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Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Alabama
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Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Alabama
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EPISCOPAL CHURCH ORGANIZATION |
The Episcopal Church
EPISCOPAL CHURCH CENTER Contact Info CONSTITUENCY: 118 dioceses GENERAL CONVENTION is held every three years to decide the general program for the Church. This legislative body is composed of two houses: HOUSE OF BISHOPS and HOUSE OF DEPUTIES. The membership of the House of Bishops consists of all bishops in The Episcopal Church (active or retired). The membership of the House of Deputies consists of four clergy and four lay deputies elected by each diocese and jurisdiction. EXECUTIVE COUNCIL carries out church policy between conventions; this 41-member body meets quarterly. TRIENNIAL is the meeting of the ECW, held concurrently with General Convention. (see right)
GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS A PROVINCE is a number of dioceses in general proximity. There are nine provinces in the Episcopal Church. The Diocese of Alabama is in Province IV, which also includes the dioceses of Kentucky, Lexington, Tennessee, West Tennessee, Eastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina, North Carolina, East Carolina, Upper South Carolina, South Carolina, Atlanta, Georgia, Mississippi, Central Gulf Coast, Southwest Florida and Southeast Florida. Contact information for Province IV ECW
A DIOCESE is a number of congregations within a geographical area, under the jurisdiction of a Bishop.
A CONVOCATION is a number of parishes in a general geographic area, meeting and working together. The Diocese of Alabama has seven convocations. See ECW Convocations.
A PARISH is a community of people who worship and work together. A parish is generally self-supporting. |
National Organization Of The ECW
The purpose of this organization shall be to assist the women of the Episcopal Church to carry on Christ’s work in the reconciliation in the world and to take their place in the life, governance and worship of the Church.
Who we are: Women of all ages, ethnic origins, socioeconomic backgrounds in the Episcopal Church USA, who choose to participate: homemaker, working mother, career woman, ordained, single, married, widowed, divorced. ECW provides a framework for joint ventures with the many sister organizations within the Episcopal Church USA.
*National Association Diocesan Altar Guilds *Episcopal Women’s Caucus *Girls Friendly Society *Episcopal Society Ministry to Aging *Commission on Black Ministries *Women in Seminaries *Fellowship of Church Secretaries *Black Women’s Task Force *The Order of the Daughters of the King *Episcopal Women’s History Project *Religious Orders *Asian Ministries *National Committee on Indian Work *Women in Deaconate *Council for Women’s Ministries *Women in Integrity
In addition, ECW works with female members of the Episcopal Communicators Network, Executive Council and Overseas Development Office.
National ECW contacts may be found on the websites listed here. |
Triennial
Every third year, representatives from all the dioceses in the Church meet at a national meeting known as Triennial. This meets simultaneously with General Convention. The next meeting will be held in the summer of 2009 in Anaheim, CA. What is now considered the first Triennial took place in 1874 when some 66 women from five dioceses met for one afternoon in New York City. They became the Women’s Auxiliary to the board of Missions of the Episcopal church. The auxiliary concept remained for many years. It was applauded in an 1892 report from the Board of Missions to the General Convention as "the true idea of essential relations of the sexes." Not until 1958 was the "auxiliary" concept finally shed and the Episcopal Church Women was born. Throughout the 40 plus meetings, known as Triennials, Episcopal women have expressed their concern in many areas. As the Triennial Meetings do not have canonical status and are thus unable to make decisions binding upon the whole church, the women have felt free to be the innovators, the educators, the reconcilers and the missionaries. They also feel at liberty to express themselves in various ways and to influence the actions of the General Convention by their presence and their concern. The Triennial Meting is often called "the heart of the convention." At Triennial, UTO Grants are made, leadership training is given and the women attending learn first hand what is happening in the national church. Study guides, program ideas, inspirational and educational materials of all kinds are brought from Triennial back to the dioceses where they are available to convocations and parishes wishing to use them. |