---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revises statutes concerning incorporation and governance of the Protestant Episcopal Church to remove gender-specific references."
description: "Revises statutes concerning incorporation and governance of the Protestant Episcopal Church to remove gender-specific references."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "217"
identifier: "A 555"
citation: "New Jersey A 555 (217)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CORPORATIONS", "MINORITY"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barnes, Peter J.", "Diegnan, Patrick J.", "Eustace, Tim", "Pinkin, Nancy J."]
version_count: 1
action_count: 8
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2016-01-27T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2017-07-21T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7b712d3a-003b-46bd-bb39-2bc6900aa6f0"
source_url: "http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/downloads.asp"
source_hash: "4a9f0abeaf691a547e504e1fd9ee861a3c8f45d02108c7feb3a008507503c450"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nj"]
---

# New Jersey A 555 (217) — Revises statutes concerning incorporation and governance of the Protestant Episcopal Church to remove gender-specific references.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/A1000/555_I1.HTM)

## Votes

- Reported favorably out of committee — **11–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported favorably out of committee — **6–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Barnes, Peter J. — primary (person)
- Diegnan, Patrick J. — primary (person)
- Eustace, Tim — primary (person)
- Pinkin, Nancy J. — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-01-27T05:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2016-02-08T05:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2017-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (57-0-16) `passage`
- **2017-05-01T04:00:00+00:00** Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-26T04:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2017-06-29T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for S1847
- **2017-06-29T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (Passed Both Houses) (30-1) `passage`
- **2017-07-21T04:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2017, c.151. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7b712d3a-003b-46bd-bb39-2bc6900aa6f0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).