In a meeting on February 20 that lasted less than a full workday and was held over Zoom, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church elected a new member and selected a potential site for the 2030 General Convention.
The Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements approved Pittsburgh as host for the triennial churchwide gathering. Executive Council endorsed the committee’s decision. The next step will be to poll the presidents of the provinces for their advice and choice on the matter.
A key factor in selecting a potential site is the number of available hotel rooms, a criterion in which San Juan, in the Diocese of Puerto Rico, falls short. The majority Spanish-speaking diocese has sought to host the General Convention three times.
Council member Annette Buchanan of New Jersey alluded to a spirited discussion held earlier about the significance of holding the convention “outside the boundaries of the U.S.” to make it more accessible for Episcopalians from Province IX, which comprises many Latin American and Caribbean dioceses.
Although San Juan was among the five cities considered, the capital of Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, requiring those in Province IX who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents to apply for a visa to attend. The province comprises the dioceses of Central Ecuador, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Litoral Ecuador, and Venezuela.
The Rt. Rev. Rafael Morales Maldonado, Bishop of Puerto Rico and a council member, is still hopeful that his diocese may host the General Convention soon.
“In 2033, we will have the hotels, the number of rooms,” Maldonado said, explaining that the Puerto Rican government, with which he has been in conversation, has plans to build new hotels and expand the convention center.
Morales said celebrating the convention in Puerto Rico would be meaningful and historic. The year 2033 is also notable for him, as he plans to retire around that time. Morales was consecrated bishop in July 2017.
The next General Convention will be held in Phoenix on July 3-8, 2027.
Since its previous meetings, the 38-member governing body has welcomed new members, as two moved on to other ministries, one resigned, and in the summer of 2025 the Ven. J. Stannard Baker of the Diocese of Vermont died just before that season’s Executive Council meeting concluded.
Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, in his opening remarks, welcomed the Rev. Andrea Gardner of the Diocese of Pennsylvania and the Rev. Mark Nabors of the Diocese of Arkansas as the newest members of the body.
Gardner fills the unexpired term of Baker, which ends in 2027. Nabors will complete the unexpired term of the Very Rev. Shay Craig of North Dakota, ending in 2030. Craig was elected Bishop of North Dakota in October 2025.
During the February 20 meeting, Carolyn Lee Mok of the Diocese of Rochester was elected on the second ballot to fill the remaining term of council member Sandra Montes of the Diocese of Texas, which ends next year. Montes resigned from the council in October 2025.
Mok is a lay leader and a member of the Rochester diocese’s commission on ministry, which advises the diocesan bishop on candidates for ordained ministry.
Another election for a new council member will be held between now and the summer in-person meeting of the governing body, this time for the seat left by Canon Heidi Kim of Minnesota. Kim was appointed in January as the first executive director of the Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice, a volunteer group committed to the work of Becoming Beloved Community.
The Executive Council functions as the board of directors of the Episcopal Church and is entrusted to carry out policies adopted by the General Convention. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and Julia Ayala Harris, president of the House of Deputies, serve as the body’s presiding officers.
The council meets at least three times a year and is expected to hold an in-person, retreat-style gathering in the Diocese of Puerto Rico this summer.
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.
