ANGLICAN COVENANT REJECTED -- A SONG OF THANKS FOR THE SCOTTISH EPISCOPAL CHURCH: There may be other springs as full and fair. But they won't be the same -- they´ll come and go...but this, we now know, we ALL will be there!

The Heather on the Hill

¨The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church today voted against the adoption of the Anglican Covenant. Following a variety of views expressed by members of General Synod, the Motion that Synod agree in principle to adopt the Anglican Covenant was put to vote - 112 votes against; 6 votes in favour; 13 abstentions. The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane then presented a resolution on the Anglican Communionin support of Motion 27, saying “The Anglican Communion matters deeply to us in the Scottish Episcopal Church. We invoke the history of Samuel Seabury, consecrated in 1784 by the Scottish bishops as the first bishop of the church in the United States of America. We want to be part of the re-founding - the bringing to birth of a new phase of Communion life.”   HERE

The Heather on the Hill (a song of Thanksgiving for today)

Can't we two go walkin' together, out beyond the valley of trees?



Out where there's a hillside of heather, curtsyin' gently in the breeze.


That's what I'd like to do: see the heather--but with you.


The mist of May is in the gloamin', and all the clouds are holdin' still.


So take my hand and let's go roamin' through the heather on the hill.


The mornin' dew is blinkin' yonder. There's lazy music in the rill,


And all I want to do is wander through the heather on the hill.


There may be other days as rich and rare.


There may be other springs as full and fair.


But they won't be the same--they'll come and go,


For this I know:


That when the mist is in the gloamin', and all the clouds are holdin' still,


If you're not there I won't go roamin' through the heather on the hill,


The heather on the hill.¨  Alan Jay Lerner


·  Thanks to Jim´s Place, sidebar
·  Thanks to Wounded Bird, sidebar
·  Thanks to The No Anglican Covenant Coalition, sidebar
·  Thanks to Thinking Anglicans, sidebar
·  Thanks to The Scottish Episcopal Church
·  Thanks to The Most Rev David Chillingworth

COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: Mil gracias a Escocia -- A thousand thanks to the Scottish Episcopal Church (Extraoficialmente, por supuesto) ¨Yes to the Anglican Communion, No to the Anglican Covenant¨



An update from Scotland

Thank you/Gracias Scotland, we do feel welcomed!

Hugh Magee, the No Anglican Covenant Co-ordinator in Scotland, sent this summary of the progress, or otherwise, of the Covenant in Scotland. It comes with the caveat "subject to verification" - see below.

¨If you are at all familiar with the Scottish Episcopal Church, you will know that we have seven dioceses in this Province: Aberdeen, Argyll, Brechin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Moray and St. Andrews. At this stage, all but the first two of these diocese have held their Synods and all have rejected the Covenant, and a prevailing view (though perhaps not the only one) is that Aberdeen and Argyll will follow suit.


The only fly in the ointment at this stage is the possibility that the Provincial Synod will be asked to make assent to the Covenant a canonical matter, in which case the normal two-year ratification process would be set in motion (assuming such a canon were initially accepted). At this stage, it seems more credible to assume that the Covenant is dead in the water in Scotland.


Bear in mind that the Scottish Episcopal Church has close historical and liturgical ties with the Episcopal Church in the U.S. and is perhaps therefore predisposed to be supportive of its American counterpart, which is seen as a presumed culprit in the present debate. After all, it could be argued that the Anglican Communion itself was born in Aberdeen in 1784, with the consecration of Samuel Seabury to be the first American bishop. ¨  HERE

Added later by Hugh:

I've checked out the information I posted yesterday and all is OK - with one exception: the Diocese of St. Andrews "was not permitted to vote", though I'm told that "the feel of the meeting was generally opposed to the Covenant."

·  Thanks to Hugh Magee, HERE
·  Thanks to Paul Bagshaw
·  Thanks to Not the same stream, sidebar
·  Thanks to Episcopal Cafe, sidebar
·  Thanks to Wounded Bird, sidebar
·  Thanks to the Scottish Episcopal Church