Nominations

The following positions are open for nominations to be elected at the business meeting of the 2023 Diocesan Convention. Please read through the following open positions and, should you feel led, submit your nominations using the button at the bottom of the page. Nominations may be made only by the Bishop, Clerical and Lay Delegates, Vestries, and any other person authorized by Canon.  See Rule 8.01. Nominations are due by Friday, January 6, 2023. For further assistance with nominations after this date, please email The Rev. Canon Michelle Bolt at mwbolt@dioet.org. 

The Bishop and Council (B&C) comprises the Bishop, the Dean of the Cathedral (or their appointed representative clergyperson), plus ten lay and clerical members who represent each of the three geographical areas of the diocese – two of each from the populous South East and Middle East areas and one of each from the Upper East Area.

B&C carries out the work of the Diocesan Convention between its annual meetings and oversees the program of the diocese.

In 2021, the Bishop and Council affirmed the following guiding principles. We ARE:

•   attuned to a eucharistic moment when past, present, and future co-exist
•   focused on God’s work in us and in you
•   hopeful about the church
•   collaborative
•   three regions as a trinity
•   ecumenical, participative, supportive
•   all in this together
•   prayerful
•   speaking truth in love
•   the convention between conventions

Among its responsibilities, B&C prepares the diocesan budget to be approved by Diocesan Convention and approves grants and loans recommended by the Opportunity Fund Committee. Members may serve on the Opportunity Fund and other council committees: Budget and Finance, Health Insurance, Stewardship, the Diocesan Council on Youth Ministry, or Diocesan Convention. Each term is three years. Clergy and lay members may not be from the same parish, and members must be 18 years old or more. Bishop and Council members may not serve simultaneously on the Standing Committee. Members gather approximately four to six times a year for meetings at the Diocesan House in Knoxville. Recent meetings have included the option for remote attendance.

Please see Rule 8.03 of the Diocese of East Tennessee Annual Convention Rules of Order for specific provisions governing the election of members of Bishop and Council.

The Standing Committee serves as a council of advice to the bishop. Among its responsibilities, it gives consent for all bishops elected in the Episcopal Church, recommends individuals for ordination, and advises on the purchase, sale or encumbrance of any diocesan property or property held by a congregation or ministry of the diocese. In the event the diocese is without a bishop, the Standing Committee serves as the ecclesiastical authority until the diocese elects a new bishop. 

The Standing Committee schedules monthly meetings, but sometimes it conducts business via e-mail or conference call. 

The Standing Committee has six members, three clergy, and three lay. One clergy and one lay member rotate off each year. Each member’s term is three years, and they may be re-elected for one successive term. Members of the Standing Committee may not serve simultaneously on the Bishop and Council, Commission on Ministry, or Disciplinary Board.

The Disciplinary Board is unique among our elected leadership bodies in that it does not convene for meetings on a regular schedule. The disciplinary board meets once  annually for an orientation and then serves through the remainder of the year as a pool of members from which panels may be drafted as needed.  The ideal qualities of a good disciplinary board member include sound judgment and the ability to listen carefully.  This board is composed of seven persons, four members of the clergy and three lay. Clergy members must be canonically and geographically resident within the diocese, and lay members must be adult communicants in good standing who are geographically resident in the diocese. Members of the Standing Committee may not also be members of the Disciplinary Board. Functions of the Disciplinary Board are listed in the Canons of The Episcopal Church, Title IV.

Two lay people and one member of the clergy serve on the Board of Trustees of the University of the South. The term of office is three years, and trustees can be re-elected for one successive term. One trustee rotates off each year. 

Trustees are expected to attend the annual board meeting each May and any special meetings that may occur throughout the year. Trustees should be personally committed to the basic aims of the university. They are responsible for informing their dioceses about the university and should be willing to contribute to its financial well-being.

Four clergy and four lay people are elected in the calendar year prior to that of a General Convention. The scale of votes determines each deputy’s seat and order of alternates. Deputies serve for three years—or until the next group is elected—and they may be elected to successive terms. Indeed, in some respects, the stability of a deputation relies on a healthy mix of new and experienced deputies.

Deputies sit in the House of Deputies of the General Convention, which is the legislative body of the Episcopal Church. The House of Bishops is the other unit in this bicameral body. Deputies are not delegates; they are deputized to act on their own and to vote their own consciences. Experienced deputies may represent the Diocese of East Tennessee on national committees.

In the Diocese of East Tennessee, deputies will attend an orientation and spring gathering in 2023. They also attend additional deputation meetings, Province IV Synod meeting (Spring 2024), and then the 81st General Convention (July 2024 in Louisville, KY). 

At the General Convention, they consider resolutions, elect officials, establish a budget, pray, worship, laugh and sometimes cry together. The schedule is full and the opportunities to connect with other leaders in our denomination are vast. When they return, they are asked to interpret for East Tennessee Episcopalians, along with the Bishop, the actions and decisions of the convention.