The Council of Trustees of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas is elected by the Convocation Boards and Annual Convention to be the governing body of the Diocese in the period between Diocesan Conventions. In the Diocese of Kansas, the Trustees are also the “Standing Committee,” a body required by Article IV of the Constitution of The Episcopal Church. As the Standing Committee, it serves as a council of advice to the Bishop and performs other duties on behalf of the diocese and the wider Church. When the Diocese is without a bishop diocesan, the Council of Trustees as Standing Committee, is the Ecclesiastical Authority of the diocese.
To communicate with the Council of Trustees during this time without a bishop, please e-mail cot@episcopal-ks.org.
The Council of Trustees is comprised of fifteen voting members:
- The Bishop is an ex officio member of the Council of Trustees and serves as its Chair. “ex officio” is a Latin term meaning “from the office,” referring to someone who holds a position or role automatically because they hold another official position.
- Four clergy persons and four laypersons elected by the Convocation Boards (one of each order from each Convocation) and confirmed by the Annual Convention.
- Three clergy persons and three laypersons elected at-large by the Annual Convention (one of each order at each Convention).
If lay members of the Council of Trustees are not otherwise a member of convention, their position on Council makes them ex officio members, entitled to seat, voice and vote at diocesan and special conventions along with the board of the convocation in which they reside.
Members are elected to a three-year term and may be re-elected once. The fourteen non-bishop members are the Standing Committee, which chooses its own President.
The Council of Trustees is advised and supported by the diocesan staff along with the Treasurer, Chancellor and Vice-chancellors of the Diocese.
Currently, the Council meets monthly for several hours on a Wednesday, with about half the meetings by Zoom and the other half in Topeka.
Minutes of the Council of Trustees meetings are available for download.
Current Council of Trustees Members
Including the year their term ends and in which term they are serving. Terms end at the conclusion of the diocesan convention of the stated year.
At-large members
The Rev. Canon Jody Carroll (2028-first term)
The Rev. Carl Edwards (2027-first term), Assistant Clerk
Mr. Stephan Mann (2026- unexpired 2027 term)
Ms. Teresa Ryther (2028-second term)
The Rev. Daryl Stanford (2026-first term)
Mr. Mason Weber (2026-first term)
Northeast Convocation members
The Ven. Jim Cummins (2026-second term), President
Mr. Ron Olson (2028-second term)
Northwest Convocation members
Ms. Melanie Hoyle Laster (2028-second term)
The Rev. Margaret McGhee (2026-first term)
Southeast Convocation members
The Rev. Helen Hoch (2026-first term), Clerk
Ms. Martha Stone (2028-first term)
Southwest Convocation members
Mr. Tim Flynn (2028-first term)
The Very Rev. Laurie Lewis (2026-first term)
Commitments of the Members of the Council of Trustees
- Regular prayer for the Church and its mission and ministry, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit for all decisions one is called upon to make.
- Active role in the life and ministry of a parish of the diocese.
- Presence for all meetings of the Council of Trustees and the committees on which one serves, including at least one overnight (weekday) retreat.
- Attendance at meetings of their Convocation Boards, including communicating the needs, concerns, and hopes of the Convocation Board to the Council of Trustees.
- Serve as communicators for the Council of Trustees in their Convocations and Congregations.
- Maintaining up-to-date background checks, Safe Church training and training in Racial Reconciliation and Healing per diocesan policy.
Strategic Plan Implementation
Presentation to the 164th Diocesan Convention
Members of the Council of Trustees presented an update on their ongoing planning work.
Links to six-slide presentations with more detail as of October 2023:
- Congregational Vitality: “Strengthen congregational vitality in all its forms to respond to the needs of a changing church and world.”
- Invitation & Mission: “Develop a culture of mission, invitation, and welcome in neighborhoods.”
- Youth & Young Adults: “Develop direct connections to loving communities where youth and young adults can feel safe, experience God’s grace, and create lifelong spiritual curiosity..”
- Leadership Capacity: “Diocesan and parish leaders will have the resources they need to be healthy and sustainable in their ministries and resources to recruit and train clergy and lay leaders equipping them to creatively meet the challenges in their parishes.”
Presentation to the 165th Diocesan Convention
Members of the Council of Trustees presented an update on Strategic Plan Implementation and invited leaders to participate in tactics to meet the identified objectives.
835 SW Polk St.