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Today’s conversation is an interview with our regular co-host Karin Hamilton and our colleague the Rev. Molly James. The General Convention of The Episcopal Church begins next week in Austin, Texas. It runs July 5 to July 13, with pre-convention events and preparation taking place July 2 - 4. So this episode will be General Convention 101!    Karin Hamilton, Canon for Mission Communication and Media has gone to seven General Conventions, making this year her 8th. Karin reports from General Convention to the Episcopal Church in Connecticut in a daily newsletter. She follows topics and debates, interviews individuals from CT, and generally gives folks at home a taste of what has gone down each day and what is to come (sign up here).    The Rev. Molly James, Dean of Formation for the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, will be serving this year as a Clergy Deputy from Connecticut. This is her third General Convention and her second as a deputy. She will be serving as Chair of the Legislative Committee on Ministry. During the last three years - since the last General Convention in Salt Lake City in 2015 - she has served as the Secretary of the Standing Commission for Structure, Governance, Constitution, and Canons. She also serves on Sub-Committee on Title IV and Training for the Special Committee on Sexual Harassment and Exploitation, appointed by the Rev. Gay Jennings, President of the House of Deputies.   The interviews begin by asking: What is General Convention? Why should people care?   In their answers Karin and Molly mention parliamentary procedure, democratic process, and the breadth of The Episcopal Church, which has more than 100 domestic dioceses and more than a dozen beyond the U.S.. That means lots of translated material in Spanish and French, especially. Karin and Molly also talked about how resolutions get submitted and then move through General Convention (see handy resource for that, here).   Next, we talked about the issues or resolutions they’re looking forward to, and discuss some of the related events. While they did, they also said that there’s a lot more taking place than legislation. For example, Molly notes how powerful it is to worship with thousands of Episcopalians. (Link here for the worship bulletins) Karin admits she’s joining a group of Episcopal Communicators one evening to go see the famous bats in Austin.    General Convention passes essential legislation our church needs: Some allows our Office of Governmental Relations to advocate on Capitol Hill, and others have a real impact on people in the pews, their ministry passions, and sometimes their personal life. Changes in canons can seem abstract and distant for some, but may have significant effects on bishops, priests, and deacons and all who work for the church.    We all noted that there’s an official media hub that will provide livestreamed, and on-demand, viewing of both Houses, the three joint conversations (on racial reconciliation, evangelism, and care of creation), and worship, plus other resources for those in Austin, and back at home.    Molly ended us with the reflection that you never really know what might happen at a General Convention - there could be an issue that takes precedence there, which no one had expected. It’s the prayer and allowance for the Holy Spirit to work.   And that will set us up for a follow-up podcast episode later this year.    This is our final episode before we take a break for the summer!    In Coffee & Christ,  Karin & Alli