Nation IN BRIEF : NEW JERSEY : Episcopal Church Keeps Arizona Date

The 40-member Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Elizabeth, N.J., resolved to hold its convention in Phoenix this summer despite protests over Arizona’s rejection of a state holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The 2.5 million-member Episcopal Church is governed by the General Convention, which meets every three years. In the interim years, the church is governed by the Executive Council. After Arizona voters defeated a Nov. 6 referendum, about a dozen U.S. Episcopal dioceses asked that the convention be canceled or held elsewhere.