The 18 members of The Episcopal Church General Convention Official Youth Presence at the 78th General Convention have been announced.

The Episcopal Church’s 78th General Convention, June 25 – July 3, will be held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, UT (Diocese of Utah).

“The General Convention Official Youth Presence was established by an initial resolution in 1982,” Bronwyn Clark Skov, Youth Ministries Officer for the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society explained.

Members of the Official Youth Presence are permitted seat and voice by the rules of the House of Deputies and will participate in committee hearings and floor debates.

The following youth will be serving as the 2015 Official Youth Presence at General Convention.

Province I: Anna Foster, Diocese of Maine; Allegra Robinson, Diocese of Massachusetts

Province II: Uzodinma Kanu, Diocese of Long Island; Joseph Archibald-Bowers, Diocese of Virgin Islands

Province III: Nathan Harpine, Diocese of Virginia; Nancy Brooks, Diocese of Washington

Province IV: Arthur Garst IV, Diocese of Western NC; Levi Thompson, Diocese of Louisiana

Province V: Holden Holsinger, Diocese of East Michigan; Richard Pryor, III, Diocese of  Ohio

Province VI: Summer Murray, Diocese of Nebraska; Sydney Norman, Diocese of Minnesota

Province VII: Amelia Mackey, Diocese of Arkansas; John C. Zuk, Diocese of Oklahoma

Province VIII: Sonja Barba, Diocese of Hawaii; Madelyn Gonzalez, Diocese of Olympia

Province IX: Andrea Pena, Diocese of Honduras; Amanda Zorrilla, Diocese of Puerto Rico

Mentoring and shepherding the Official Youth Presence will be: the Rev. Canon Vincent Black, Diocese of Ohio, who will serve as Chaplain to the group; Celia Arevalo, Diocese of Honduras; Mindy Boynton, Diocese of Minnesota; the Rev. Randy Callender, Diocese of Maryland; Cookie Cantwell, Diocese of East Carolina; the Rev. Earl Gibson, Diocese of San Diego; and Christopher Palma, Diocese of Missouri.

Participants will gather in Salt Lake City for orientation and training April 9-12. Two deputies have been appointed by President of the House of Deputies, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, to lead the parliamentary procedure and legislative process training in April: the Hon. Byron Rushing, Vice President of the House of Deputies, Diocese of Massachusetts; and the Rev. LeeAnne Watkins, Diocese of Minnesota.

Over 100 applications were received from across the church from teenagers hoping to serve as representatives from their provinces. Reviewing the applications were Skov, Youth Ministry Liaisons along with two deputies appointed by President Jennings.

For more information contact Skov

The Episcopal Church’s General Convention is held every three years, and is the bicameral governing body of the Church. It comprises the House of Bishops, with upwards of 200 active and retired bishops, and the House of Deputies, with clergy and lay deputies elected from the 109 dioceses and three regional areas of the Church, at more than 800 members.

The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org

General Convention: http://www.generalconvention.org/

Diocese of Utah: http://www.episcopal-ut.org/

Salt Palace Convention Center: http://www.visitsaltlake.com/salt-palace-convention-center/

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