The Executive Council’s recently concluded three-day meeting in Maryland occurred at the same time the Northeast was experiencing a heat wave. When the final session ended around an hour before noon on June 25, it was 96 degrees outdoors. The humid weather could be felt an inch away from the doors of the Maritime Conference Center in Linthicum Heights, where the governing body of the Episcopal Church met.
Indoors, ecclesiastical actions led to the formation of a missionary diocese, authorization to pursue a property for the Episcopal Church’s Archives, and memorial resolutions, among other business matters. The path to decisions and affirmations for both the diocese and archives were decades in the making.
But in an unexpected and painful turn of events, the thrice-yearly gathering was held against the backdrop of a sudden loss—one of their own.
Around 8:30 a.m. on June 24, Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe took to the podium to announce that the Ven. J. Stannard Baker, archdeacon and chaplain to retired clergy of the Diocese of Vermont, had died overnight from a heart attack. Baker, 79, attended the meeting virtually the day before. The gasps were audible from the council when Rowe shared the news. In a somber mood, the primate of the Episcopal Church noted how Baker was a treasured colleague and a “fierce advocate for justice.”
Rowe also mentioned his role as the plaintiff in the landmark ruling Baker v. Vermont, which led to civil unions in the state. The 1999 legal victory helped galvanize a movement for marriage equality nationwide.
House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris has known Baker for six years and had a close relationship with the LGBT rights advocate. Earlier, she had expressed her condolences over the phone to Peter Harrigan, Baker’s husband of 30 years.
“All of us at Executive Council are grieving today with the loss of our friend and colleague,” Ayala Harris told TLC. “In every room Stan entered—in committee work, in legislative halls, and in the vulnerable spaces of truth-telling, Stan led with deep care, humility, and fierce love.”
In a social media post, former Vermont Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman described Baker as “a steady, pleasant, unassuming leader and mentor throughout the many years of the fight for equality.”
Navajoland Becomes a Missionary Diocese
On June 24, council member G.J. Gordy from Navajoland offered a homily hours before the constitution of the area mission was to be discussed by the body. She read Luke 1:78, “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us.”
“When I read those words … I can’t help but think of Navajoland,” she said. “For the past year, through the work of the Episcopal Church in Navajoland, we’ve been walking what we call the beauty way. A way of life that seeks harmony with creation, with community, and with Creator.”
Gordy also spoke about the “three streams,” as they call it: mission statement, constitution and canons, and the bishop search process, all of which laid the groundwork for the missionary diocese.
The work of the Episcopal Church in Diné Bikéyah can be traced back to medical missions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The Navajoland bishop, who has oversight of a 27,000-square-mile area, has either been appointed by the presiding bishop or elected by the House of Bishops in the past.
Although Episcopalians in one of the largest Native American tribes in the country have already been operating as a missionary diocese, noted Gordy, canon law informs that approval of the constitution is the final step for it to be officially formed as such.
What precedes the journey are two General Convention resolutions: Resolution D080 from the 2022 convention, and Resolution C009 from 2024. The latter affirmed Navajoland’s petition to become a missionary diocese, which Gordy describes as “a recognition of our readiness to lead ourselves, guided by faith and tradition in the spirit of the Holy Spirit.”
Church leaders from Navajoland witnessed the moment via Zoom, visibly emotional, as they spoke about the milestone. The Rev. Canon Cornelia Eaton offered her message in the Navajo language, Diné Bizaad, before shifting to English.
“I am very grateful for this opportunity, for all of us here in Navajoland to be present at Executive Council and to witness this historic moment in the life of the church,” Eaton said. “And to acknowledge our elders because they’re the ones who really put the mission statement together.” She said that throughout the process, “one of the important things that I feel that we learned together was we learned to listen to one another.”
Rowe called on Michael Glass, chancellor to the president of the House of Deputies, to come forward and share about the constitution—the second version the council is reviewing. He explained how “sometimes the law is instead catching up with the facts and reality,” which applies to what the council is about to do, which would not “create anything new.” The 10-page document was adopted earlier during a special meeting of the Convocation of the Episcopal Church in Navajoland over a month earlier on May 3.
“Unless there’s objection, we’ll vote by standing and acclamation,” Rowe said, as every council member stood and applauded. Forty-seven years since they became the Navajoland Area Mission, the presiding bishop uttered, “Welcome to the Missionary Diocese of Navajoland,” a little past 10 a.m. that day.
The consecration of Navajoland’s first bishop elected by the people of the diocese is scheduled for May 9, 2026.
Archives May Finally Have a Permanent Home
Identifying a permanent home of the Archives of the Episcopal Church was another decision that has been a long time in coming.
In 2016, Executive Council approved an eight-year project with a budget of up to $3.3 million for the archives’ new home. Two years, later TLC reported that the search for such a facility was “an uphill battle.”
On June 25, Larry Hitt, chair of the Archives Advisory Committee, presented Resolution FINGO-001 to Executive Council, which would relocate the archives to a permanent home. Hitt referenced General Convention Resolution A016, which says the council should do its best in good faith to identify a site by July 1. After various locations had been proposed, the former St. Gabriel’s Church in Oakwood, Georgia, an 8,197-square-foot building on 3.5 acres of land, was selected.
The resolution sought for the council to authorize the presiding bishop or his designee to negotiate with the Diocese of Atlanta, which owns the property. Chris Lacovara, chief financial officer of the Church Center, discussed the financial considerations for the project during an executive session.
“We are hopeful at the prospect of making St. Gabriel’s the future home for the Episcopal Church Archives, and we plan to approach negotiations balancing market realities with our responsibility for stewardship of church resources and the need to preserve our shared stories,” Lacovara told TLC.
He added that the entire project can be funded through the church’s line of credit, cash, and short-term reserves, as well as “savings from the existing temporary archives leased space.” Once the property is fully negotiated and a construction budget finalized, financial figures about the project will be released, possibly in the fall of 2025.
FINGO-001 passed unanimously.
Stannard Baker Memorial Resolution
One of the final matters addressed by the Executive Council relates to Resolution D023, put forward by the Association of Episcopal Deacons (AED) during the 81st General Convention. Its purpose was to support the diaconal ministries of the church and the AED.
Baker, the late council member, had been involved in interfacing with the AED since November and in identifying their needs. Baker attended the AED conference in early June in Austin to connect with their leadership. A resolution focused on creating a working group that would look into how the greater church can support the efforts of the deacons and allot $200,000 to their work was put forward.
It was introduced as the penultimate resolution and passed.
Throughout the three-day meetings, the council also ratified the election of two newly elected board members of Episcopal Relief & Development. Presentations from the presiding bishop and Lacovara showed clear alignment, with the focus on reprioritizing church resources to invest more into programs.
Episcopal Migration Ministries shared how it is pivoting to more grassroots work, with council members noting the effectiveness of its weekly update calls, which draw an attendance of 300 every session.
The final resolution was put forward by Rowe in memory of Baker. Ayala Harris read the text of the resolution.
“Resolved, that the Executive Council meeting in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, would like to extend thanks to Almighty God for the life and ministry of our brother in Christ, the Venerable J. Stannard Baker, who entered into the land of light and joy on June 23, 2025, and further celebrates the wise and gentle leadership he exercised in moving the Episcopal Church closer to the full and equal claim of LGBTQ+ people upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the church.”
As the meeting adjourned, cards were laid out at the back of the room for council members to sign a sympathy card that will be sent to Harrigan.
Members of the body, which administers the program and policies adopted by the General Convention, are elected to six-year terms, with half of the members elected each triennium. Their final meeting for 2025 will be in October.
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga is The Living Church’s Episcopal Church reporter. His work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Broadview Magazine, and Presbyterian Outlook, among other publications.
