IGNORE THE ANGLICAN COVENANT AT GENERAL CONVENTION?

Here I am banging on again about the pernicious Anglican Covenant. I'd heard murmurings, which are now more than murmurings, because the talk is now very public, of a move to introduce a resolution at General Convention to ignore the covenant.  Yes, indeed, it's true.  Lionel Diemel says:

One proposed strategy for General Convention is for the church only to affirm our commitment to the Anglican Communion, saying nothing at all about the Anglican Covenant.

Our courageous sisters and brothers in the Church of England, the 'mother' church, faced down the opposition of two archbishops, Rowan Williams and John Sentamu, and 79.79% of the bishops in the church to defeat the covenant in the Church of England.  And yet it is suggested that we in The Episcopal Church ignore the covenant.  I don't understand.

Not only do I see such a resolution as cowardly, but, seconding Lionel Diemel, as arrogant.  The Episcopal Church is often criticized for its individualism, for 'going its own way' without regard for other churches in the Anglican Communion, and such a resolution from GC would only reinforce the opinion that TEC is insufficiently community minded.  As I see it, to ignore the covenant, to pretend that it's not there, would be an insult to all the churches who have taken a stand, whether the vote was to adopt, accede to, subscribe to, give an 'amber light' to, or reject the covenant.  Further, to ignore the covenant would be an affront to all the churches which will declare a position on the covenant in the future.  The proponents of the covenant might very well view ignoring the covenant as worse than rejecting the covenant.

I've heard justifications for the stance of pretending the covenant is not there run the gamut from a desire to stay at the table to a fervent wish to continue in relationship with other churches in the communion.  I want those things, too, and I contend that the concerns are unjustified, especially now that the covenant has been rejected in the Church of England. Is the Church of England still at the table?  Will the Church of England continue in relationships with churches in the communion?  The vote by the English church to reject the covenant is a major game changer.  Shall we also pretend that the rejection didn't happen?

Read our English friend Lay Anglicana, and watch the video posted by Laura, who strove mightily to defeat the Anglican Covenant in England, and see if you still think ignoring the covenant is a viable option.  I could name many other English friends who worked tirelessly to bring down the same odious document that some in TEC will ask the convention to ignore.
 
From Lay Anglicana:

But word reaches me that these good manners may stand in the way of common sense at the TEC General Convention to be held from July 5-12 in Indianapolis: agreeing with me that the current ‘sorry state of things entire’ of the Anglican Covenant is such that it definitely counts as unpleasant, and being unwilling to intrude on private grief,  some say it might be best not to discuss it all, and simply sweep it under the carpet.

Siren voices! Please, fellow Anglicans, do not listen to them! We have managed in the Church of England, diocesan synod by painful diocesan synod, to reject it. But the Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion regards this as merely a little local difficulty. Is he burying his head in the sand like the man in the YouTube video which illustrates this post? That is a matter of opinion.

Hear, hear!

WELCOME, LAURA!

We welcome to No Anglican Covenant Coalition, Laura Sykes, who blogs at Lay Anglicana. Laura, a lay member of the Church of England, adds her knowledge, intelligence, and energy to our efforts at NACC to defeat the the adoption of the Anglican Covenant by as many of the the churches in the Anglican Communion as possible.

We're pleased to have you with us, Laura.

SCOPES FOR BISHOPS

In her very good post titled What Are Bishops For?, Lay Anglicana discusses in a mostly serious way the role of bishops in Anglicanism today. The post is well worth a read, along with several interesting comments.

Lay Anglicana lists a number of scopes which might prove useful for bishops in their service to members of their dioceses.

Amphiscope: Looking at both sides of a question
Cryptoscope: Solving life’s little (and big) mysteries
Diascope: Making a window into men’s souls
Endoscope: Looking remorselessly within every file in the cupboard
Extrascope: Looking at the bits the Archdeacon isn’t telling you
Gyroscope: Measuring people’s orientation (actually, this is one of the existing job descriptions which could be dropped?)
Interscope: Reading between the lines
Megascope: Ensuring the Church does not ignore the obvious
Metascope: Keeping an eye on the life beyond
Microscope: Remembering the detail
Neoscope: Knowing how to introduce the new
Oscilloscope: Working out which way the wind is blowing
Paleoscope: Valuing the old
Periscope: Communicating with the above in order to transmit to those below
Polyscope: Wearing many hats (and not just mitres)
Prososcope: Looking onwards, pointing the way
Stethoscope: Listening out for rumblings in the Body of Christ
Telescope: Keeping a watch on the horizon
Ultrascope: Linking congregations throughout the diocese, and their diocese with others

What do you think? What are the essential attributes of a bishop which are missing from this list? (Or have I included some which have no place in the list of episcopal talents?)

Two scopes came to mind as additions to the list, one of which is a bit naughty, but both I'd consider as quite useful.

Colonoscope: Detecting bullshit
Kaleidoscope: Enjoying the great diversity of God's creatures

I did not besmirch LA's comments with my suggestions, but I present then here, along with her list of useful scopes.

What I did say in the comments to the post:

Bishops are, first and foremost, to be servants, which role seems to have been been mostly swept aside in the discussions of their lesser roles.
....

Jesus said, ‘The greatest among you will be your servant.’ Of course, the words are not just for bishops; they’re for all of us.

Pictured above is the giant kaleidoscope at San Diego harbor from Wikipedia.

A FEW WORDS FROM BROTHER LAWRENCE

From The Practice of the Presence of God:

That when an occasion of practising some virtue offered, he addressed himself to God, saying, 'Lord, I cannot do this unless Thou enablest me,' and then he received strength more than sufficient.

That when he had failed in his duty, he only confessed his fault, saying to God, 'I shall never do otherwise if you leave me to myself; it is You who must hinder my falling and mend what is amiss.' That after this he gave himself no uneasiness about it.

And I say, 'Amen!'

Thanks to Laura at Lay Anglicana for calling to mind the wonderful little book. I still have my yellowed paperback which I bought many years ago, which I've read a good many times, and which I will now read again, since Laura's mention in her latest post on a book on private devotion which changed her life.

Brother Lawrence's book changed my life. I learned from him to keep in mind that God is always present and available and to stop beating myself because I don’t have a regular quiet time set aside. Most days, I pray the short form of individual 'Morning Prayer' and 'Evening Prayer' from The Book of Common Prayer, read the Lectionary readings of the day, and offer prayers of petition and thanksgiving. Some days I forget even the Lectionary.

I turn to God fairly often during the day, most frequently to ask for help, but also to give thanks. And sometimes, I just delight in God's presence quietly for brief periods. Those are my non-scheduled quiet times. You see why Brother Lawrence's words give me such comfort, even though the good monk probably spent more scheduled quiet time with God than I do.

Another quote from the book:

That with him the set times of prayer were not different from other times, that he retired to pray, according to the directions of his superior, but that he did not want such retirement, nor ask for it, because his greatest business did not divert him from God.

I can't say an honest 'Amen' to those words, because I'm all too often diverted from God by busyness and other matters. As I said, I'm no Brother Lawrence, simply a grateful disciple.

LAY ANGLICANA HAS A NEW WEB ADDRESS

Laura at Lay Anglicana writes:

Dear Mimi

I have moved my blog onto the main Lay Anglicana website:
It is now at http://www.layanglicana.org/blog/ and the RSS Feed is at http://www.layanglicana.org/blog/feed/

It would be really kind if you would continue to list it – thanks to you, I get lots of visitors who would not otherwise have found it, so it is a real help to me.

Laura, I'm pleased to list the new internet address for your blog.

Thanks again for the enjoyable lunch at The New Inn in Salisbury. It was such a pleasure to meet you and your delightful and gentlemanly husband, Robert, along with our own susan s. from the US. Imagine going all the way to England to meet a fellow citizen!

LAY ANGLICANA - A VOICE FOR THE LAITY IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Lesley at Lesley's Blog received the email below from Laura Sykes, a retired Lay Worker in the Church of England, concerning the Anglican Covenant. Laura graciously permitted me to post her email here at Wounded Bird.

I share your incomprehension that such an obviously destructive measure (to the Church of England as much as the Anglican Communion) should have got as far as it has. I also share your concern that we seem to be sleep-walking into acceptance, not wanting to rock the boat or ‘upset poor ++Rowan’.

In my view, it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that the bishops overall will be in favour of the Covenant – and this is why I find the Wakefield result worrying. Although the overall vote was against, you will have seen that both bishops were in favour. Although I know we have some bishops on our side, it seems to me that it is the old problem of turkeys being disinclined to vote for Christmas. First, and most obviously, it is ++Rowan who is largely responsible for their future careers and, secondly, the Covenant seeks to reassert the authority of the hierarchy to which they belong. The same considerations could also be said to apply to the clergy but luckily there are enough brave & independent-minded clerics around who are true to the moral demands of their calling, if I can put it that way. (My emphasis)

Here's the link to the report in the Church Times on the vote in the Diocese of Wakefield.

THE first English diocesan synod to debate the Anglican Covenant has rejected it. On Saturday, in Wakefield diocese, the vote was lost in the Houses of Laity (10 for, 23 against) and Clergy (16 for, 17 against, 1 abstention). Both Bishops voted for its adoption..

As I see it, Laura's view of the situation in the dioceses in the Church of England is correct. If the covenant is to be defeated, it will be up to the lay people, with, in some dioceses, the help of the clergy.

Laura set up a website, Lay Anglicana, for the laity in the Church of England to share opinions about the adoption of the Anglican Covenant. If you would like to speak your piece or are simply interested in learning more about the covenant and the discussions surrounding it, check out the website.

You may help by spreading the word about Lay Anglicana and by using the "Donate" button at the site to help with expenses associated with their efforts.