Kearon does not explicitly say that the covenant was rejected in the dioceses in the Church of England. He speaks simply of "today's news" and notes, "What next steps are taken by the Church of England is up to that Province." Nor does Kearon mention that the Episcopal Church in the Philippines rejected the proposed covenant. Despite the rejection of the covenant by "that province" (Church of England), the provinces in the Communion which have not yet declared their positions are encouraged to carry on with consideration of the covenant.
According to the text of the proposed covenant:
(4.1.6) This Covenant becomes active for a Church when that Church adopts the Covenant.Now that the 'mother' church has rejected the covenant, I wonder if the provinces that have already signed on are asking themselves, "Where do we go from here?" The covenant states only the following:
(4.2.1) The Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and of the Primates' Meeting, or any body that succeeds it, shall have the duty of overseeing the functioning of the Covenant in the life of the Anglican Communion.There is no prescribed time limit for adopting the covenant, nor is there a requirement for a specific number of provinces to sign on before the document is in effect.
