Despite dealing with controversial - and sometimes contentious - issues, members of Executive Council agreed there was a powerful spirit of openness and cooperation during the first meeting chaired by the Most Rev. Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop.

"There was a very positive spirit in the air," said the Very Rev. George Werner of Pittsburgh, vice president of the House of Deputies.

"No one was trying to restrict involvement. It's a very different kind of start, very positive, very spirit filled and very spiritually centered," he added.

The council, meeting in San Jose, Calif., Feb. 13-16, did endorse calling for an end to U.S. restrictions on the sale of humanitarian supplies for Cuba, and noted that Bishop Griswold had participated in an open letter with heads of other communions "for healing the rift" between Cuba and the U.S.

Another resolution endorsed the position of Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey in urging a diplomatic solution between the U.S. and Iraq.

But there were signals that Executive Council will exercise caution and restraint in dealing with such resolutions. Bishop Griswold said he will generally make pronouncements only in consultation with others such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of Canada, and the National Council of Churches.

The Rev. Reynolds Cheney of West Tennessee, chair of the International and National Concerns Committee, which presented the resolutions, noted that action on several resolutions was delayed until the next meeting because insufficient information about the subjects was available to the committee at the meeting.

On the matter of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.SA., Inc. (PECUSA), Bishop Griswold announced that he would be meeting with the Rt. Rev. William Wantland of Eau Claire "in the very near future."

Council approved a response to several requests from the Diocese of Florida expressed in a letter from the Rt. Rev. Stephen Jecko on Oct. 20 and a resolution from that diocese's convention.

Bishop Jecko's letter had stated in part that the "diocese is paying the price for what can only be called a massive breakdown of trust in national leadership."

The council's reply - debated and amended in plenary session - said in part that the council declined to ask Bishop Griswold to repudiate his signing the Koinoia Statement which was drafted by the Rt. Rev. John Spong during the l994 General Convention. The reply noted that the action then "was a response to a particular debate."

Bishop Griswold explained that he would draft a private letter to Bishop Jecko to accompany the council's statement which also noted that an "extensive review of (the church's) investment funds (has) revealed no wrong doing."

Allegations brought by Attorney James H. Crosby of Mobile, Ala., on behalf of a group of Episcopalians prompted an investigation into whether trust funds had been mishandled. The allegations were made to the New York State Attorney General, which investigated and determined there were no violations, national church treasurer Stephen Duggan said.

Mr. Duggan told the council that legal cost associated with the investigation had totaled more that $300,000 - "more than was spent investigating (former national church treasurer) Ellen Cooke."

Council voted a special appropriation to cover the legal costs, which Mr. Duggan noted did not cover "the considerable staff time" spent by the treasurer's staff.

Mr. Duggan added that while final financial figures are not yet available for 1997, it appears the budget, "while tight, represents a healthy financial condition for the church." He added, "preliminary reports show that diocesan giving will be up in the triennial."

Bishop Griswold said he was "struck by the good humor and unrestrained energy of this group." The full and active participation of council members and the "interactivity of the committees is a healthy sign. My image is of a force held with particles moving around rather than something structural and hierarchical."

In other business, council elected the Rev. Robert Sessum of Lexington as its clerical representative to the Anglican Consultative Council for a nine-year term.