Governance

The Episcopal Church encourages all of its members to participate in the governance of the church, whether that means attending a parish’s annual meeting, serving on a vestry or bishop’s committee (two different kinds of parish governing councils), or running for diocesan wide office. We believe in what is sometimes referred to as distributed authority, so while our current Ecclesiastical Authority, the Standing Committee, plays a special role in setting the course of our diocese, there are well established channels through which priests, deacons and lay people exercise authority at the parish and diocesan levels and in the wider church. We believe that the church is best able to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit through such broad-based communal discernment.

We place a premium on operating in a transparent manner, and in providing members of the diocese with the information they need to for develop informed opinions about the issues before our dioceses. This includes financial information as well.

In this section of the website, you will find information on our budget, as well as on four key diocesan governing bodies:

• The Standing Committee, which acts as the bishop’s council of advice, serves as the episcopal authority of the diocese when there is no diocesan bishop, and carries out other duties
• The Diocesan Council, which oversees the programs and priorities of the dioceses, and oversees the development and execution of mission strategies and allocation of resources
• The Trustees, which manage the investments of the Diocese of Western New York and several other funds
• The Commission on Ministry, which assists the bishop in the process of developing candidates for ordained ministry or licensed lay ministry.
• The Committee on Constitution & Canons, which assists the Bishop in overseeing clarification and amendments to the WNY Constitutions & Canons.
• The Committee on Dispatch of Business, assists the Parliamentarian at Diocesan Convention with the flow of business.
• The Finance Committee, which assists the Bishop in recommending annual budgets to the Diocesan Council.

General Convention

The General Convention is the governing body of The Episcopal Church. Every three years it meets as a bicameral legislature that includes the House of Deputies  and the House of Bishops. The House of Deputies is composed of four clergy and four lay deputies from each diocese and the House of Bishops is comprised of bishops from each diocese. The next General Convention (the 82nd) will be held in Phoenix, Arizona on July 3-8, 2027.

At our 2025 Diocesan Convention we elected 4 lay deputies, 4 clergy deputies and at one alternate in each order. A deputy’s term is 3 years in length, beginning at the end of the diocesan convention in 2025 and running until the elections of deputies to the 83rd General Convention. The person with the highest number of votes is the Chair of the WNY Delegation.