Explanation

At the outset, to focus on the concept of social justice, the Task Force built the framework for its work, by agreeing to view social justice through an integrative lens encompassing environmental and racial justice. As a result, the efforts of this Task Force led to the following Statement of Need for the Church and Recommended Next Steps.

The importance, scope, and change impact of this mandate requires substantive analysis and robust rationale for application throughout The Episcopal Church (TEC).  Given the abbreviated timeframe to accomplish this (less than 11 months), the Task Force has focused on building a strong beginning and foundation to move the concept forward.  The initial findings point to a need, a willingness, and an activism to include Social Justice as a Christian Ministry.  Innovative thinking and open minds can bolster the support of identification of concrete activities, resources, and steps leading to institutional change.

For that reason, the Task Force under the guidance of the Task Force Chair Bishop Marc Andrus and Ms. Sarah Lawton, crafted this new resolution designed to address the following:

• Establish a new task force focused on prioritizing and subsequently completing the planks of the initial  mandate that the current task force was not able to complete.
• Designate the new task force with a mandate for specific and achievable recommendations for institutional change within our faith tradition supporting social justice as a christian ministry  including but not limited to: (a) areas of governance and structure, (b)prayer and liturgy, (c) catechesis and lifelong discipleship formation for all especially for the laity, (d) ensure consistency with an equitable and inclusive polity

As described above, several insights were identified through the focus groups and meetings that were conducted.  Preliminary learnings as a basis for the proposed new task force recommends that the task force begin with a focused work plan and include the following:

• There is much good justice work happening already across our church! For which we give thanks.
• Our local leaders, in congregations, chaplaincies, and other ministries, want to be equipped and trained to do justice work.
• People in our local ministries want to be better networked across provinces and the whole church to improve collaboration along with shared access to resources, and to overcome siloing across different issues (such as creation care, racial justice, economic justice, LGBTQ+ justice) – understanding that siloing is itself a tool of white supremacy culture.
• A how-to-guide to equip our local leaders and improve networking and collaboration should be an outcome of the new task force.