Advocacy & Networking for Mission (A&N) is a Joint Standing Committee (JSC) of the Executive Council (EC) of The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Domestic & Foreign Missionary Society (DFMS).

Advocacy & Networking provides oversight for nine Committees, Commissions, Agencies and Boards (CCABs) of the General Convention (GC) that are focused on social justice and public policy issues. Our work is guided by the Baptismal Covenant promises to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being.

Among the focus areas for the Standing Commission on Anglican & International Peace with Justice Concerns is the Israel-Palestine conflict and issues related to it. In this triennium, GC resolution B019 (Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Support for the Diocese of Jersualem) will guide the collaborative work of four entities of The Episcopal Church. Those entities are the Standing Commission on Anglican & International Peace with Justice Concerns, the Joint Standing Committee on Advocacy & Networking for Mission, the Theology Committee of the House of Bishops, and the Episcopal seminaries.

The Stand Commission on Health has identified global Food Security as a primary focus in this triennium.

The Standing Commission on Social Justice & Public Policy has a wide-ranging portfolio that includes issues of gun violence and gun trafficking.

The Standing Commission on Social Justice and Public Policy will also be focused on issues of migration and immigration reform.

At its October 2012 meeting, the Joint Standing Committee on Advocacy & Networking invited Deb Stein, the Executive Director of Episcopal Migration Ministries, to make an in-person presentation of her agency's work and current issues and challenges associated with refugee migration.

The Joint Standing Commission on Advocacy & Networking for Mission has been charged with oversight for the block grant project initiatives for Mission Mark 4, which, in this triennium, is focused on Poverty Alleviation in the U.S.A.

The Executive Council Committee on the Status of Women has chimed in on the subject of Pay Equity for Women including for clergy women.

Advocacy includes:

* advocacy in the public sector through the Office of Government Relations, the Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN), and local EPPN networks that are often joint efforts of The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA); and

* advocacy within the church through formation and education activities that support our members to live into the Baptismal Covenant to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being.

The Executive Council Committee on Science, Technology & Faith will be collaborating with the Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns on the use and ethics of drone warfare.

The Episcopal Church is an international church, and mission must be undertaken in both local and global contexts.

Networking has an overarching stewardship goal, which is to utilize all of God's gifts of resources to bless God's people everywhere. A new way of looking at Networking has already begun in the work of the DFMS staff, as they tap the talents and contributions of individuals and groups both inside and outside The Episcopal Church.

Networking also has an overarching relationship component, which is to connect God's people through communications, cooperation, and collaboration. We are building the Beloved Community that transcends parish, urban and rural, diocesan, state, church, and national borders.

The work of becoming anti-racists, who are formed, educated, and committed to interrupting racism and dismantling racist institutions wherever we encounter them, is ongoing. Anti-racism awareness and intentionality must permeate all the work of the church, because racism is a major factor in the social justice and public policy ills that the church strives to address.

The Executive Council Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility seeks to express the church's stance on social justice and public policy issues through engaging corporations in dialogues and drafting and voting shareholder proxies. This work is guided by General Convention and Executive Council resolutions. This work is done jointly on behalf of the DFMS and the Church Pension Group and in collaboration with ecumenical partners in the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR).

The Joint Standing Commission on Advocacy & Networking for Mission has also been charged with oversight for the block grant project initiatives for Mission Mark 5, which, in this triennium, is focused on issues of environmental justice and raising the church's awareness of eco-justice issues.

The Executive Council Committee on Science, Technology & Faith will continue its work on the Catechism of Creation, seeking additional ways that it can be a resource to more demographics in the church.

The Executive Council Committee on Science, Technology & Faith has a working sub-committee studying Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

This work is guided by GC Resolution A013 (Study Genetically Modified Food Crops)

The Executive Council Economic Justice Loan Committee has oversight of funds set aside for loans to improve the economic well-being of people and empower the oppressed and powerless.

Investment in oppressed areas is another way that the Economic Justice Loan Committee carries out its work.