HEADLINE IN THE SCOTSMAN

Scottish Episcopal Church says No to ‘gay marriage’ agreement 

THE Scottish Episcopal Church has rejected an agreement backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury that could have seen sanctions imposed on them if they diverged from the Anglican Communion’s rulings on issues such as the ordination of gay bishops and same-sex unions.
....

David Bain, a member of Scottish Episcopal Church General Synod, characterised the covenant as a “blancmange with shards of glass in it” that was “completely unexceptional until you come to that awful crunch”

The Scotsman tells us in a few words whence sprang the odious Anglican Covenant.  What can I say about Mr Bain's characterization?  "Ouch!"  

The article includes a picture of Rowan Williams with the caption, "Archbishop of Canterbury: Backed the agreement".

SCOTLAND SAYS NO TO ANGLICAN COVENANT

Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost at St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, says on Facebook:

Scotland says firm and clear No to Anglican Covenant.  Yes to Communion.  No to the Covenant.

The news warms my heart.  In a sense, the Scottish Episcopal Church is our mother church, because she gave us our first bishops.

The SEC joins House of Bishops in The Episcopal Church in the Philippines and the dioceses in the Church of England in rejecting the Anglican Covenant.  I wonder if the  Anglican Communion Office will report the rejection of the Covenant by the Scottish Episcopal Church.  Thus far, we don't hear negative news on the Covenant from the ACO.

The rejection by the Scottish church will help the campaign at next month's General Convention of The Episcopal Church by those of us who favor a vote to reject the Covenant by TEC.

UPDATE:

The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church today voted against the adoption of the Anglican Covenant.  Following a variety of views expressed by members of General Synod, the Motion that Synod agree in principle to adopt the Anglican Covenant was put to vote - 112 votes against; 6 votes in favour; 13 abstentions.  The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane then presented a resolution on the Anglican Communionin support of Motion 27, saying “The Anglican Communion matters deeply to us in the Scottish Episcopal Church.  We invoke the history of Samuel Seabury, consecrated in 1784 by the Scottish bishops as the first bishop of the church in the United States of America. We want to be part of the re-founding - the bringing to birth of a new phase of Communion life.” 

Yes!  I love the mention of Bishop Samuel Seabury.

UPDATE 2: From the ACO:

The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church today voted against the adoption of the Anglican Covenant.

Primus David Chillingworth's address to Synod is here.

WHAT IF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA REJECTS THE COVENANT?

The Anglican Church of Canada needs more clarity around what the “relational consequences” would be for not adopting the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant.

This is one of the key messages that Council of General Synod (CoGS) members said the church must convey when the 15th Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meets in New Zealand Oct. 27-Nov. 7.

All member provinces of the Communion have been asked to report on progress made in response to the covenant, which has been recommended as a way of healing divisions triggered by debates over the issue of sexuality.
....

Emerging from small group discussions, some CoGs members said there’s a lot of uncertainty around what happens when a province decides to adopt or not adopt the covenant. Critics of the covenant have long warned that adopting it could result in a two-tier Communion.

Although a comprehensive study guide on the covenant was prepared and recommended for Canadian Anglicans, “there’s not much interest in discussing it,” reported members of one CoGS discussion group. “We’re not sure why,” they added.

By now, most people know what I think of the Anglican Covenant, and I hope, in the end, that the ACofC will vote to reject, as I hope that my church, The Episcopal Church, will vote to reject at General Convention in July.

H/T to Kurt Wiesner at The Lead.

MANAWA O TE WHEKE DIOCESAN SYNOD REJECTS ANGLICAN COVENANT

From Christopher Douglas-Huriwai at No Anglican Covenant on Facebook:

The motion rejecting the Anglican Covenant has just passed unanimously at the Manawa o te Wheke Diocesan Synod, the first Diocese in the province of Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia to do so.

Unanimously! Let's hope this is the first of a series of dioceses in New Zealand and Polynesia to reject the covenant.

Wording: That Te Hui Amorangi o Te Manawa o te Wheke, for the purpose of providing feedback to te Hinota Whanui/General Synod, states it's opposition to the Anglican Covenant for the following reasons:

-After much consideration this Amorangi feels that the Anglican Covenant will threaten the rangatiratanga (self determination) of the Tangata Whenua (local people).

-We believe the Anglican Covenant does not reflect our understanding of being Anglican in these islands.

-We would like this church to focus on the restoration of justice to te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi which tangata whenua signed and currently do not have what they signed for.

I can't help rejoicing, because I believe that the adoption of the covenant will not be a good thing for the Anglican Communion. It's worse than a daft idea, because the covenant was conceived for the purpose of discipline and punishment. The covenant "will threaten the rangatiratanga (self determination) of the Tangata Whenua (local people)," and it "does not reflect our understanding of being Anglican" in the islands, nor in other dioceses and provinces. (My emphases)

UPDATE: From Janet M in Canada:

Thanks for the heads up from NZ on the Anglican Covenant. I have spent 6 weeks in NZ each of the last 3 winters(their summer), so have a little understanding of the church polity there. In NZ there are 3 parallel churches-pakaha (white) Maori, and Polynesian (mostly Samoan ).

The diocese that has just voted no to the covenant is a Maori one in the central part of the north island based out of Rotorua. This is the most densely Maori region of NZ. In Rotorua is the incredibly beautiful Maori church, St Faith, which features a glass etching of Christ wearing a Maori chief's cloak, and appearing to be walking on Lake Rotorua, seen in the background of the window.The Maori are by and large fairly conservative, but they have a very strong self identity. The most internationally famous Maori Anglican is Jenny Te Paa.

Below is a photo of the lovely glass etching of Christ in St Faith's Anglican Church.



Photo by Galen Frysinger.

UPDATE: A more detailed picture of the glass etching of Christ may be found here.

WAKEFIELD DIOCESE IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND REJECTS ANGLICAN COVENANT

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2011

Wakefield diocese rejects Anglican Covenant

Press Release from Modern Church, Inclusive Church and the No Anglican Covenant Coalition


First English diocesan vote rejects Anglican Covenant

Modern Church, Inclusive Church and the No Anglican Covenant Coalition are pleased with the result of the first diocesan vote on the proposed Anglican Covenant.

Both clergy and laity (the latter overwhelmingly) rejected the Covenant at the Wakefield Diocesan Synod meeting on Saturday 12th March.

While recognising the need to avoid the bitter controversies of recent years, we are glad that this Synod does not believe the Covenant is the way to do it.

We believe we should retain the traditional Anglican openness in which provinces govern themselves and disagreements are resolved by openly debating the issues free from threats of sanctions or schism.

The proposed Anglican Covenant offers instead a process for suppressing disagreements by establishing a central authority, with power to pass judgements and penalise dissident provinces by excluding them from international structures.

We trust that other Church of England Dioceses will have the courage to follow Wakefield’s example.

Further information:
Rev Giles Goddard, 07762 373674, www.inclusivechurch2.net
Rev Jonathan Clatworthy, 0151 7276291, www.modernchurch.org.uk
Rev Lesley Fellows, 01844 239268, www.noanglicancovenant.org