Executive Officer, General Convention Secretary announces retirement

By ENS staff
Posted Aug 9, 2012

The Rev. Canon Dr. Gregory Straub, executive officer and secretary of General Convention, addresses the House of Deputies July 10 in Indianapolis, Ind. It was announced Aug. 9 that Straub intends to retire Jan. 1. ENS photo/Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] After nearly eight years and three General Conventions, the Rev. Canon Gregory Straub, executive officer and secretary of General Convention, has announced his retirement effective Jan. 1, 2013, according to a press release from the church’s Office of Public Affairs.

“It has been a great privilege to serve the church and its governing bodies these past seven years,” Straub, 63, wrote in his resignation letter to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings. “I shall long remember with fondness the many volunteers who staff our committees, commissions, agencies and boards with whom it has been my honor to work.”

Straub was appointed executive officer in 2005 by then-Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and then-House of Deputies President the Very Rev. George Werner.

The executive officer oversees all aspects of the work of Episcopal Church governance, from site selection for the meetings of General Convention through supervision and funding of the work mandated by the convention. The executive officer may also be elected to serve as the secretary of the House of Deputies and, if elected by both houses of General Convention, secretary of the General Convention.

Straub was first elected secretary of the General Convention at the 2006 General Convention, and was reelected in 2009 at the gathering in Anaheim, California, and the recently completed meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Straub was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania in 1974, served 30 years at Emmanuel Church, Chestertown, Maryland. (Diocese of Easton) and is a graduate of Dickinson College, Philadelphia Divinity School and Drew University. He attended his first General Convention in 1976 and has served four terms as deputy. At the 74th General Convention he served as assistant secretary for voting of the House of Deputies.

“I am grateful for his service to The Episcopal Church – service marked by expertise about governance and scrupulous consideration of all parties and positions,” Jefferts Schori said in the release. “We wish him well in his next chapter.”

“Gregory has served the General Convention and the Episcopal Church with distinction, and his wisdom and good humor have benefited the ministry of all deputies,” Jennings said. “I count myself fortunate to have known Gregory for nearly 15 years and am especially glad that I will have the opportunity to serve with him for the remainder of 2012 while also looking forward to the next chapter of his ministry.”

Well-wishes and expressions of thanks and congratulations can be forwarded to Straub at gstraub@episcopalchurch.org.

The search for Straub’s successor as executive officer will commence shortly, according to the press release. The positions secretary of the House of Deputies and secretary of the General Convention presumably will be filled at the next gathering of convention in the summer of 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah.


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Comments (1)

  1. Peggy R. Rogers says:

    Serving with you on the Companion Diocese Committee (Easton and Brazil) was especially fulfilling. I especially remember you with the Brazilian children. You have my best wishes for your future, which I assume will include lots of travel. Faithfully, Peggy ’00, ’03, ’06.

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