OUR MAN MALCOLM IN THE ANGLICAN JOURNAL

The Rev Malcolm French, Moderator of NACC

From the Anglican Journal in Canada:

An international coalition of Anglicans [No Anglican Covenant Coalition] hopes a model resolution to reject the Anglican Communion Covenant will be accepted by The U.S. Episcopal Church at its General Convention in Indianapolis in July.

The covenant was intended to be an agreement to bind the global Anglican Communion together despite differences about the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of bishops in same-sex relationships.

The coalition's resolution declines to approve the covenant and claims there are better ways to unify the Anglican Communion. It calls on the church to “at every level to seek opportunities to reach out to strengthen and restore relationships between this church and sister churches of the Communion.”

The covenant was never intended to bind the churches in the Anglican Communion together, but rather to discipline the churches in the Communion which strayed from the straight and narrow path by extending equality to all members of the church without exclusions because of sexual orientation.

The resolution submitted to the TEC General Convention 2012 is numbered D007.  "French here.  Malcolm French."

MODEL RESOLUTION FOR TEC GENERAL CONVENTION FROM NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALTION

Below is the model resolution from NACC on the Anglican Covenant for General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the US, which meets in July 2012  The resolution is also available here as a Microsoft Word file and here as a PDF file.  An introduction and explanation may be found at Comprehensive Unity.

Title: Relation to the Anglican Communion

Resolved, the House of _______ concurring, That the 77^th General Convention give thanks to all who have worked to increase understanding and strengthen relationships among the churches of the Anglican Communion, and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention reaffirm the commitment of this church to the fellowship of autonomous national and regional churches that is the Anglican Communion; and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention believe that sister churches of the Anglican Communion are properly drawn together by bonds of affection, by participation in the common mission of the gospel, and by consultation without coercion or intimidation; and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention, having prayerfully considered the merits of the Anglican Communion Covenant and believing said agreement to be contrary to Anglican ecclesiology and tradition and to the best interests of the Anglican Communion, respectfully decline to adopt the same; and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention call upon the leaders of The Episcopal Church at every level to seek opportunities to reach out to strengthen and restore relationships between this church and sister churches of the Communion.

______

COALITION STATEMENT ON THE RETIREMENT OF ARCHBISHOP ROWAN WILLIAMS

LONDON – The No Anglican Covenant Coalition wishes to thank Archbishop Rowan Williams for his tireless commitment to unity in the Anglican Communion across these difficult ten years. We share with him hope that we will achieve greater love towards one another in the Communion and that we might be enriched by our links across the world.

We wish him every blessing in the next phase of his work as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and will keep him, Jane and the children in our prayers as they make this transition.

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.

noanglicancovenant.org

The Revd Dr Lesley Crawley (England) +44 1252 820537
Dr Lionel Deimel (USA) +1-412-512-9087
The Revd Malcolm French (Canada) +1-306-550-2277
The Ven Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand) +64 3 981 7384
The Revd Canon Hugh Magee (Scotland) +44

UPDATES FROM NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION

From the No Anglican Covenant Coalition:

Church of England

General Synod voted 24 November 2010 to send the Covenant to diocesan synods. If a majority of synods , the question will be brought back to General Synod for a final vote.

Diocesan votes in favor of adopting the Covenant:

Lichfield
Durham
Europe
Bristol
Canterbury

Diocesan votes against adopting the Covenant:

Truro
Birmingham
Wakefield
St Edmundsbury & Ipswich
Derby
Gloucester
(Added as per votes taken today)
Salisbury
Portsmouth
Rochester
Leicester

Since the Anglican Communion Office sends out only pro-Covenant material, our like-minded brothers and sisters in England (with a little help from their friends in other churches of the Communion) are working double time to assure that as many dioceses as possible receive material presenting the argument against the adoption of the Covenant. It seems that when the delegates to diocesan synods hear both sides of the argument, they are more likely to vote against adoption of the Covenant.

That the ACO uses its resources to present only one side of the matter in question seems not right, if the goal is a fair assessment of the sentiments of the church at large as to whether the adoption of the Covenant would be a good thing. The materials that go out to the churches of the Anglican Communion from the ACO demonstrate the same lack of balance.

"A Short Introduction” also attempts to give a more balanced view of the Covenant than is available elsewhere. As our Convenor for the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Revd. Canon Hugh Magee, has said, “Many people have complained that the official study material from the Anglican Communion Office has lacked balance and has failed to take seriously the concerns of Covenant critics.”

Further news from the NACC:

"PROFESSOR MARILYN McCORD ADAMS APPOINTED AS COALITION’S FOURTH PATRON LONDON – The Revd Dr Lesley Crawley, Moderator of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition, and Dr Lionel Deimel, the Coalition’s Episcopal Church Convenor, have announced the appointment of Professor Marilyn McCord Adams as a Patron of the Coalition. Professor McCord Adams joins Bishops John Saxbee and Peter Selby, and Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch whose appointments were announced previously." (My emphases)
....

McCord Adams is Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. From 2004 to 2009, she was Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University and Residentiary Canon at Christ Church, Oxford. She also served as a member of the Church of England General Synod at the time when the Anglican Covenant was being developed.

We win some, and we lose some. What happens if the results of the votes in diocesan synods in the Church of England come down with a majority against adoption?

UPDATE: Today four Church of England dioceses voted against adoption of the Covenant. My cup runneth over!

UPDATE 2: Thinking Anglicans posted the vote totals for the four dioceses.

GAFCON REJECTS ANGLICAN COVENANT

Those of you who follow the story probably know by now that on the very day that General Synod of the Church of England voted in favor of the Anglican Covenant, GAFCON, a group whom the covenant was designed to placate and keep within the fold of the Anglican Communion, announced their rejection of the document.

"While we acknowledge that the efforts to heal our brokenness through the introduction of an Anglican Covenant were well intentioned, we have come to the conclusion the current text is fatally flawed and so support for this initiative is no longer appropriate," the council said in a statement.

No Anglican Covenant Coalition put out a statement:

"We believe that this covenant is ill-conceived. In response to the reputed 'crisis' in the Communion, drafters of the covenant have favoured coercion over the hard work of reconciliation. The covenant seeks to narrow the range of acceptable belief within Anglicanism and to prevent further development of Anglican thought. Rather than bringing peace to the Communion, we predict that the covenant text itself could become the cause of future bickering and that its centralised dispute-resolution mechanisms could beget interminable quarrels and resentments."

If you would like to join the effort against the adoption of the Anglican Covenant, check out the website of NACC. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the "JOIN US" button. You can also visit the Facebook and Twitter sites of the coalition.

On GAFCON's announcement, Ekklesia quotes Giles Fraser:

"This just proves how ineffectual it is going to be ... it won't keep us together," Giles Fraser, Canon at London's St Paul's Cathedral, and president of Inclusive Church which opposes the Covenant, told Reuters. "All the archbishop's hard work in getting it through and using up one of his lives, seems rather pointless."

Ekklesia offers further background information on the covenant and details of the voting in General Synod.

UPDATE: From the Church Times:

AT LEAST ten Primates from the Global South are now expected to boycott the Primates’ Meeting in Dublin in January.

In a statement released on Wednesday, five African Primates, members of the GAFCON Primates’ Council, confirmed that they would not attend the two-yearly meeting. In addition, it is understood that the Primate of South-East Asia, Dr John Chew; the Primate in Jerusalem & the Middle East, Dr Mouneer Anis; and the Primate of the Indian Ocean, the Most Revd Ian Ernest, will not go to Dublin.

Furthermore it is expected that two new Primates, Presiding Bishop Tito Zavala, Primate of the Southern Cone, and the Most Revd Onesphore Rwage, Primate of Rwanda, will also boycott the meeting.

What's the point of the Anglican Covenant if the Anglican Communion is already breaking up?

H/T to Nicholas Knisely at The Lead.

And you really should read Paul Bagshaw at Not the Same Stream.

Given that GAFCON have turned their backs on the Covenant, why pursue it further?

Why that would be because, as the Windsor Report stated,

...a common Anglican Covenant which would make explicit and forceful the loyalty and bonds of affection which govern the relationships between the churches of the Communion.

Read the rest. Paul's post is excellent.