Anglicans for Comprehensive
Unity
NEWS RELEASE
JULY 11, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION STATEMENT ON THIS WEEK’S VOTES ON THE ANGLICAN
COVENANT
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – Two days ago, the Anglican
Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia rejected the Anglican
Covenant. Yesterday, the Episcopal
Church voted to “decline to take a position on the Anglican Covenant,” and to
continue to monitor the progress of the Covenant until the next General
Convention in 2015. No Anglican
Covenant Moderator, the Rev. Malcolm French, has issued the following
statement:
The wind has clearly gone out of the sails of the
Anglican Covenant. There was not
even a single dissenting vote when the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand
and Polynesia declared itself unable to adopt the Covenant. While our Coalition would have preferred
a clearer “no” from the Episcopal Church, the resolution passed in Indianapolis
is scarcely more than an abstention – and the commitment to “monitor the ongoing
developments” rings hollow when we consider that the same General Convention
phased out funding for the Episcopal Church staff position for Anglican
Communion affairs. Perhaps they
will monitor the situation by following #noanglicancovenant on
Twitter.
The next major step in the Covenant process will be at
the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, this
fall. We understand that there will
be an attempt to introduce a ratification threshold and a sunset date to the
Covenant process. Depending on the
details, our Coalition is likely to be broadly supportive of both
initiatives.
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The No Anglican Covenant Coalition is an international
group of Anglicans concerned about how the proposed Anglican Covenant would
radically change the nature of the Anglican Communion.
The Rev. Malcolm French (Canada)
+1-306-550-2277
The Rev. Jean Mayland (England)
+44 07966 921247
The Ven. Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand) +64 3 981
7384
The Rev. Canon Hugh Magee (Scotland)
+44 1334 470446
Dr. Lionel Deimel (USA)
+1-412-512-9087
