[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] Bronwyn Clark Skov, Episcopal Church Officer for Youth Ministries, has announced the 18 Episcopal youth — two from each province — who will participate as the Episcopal Youth Presence at the 77th General Convention, scheduled for Indianapolis, Indiana July 5 to July 12.

“The General Convention Official Youth Presence was established by an initial resolution in 1982,” Skov explained. “The Official Youth Presence members have seat and voice on the floor of the House of Deputies during the legislative sessions and that is an exciting prospect for the youth of our church.”

The following youth will be serving as the 2012 Official Youth Presence at General Convention.

Province I
David Karpf, Diocese of Connecticut
Sarah Neumann, Diocese of Massachusetts

Province II
Elisabeth Engle, Diocese of Western New York
Grace Steele, Diocese of Long Island

Province III
David Kilp, Diocese of Central Pennsylvania
Isabelle Lock, Diocese of Maryland

Province IV
Benjamin Cowgill, Diocese of North Carolina
Nora Vinas, Diocese of Southeast Florida

Province V
William Burton-Edwards, Diocese of Indianapolis
Julia Robinson, Diocese of Ohio

Province VI
Emma Grundhauser, Diocese of Minnesota
Cole Mayer, Diocese of South Dakota

Province VII
Laurent De Prins, Diocese of Western Louisia
Maria Taylor, Diocese of Arkansas

Province VIII
Ariana Gonzalez-Bonillas, Diocese of Arizona
Patrick Melendez, Diocese of California

Province IX
Darling Daniel Ortiz Chemountd, Diocese of the Dominican Republic
Marlene Rodriguez, Diocese of Puerto Rico

Adult mentors and chaperones for the Official Youth Presence are: the Rev. Randy Callender (Diocese of Central Pennsylvania); Cookie Cantwell (Diocese of East Carolina), the Rev. Earl Gibson (Diocese of Los Angeles), Jane Gober (Diocese of Rio Grande), the Rev. Francisco Morales (Diocese of Puerto Rico) and Jay Phillippi (Diocese of Western New York. The Rev. Shannon Kelly (Diocese of Southern Ohio) is the Chaplain for the group.

For more information contact Skov at 646-242-1421 or bskov@episcopalchurch.org.

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