Members of Episcopal Church Women’s national board danced down the aisle singing the chorus of Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” as they launched the group’s 48th Triennial Meeting. ECW members met under the theme “Stir Up the Spirit: ¡Celebremos!”
ECW’s Triennial, meeting in Salt Lake City on June 25 through July 2, attracted more than 300 delegates representing dioceses from all nine provinces of the Episcopal Church and affiliate organizations and orders, including United Thank Offering, Girls Friendly Society, Church Periodical Club, Episcopal Women’s Caucus, the Order of the Daughters of the King, Episcopal Women’s History Project, and the Episcopal Community.
A 5K Run/Walk, which drew more than 150 participants, raised funds for the Homeless Youth Resource Center of Salt Lake City. The route took participants past the St. Mark’s Cathedral, the (Roman Catholic) Cathedral of the Madeleine, the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square. Visit livingchurch.org for a fuller report on the ECW’s meeting.
Highlights of the Triennial Meeting included the UTO/ECW Sharing Dinner celebrating 125 Years of United Thank Offering, with speaker Bishop Michael Curry, and the Distinguished Woman Luncheon honoring more than 60 distinguished women, and honoring Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as the Episcopal Church Women National Board’s first Distinguished Woman.
Delegates and visitors attended their choice of more than 50 workshops covering a wide range of interests and topics. During business meetings, delegates considered a major report on restructuring ECW that had been commissioned by a resolution at the 47th Triennial Meeting in Indianapolis in 2012.
This year’s delegates overwhelmingly approved the recommendations made by the Ad Hoc Committee, to be carried out by the newly elected National ECW Board. The board, which will serve for the 2015-18 triennium, consists of:
- President: Lisa Towle, North Carolina
- First Vice President: Linda Guest, Rhode Island
- Second Vice President: Ginger Lief, New York
- Secretary: Patricia Wellnitz, Nebraska
- Treasurer: Karen O. Patterson, Southwest Florida
- Member-at-Large, Social Justice: Beblon Parks, Virginia
- Member-at-Large, Multimedia: Mayra Brown, Dominican Republic
