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

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

From the No Anglican Covenant Coalition Team: We wish you a very happy and blessed Christmas, and a very peaceful and joyful new year

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition  ·  Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity

 HERE

Dear Supporters:

Thank you so much for being part of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition. If you have seen our latest News Release then you will know that much has been achieved in the year since we started the campaign.

Perhaps the most significant two pieces of news are firstly that the Tikanga Maori defeated the Covenant at their biennial runanganui; making it very likely that Covenant in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia will be defeated.

Second, four dioceses of the Church of England have rejected the Covenant (Birmingham; St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich; Truro; Wakefield). What is significant is that where synod members were provided with balanced background material (i.e., material that presented both the case for and the case against the Covenant), the synods have voted it down. Four dioceses, where little or no material was presented other than officially sanctioned pro-Covenant material, have approved the Covenant (Lichfield; Durham; Europe; Bristol).

If eighteen more Church of England Diocesan Synods say “No” to the Covenant then it will not go back to General Synod and the Church of England will not adopt the Covenant. Clearly, we need as many Provinces as possible to ask the Archbishop of Canterbury to reconsider. I feel that if the Church of England says "No" then a re-evaluation of this dreadful document would need to happen.

We are tremendously grateful to our Episcopal Patrons, Bishops John Saxbee and Peter Selby, who are working to encourage a full and balanced presentation of the proposed Covenant in the Church of England.

Please help us by letting us know what is going on in your area (particularly the date that the Covenant will be debated in your area/Church/Diocese) and by campaigning for a proper debate – encouraging debates to have both “For” and “Against” speakers. When that happens and people understand the document properly then the message about how unwise, unpleasant and unhelpful the Anglican Communion Covenant is shines through.

We have many resources and are willing to send them to you if that helps – please get in touch. In the meantime, I think an excellent new resource is the Presentation against the Covenant by Perran Gay in Truro.

Christmas greetings from one of the ¨Viveros¨ just up the street from my home, Sacatapequez, Guatemala, Central America, Leonardo Ricardo, No Anglican Covenant Team

I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of all the No Anglican Covenant team, to wish you a very happy and blessed Christmas, and a very peaceful and joyful new year.

With very best wishes and many thanks,

Rev’d Dr Lesley Crawley
Moderator, No Anglican Covenant Coalition

THE NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION/UNITED KINGDOM: ¨When fair debate has been allowed, the results have been gratifying.¨

As we celebrate the Feast of St Nicholas, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition has issued a news release looking back over the accomplishments of the past year.

NEWS FOR ST NICHOLAS

“In November 2010, we launched the Coalition to ensure that the case against the proposed Anglican Covenant would be given a fair hearing,” said the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley, the Coalition's Moderator. “Today we are seeing our efforts bear fruit. When fair debate has been allowed, the results have been gratifying.”

The Coalition also noted the critical role played by Bishops John Saxbee and Peter Selby, our Episcopal Patrons, who have worked tirelessly to encourage a full and balanced presentation of the proposed Covenant in the Church of England.

With respect to the diocesan votes taking place in the Church of England, the Coaltion notes that in dioceses where the Covenant presentation has included only official pro-Covenant materials, they have voted for the Covenant. But where a balanced presentation of both pro- and anti-Covenant materials has been provided to diocesan synods, they have consistently voted against the Covenant...¨ please read it all, HERE

http://blog.noanglicancovenant.org/2011/12/news-for-st-nicholas.html

·  Thanks to the No Anglican Covenant Coalition, sidebar
·  Thanks to The Rev. Dr. Lesley Crawley, Moderator, United Kingdom
·  Thanks to Bishops John Saxbee and Peter Selby, Episcopal Patrons