Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana Archives

Conventions

The Diocesan Convention, originally called the Annual Council, is required by the national canons of the Episcopal Church to be held each year in every diocese and serves as its principal legislative body. The bishop and all active clergy are present, as are lay delegates from every parish and mission. Depending on the rules, each parish and mission has a voice but not necessarily a vote unless their financial assessments to the diocese are paid in full. During these proceedings, the bishop gives an address, often a kind of "state of the diocese" report or a wish list of what he or she wishes to accomplish. There are usually other committee reports presented, a budget is approved, resolutions are passed, and sometimes the diocesan canons are amended by vote.

Photographs of conventions in the Diocese of Northern Indiana are spotty. The earliest date from 1949 and 1958, the latter for use as illustrations in the diocesan newspaper, The Beacon. The years of Bishop William C. R. Sheridan are especially well documented. Sheridan believed that a Eucharist should be held the evening before the convention, and during his tenure the site was moved around the diocese with every third year being held at the Cathedral. Previous to his episcopate, most conventions were held where the cathedral or pro-cathedral was located (Michigan City, Mishawaka, and South Bend), though the 1949 convention was held in Valparaiso. During the episcopate of Francis Campbell Gray in the 1990s, the budget for the newspaper was cut back and far fewer photographs were taken, the exception being in 1998, when Gray observed the centennial of the diocese at Trinity Church, Michigan City, the original cathedral.

The source that documents the activities of each convention is the diocesan journal, which contains not only minutes, but also lists of delegates, budgets, parish reports, and the bishop's convention address. From 1899 to 2001, these journals were produced in printed form and are accessible digitally through Internet Archive <www.archive.org> Since 2002, the journal has been produced only in digital form.

Diocese of Indiana Annual Council Journal of Proceedings, 1839-1900

Convention Journal, 1899-1905

Convention Journal, 1906-1912

Convention Journal, 1913-1918

Convention Journal, 1919-1924

Convention Journal, 1925-1929

Convention Journal, 1930

Convention Journal, 1931

Convention Journal, 1932

Convention Journal, 1933

Convention Journal, 1934-1939

Convention Journal, 1940

Convention Journal, 1941

Convention Journal, 1942

Convention Journal, 1943

Convention Journal, 1944

Convention Journal, 1945

Convention Journal, 1946

Convention Journal, 1947

Convention Journal, 1948

Convention Journal, 1949

1949 Diocesan Council photograph, St. Andrew's Valparaiso

Convention Journal, 1950

Convention Journal, 1951-1952

Convention Journal, 1953

Convention Journal, 1954

Convention Journal, 1955-1956

Convention Journal, 1957

1958 Diocesan Convention, December, South Bend, Photographs

Convention Journal, 1958-1962

Convention Journal, 1963-1967

Convention Journal, 1968-1971

1970 General Convention Photographs

Convention Journal, 1972

Convention Journal, 1973

Convention Journal, 1974

Convention Journal, 1975-1978

1975 Diocesan Convention, December 5-6, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Kokomo, Photographs

1976 Diocesan Convention, December 3-4, St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, Elkhart, Photographs

1977 Diocesan Convention, December 2-3, Cathedral of St. James, South Bend, Photographs

1978 Diocesan Convention, December 1-2, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Hammond, Photographs

1979 Diocesan Convention,November 30-December 1, St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Fort Wayne, Photographs

Convention Journal, 1979

Convention Journal, 1980-1983

1980 Diocesan Convention, November 14-15, Cathedral of St. James, South Bend, Photographs

1981 Diocesan Convention, November 13-14, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, La Porte, Photographs

1982 Diocesan Convention, November 12-13, Gethsemane Episcopal Church, Marion, Photographs

1983 Diocesan Convention, November 11-12, Cathedral of St. James, South Bend, Photographs

Convention Journal, 1984-1987

1985 Diocesan Convention, November 8-9, Trinity Episcopal Church, Fort Wayne, Photographs

1988 Diocesan Convention, November 4-5, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Kokomo, Photographs

1988 General Convention, July, Detroit, Michigan, Photographs

Convention Journal, 1988-1991

1989 Diocesan Convention, November 3-4, St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Fort Wayne, Photographs

1991 General Convention, Phoenix, Arizona, Photographs

1991 Diocesan Convention, November 1-2,St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Munster, Photographs

Convention Journal, 1992 

Convention Journal, 1993

Convention Journal, 1994-1997

Convention Journal, 1998

1998 Diocesan Convention, November 6-7, Trinity Episcopal Church, Michigan City, Photographs

Convention Journal, 1999-2001

Convention Journal, 2002, October 25-26, Cathedral of St. James, South Bend

Convention Journal, 2003, October 24-25, St. Paul's, Munster

2011 Diocesan Convention, October 17, Cathedral of St. James, South Bend, photographs

Convention Journal, 2016

Convention Journal 2017

Convention Journal 2018

2019 Diocesan Convention, November 3, Trinity Episcopal Church, Fort Wayne, Photographs

Convention Journal 2019

Convention Journal 2020

Convention Journal 2021