[Episcopal News Service] Executive Council, The Episcopal Church’s governing body between meetings of General Convention, concluded its June 15-17 meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a business session that included the selection of a new vice president of the House of Deputies.
The Rev. Steve Pankey of the Diocese of Kentucky, the deputies’ vice president since 2024, stepped down this year to fill a vacancy in the role of secretary of the House of Deputies, as the church prepares to convene its 82nd General Convention in July 2027. To replace Pankey as vice president, House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris nominated the Rev. John Kitagawa of the Diocese of Arizona, and the non-bishop members of Executive Council voted to approve the selection.
During its three-day meeting in the Diocese of Puerto Rico, Executive Council also spent time offering feedback on a strategic plan for the church that is being developed by Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and his staff. Rowe alluded to those discussions in his brief remarks during the livestreamed June 17 business session.
“I’m grateful for our willingness and ability to work together on this strategic plan over these last few days,” Rowe said. “The input that you’ve provided … will help us refine the plan.” Initial outlines of the strategic plan, though not yet presented publicly, have been shared with various church bodies and the churchwide staff, and Rowe said he expected a final draft to be submitted to Executive Council for approval in October. It then will inform the 2028-30 churchwide budget process.
Though Executive Council’s meetings generally are held in open session, this meeting had been described as a “retreat-style” gathering for internal board development, and media was not invited to cover it in person. At past meetings of Executive Council some plenary sessions were livestreamed on YouTube. At this meeting, livestreaming was limited to the final day’s business session.
“Over the last several days … we have seen people building; building relationships, building trust, building plans for the future, building systems that will enable this church to carry out its mission more faithfully, more effectively,” Ayala Harris said in her remarks on June 17.
Executive Council typically meets three times a year to fulfill a range of church governance functions, including budget development and approval, adoption of new church policy statements, authorization of disbursements from churchwide grant programs and oversight for the work of the program and ministry staff that reports to the presiding bishop.
Executive Council last met in February for a one-day gathering online. The last in-person meeting was in October 2025 in the Diocese of Western North Carolina. This week’s meeting in San Juan is the first meeting attended in-person by several new Executive Council members who are filling the unexpired terms of previous members who stepped down for various reasons.
The members who have been elected since Executive Council’s last in-person meeting are the Rev. Andrea Gardner of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, Carolyn Mok of the Diocese of Rochester, the Rev. Mark Nabors of the Diocese of Arkansas and Steven Nishibayashi of the Diocese of Los Angeles.
Rowe said the next Executive Council meeting will be a single-day gathering this October. The date and location have not been announced.
The presiding bishop chairs Executive Council, and the House of Deputies president serves as its vice chair. Its 38 other voting members are a mix of bishops, other clergy and lay leaders. Twenty are elected by General Convention to staggered six-year terms, or 10 new members every three years. The Episcopal Church’s nine provinces elect the other 18 to six-year terms, also staggered.
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.