Keeping informed about 1997 ECUSA General Convention

For official sources of information, ECUSA note 1772 specifies:

Official Internet coverage of the convention will be offered both through the Episcopal Church web site (http://www.ecusa.anglican.org) and through the QUEST Inter-Anglican Information Network, an Ecunet partner network.

Convention news stories will be posted both to the Episcopal News Service online meeting on QUEST and to the web site. The church's Internet web site also will offer brief audio segments from news conferences and an online photo essay of scenes from the Philadelphia convention center.

With national church agencies offering news in as many electronic media formats as possible, for perhaps the first time in General Convention history, news dissemination will be targeted directly to news consumers, and not just for publication editors.

"With background information, news and official documentation from the Office of General Convention being posted on networks and the World Wide Web, we could potentially have a far more informed church membership and leadership," said the Rev. Clement "Kris" Lee, director of electronic media.

Deputies and bishops, many of whom will be logging on to the Internet regularly to give and receive updates on convention activities, will be better prepared for legislative work, and the church at large will be better equipped "to understand the actions of General Convention and their implications for mission and ministry in dioceses and parishes," added Lee. "But it's like a news stand or library: the reader must take initiative to access the information in order to benefit."

For an unofficial and more informal source of information:

The Society of Archbishop Justus, which hosts Anglicans Online!, St Sam's web pages, and other Anglican mailings lists and web sites, has an on-site reporter--Deborah Griffin Bly--who will be at General Convention from 16 to 25 July. She'll be reporting in at least once daily on convention activities. Deborah Bly is a writer, composer, singer, and well known as one-half of the Miserable Offenders duo--and author of the famous Anglican Mailing List/St Sam's t-shirt slogan 'Via Media, Via Modem'.

Deb Bly's posts from General Convention will be available through email and the web. If you're interested in receiving email posts, subscribe to the special news mailing list like this:

    To: majordomo@justus.anglican.org
    Subject: 

    subscribe news

You'll notice you don't need to indicate a subject and you shouldn't type in your name after the "subscribe news".

Deb's posts will also be collected on the Justus News web site, http://www.justus.anglican.org/news