There are certain words we have heard repeatedly this time and may be remembered more than the resolutions that are supported by them. Here are five of them:
1. "Reconciliation". Racial reconciliation was also frequently heard specifically. Michael Curry talked about reconciliation – between each other and each other and God. Racial reconciliation has been at the forefront and was a resoluition. CenterAisle from the Diocese of Virginia ran an article about it on July 3 at the end "As we look to the future after 10 eventful days in Salt Lake City, reconciliation – the real kind that helps us disagree better – looms out there as an exciting opportunity. It won’t be easy. It’s difficult to build community with those who don’t want to talk to you. It’s not helpful to gloss over actions that ripped apart the fabric of a community of faith.
2. "Jesus Movement" – This is Michael Curry’s language – "I talk of the Jesus movement, of evangelism, of making disciples and our witness through public service and public advocacy. That can sound like rhetoric that has no actual consequence, but let me assure you … we are talking about the church moving forth, taking evangelism seriously – in the Episcopal way but taking them for real because there is good news to share. There really is. Personal service and public witness and advocacy is what we do; that’s the Jesus movement."
Christopher Page wrote this, "It strikes me that he is edging away from a vision of church as primarily institutional. He seems to be aiming to reclaim the awareness of the church as a living organism, a Body of faith in which the Spirit of Jesus dwells. A “movement” is flexible, open and adaptable. It cannot be static and fixed."
"Listening to Michael Curry one gets the impression that he uses the expression “the Jesus Movement” to remind the church that there is a power at work in our community that transcends human effort, will or strategy. He is inviting us to see that the Spirit of Jesus dwells at the heart of our community and we will fulfill our “mission” (another frequent word in Curry’s lexicon) to the degree that we remain open to the Jesus Spirit."
3. "Structure". How to make the structure of the church improve the mission and operations of the church ? We see this in resolutions passed for church planting, revitalizing congregations, in changing the number of standingcommittees, debates of the powers of the Executive Committee. Many ideas to change structure were proposed but didn’t make it like making General Convention a unicameral body, ending the province system, merging diocese
4. "Reimagine". We could also include "resurrection" and "revision" in this grouping. The Task Force for Reimagining the Episcopal Church (TREC) was charged by the 77th General Convention to create a plan for reforming the Church’s structures, governance, and administration. In the end they got in A004 a restructuring of Executive Council and A006 reduce the number of standing committees.
They also got the convention in A001 to look new structures; new curricula; new degrees beyond the traditional MDiv; partnerships and practices on the academic, departmental, and inter-seminary levels;
They did not get one of their big proposals – taking the two houses of General Convention and making one.
The other significant group, Episcopal Resurrection cited many accomplishments in this score card that one of their members, Rev. Scott Gunn prepared this score card of how well they did:
There is another effort at revision – toward revising the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and The Hymnal 1982, directing the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) to prepare plans for revising each and to present them to the next convention in Austin, Texas, in 2018.
5. "Evangelism" – The budget for the next 3 years adds $2.8 million for evangelism. Bishop Scott Hayashi, of the hosting diocese of Utah. “We have spoken that evangelism and racial reconciliation are important to us. If we really believe that, we need to find a way to do it.”Michael Curry put it this way "Put Jesus up front. Put sharing that good news in front. Put forming our people as followers of Jesus – as disciples for real – at the front of it.”