¡CUIDADO, UNA CURVA! Don´t let ¨good manners¨ stand in the way of common sense at the TEC General Convention!

‘If It’s Not Pleasant, It Doesn’t Exist’
By Lay Anglicana

My grandmother never actually said this to me. But it was the leitmotiv of her life, thanks to which she lived to be 99 years old. I know half a dozen other nonagenarians, and they all have this in common: they do not dwell on the global economic downturn, global warming, or why that Mrs Jones down the road is such a bitch has a less than sunny disposition. They pour themselves another gin, play another rubber of bridge or go for a walk. They live without passion of any sort (well, they are in their nineties) but this includes love and hate. They are not passionately for or passionately against anything. They do not discuss politics, religion or sex, or indeed any other topic about which anyone might feel strongly. They do not show feelings in public (the mantra of this class is ‘No PDA’ – no Public Display of Affection). To do so would be bad form. They do not weep in public, or ever evince any pain or self-pity. They offer no sympathy (beyond the most formal expression), and they shudder at the thought of sympathy being shown to them. By definition, they are not needy.



Of course, by the time my grandmother and her kind are in their nineties, they probably are needy, if only physically. For them this is the hardest part of old age, that they have to accept help from others and allow chinks to appear in their armour.


I sometimes think my kind of Anglican is like this. I have just learned that I am technically a liberal Anglo-Catholic – I have always thought of myself as plain old CofE but now see that there are many strands of worshippers who all self-identify as Church of England but whose worshipping style – and beliefs- are very different. Yesterday I attended (and will post about separately) a communion service led by a Charismatic Evangelical. My knee-jerk reaction was to wince at the emotional incontinence, but a part of me – normally severely repressed- also responded.

I think I could happily make the transition to The Episcopal Church (TEC) and feel at home. I was brought up to think that good manners are all-important, and TEC is above all the home of good manners: ‘After you’; ‘No, after you’. ‘No cake until you have had the bread and butter’. And so on.


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.

But my fellow members of the Church of England and I are looking for a lead on this from The Episcopal Church. Please do not let us down!¨  HERE  (emphasis added)

·  Thanks to Lay Anglicana, sidebar
·  Thanks to Laura Sykes
·  No Anglican Covenant Coalition

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION: ¨It is our view that The Episcopal Church must reject the Anglican Covenant definitively, an action that we hope will encourage other Communion churches to do likewise.´´

¨The deficiencies of the Covenant are legion, and the Anglican Communion faces the prospect of becoming a fellowship not united but divided by the Covenant. It is essential to reject the Anglican Communion Covenant in order to avoid the Communion’s permanent, institutionalized division.¨  Comprehensive Unity -- No Anglican Covenant, HERE

¨The No Anglican Covenant Coalition therefore proposes the model resolution below for consideration by the 2012 General Convention. We commend it to deputies who will, we hope, submit our resolution or a similar resolution to be considered in Indianapolis. Note that, when many resolutions are offered dealing with the same issue, the resolution brought to the floor for consideration is some amalgam of the submissions. Here is our model resolution¨:

Title: Relation to the Anglican Communion

Resolved, the House of _______ concurring, That the 77th 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.

______

·  Thanks to The No Anglican Covenant Coalition, sidebar
·  Thanks to Comprehensive Unity, The No Anglican Covenant Blog
·  Thanks to Lionel Deimel, Episcopal Church convener of NACC

HERE

THE SCOOP FROM DOWN UNDER: Archbishop/Sydney Peter Jensen has flown to England to stir up more trouble for gay clergy and laity with the ¨excluding¨ Gafcon/GS schismatics

The Anglican Gafcon Homophobes Circle London

Peter Jensen heads a group of homophobes intent on purging the Church of England of homosexuals

Peter Jensen has flown to England to sir up trouble ¨Traditionalist Anglican Leaders¨ HERE for gay clergy. He wants them sacked. Peter Jensen is totally recalcitrant ...When he is invited to England to attend the Lambeth conference, he goes to Jerusalem ...and when he's not invited he arrives to stir up trouble in other countries.

He and other bigots are holding a five-day conference starting on April 23 aimed at finding a sexist homophobe who could take over from Rowan Williams.¨ HERE

¨Traditionalist Anglican leaders to meet over homosexual bishops 'crisis’

They want to restore “orthodox” values to the worldwide Anglican Communion and outlaw liberal church leaders who have rejected traditional teaching.

They will meet for the first time since more than 200 bishops boycotted an official summit for Anglican leaders in 2008 in protest at the presence of bishops from the US Episcopal Church, which consecrated the first openly homosexual Anglican bishop.

The decision by the leaders to hold talks in Britain is likely to increase tensions between the traditionalists and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who will this year step down amid criticism he has failed to heal divisions over sexuality.

Its timing means that it will provide traditionalists with an opportunity to call for Dr Williams’s successor to be sympathetic to traditionalists. ¨ HERE

· Thanks to The Telegraph, United Kingdom
· Thanks to Edward Malnick
· Thanks to Liberal Anglicanism in Sydney, HERE

A LETTER TO ROWAN WILLIAMS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: ¨Those who voted against the Covenant were not rejecting you, it was not all about you.¨

Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

Dear Rowan:
A piece of advice from someone who has lost battles in church. Stop being a whiner or that will be your legacy -- grumpy old has-been. Accept the fact that it was neither the "radical liberals" nor the "hard line conservatives" who sank your dream. It was doomed from the beginning - not punitive enough for those who read the Bible selectively and not enough space for the Spirit to lead us into things we could not bear before (John 16:12).

Those who voted against the Covenant were not rejecting you, it was not all about you. Regular faithful church members voted against it once they read it and began to think about the ramifications of the entire document. The ACO and your arguments boiled down to "trust us" we know what we are doing and you don't, or we need it to save the communion, or it won't really change things. These are not facts but coercion.

It was not based in Anglican theology - a balance of scripture, tradition and reason. The last section had no mechanism for enforcement except a very fuzzy set of ideas centered around a small group of people. Anyone could grind any other province to a halt just by raising a complaint. The complaints were not limited in scope. They could come from any place on the spectrum of Anglican practice.

Think about it - detach your ego from Covenant. Read what people are saying now that it is no longer on the table. Perhaps you will understand why we worked to get the facts out in public - not just have people vote because someone tells them to vote a certain way with "trust me." HERE

Yours truly,

Ann

The Rev. Ann Fontaine
a vicar of small church on the Oregon Coast.
(emphasis added by Leonardo Ricardo)

¨We must fight for equal rights for LGBT people, just as we must fight for the rights of the poor...¨

"We're enveloped in a national debate about insurance mandates and the political leanings of nine Supreme Court Justices. That's all well and good, but entirely beside the point. A nation that does not care for its sick and infirm is a nation that does not deserve to exist. A nation that actively profits from the pain and suffering of those sick and infirm deserves to burn in Hell. A nation that throws those sick and infirm to the wolves is so far beneath contempt as to beggar description."

William Rivers Pitt, Journalist, Truthout

¨I'm in full agreement with Pitt's assessment of our country which is the only developed country where people are afraid of their medical bills; many of whom can't even afford to get needed medical care. Only a country that believes in the Darwinian concept of "Survival of the Fittest," and views others as mere inconveniences or wastes, can embrace and extol wealth as the major, if not sole, criterion of being worthy of having a full life and enjoying the fruits of equality granted to all citizens in the Constitution.

It is not a great leap to see that our contempt for the poor is equivalent for many people's contempt for LGBT people! Both groups are minorities, both groups are devalued, both groups are denied basic human rights, and both groups are assaulted and murdered by people who disparage and/or hate those whom they perceive as "weak."

We must fight for equal rights for LGBT people, just as we must fight for the rights of the poor, for to do anything less is to be in league with those who "deserve to burn in Hell."  The Reverend Doctor Jerry Maneker, A Christian Voice for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Rights   HERE

YES TO COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: The Anglican Covenant defeated in the diocese of Manchester, Church of England

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT:  Manchester Diocesan Synod

The motion in favour of the covenant was defeated in all three houses.

Bishops: 1 for / 2 against / 0 abstentions
Clergy: 15 for / 25 against / 0 abstentions
Laity: 12 for / 23 against / 7 abstentions

With this result the current figures are 25 diocesan synods against and 15 in favour of the Covenant.

The remaining four dioceses will vote after Easter: Southwell & Nottingham (12 April), Chichester (21 April), Newcastle and York (28 April).

·  Thanks to Thinking Anglicans, HERE
·  Thanks to Peter Owen

YES TO COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: The Anglican Covenant defeated in the diocese of London, Church of England

Report from London Diocesan Synod: Anglican Communion Covenant

MOTION DEFEATED

Bishops: 2 for / 1 against / 0 abstentions
Clergy: 17 for / 32 against / 1 abstention
Laity: 26 for / 33 against / 2 abstentions
 
·  Thanks to Thinking Anglicans, HERE
·  Thanks to Peter Owen

The Coward of Canterbury: Fixation with gay rights can “fragment” society, says Rowan Williams. Oh dear!

Dr. Rowan Williams

After losing a campaign to ¨fragment¨ the Church of England, and well on the way to losing a  ¨sexual identity deceiving¨ campaign at the Anglican Communion it appears Rowan Williams, outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury,  thinks he now has the knowledge and expertise on how to cure social/equality issues in Britain.  


Dr. Williams preaches/speeches that in order to solve the abuse, injustice and everyday slander and exploitation directed against LGBT and heterosexual women, we must believe that the victims, who are currently marginalized and despised, are simply ¨fixated¨ with equality and therefore threaten to ¨fragment¨ society.  


Once again, instead of actually ¨doing something¨ positive to promote a healthier and more full bodied and loving  inclusive ¨society¨ at Church and beyond Church, Rowan Williams ducks, hides, threatens, talks/talks/talks and scoffs.  The Archbishop of Canterbury tells us all about how society doesn´t work but avoids mentioning  the real, and dangerous everyday living/hiding circumstances of millions of Anglicans/others living as a persecuted people in Britain, in Uganda, in Jamaica, in Nigeria/beyond.


The coward ¨fragmentor¨ of Canterbury adds nothing positive, or even realistic, or new, to a very sad and dishonorable ¨discrimination¨ situation that has been going on for lifetimes (ours) .   Dr. Williams chats about nusance and cultural incovenience...oh, dang, what a pain.

The embarassing, for him,  sexual orientation issue has been badly dealt with by Rowan Williams because he can´t or won´t face the human reality of ALL his fellow Anglicans/others.  The Anglican Communion is in danger of  ¨fragmenting¨ at this very moment because Dr. Williams has allowed ignorance, fear and hate to fester and grow.  Lies and wrongs against oppressed heterosexual women and LGBT have been allowed perpetuate themselves by going unchallenged at various provinces of the worldwide communion during his term as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Rowan Williams of Canterbury seems to have hid from the incovenient truth regarding the critical need for equality for everyone...during his decade at Lambeth Palace .  Now, at last, he notes that he was aware of  the including=fragmenting all along...just what did he think was going on while society has been excluding too?  

Rowan Williams and his ten years of destructive wrong action(s) at the Anglican Communion have left us with only a fragment of  ¨acceptance¨ and little unity...and that acceptance reflected little of his doing.    Leonardo Ricardo

¨Addressing a group of teenagers during a visit to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has claimed that a fixation with gay rights, race and feminism threatens to “fragment” the British society.


The Telegraph, which has campaigned against equality in marriage, also reports that the Archbishop has signalled an intention to become more vocal in the coming weeks, as he prepares to step down from his post, and take over the mastership of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

In debating the idea of “identity politics” with teenagers, he said it amounted to saying: “This is who I am, these are my rights, I demand that you recognise me.” He also added: “Identity politics, whether it is the politics of feminism, whether it is the politics of ethnic minorities or the politics of sexual minorities, has been a very important part of the last 10 or 20 years because before that I think there was a sense that diversity was not really welcome.

“And so minorities of various kinds and … women began to say ‘actually we need to say who we are in our terms not yours’ and that led to identity politics of a very strong kind and legislation that followed it.

“We are now, I think, beginning to see the pendulum swinging back and saying identity politics is all very well but we have to have some way of putting it all back together again and discovering what is good for all of us and share something of who we are with each other so as to discover more about who we are...¨ there is more, HERE

·  Thanks to Pink News, sidebar
·  Thanks to News Editor

YES TO COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: The Anglican Covenant defeated in the Church of England

NEWS RELEASE
MARCH 24, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


COALITION STATEMENT ON THE DEFEAT OF THE PROPOSED ANGLICAN COVENANT IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND


LONDON – No Anglican Covenant Coalition Moderator, the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley, has issued the following statement on the defeat of the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant in the Church of England.


“With today’s results from the dioceses of Oxford and Lincoln, the proposed Anglican Covenant is now dead in the water in the Church of England. This also poses serious problems for the Covenant in other Provinces as it seems nonsensical to have the Archbishop of Canterbury in the second tier of the Anglican Communion and excluded from the central committees.

“When we launched the No Anglican Covenant Coalition 18 months ago, we were assured that the Anglican Covenant was an unstoppable juggernaut. We started as simply a band of bloggers, but we would like to thank the hundreds of supporters and our patrons for their dedication to promoting debate. The Covenant needed the approval of 23 diocesan synods, as of today, that result is no longer possible.


“Especially we would like to congratulate people in Diocesan Synods across the Church of England who, despite attempts in many dioceses to silence or marginalize dissenting voices, endeavoured to promote debate, ensuring that the Anglican Covenant was subjected to significant and meaningful scrutiny. We found, as the debate went on, that the more people read and studied the Covenant, the less they liked it.


“Under Church of England procedures , this proposal to centralize Communion-wide authority in the hands of a small, self-selecting group cannot return to the agenda of General Synod for at least three years.


“We are seeing the momentum turning internationally as well. The Episcopal Church of the Philippines has officially rejected the Covenant, the opposition of the Tikanga Maori virtually assures that the Covenant will be rejected in the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, and we are seeing increasing opposition in other Provinces of the Communion.


“While today’s diocesan synod results are exciting and gratifying, we are well aware that there is still work to do. However, if the proposed Anglican Covenant does not stand up to scrutiny in the Church of England, we are confident that it will not stand up to scrutiny elsewhere.


“We hope that the Church of England will now look to bring reconciliation within the Anglican Communion by means of strengthening relationships rather than punitive legislation.” HERE

COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: No to shame, no to blame, no to punishing and outcasting one another at the Anglican Communion -- NO ANGLICAN COVENANT



1692 -- 2012 The Puritan Witchhunts

The term "witch-hunt" since the 1930s has also been in use as a metaphor to refer to moral panics in general (frantic persecution of perceived enemies).

COMPREHENSIVE UNITY -- NO ANGLICAN COVENANT: The answer has come, that is, if we accept it.

 

Thanks to The Rt. Reverend James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool

Speaking of the Anglican Covenant

¨Far from being the salvation of the Communion the covenant would undermind it.


Instead of setting us free to engage with a changing world it freezes us at a given point in our formation, holding us back and making us nervous about going beyond the boundaries and reaching out to Gods world


When we are in Christ, we are in Christ with everybody else that is in Christ, whether we like it or not -- or like them or not.¨
Please read it all, by Bishop James Jones, HERE

OUR DESIRE FOR COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: Momentum against Proposed Anglican Covenant Continues at the Church of England

Saturday, March 17, 2012

In response to today’s votes in Church of England dioceses, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition has issued a news release that can be read in its entirety  here. 

The body of the statement is the following:

LONDON – No Anglican Covenant Coalition Moderator, the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley, responded to the results of today’s voting on the proposed Anglican Covenant by pointing to the continued momentum against the pact in diocesan synods. “With three of five synods voting against, it is clear that there continues to be limited appetite for a new Anglicanism that comprises first- and second-tier members. Many share our concerns that the Covenant seeks to preserve the Communion by making it into something it has never been and never should be.”

Dr Crawley pointed to today’s comments from the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd James Jones, which effectively articulated the concerns of many faithful Anglicans in England and around the world. According to Bishop Jones:

“…Far from being the salvation of the Communion the Anglican Covenant would undermine it. … Instead of setting us free to engage with a changing world it freezes us at a given point in our formation, holding us back and making us nervous about going beyond the boundaries and reaching out into God’s world. … When we are in Christ, we are in Christ with everybody else who is in Christ, whether we like it or not—or them or not.”

To date, the proposed Anglican Covenant has been approved by 12 dioceses of the Church of England (Lichfield; Durham; Europe; Bristol; Canterbury; Winchester; Sheffield; Bradford; Carlisle; Coventry; Chester; Norwich) and rejected by 20 (Wakefield; St Edmundsbury and Ipswich; Truro; Birmingham; Derby; Gloucester; Portsmouth; Rochester; Salisbury; Leicester; Sodor and Man; Chelmsford; Hereford; Ripon and Leeds; Bath and Wells; Southwark; Worcester; Liverpool; Ely; St Albans). Approval by 23 diocesan synods is required for the Covenant to return to General Synod for further consideration. Rejection by 22 dioceses would effectively derail approval of the Covenant by the Church of England.¨ HERE

COMPREHENSIVE UNITY FROM THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND TODAY: St. Albans, Ely and Liverpool vote NO to ANGLICAN COVENANT -- Chester and Norwich vote YES

WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER COVENANT? “The Windsor Report,” he said. “It’s just a report. When did it become like The Bible? The Covenant. Why do we need another covenant? We have the Baptismal Covenant. We have the creeds. What else do we need?”  Archbishop Martin Barahona,  San Salvador

Chester: covenant accepted

Bishops: 3 for / 0 against / 0 abstentions

Clergy: 22 for / 14 against / 5 abstentions

Laity: 26 for / 23 against / 5 abstentions

Ely: covenant defeated

Bishops: 1 for / 0 against / 1 abstention

Clergy: 16 for / 23 against / 1 abstention

Laity: 19 for / 19 against / 0 abstentions

Liverpool: covenant defeated

Bishops: 0 for / 2 against / 0 abstentions

Clergy: 10 for / 26 against / 1 abstention

Laity: 8 for / 28 against / 5 abstentions

Norwich:  covenant accepted

Bishops: House of Bishops: For - 3; Against - 0; Abstentions - 0

House of Clergy: For - 26; Against - 10; Abstentions - 1

House of Laity: For - 19; Against - 15; Abstentions - 1

St Albans: covenant defeated

Bishops: 2 for / 0 against

Clergy: 21 for / 31 against

Laity: 17 for / 44 against

·  Thanks to Thinking Anglicans (voting data), HERE

·  Thanks to Simon Kershaw

NACC PRESS RELEASE ON ARCHBISHOP´S RESIGNATION: Coalition Statement on the Retirement of Archbishop Rowan Williams

Thanks to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition has issued a statement on the retirement of Archbishop Rowan Williams, which was announced today. The complete news release can be read here. The substance of the statement is the following:

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.

·  Thanks to Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
·  Thanks to The No Anglican Covenant Coalition, sidebar
·  Thanks to Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity Blog, sidebar

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION NEWS: Thank-you to so many people who have been working hard to enable both sides of the ¨Anglican Covenant¨ debate to be heard.

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition, Spring Newsletter
Dear Supporters,

¨Since I last wrote to you, developments in the progress on the development of the Covenant have been fast and (occasionally) furious. We had previously assumed that adoption of the Covenant would come before General Synod in York this July, and we were concerned that it might be overshadowed by the – hopefully final – debate on the appointment of women bishops. But this has almost certainly been overtaken by events.

Voting has been continuing in the dioceses, the surprise being that the current state of play is 17 against the adoption of the Covenant, with only 10 in favour of it. If a simple majority of the dioceses vote to reject it, the Covenant will not after all be brought before General Synod. There are 44 dioceses, which means that the pro-Covenanters need 23 to be in favour. Thus to defeat it, we only need to have 22 dioceses reject it. The Covenant could not be brought before General Synod again in this quinquennium, i.e. not before July 2015 (and it is hard to see how it could be revived then).

On 17 March, this coming Saturday, Norwich, Liverpool, St Albans, Chester and Ely will vote; and on the following Saturday, 24 March, they will be followed by Lincoln, Exeter, Blackburn, Oxford, Guildford and Peterborough. You can follow the results on the Thinking Anglicans website HERE  and also at Modern Church HERE.

Our experience in the last few months has been that, wherever members of the diocesan synods are briefed on both sides of the question, they have tended to vote against the Covenant. In several cases, synods have refused to allow briefing papers on both sides to be circulated. In Sodor and Man, Bishop Gregory Cameron of St Asaph debated with Jonathan Clatworthy of Modern Church before the diocesan synod: despite an address by the Bishop of Sodor and Man strongly in favour of the Covenant, it was rejected.

Our team in the Coalition has been strengthened by the recruitment of 5 more patrons: from England, the Revd Dr Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of Church History at Oxford University, and the Revd Canon Sarah Coakley, Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University; from the USA the Revd Dr Marilyn McCord Adams, Professor of Philosophy at University of North Carolina and formerly Regius Professor at Oxford University; from Australia, Dr Muriel Porter, OAM, a senior Anglican and correspondent for ‘The Church Times’; and from New Zealand the Rt Revd James White, Assistant Bishop of Auckland.

Concentration remains, for the moment, on the Church of England. Professor MacCulloch was interviewed with Bishop Graham Kings of Sherborne by Edward Stourton last Sunday. You can hear it on YouTube, and you can also hear his general comments on the Covenant HERE. This video was fortuitously uploaded to YouTube day after the Archbishop of Canterbury’s rather rambling piece - and appeared to be in response to it.

So, to summarise, it is possible that by the end of March we will have defeated the Anglican Covenant, at least in its present form. I never imagined, when we started the No Anglican Covenant Coalition in 2010, that we could conceivably achieve this result. It has not happened yet, so for now our efforts are concentrated on getting at least 5 more dioceses voting our way. If we succeed, the next task will be to keep a close eye on what the Anglican Communion Office do next. Will they try to rescue it in some way or other, or will we have a part to play in more constructive dialogue about the future of the Anglican Communion?

Thank-you to so many people who have been working hard at the local level to enable both sides of the debate to be heard. Please continue your efforts, we still need your help.

With very best wishes,

Coalition Moderator, the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley

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

ANGLICAN COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: Yes to Communion; No to Covenant

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition was created by a group of people from across the globe who are passionate about the Anglican Communion. We chose a name cast in the negative to make it clear just where we stood, but everyone should know that we are passionate believers in the Communion. Our opposition to the proposed Covenant reflects our sincere belief that its adoption would be a profound mistake and, contrary to its ostensible goal, would divide, rather than unite the churches of the Anglican Communion.


We rejoice in being part of a worldwide communion, rather than a worldwide church. This fact allows each member church to proclaim the gospel in a manner that is most meaningful in that church’s own cultural context, while maintaining recognizably Anglican practices and Anglican ethos. We believe that widespread adoption of the Covenant would take us far down the road of establishing a worldwide church espousing uniform doctrines. Such a church can be maintained only though impractically complex and expensive consultation and decision-making or through rule by an all-powerful elite. The former has never existed and perhaps never could exist. The Roman Catholic Church is an example of the latter. The Church of England chose a different path from the Roman church 500 years ago, and we believe that the wisdom of that decision is still apparent.


Universal adoption of the proposed Covenant seems increasingly unlikely, assuring that our somewhat fractious Communion faces a split into tiers, communions, or what have you. The resulting fragments will invariably become hostile toward each other, and those churches bound by the Covenant will become a tentative and suspicious assemblage, more concerned with policing fellow churches than proclaiming the Gospel. One need only review the history of the Communion over the past decade or so to realize that such a future is likely if the proposed Covenant achieves significant acceptance. It will, after all, change no hearts, but it will facilitate the meting out of punishments to sister churches and the further splintering of our once strong fellowship.


The members of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition, believe that strengthening the Anglican Communion must be done by fully embracing its unique attributes, not by radically redesigning its structure and circumscribing its beliefs. Anglicanism has been characterized by rich liturgical and musical traditions; by acceptance of the ancient creeds and practice of the dominical sacraments; and by the reliance on scripture, tradition, and reason to guide our actions. This has proven to be a formula for creating vibrant and effective churches everywhere on the planet. We have neither a single world culture nor definitive answers to all theological questions to justify a unified world church that we might call Anglican.


We remain, then, enthusiastic Anglicans, delighting in our somewhat messy fellowship of churches united, albeit imperfectly, by bonds of affection and, more importantly, by our desire to proclaim the Good News of Christ’s redeeming work of salvation to all the world. We invite all Anglicans to join with us in saying “Yes” to communion, but “No” to covenant.¨  HERE

¨YES to the Anglican Communion; NO to the Anglican Covenant¨ -- UPDATED DIOCESE VOTING from the Church of England

Four more Church of England dioceses:  No Anglican Covenant

¨Six more Church of England dioceses voted on the Anglican Covenant today. Two voted to support it and four voted against, bringing the total to 10 for and 17 against. If a majority of the dioceses (23 of 44) vote for the Covenant, the motion to adopt it will return to the General Synod in July. If at least half (22) vote against, the motion to adopt cannot return to General Synod in the current quinquennium.

Across all 27 dioceses, the votes by houses look like this:

Bishops: 82.0% for, 10.0% against, 8.0% abstentions

Clergy: 44.6% for, 50.8% against, 4.7% abstentions

Laity: 50.1% for, 45.2% against, 4.7% abstentions

Comparing against last week's figures, one can see that support is dropping in all houses, opposition is growing, and confidence is growing (judging by the declining number of abstentions) except in the House of Bishops.

The bishops seem very much out of touch with the rest of the Church. Clergy and laity are almost evenly split for/against. It's clear that the arguments for the Covenant are not convincing at all. The clergy are decidedly against, and the laity hardly overwhelmingly for.

Overall: 48.4% for, 46.8% against, 4.8% abstentions

Overall (clergy and laity only): 47.6% for, 47.7% against, 4.7% abstentions

·  Thanks to The No Anglican Covenant Coalition, HERE

http://blog.noanglicancovenant.org/

LAY ANGLICANA: ¨Yes to the Anglican Communion; No to the Anglican Covenant¨

‘We don’t want the Covenant. We do want the Communion.’*

¨...So what does the Covenant really say, should you vote yes or should you vote no? Alan Perry (a Canadian archeacon with a background in canon law, in case you do not already know his blog) has written tirelessly about every conceivable aspect of all four sections of the Covenant. Here he writes on ‘A Tale of Two Covenants’ HERE . And  HERE he writes about the frequent problem that those who are in favour of the Covenant often seem to read into its text provisions which sound attractive but are not actually in the printed text.

The Revd Tobias Haller, an American priest, has also blogged at length about the Covenant,  HERE on possible alternatives. He concludes: ‘the proposed Anglican Covenant is not the way forward for the Anglican Communion, either as a Communion, or for the sake of its members, or for our ecumenical relationships.’

Finally, in the words of *Kelvin Holdsworth of the diocese of Glasgow and Galloway HERE  :

‘We don’t want the Covenant. We do want the Communion.’

· Thanks to Lay Anglicana: ¨Yes to the Anglican Communion and no to the Anglican Covenant¨ please read it all,  HERE

ARE YOU IN OR OUT OF THE ANGLICAN FAMILY? A covenant mandated ´house cleaning´ is in order and Bishops Drexel Gomez and Gregory K. Cameron intend for it to be so!



THE WORDS OF ARCHBISHOP DREXEL GOMEZ: The Anglican Covenant Design Group ¨family¨ knows who should stay in the Anglican ¨family¨and who ought go!! 

“...in many families, you remain in the family but you can’t stay in the house because your presence in the home is a bad example to other young people, and so you are forced to move out because what you are doing is an offense to the integrity of the family.”  Archbishop Drexel Gomez, co-Chairperson of the Covenant Design Group (along with Bishop Gegrory K. Cameron)

¨In the most recent St. Andrews Draft of the covenant, provinces would pledge to uphold historic Christian faith inherited by Anglicanism and to promote and proclaim the Biblically-based Gospel through mission.


Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Chairperson of the Anglican Covenant Design Group: ¨...constitutional autonomy of provinces exists within a larger framework of communion that sets limits on that autonomy.¨

Signers of the covenant, Gomez explained, are called on to pledge themselves to the understanding that the Anglican Communion requires mutual accountability among provinces and that the constitutional autonomy of provinces exists within a larger framework of communion that sets limits on that autonomy.

The covenant also would provide a mechanism or process by which provinces, once they have signed the covenant, could be determined to have violated the covenant and, thus, to be deemed to have removed themselves from the Communion...¨ please read it all,  HERE

UPDATE:

Archbishop, I beg to differ

The Archbishop of Canterbury is clearly anxious that the Covenant project is endangered in England. There is still a long way to go and neither side can be confident of victory for a few more weeks.

So, to shore up support, Rowan Williams has had to put out an appeal on YouTube HERE. He has also sent it to those Dioceses which have yet to vote on the Covenant and asked diocesan officers to circulate it.

What's the problem?
What sort of future?

The Archbishop is asking us to accept a vision of the future of the Anglican Communion that I, for one, simply and fundamentally disagree with. I disagree with the diagnosis of the problem that the Covenant is trying to resolve and I disagree with the medicine. I accept I can't offer an alternative blueprint but I also know there are much more creative and constructive alternatives to blueprints.


I think that the immediate problem the Covenant is seeking to resolve is the perceived arrogance and exceptionalism of The Episcopal Church (US) evinced in the decision to officially regard a same-sex relationship as not in itself a bar to ordination or preferment in the Church - and the choice of 'The Episcopal Church' as its official name as symbolically annoying - without consulting the rest of the Communion...¨ please read it all,  by Paul Bagshaw HERE

·  Thanks to Not the same stream, sidebar
·  Thanks to Paul Bagshaw
·  Thanks to The No Anglican Covenant -- Comprehensive Unity