A proposed covenant to hold the worldwide Anglican Communion together amid divisions over homosexuality and same-sex unions appeared to be in major difficulties after several more Church of England dioceses, voted to reject it. On Saturday last the tip point was reached in the C of E when the “Noes” to an Anglican Covenant achieved the support of a majority of dioceses. The English dioceses’ decision effectively derails the adoption of the pact throughout the Communion, which is essentially a loose family of 38 national and regional churches, and once more raises questions about whether this Christian alliance could stay united.
Here follow:
– an insight into the debate in Liverpool diocese and the views of its bishop;
– the Bishop of Oxford view that Saturday’s votes will mean the C of E General Synod will not even debate the Covenant;
– reports from BBC and Reuters;
– the press statement issued by the Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council, Canon Kenneth Kearon of the C of I.
The Secretary General on the Anglican Communion Covenant
ACNS – Press statement issued by Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Canon Kenneth Kearon
In the light of today’s news about the decisions of the dioceses of the Church of England about the Covenant I wanted to clarify the current situation across the Anglican Communion.
In December 2009, as requested by the Standing Committee, I sent the text of The Anglican Communion Covenant to all the Member Churches of the Anglican Communion asking that they consider it for adoption according to their own internal procedures.
I have received notifications from eight Provinces that they have approved, or subscribed, the Covenant or, in the case of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, have approved pending ratification at the next synod which is usual procedure in that Province.
These Provinces are: The Church of Ireland, The Anglican Church of Mexico, The Church of the Province of Myanmar, The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea, The Church of the Province of South East Asia, The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, The Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America, The Church in the Province of the West Indies.
What next steps are taken by the Church of England is up to that Province. Consideration of the Covenant continues across the Anglican Communion and this was always expected to be a lengthy process. I look forward to all the reports of progress to date at the ACC-15 in New Zealand in November.
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/3/24/ACNS5076
BBC – CofE dioceses reject unity plan
The Anglican Covenant – aimed at maintaining unity in the worldwide Anglican Communion – is rejected by Church of England dioceses.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17500144
Reuters – English church votes down pact to unite Anglicans
A proposed deal to hold the worldwide Anglican Communion together amid divisions over homosexuality and same-sex unions appeared to be in tatters on Saturday after the mother church, the Church of England, voted to reject it.
Analysts said the Church’s decision effectively derailed the adoption of the pact throughout the Communion, a loose family of 38 national and regional churches, and raised questions about whether the Christian alliance could stay united.
A majority of the Church of England’s 44 districts or “dioceses” had decided against the landmark “Anglican Covenant” pact, campaigners against the agreement said.
“With today’s results … the proposed Anglican Covenant is now dead in the water in the Church of England. This also poses serious problems for the covenant in other provinces (member churches),” said Lesley Crawley, an English priest and moderator of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/24/uk-britain-religion-covenant-idUKBRE82N0EJ20120324
Bishop of Liverpool on the Anglican Covenant
The Diocese of Liverpool voted on Saturday to reject the Anglican Covenant. The Diocese of Liverpool voted strongly across all “houses” of their diocesan synod to reject the Anglican Covenant today. That degree of rejection may have been influenced by the Presidential Address of the diocesan bishop, James Jones. He sees the Covenant as a distraction to the real work of the Church.The presidential address to the diocesan synod by the Right Reverend James Jones can be found in full as a PDF file – reference below – , with a press release about it from the diocese: The Anglican Covenant will undermine not save the Communion.
Bishop James set out six key concerns over the Covenant in his residential address.
• That in a litigious world where the religious dimension makes this more fraught the Covenant with “its explicit threats of ‘relational consequences’ will be making our Communion more vulnerable to those forces that propel people forward in litigation.”
• That the Communion will become increasingly absorbed by internal order which will take time money and energy – he will state “my heartache here is that those precious gifts of time, money and energy should be directed to the mission of God”.
• That the church “has been born for mission” and the Covenant can introduce a dynamic the makes the communion resistant to change. As he says “instead of setting us free to engage with a changing world it freezes us at a given point in our formation, holding us back and making us nervous about going beyond the boundaries and reaching out into God’s world.” The Bishop argues that the “church must be free to go into all the world and to engage with new cultures enabling us all to learn Christ”.
• Pointing to the Diocese of Liverpool’s relationship with the Diocese of Akure and the Diocese of Virginia he will say “the beauty of the Communion is that it allows for such ad hoc partnerships to spring up all over the world” and that “we learn most about the Gospel form those who differ from us”. The quasi legal nature of the Covenant will threaten that dynamic.
• That through the Bible, the Creeds, the Ordering of Bishops, Priests and Deacons, the 39 Articles and Book of Common Prayer we have sufficient credentials for our common life.
• Bishop James also talked about the act of grace that it is to be in Christ stating “when we are in Christ, we are in Christ with everybody else who is in Christ, whether we like it or not- or them or not…”
The Bishop’s address continues his long stated contribution around how we should relate to those with whom we have differing theological or political viewpoints. From “Making space for truth and grace” to his speeches on the environment; relationships with other faiths and on the Ordination of women to the Episcopate the Bishop has urged a greater understanding of the opinions of those with whom we disagree. This is an approach the Bishop himself has taken within the Diocese of Liverpool as the diocese works together to pursue the mission of God in our region.
As Bishop James concludes “The Church of England and the Anglican Communion have over the centuries developed a generous embrace allowing seekers to taste and see the goodness of God. Within our borders there is a generous orthodoxy. There is space for the seeker to breathe, to enquire, to ask questions, to doubt and to grope towards faith and to find God. That I believe is a space within the Body of Christ worth preserving.”
http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/005418.html
Covenant will not be debated by CofE General Synod
The Bishop of Oxford told the Oxford Diocesan Synod on Saturday afternoon, that as the result of two further dioceses (Oxford and Lincoln) voting against the motion to approve the draft Act of Synod adopting the Anglican Communion Covenant, it would not be debated by General Synod of the Church of England. This was because the majority of dioceses had now voted against it.
Bishop Michael Nazir Ali said that “I am disappointed that the Anglican Communion Covenant, even in its watered down version,has failed to gain the support of the Church of England. This now means that the Jerusalem Statement (2008) is now ‘The only game in town.'”