paperless as possible, and to reduce reliance on paper copies and improve legislative efficiencies.
The Rev. David Michaud, Diocese of Easton and advisor in the revision of legislative software and systems, calls GC 2015 a "convention of screens". To that end, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and video monitors will be the primary media of legislative materials, and for the first time, there will be no large, dedicated print shop. This "convention of screens" will be made possible by a robust Wi-Fi system, which will be available for the first time on the floors of the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops.
Barlowe terms these efforts "the greening and screening" of General Convention, and says this "represents but two aspects of the adaptive changes that will make GC 2015 different from previous conventions."
