Yesterday, the House of Deputies of the General Convention concurred with two resolutions previously adopted by the House of Bishops that together ushered in full sacramental marriage equality across the church. Though there is still some amount of debate and questions about continuing inclusion of dissenters, the resolutions were approved by overwhelming margins (greater than 80% of dioceses voting yes). The Associated Press story was picked up by major news outlets (such as NY Times, LA Times & Washington Post) across the nation and the event was covered by mainstream media television outlets as well (ABC & CBS).
Blogs and news outlets focused on the Episcopal Church were carrying the news as well, and the conversation on Twitter was especially busy. Statistics on the Cafe’s live-tweeting showed 93,000 impressions for July 1st, significantly higher than our average, with other outlets recording similarly high engagement.
In fact, the “House of Twitter” may be amongst the most significant developments of this General Convention, fomenting an ongoing,
real-time conversation across the church. Though, this Twitter affect has been seen for several years now, what it might mean for the governance of the church is still emerging but the evidence suggests an opportunity to engage the wider church in conversation and advocacy at the General Convention.