What's a Standing Committee?

The Standing Committee is One of the most important functions of the Standing Committee, a body of clergy and laity elected by Diocesan Convention delegates, is to be the "Ecclesiastical Authority" when the office of the Bishop is vacant. It oversees the election of bishop, which is no small task!

The Standing Committee serves as the bishop's Council of Advice and other duties assigned through the Constitution and Canons of the diocese and national church as well as by resolution of the Diocesan Convention. Some of these including giving or withholding consent to the election of bishops for other dioceses, participating in the ordination process, giving or withholding approval to a church mortgage or conveyance of property, and participating in an Ecclesiastical Trial.

The Standing Committee meets a number of times during the year, in person or via conference call.

To reach the current President of the Standing Committee, contact the Diocesan Office at (920) 830-8866.

​The ecclesiastical authority of the diocese in the absence of a bishop. The Canons of 1789 made four references to an organization known as the Standing Committee. It formed its duties over the next forty-three years. In 1832 the General Convention brought all the functions of the Standing Committee under Canon Four, adding that where there was no bishop the Standing Committee was the ecclesiastical authority. In 1901 the role of the Standing Committee was added to the Constitution of the Episcopal Church. The Standing Committee is elected by the diocesan convention. Half of its members are clerical, half lay. It serves as the bishop's council of advice. The Standing Committee is requested to give consent for all bishops elected in the Episcopal Church. It recommends persons for ordination. It gives the bishop advice and consent on the purchase, sale, or encumbrance of any property held by a congregation or the diocese. It gives the bishop advice and consent as to any judicial sentence given to a clergy person or concurs in allowing a clergy person to cease functioning as a member of the clergy. It investigates and reports to the bishop on the charge that a deacon or priest has abandoned the Episcopal Church. It also receives the bishop's resignation.
An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians, Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors, Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY.