Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings have released the following statement concerning the special task force for church structural reform.

“We are offering an update on the selection of the members of the special task force on structural reform. 

We wish to express our deep thanks and appreciation to the hundreds of people who were nominated or who have indicated a desire to serve on the special task force for church structural reform. Over 450 people have expressed interest in serving.  

At this point, we are reviewing all the nominations, and we are discerning the composition of this important task force. Following the Executive Council meeting in October and our planned participation in the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meeting in New Zealand also in October and November, we will devote our attention to this large and critical task. 

It is important to know that we are  carefully reviewing each and every nomination and then discerning whom to appoint given the many gifted people who have offered to serve. There is an abundance of rich gifts being offered for this work, and we are delighted to discover how far we agree on the direction and potential names for this task force. We expect to announce the members on or about December 1. 

Please note that the budget and mandate for this special task force begins in 2013.

We are thankful for your continued prayers through our discernment.”

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori

President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings

Resolution C095

Approved at the July General Convention 2012, Resolution C095 calls for development of a 24-member task force charged with presenting a plan to the next General Convention in 2015 “for reforming the Church’s structures, governance, and administration.”

According to resolution C095, “The membership of the Task Force shall reflect the diversity of the Church, and shall include some persons with critical distance from the Church’s institutional leadership.”

In addition, the task force will conduct a special gathering with representation from every diocese in preparation of its final report, due by November 2014.  The date and location of the special meeting will be determined later.

Resolution C095 in full is here: http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/resolutions?by=number&id=c095

The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/episcopalian

Twitter: twitter.com/iamepiscopalian