Deadline: August  6, 2007 

Nominations are now being received for the elections at the 158th Diocesan Convention, October 19 and 20, 2007.

The Convention will elect:

Standing Committee – Class of 2011
One Clergy Position
One Lay Position

Ecclesiastical Court – Class of 2010
Two Clergy Positions
One Lay Position

Secretary of the Convention
One Position

Treasurer of the Diocese
One Position

Board of Directors – Class of 2010
Three Positions

Provincial Synod 2008
One Clergy Delegate
Two Lay Delegates

General Convention 2009
Four Clergy Deputies
Four Lay Deputies

Please fill out the nomination form (available as a PDF or Word format) and submit it via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

If e-mail access is unavailable, please mail to:
    Nominations Committee
    c/o The Rev. Martha C. Kuhlmann
    107 Franciscan Drive
    Danville, CA 94526

The Nominations Committee is looking to you for nominations for these positions. We trust you will review the duties and responsibilities of these positions (below) and will prayerfully consider who might best qualify.

Delegates to the Convention may certainly nominate candidates from the Convention floor. We pray for and need qualified, responsible people who will prayerfully consider these positions, and who earnestly desire to serve God and the people of this Diocese. Please be sure your nominee understands fully what commitments of time and resources the position entails and has agreed to stand as nominee. In your letter of nomination, please include the nominee’s name, church and mailing address. The Nominations Committee will contact the nominee for further information. You and your nominees will receive a confirmation notice that your nomination has been received. If you do not receive a confirmation within a week following the deadline, please call the Diocesan Office (415) 673-3362.

STANDING COMMITTEE – CLASS OF 2011

Serves as the Bishop's Council of Advice. Should the diocese be without a bishop, the Standing Committee becomes the ecclesiastical authority.
Between General Conventions, consents to the ordination and consecration of any person to the office of bishop, and the holding of an election for the office of Suffragan Bishop, and consecration of the one elected.

Standing Committee consents are required for:

• Alienation of church property
• Secular employment of clergy
• Renunciation of clerical ministry

The Standing Committee spends considerable time on clerical ministry:

•  Approval of candidates for holy orders
•  Testimonials for ordination
•  Certifying abandonment of communion
•  Receiving a bishop's resignation
•  Acting in the dissolution of a pastoral relationship

The Standing Committee is also called upon to:

• Approve the boards of directors of all diocesan institutions
• Consent to the establishment of new parishes
• Serve as the Board of Trustees of the scholarship fund for seminarians and School for Deacons students

The Standing Committee generally meets the first Tuesday of each month from 1-6 pm.

ECCLESIASTICAL COURT – CLASS OF 2010

There are four clergy and three lay people, each of whom is elected for three years. Every third year, three members are elected: two clergy and one lay. The court convenes as required. As prescribed by Title IV of The Episcopal Church Canons, “An Ecclesiastical Court shall be established and maintained in this Diocese for the trial of any Priest or Deacon subject to its jurisdiction.” (Cn. IV, Sec. 2)

SECRETARY of the CONVENTION

(a)  At each Annual Convention, a Secretary shall be elected from among the Members of the Convention or from communicants in good standing registered in a congregation of the Diocese. The Secretary shall take office 60 days following the close of the Annual Convention at which
such officer is elected and shall continue in office until 60 days following the close of an Annual Convention at which the Secretary's successor is elected.  The retiring Secretary shall be responsible for the preparation of the minutes of every Diocesan Convention during which the Secretary was in office.

(b)  The Secretary shall appoint one or more Assistant Secretaries.  In the absence of the Secretary the duties of that office shall be performed by a person appointed by the President of Convention.

(c)  The Secretary shall send to the Cleric in charge of each congregation in union with the Convention forms of certificates of election of Delegates and alternates at least 30 days prior to the time appointed for any Annual or Special Convention.  If any such congregation be without a Cleric in charge, said forms shall be sent to a warden of the congregation.

(d)  The Secretary shall cause minutes of the proceedings to be prepared, and, after they have been approved, recorded in a book, and shall preserve the journals and records, attest the public acts of Convention, and deliver to the incoming Secretary all books and papers relating to the Convention.

(e)  The Secretary shall send annually a printed copy of the Journal of the convention to each Bishop of the Eighth Province of The Episcopal Church, to the Secretary of the General Convention, to each Cleric in charge of a congregation, and to each Cleric and Delegate who, not later than the closing day of Convention, shall have requested a copy in writing.  The Journal may be issued in one or more volumes and may be supplemented as appropriate.

(f)  The Secretary shall send to the Secretary of the General Convention a certificate of the election of clerical and lay deputies and shall perform such other duties as may from time to time be required of him by authority of the General Convention. (Diocesan Canon 5.03)

TREASURER of the DIOCESE

(a) At each Annual Convention a Treasurer shall be elected, who shall be a communicant in good standing of The Episcopal Church registered in a congregation of the Diocese.  The term of office of the Treasurer shall continue until the close of the next Annual Convention or until a
successor is elected.  When not a Delegate to the Convention, the Treasurer shall, ex officio, be entitled to a seat and a voice in the Convention, but not to a vote.

(b)  The Treasurer shall be the chief financial officer and shall have charge of all Diocesan funds. He shall give to the Diocese a bond in an amount and by a surety satisfactory to the Diocesan Council to secure the faithful discharge of his duties.

(c) The Treasurer shall present at each Annual Convention an audited financial report of the operations of the Diocese for the preceding fiscal year and of its financial condition at the close of such year.  The Treasurer shall present interim unaudited financial reports to the Department of Finance for approval and subsequently to the Diocesan Council.  The fiscal year of the Diocese shall be the calendar year.

(d)  A Controller, one or more Assistant Treasurers and other financial officers may be appointed by the Department of Finance after consideration of the recommendation of the Treasurer.  The salaries of the Controller, Assistant Treasurer and staff shall be fixed through the normal Program and Budget procedure.

(e) A vacancy in the office of Treasurer of the Diocese shall be filled by nomination by the Bishop and approval by Diocesan Council.  Any staff vacancy in the Treasurer's Office shall be filled by the Treasurer, with the concurrence of the Department of Finance and of the Diocesan Council. (Diocesan Canon 5.04)

BOARD of DIRECTORS - CLASS OF 2010

The corporation organized under California law as "The Episcopal Church in the Diocese of California" shall be composed of the Bishop and nine other persons who shall constitute the Board of Directors and members of the corporation.  The directors shall be divided into three classes, each class being elected for a term of three years.  At each Annual Convention, three directors shall be elected.  Directors whose terms are expiring shall be eligible for re-election.

The Board of Directors of the said corporation shall have responsibility for the control and investment management of funds of the Diocese, apart from the budget and management responsibility for the operating fund which shall belong to Diocesan Council. The Board of Directors of the said corporation shall also act as a council of advice to the Bishop in fiscal matters. The said corporation shall provide for proper audit of all accounts of the Treasurer, shall review the same, and shall report its findings to each Annual Convention.

The Board of Directors meets the first Wednesday of each quarter at 10:30 a.m.

DEPUTIES TO THE PROVINCIAL SYNOD

The deputies and alternate deputies representing the Diocese at the Synod of the Eighth Province shall be elected at least six (6) months prior to the scheduled date of the Provincial Synod. Eligibility for such offices shall be in accordance with the Canons of The Episcopal Church and the Ordinances of the Eighth Province.  Deputies and alternates so elected shall serve at all meetings of the Provincial Synod for which elected during the two (2) years subsequent to the date of the Synod, and until their successors are elected.  Any vacancy in such deputation shall be filled by the Bishop with the concurrence of Diocesan Council.
The Provincial Synod will meet for three (3) days in the summer of 2008.  There is travel reimbursement for this position.

DEPUTIES TO THE GENERAL CONVENTION

(From the Diocesan Constitution)

Sec.9.1.  Deputies to the General Convention, together with alternate deputies shall be elected at least twelve (12) months preceding the date that the General Convention for which they are to be seated is scheduled to convene. Such election shall occur at the Annual Convention, or at a Special Convention called for that purpose.

Sec.9.2.  By concurrent vote of the clerical and lay orders, voting separately, the Convention shall elect four (4) clerical deputies and their alternates, and four lay deputies and their alternates, who shall continue in office until their successors are elected. Clerical deputies shall
be Presbyters or Deacons, eligible under the Constitution of The Episcopal Church, to serve as such. Lay deputies shall be confirmed adult communicants of the Church, and registered in a congregation of this Diocese.

Sec.9.3.  In the event of a vacancy or vacancies among the elected deputies, the Bishop shall designate one or more of the alternate deputies, in descending order in accordance with the number of votes received by each at the time of election, to fill such vacancy or vacancies.

(From the Canons of the Episcopal Church USA)

I.1.3(a) The right of calling special meetings of the General Convention shall be vested in the Bishops. The Presiding Bishop shall issue the summons for such meetings, designating the time and place thererof, with the consent, or on the requisition, of a majority of the Bishops, expressed to the Presiding Bishop in writing.

(b) The Deputies elected to the preceding General Convention shall be the Deputies at such special meetings of the General Convention, except in those cases in which other Deputies shall have been chosen in the meantime by any of the Diocesan Conventions, and then such other Deputies shall represent in the special meeting of the General Convention of the Church of the Diocese in which they have been chosen.

I.1.4(a) All jurisdictions of this Church entitled by the Constitution or Canons to choose Deputies to the General Convention shall be required to do so not later than twelve months preceding the opening date of the General Convention for which they are chosen. Deputies of jurisdictions failing so to elect may not be seated unless permitted by ruling of the Presiding Officer.

(b) It shall be the duty of each seated Deputy to communicate to the electing jurisdiction the actions taken and the positions established by the General Convention.

(c) It shall be the responsibility of each Diocese to provide a forum in which the Deputies to the General Convention from that jurisdiction have opportunity to report.

General Convention will be held July 6 – 15, 2009 in Anaheim, CA. In 2009 the Diocesan deputation will meet monthly to prepare for Convention.  There is travel reimbursement for this position.