ATTENTION DR. ROWAN WILLIAMS/ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: ¨You want an alternative to your punative and exclusionary covenant?¨

Well, here it is:

¨We, the member churches of the Anglican Communion, agree to meet together regularly and to engage each other in adult conversation.
We, the member churches of the Anglican Communion, acknowledge that we will not always agree.
We, the member chuches of the Anglican Communion, commit oursleves, in the face of disagreements, to love each other anyway, just as Jesus calls us to do.¨

Saying "something must be done" does not prove that something must be done.

¨There have been a lot of developments about the Anglican Covenant since last I posted about it. Conveniently, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition has conveniently issued a news release summarizing recent events.

In the Church of England, four diocesan synods (Wakefield; St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich; Truro; Birmingham) have rejected the Covenant. Four others (Lichfield; Durham; Europe; Bristol) have approved it. In order to return to General Synod for final approval, the Covenant needs to be passed by 23 of the 44 dioceses - meaning that 22 rejections is enough to scuttle it in the Church of England. The Covenanters need another 19 approvals to carry the day, while the Covenantsceptics only need another 18 to stop it.


In the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, the Tikanga Maori rejected the Covenant at their biennial runanganui. Several Paheka dioceses have also rejected it. It is unlikely that the Covenant will be approved in New Zealand.


In the Episcopal Church of the Philippines, the House of Bishops have indicated an intention to reject the Covenant, making it virtually certain that it will not be approved.

One of the interesting snippets out of England is the emergence of a disturbing pattern. Bishops and diocesan officials in several dioceses have refused to allow the distribution of material critical of the Anglican Covenant to synod members. Of the eight dioceses that have voted on the Covenant, four allowed the distribution of balanced material and four did not. It will not take a rocket surgeon to figure out which four are which. The Coalition's episcopal patrons, John Saxbee and Peter Selby are actively encouraging their former colleagues to povide for a fair and honest debate in every diocese.

Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

In the midst of this, the Archbishop of Canterbury has published his Advent Letter to the Anglican Primates. In an intellectual fiddle which should be an embarrassment to any current or former academic, the Archbishop's defence of his pet project makes less sense than Glenn Beck on acid...¨ please read it all, By Malcom+ HERE  (emphasis added by Leonardo Ricardo)

· Thanks to Simple Massing Priest, sidebar

GREETINGS FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM: A CHRISTMAS LETTER FROM A COALITION MEMBER, HERE