General Convention

Established in 1789 in Article I of the Episcopal Church’s Canons, the General Convention is the bicameral legislature and chief policy making body of the Episcopal Church. It consists of a House of Bishops, which includes all active and retired bishops, and a House of Deputies, which includes up to four lay persons and four clergy from each diocese, each area mission, and the Convocation of the American Churches in Europe. It is the highest council of the Church that governs the American province of the Anglican Communion, including the United States, and several overseas dioceses in Central and South America.

The General Convention’s principal function, while meeting in session, is to consider legislation from bishops, deputies, the official Committees, Commissions, Agencies and Boards of General Convention (CCABs), and the dioceses and provinces. This polity and process bears much similarity to and draws its historical evolution from American governmental practice and democratic cultural traditions.