Search

Search

2023 Diocesan Convention

The 186th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis: Rest & Liberation

Friday, November 10, and Saturday, November 11 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, IN.

Keynote

Cole Arthur Riley is a writer and poet. She is the author of the NYT bestseller, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us. Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Guernica, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post.  

Cole is also the creator of Black Liturgies, a space that integrates spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black literature, and the Black body; and a project of The Center for Dignity and Contemplation where she serves as Curator.

Important Dates

Convention Registration

Early bird registration is now open!

  • Youth delegates register for free.
  • Registration is $75 for adults through October 8.
  • From October 9-31, registration will be $100 for adults.
  • Online registration will close on October 31, and only on-site registration for $25, which will not include meals, will be available after that date.

No refunds will be given after registration closes on October 31st. If you would like to mail in a check payment, please contact Kim Christopher.

The registration fee includes full access to all programming, workshops and convention materials, the Friday night banquet, Saturday continental breakfast, and lunch. 

If you are only interested in attending Cole Arthur Riley’s workshop at 1:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, you can register for free by selecting the ‘Speaker Cole Arthur Riley Only’ registration option. This will not include any meals, workshops, or programming, though participation in the book signing earlier that day is welcome. 

Volunteers who offer their assistance for at least four hours can register for free; please contact Erinna Vandever or call the diocesan office at (317) 926-5454 if you are interested in volunteering.

REGISTER

If you receive an error during registration please make sure that you are not logged into realm with your church’s realm or if you do not receive a confirmation email (even if your screen says you have registered) please reach out to Erinna VanDever.

A convention program for children and youth will be available on Saturday during convention sessions. The cost is free for all children and youth, but registration is required. Childcare will be available as needed on Friday for children and preteens.

  • Preschool and under: We will have paid childcare providers.
  • K-5th grade: Godly Play, music, a movie, crafts, playground play, a session with therapy dogs, and more!
  • 6th-12th grade: Fun games, a mental health workshop, a session with therapy dogs, crafts, and more!

This program is open to all youth, whether their adult(s) are attending Convention or not. As we start up Diocesan youth ministry, this is one of the first opportunities for youth to meet one another! 

If your youth is a delegate, please sign them up for the regular Convention Registration, as they would not participate in this program. We will plan for youth delegates to join the youth programming for lunch!

The deadline for Registration is October 31st; otherwise, late registrations or requests might not be able to be accommodated. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Heather Kenison.

REGISTER CHILD/ADULT

Convention Details

Hotel

We have a block of rooms at a discounted rate at the Drury Plaza
Hotel at 9625 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290.

Reserve Your Room

Schedule

View this year’s preliminary schedule for the Diocesan Convention on
November 10-11.

Preliminary Schedule

Workshops

View this year’s workshops. You will need to select your workshops at the time of registration.

Workshops

Submissions

Submit a Nomination for
a Diocesan Leadership Role

Diocesan Leadership Role

Deadline: Oct 31, 2023

Submit a Convention/ Commission Report

Convention / Commission Report

Deadline: Oct 31, 2023

In 2020, the Diocese voted to add eight youth delegates to Diocesan Convention. These eight delegates consist of one high school youth from each neighborhood and two selected by the Bishop. This is the first year we will be able to put this resolution into action.

Please follow these steps to submit a youth candidate:

  1. Please ask the youth in your congregation if anybody would be interested in serving as a youth delegate. Please get their consent to be submitted as a delegate, as well as educate them on what Convention is like and what it looks like to be a delegate.
  2. Have a youth leader, priest, or another adult who knows the youth submit a letter of recommendation to Heather Kenison. Please share why they would make a great delegate. If the youth would like to write a letter detailing why they would make a great delegate, they may do so also.
  3. If we have multiple candidates, we will vote on them at the upcoming neighborhood gathering. There is potential for Bishop Jennifer to choose her delegates from this bunch.

Please send Heather Kenison your recommendation letters by September 11th. Delegates will be voted on at the October Neighborhood Meetings.

Convention Materials

Rules of Order

Download the 2023 Rules of Order

Budget & Apportionments

Download the 2024 Approved Budget

Download the 2024 Approved Apportionments

Constitution and Canon Changes

Download the 2024 Proposed Constitution and Canon Changes

Nominations

Download the 2024 Nominations

Resolutions

Download the 2024 Proposed Resolutions

Reports

Download the 2023 Reports to Convention

Reporting Results for the Covenant to Root Out Racism

At the 185th Convention of the Diocese of Indianapolis, the Racial Justice and Education Team and 37 additional clergy and lay co-sponsors proposed Resolution 2 that encouraged the diocese to adopt the Covenant to Root Out Racism. The resolution passed unanimously, committing our diocese to specific actions. Among those was a vote to be taken by congregations and ministries to consider the resolution and, if adopted, to commit to at least three actions to intentionally counteract unexamined or explicit racism prevalent in our institutions and communities.

In response to the death of George Floyd and others in police custody, the Covenant to Root out Racism (CTROR; now known as the Anti-Racism Covenant) was originally written by the Rt. Rev. Deon Johnson, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri as part of the theological discussion in the House of Bishops on reckoning with white supremacy in September 2020. Following that Conversation, the Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows introduced the CTROR to the newly-appointed Diocesan Racial Justice and Education Team (RJET) with a charge to present it to the wider Diocese of Indianapolis (Diocese) to consider adoption. Following adoption by the RJET, the CTROR was introduced at Neighborhood meetings and Sacred Ground courses in 2021, encouraging those already engaged in the work of dismantling racism to consider signing and bringing to their parishes for consideration.

Read the transcript of the introduction to the resolution given to the Convention.

The resolution was a means of inviting the Diocese into an ongoing conversation, to see this work as part of our whole liturgy, our “work of the people” not just limited to one group or individual but connecting our spiritual lives with our lived experiences in community, as we seek not so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love more like Jesus in thought, word, and deed.  RJET’s mission is to provide next small steps on the path toward authentic racial justice, and to set mile-markers/goals to keep this important justice work moving forward. The specific actions in the CTROR give all of us measurable, achievable, realistic activities that we can do, and a timeline that moves us toward intentional progress over the next 5-10 years. The data from the proposed resolution also gives a snapshot of where the Diocese is in fulfilling our stated mission, and will guide RJET’s efforts to provide meaningful educational offerings and better connect people across the Diocese sharing in this ministry. 

At the 185th Convention in 2022, members of the RJET, with 17 clergy and 20 lay co-sponsors, presented a resolution petitioning the Diocese to consider adopting the CTROR as an intentional commitment to “specific and ongoing addressing the injustices resulting from systemic and institutional racism.” Extensive effort was made by members of RJET , and additional clergy and lay allies, to disseminate the proposed resolution, invite co-sponsors and input, and engage questions and concerns about the rational for proposing such a resolution.

The CTROR was proposed as an extension of the spiritual and historical work already ongoing throughout the Church and Diocese:

  • The prophetic voices of Scripture, Spirit’s call, and ministry of Jesus Christ
  • Our Baptismal Covenants to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves and striving for justice and peace among all peoples, respecting the dignity of every human being
  • The will and mind of the Episcopal Church as expressed in General Convention resolutions, the theological work of the House of Bishops, the national church’s curriculum “Becoming Beloved Community”
  • Our Diocesan missional commitment to stand with the marginalized to transform systems of injustice and commitment to decry every form and expression of racism and white supremacy as antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, charging our clergy, lay leaders, congregations and ministries to denounce, repudiate, and actively work against white supremacy and every form of racial and ethnic hatred as evil and anathema to the vows of our Baptismal Covenant.

The Resolution requested specific actions to be taken by our diocese:

  1. Re-commit to continual work dismantling systemic racism and white supremacy within our own structures.
  2. Adopt the CTROR, as written by the Bishop and people of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, and the actions and commitments contained therein and charge the Executive Council to:
    1. In conversation with the RJET, develop a plan to implement and live into the specific actions of the CTROR across the diocese no later than the 187th Convention (November 2024);
    2. In consultation with Bishop Jennifer, determine specific and measurable actions for accountability to be included with the implementation of the CTROR; and
    3. Publish report of voting results to the 186th Convention, and progress reports towards the full implementation of the Covenant with necessary resources for the work to the 186th and 187th Conventions.
  3. Each congregation’s vestry or Bishop’s committee, and each diocesan ministry committee, in an official meeting of that body to vote whether to adopt the CTROR by May 1, 2023; if adopted, commit toact on a minimum of 3 covenant statements contained therein.

The resolution, with minor modifications, passed unanimously by the 185th Convention. Please click here to view.

In the following documents, you will find:

The Executive Council now has concrete data it needs for where parishes are engaged in working for racial justice, and the top priorities articulated from wide participation throughout our Diocese that will help them create and implement a plan for living into the commitments and spirit of the CTROR over the next 5-10 years.  

For more information about the resolution, results, and how it leads us into greater liberation together, attend the upcoming Diocesan Workshop led by RJET on Friday, November 10th.

Check out the parish connection sheet above to see who you might partner with or seek out to get started!

125 Monument Circle
Indianapolis, IN 46204

(317) 926-5454  /  fax: (317) 926-5456

© 2025 Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis