Resurrection was the theme at the national Executive Council meeting in Oklahoma City, Okla., Nov. 2-5.

The Rt. Rev. Robert M. Moody, Bishop of Oklahoma, told council members that the people of Oklahoma designate time as "before the bombing or after the bombing" of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, which claimed 168 lives and injured dozens of others.

Oklahomans mark that moment in time, 9:02 a.m., as the time "We ... remember those who were killed, those who survived and those whose lives were changed forever - and that is all of us."

In his opening remarks, the Most Rev. Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop, presented an overview of the Lambeth Conference to council members, saying it was much more than the "sexuality resolution." The resolution, he said, took two hours of the three-week conference. Other issues such as international debt and religious persecution were "lost to the emotions of human sexuality."

Bishop Griswold said he also experienced the United States "looked upon with some degree of scorn" as a creditor nation among many debtor nations. He said he found the liturgies from different provinces of the Anglican Communion "terribly disconcerting," because as a liturgist "I thought the discrepancy in Eucharist theology expressed in these prayers is absolutely amazing."

Pamela P. Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, told council members that she had asked the International and National Concerns Committee of the council to develop a concerted program against hate crimes. "I would like to see the Episcopal Church become more visible in the effort to reclaim the authority of scripture from its misuse by the extreme right wing," Mrs. Chinnis said.

Mrs. Chinnis asked the committee to develop and distribute a "Stop the Hate" lapel pin - a rainbow ribbon similar to the red AIDS ribbon and the pink breast cancer ribbon - to be accompanied by a card "setting forth the reasons for the 'campaign' to end bias crimes of all sorts."

The Rev. Carmen Guerrero, the newly named Jubilee Ministry officer, led reflections on the Congregational Ministries Conference, held in St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 19-21. This "visioning conference" brought together a broad group of church people representing its various demographic entities. Its purpose was to educate the Presiding Bishop and church center executives, who were also in attendance, to consider the church past and present and then to look forward to the future.

The council heard from some who had participated in the ministries conference. Iris Harris, lay member of the council from the Diocese of Washington, who introduced herself as "the most senior member" at the St. Louis meeting, spoke of the church looking toward issues of leadership, stewardship, evangelism and church growth.

During a "diocesan tour," council members and guests were able to see the site of the 1995 bombing, and the Eucharist was celebrated in St. Paul's Cathedral, heavily damaged by the blast concussion. The cathedral church is only a few blocks from "ground zero."

During his press conference, the Presiding Bishop turned again to the resurrection theme. Pointing out that resurrection is not a return to what was but to something that is "unfamiliar, a newness - the cathedral doesn't look the same," he said. "The psychic death" of the people in Oklahoma City allows them to arise to a "different perspective."

Citing the new organ at St. Paul's, which was first used on All Saints' Day, Bishop Griswold said, "It's a powerful sign of being fully alive."

Concerning hate crimes, he said, "Some of these events are so fresh and new that their ultimate significance has yet to be revealed." He said the church needs to ask itself, "What do we preach? How do we present ourselves as members one of another: our in-built fear of one another; how do cultures reflect attitudes, to what extent are 'good Christians' culpable in terms of jokes or dismissive comments?"

Partially in response to Mrs. Chinnis's address, and partially in response to "letters received from the 'left' and the 'right' suggesting that (he) resign from the Executive Council," the Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy, addressed a letter to council members. He acknowledged the differing conclusions on various issues within the council body, and asked that "All of us ... work diligently to 'stay at the table,' and this involves the mutual love and respect of God's people, especially those with whom we may disagree." Citing Lambeth, he said, "This was one of the goals of several ... who met together ... to discuss how we could live together with mutual respect and love. The result of those meetings was one of the resolutions passed by Lambeth."

It was also announced that: The Most Rev. George Carey has appointed Bishop Griswold to chair the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue; the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief has granted monies to dioceses devastated by Hurricane Mitch ($25,000 each to Honduras and Nicaragua, $14,000 to Guatemala and $5,000 to Belize); and Frank L. Oberly, layman from Oklahoma, was elected to the Executive Council, replacing Ginny Doctor, now Native American staff officer at the church center.