The General Convention of the Episcopal Church occurs every three years. The workings of GC are a mystery to many, but what’s decided in the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies (comprised of the laity and the ordained) can very much affect our dioceses, our parishes and by extension our lives as individual Episcopalians. The national ECW Triennial gathering, held in conjunction with GC, is considered by some to be the third “house” of General Convention. Each house has a role to play; each has its own personality. Unlike the other two houses, however, we do not legislate; we don’t have a say in canon law or pension funds. While we surely address our budget issues and rules of governance, the guiding focus of Episcopal Church Women remains on mission and ministry, mission and ministry, mission and ministry. A bishop’s wife has described ECW as the “Godspark group” among us.

Mary Hawkins, treasurer of the Diocesan ECW, and I will represent the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of North Carolina at Triennial 2012, which is being held in Indianapolis. The last stop before Indy was the Province IV Women’s Conference at Kanuga, a church-related camp and conference center in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge mountains. It was there, in early June, that we got the final word on preparations for Triennial, and spent some quality time with Diane Sawyer and Joanne Parrott, Episcopal Church women from All Saints’ in Roanoke Rapids who draw inspiration from other women of faith and who want to learn more about the ways of the Church. We’re all pictured here: L to R - Joanne, Diane, Mary and me. (By Lisa Towle, president, ECW-Diocese of NC)