In June, the Episcopal Church convened for its 81^st General Convention (GC81) in Louisville, Kentucky. The General Convention, which serves as the governing body of The Episcopal Church, passed over 50 resolutions that have direct implications for the church’s public policy advocacy to the United States government. The Office of Government Relations (OGR) is tasked with carrying out much of the public policy advocacy on behalf of the church and is directly guided by the resolutions passed during General Convention. The OGR classifies its ministry into five policy areas: Creation Care; Ending Poverty; Migration, Refugees, and Immigration; Human Rights and Peacebuilding; and Racial Reconciliation. This General Convention passed a wide range of resolutions related to these policy areas and more, concerning both domestic and international issues.  

The international public policy-related resolutions from GC81 are centered around human rights and peacebuilding considering ongoing conflicts, many building on previous resolutions where The Episcopal Church has longstanding partnerships and interest. The Episcopal Church is committed to promoting non-violence and standing against human rights violations. GC81 resolutions update the church’s response to the violent conflict in Israel/Palestine, condemn war crimes committed by Russia against Ukraine, denounce the actions of Azerbaijan against Armenians, and re-affirm its stance against persecution of minority groups in Iraq. Additionally, the church re-affirmed its lamentation of the ongoing violence in Sudan and Haiti and its call for the permanent closure of the detention center at Guantánamo Bay.  

A number of resolutions focused on concerns about public policy issues in the U.S. relating to violence reduction, poverty, and racism. Four resolutions were passed to promote gun safety through promoting safe gun storage, increased gun regulation, and declaring gun violence as a national health crisis. GC81 resolutions also called for stronger protections against child labor and marriage, advocacy against gender-based violence, and condemning unnecessary censorship.  

To address concerns of poverty and public health and safety in our country, General Convention passed resolutions calling for solutions to rising housing costs, the maternity mortality rate of Black women, and inequity in mental health outcomes.  

General Convention also passed resolutions affirming our opposition to religious nationalism and its impact in promoting violence against the personhood and the social, cultural, and historical order of marginalized groups. Another resolution opposes government support for coercive Christian ministries like Indigenous boarding schools, homes for unwed mothers, and crisis pregnancy centers. 

General Convention also passed resolutions that urged the Office of Government Relations to engage in new policy areas. Convention expanded the scope of issues that the church engages with by passing resolutions to promote advocacy for victims of traffic fatalities and regulations for generative artificial intelligence.  

The Episcopal Church continues our longstanding engagement on issues of socially responsible investing, including support for faithful and ethically responsible investing addressing ethical concerns for social, environmental and governance matters, including climate change and human rights. General Convention reiterated our call to divest of fossil fuel companies from the investment portfolio and passed an expansion of the no buy list for companies that produce controversial weapons. General Convention affirmed the church’s advocacy for the right of all investors to consider all financial and other factors relevant to investing including through dialogue and voting, in making responsible investments. 

To promote care for God’s creation, General Convention passed several resolutions calling for environmental protection. These resolutions highlight the importance of reliable water access and reducing fossil fuel use. Within advocacy for water rights, General Convention emphasized Indigenous water rights and the need for transparent communication from the federal government.  

Three resolutions were passed at General Convention focusing on advocacy for migrants including the expansion of Temporary Protected Status, the end of labor trafficking of migrant youth, and affirmation of principles for Migration with Dignity. These resolutions are paired with the work of Episcopal Migration Ministries who receive funding and task forces from General Convention. 

These resolutions and more will continue to guide the ministry of The Episcopal Church.  

For more information and news coverage on GC81: 

Episcopal News Service GC81 Coverage 

The Living Church GC81 Coverage  

To see a complete summary of Episcopal Church policies, please see Policy for Action Index of Episcopal Church Public Policy Resolutions. 

81^st General Convention Public Policy Resolutions: 

2024-A028: Reaffirm commitment to and encouragement across the Church of faithful and ethically responsible investing addressing ethical concerns for social, environmental and governance matters, including climate change and human rights, commonly referred to as ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) investing. 

2024-A029: Any and all investments in companies in fossil fuel industries remaining in the DFMS portfolio be sold by December 31, 2024. Reinvest divested fossil fuel company assets in clean energy alternatives, and that all such institutional investors be encouraged to adopt the same target for full and final divestment of such fossil fuel company investments and also to reinvest such assets in clean energy alternatives. 

2024-A030: Create and administer a DFMS Weapons No Buy List based on the DFMS No Investment in Certain Weapons Policy. 

2024-A078: Promote equity to reduce differences in mental health outcomes. Encourage Congress to enact legislation on the following package of policies that would serve to promote equity and to reduce differences in mental health outcomes: address implicit bias and unconscious bias in mental health diagnostics and treatment; address data challenges; address Social Determinants of Health; and invest in mental healthcare professional diversity; better mental healthcare treatment available.  

2024-A081: Combat Rising Religious Nationalism. 

2024-A084: Endorse the Anglican Consultative Council’s Communion Forest resolution. Undertake appropriate projects in support of the Communion Forest initiative.  

2024-A089: Affirm and uplift ongoing efforts to educate and empower advocacy addressing violence against women and girls.  

2024-A098: Seek further steps towards the phase-out of fossil fuels in future international negotiations, including the upcoming COP 29 meetings scheduled for Baku, November 2024, as well as in implementing legislation and regulations in the United States. Support public policy steps to reduce the adverse impacts of a fossil fuel phase-out on people and communities reliant on such industries for jobs, investment, and tax revenue; steps consistent with General Convention Resolution 2018-D081.  

2024-A163: Affirming the Ongoing Work across the Episcopal Church in Consideration of Ethical Issues in Investing. 

2024-A166: Call for the registration of firearms and gun regulation to protect public safety. Urge the federal government to work with manufacturers to develop nuclear barcode or other taggants and to require the use of these taggants in gunpowder so that the manufacturer and chain of distribution of batches of gunpowder may be traced.  

2024-A167: Advocate for indigenous and native people’s rights involving just use and protection of water resources.  

2024-B004: Reaffirm previous resolutions by commending the safe storage of guns.  

2024-C026: Refrain from passing laws/legislation that conflict with or interfere with the religious liberty of Episcopalians to practice their faith.  

2024-C031: Advocate for migration with dignity by promoting specific principles about migration that resonate with the teachings of Jesus and our baptismal promise to “respect the dignity of every human being.”  

2024-C035: Call for the end of labor trafficking of migrant youth. Advocate for comprehensive and enforceable policies at local, state, and national levels aimed at eradicating labor trafficking and protecting migrant youth.  

2024-D007: Condemn and lament the Hamas lead attack against Israel and the violent and destructive retaliation of the Israeli government in Gaza. Call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, for the release of all Hamas-held hostages, and of Israeli-held unjustly detained Palestinian prisoners, and for the urgent provision of comprehensive, substantial humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, in particular such vulnerable populations as children, the elderly, and those in need of medical care.  

2024-D008: Advocate for indigenous and native people’s rights to safety, transparency, and restoration in cases where the U.S. government and/or its agencies and military forces threaten or damage clean water and other natural resources, especially in decommissioning and defueling of Red Hill Bunker.  

2024-D009: Acknowledge U.S. accountability and responsibility in rebuilding Gaza.  

2024-D011: Call for the prohibition of assault weapons. Urge the United States Congress to ban, except for military and law enforcement agencies, the possession of all military-style assault weapons, bump stocks, and high-capacity magazines.  

2024-D012: Reaffirm commitment to conditioning U.S. Military assistance to Israel on human rights and a negotiated peace.  

2024-D013: Affirm our hope for all the people of Israel and Palestine to enjoy freedom, peace, justice, and national self-determination, and affirm our hope for the creation of a Palestinian State, coexisting with the Jewish State of Israel.  

2024-D014: Call for the declaration of gun violence as a national health crisis. Urge the reform of the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) to ensure equal access to benefits without discrimination to families in communities with higher-than-average rates of homicide, and designate funding to provide community-based mental health services and supports to families who have lost loved ones to gun violence, homicide and suicide.  

2024-D017: Support regulations on generative artificial intelligence.  

2024-D019: Call for justice and peace in Ukraine and condemn the war crimes committed. 

2024-D021: Support child labor protections. Support domestic and foreign policies to strengthen and enforce child labor laws in the United States of America and globally and throughout the labor supply chain.  

2024-D027: Recognize traffic fatalities as a justice issue due to the disparate impact that our road and transportation systems have on vulnerable populations and seek measures to ensure traffic safety. Support policies at the local, state, national, and international levels of governance to reduce traffic fatalities and increase transportation safety.  

2024-D028: Renew call to close and commit to never reopening the U.S. military detention facility at Guantánamo Bay.  

2024-D029: Endorse the commitment by the U.S. government to conserve at least 30% each of U.S. lands and waters by the year 2030, as consistent with The Episcopal Church’s commitment to care for creation.  

2024-D031: Defeat funding initiatives and governmental support for coercive and abusive Christian ministries.  

2024-D039: Condemn unnecessary censorship and defend access to books at schools and libraries. Advocate for access to material affirming of LGBTQIA+, racial minority, and other marginalized experiences in schools and libraries.  

2024-D042: Call for the end of child and forced marriage. Support state and national policies that advocate for the minimum age to marry be eighteen, without exception and eliminate parental consent as an exception to marriage. Support policies such as access to educational, social and economic opportunities for girls.

2024-D043: Advocate for the protection Iraqi Christians and other minority groups in Iraq.  

2024-D047: Lament the overthrow and subsequent outbreak of civil war in Sudan and advocate for diplomatic efforts to bring about a cease-fire.  

2024-D054: Urge Congress to adopt reforms that would reduce the maternal mortality rate of Black women.  

2024-D056: Contact Representatives to call for a Ceasefire in Gaza and call for a suspension of arms going into Israel. Decry the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ongoing terrorist activity of Hamas.  

2024-D057: Advocate for solutions to the rising cost of housing. Support policies at the local, state and national levels to decrease the unhoused population and increase affordable housing.  

2024-D060: Lament the state of unrest in Haiti and advocate for supportive actions directed at their stability.  

2024-D062: Condemn the actions of Azerbaijan and stand in solidarity with the people of Armenia and the refugees from Nagorno Karabagh against genocide. Advocate for and promote U.S. government policies and legislation to further this position, humanitarian relief to Armenia, and diplomatic interventions.  

2024-D067: Continue to support and advocate for TPS, call for the expansion of TPS and protect those who qualify for TPS.  

2024-D075: Call for the Immediate Release of Ms. Layan Nasir from Administrative Detention in Israel Condemn the April 7, 2024, arrest and imprisonment of Palestinian Anglican Layan Nasir by the Israeli military. Denounce the use of administrative detentions without charge, trial, or conviction with no or extremely limited access to legal counsel or family visitation.    

2024-D076: Reaffirm commitments to reparations for slavery, to community development, and to the role of the church in leading the nation towards racial reconciliation. Create and make available tools, comprehensive resources, and specific reparative capital vehicles so that the church can do this work.