THE "must have" button for GC 2012

Yes to Communion, No to Covenant buttons will be available at the No Anglican Covenant Coalition's booth at GC 2012 in Indianapolis. Look for The Consultation and the Women's Caucus booth, they are kindly sharing space with us. This is the button for General Convention.

Go to our website for information on the proposed covenant and reasons why it is not the document for keeping the communion together. See also our proposed resolution on this blog.

Our Man Malcolm in the Anglican Journal

Reprinted on this blog with permission from Wounded Bird.

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."

Resolution D007 is introduced.

The Coalition is happy to announce that our "model resolution" has been formally introduced to General Convention and assigned identifier, D007. The exact text and format of the resolution are below.

**************************

D007 TOPIC: Response to the Anglican Covenant

PROPOSER 
Russell, The Rev. Cn. Susan

ENDORSED BY 
Hopkins, The Very Rev. Michael; Lee, Ms. Lelanda

SPONSORED BY

Buchanan, The Rev. Susan; Engstrom, The Very

Rev. Marilyn; Gracey, Mr. R. Stephen; Hart, Mr.

Christopher; Kandt, Mrs. Pamela; Leigh , Ms.

Tobyn; Moore, The Rev. Stephen; Russell, The Rev.

Michael; Shaw, The Rev. Lee; Williams, Ms.

Sandra; Bronson Sweigert, The Rev. Cynthia

RESOLUTION TEXT

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 recognizes 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 proposed 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.

EXPLANATION

Churches of the Anglican Communion have been asked to adopt the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant.

The suggestion for such an agreement was made in the 2004 Windsor Report, which recommended "the

adoption by the churches of the Communion of a common Anglican Covenant which would make explicit and

forceful the loyalty and bonds of affection which govern the relationships between churches of the

Communion."

The Windsor Report was produced at the request of Primates upset with the impending consecration of Gene

Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire and the promulgation of a liturgy for the blessing of same-sex unions by

the Diocese of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada.

Archbishop Drexel Gomez, of the Anglican Province of the West Indies, was entrusted with leading the

development of the first draft of a covenant. This same Archbishop Gomez was one of the editors of "To Mend

the Net", a collection of essays dating from 2001 and advocating enhancing the power of the Anglican Primates

to deter, inter alia, the ordination of women and "active homosexuals," as well as the blessing of same-sex

unions. Archbishop Gomez's punitive agenda remains evident in the final draft of the proposed Covenant.

Despite protestations to the contrary, the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant attempts to create a

centralized authority that would constrain the self-governance of The Episcopal Church and other churches of

the Communion. This unacceptably inhibits Communion churches from pursuing the gospel mission as they

discern it.

The Church of England has already declined to adopt the Anglican Communion Covenant. The House of

Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines has indicated that they will not support the Covenant, and

the rejection of the Covenant by the Tikanga Maori of the Anglican Church in Aoteroa, New Zealand and

Polynesia renders it virtually certain that those churches will also decline to adopt.

The deficiencies of the proposed Covenant would lead to an Anglican Communion further divided rather than

more unified. Declining to adopt the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant not only avoids permanent,

institutionalized division, it opens the way for new opportunities to build relationships across differences

through bonds of affection, by participation in the common mission of the gospel, and by consultation without coercion or intimidation.

Coalition Plans Next Steps

No Anglican Covenant Coalition

Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity

noanglicancovenant.org

NEWS RELEASE

 MAY 1, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COALITION PLANS NEXT STEPS

LONDON – With diocesan synod voting in the Church of England completed, and with 26 dioceses having rejected the proposed Anglican Covenant, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition is preparing for the next steps in its international campaign, including the appointment of a new Moderator, the Revd Malcolm French, a parish priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. The Revd Jean Mayland, a retired priest, will be the No Anglican Covenant Coalition Convenor for the Church of England.

“We have accomplished what many thought was an impossible task,” said the Coalition’s first Moderator, the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley. “After a full and fair debate, the Church of England has rejected the Anglican Covenant, and it cannot be considered again prior to 2015. As the campaign moves on to other fronts, this is an opportune time for me to hand over the leadership of the Coalition. Malcolm and Jean have been key members of the Coalition from the start, and I am confident the Coalition will experience continued success under Malcolm’s leadership.”

“Lesley stepped up to lead the Coalition with courage and commitment,” said French. “As we move forward, I will look to Lesley’s example of empowering leadership. The defeat of the Anglican Covenant in the Church of England has changed the playing field in the rest of the Anglican Communion. We are confident that a fair debate on the merits will lead to the defeat of the Covenant in several more Communion churches, just as we saw in the Church of England.”

Over the next six months, several more churches will consider the proposed Covenant, including the Scottish Episcopal Church, in June, and The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, both in July. Canadian dioceses have begun studying the Covenant in preparation for General Synod 2013.

A model General Convention resolution has been prepared to assist General Convention deputies in the Episcopal Church who may wish to submit a resolution on the Covenant. The model resolution, along with other supporting material, is available at the No Anglican Covenant website (noanglicancovenant.org/resources.html).

-30-

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 Malcolm French (Canada)	+1-306-550-2277
The Revd Jean Mayland (England)	+44 07966 921247
The Ven Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand)	+64 3 981 7384
The Revd Canon Hugh Magee (Scotland)	+44 1334 470446
Dr Lionel Deimel (USA)	+1-412-512-9087

Church of England Final Voting Stats

Today the final two dioceses in the Church of England voted on the proposed Anglican Covenant. Newcastle (against) and York (for) complete the voting on a reference to the dioceses.

In total, 18 of the 44 dioceses voted for the Covenant, and 26 against. In order for a resolution to adopt the Covenant to return to the General Synod in July, a majority (23) of the dioceses would have needed to vote for it. That became mathematically impossible a few weeks ago after over 22 dioceses had voted against the Covenant.

In all, 3588 people voted in the 44 diocesan synods, including 94 bishops, 1584 clergy and 1910 laity. The bishops' votes actually did not count toward the results, but were nevertheless recorded. In order for the resolution to be adopted by any given diocesan synod, it was required to be adopted by a majority among both the clergy and the laity. Failure to secure a majority in either of those houses defeated the resolution.

If we include the bishops, a total of 49.25% of all synod members voted for the Covenant, 46.29% against, and 4.46% abstained.

Excluding the bishops, 48.43% voted for, 47.14% against, and 4.44% abstained.

Amongst the bishops, 79.79% voted for, 14.89% against and 5.32% abstained.

Amongst clergy, 46.65% voted for, 49.49% against and 3.85% abstained.

Amongst laity, 49.90% voted for, 45.19% against and 4.92% abstained.

Looking at voting by order and diocese, the bishops voted for the Covenant in 37 dioceses and against in 7.

Clergy voted for the Covenant in 18 dioceses and against in 26.

Laity voted for in 22 dioceses and against in 22.

It is clear overall that the Covenant was unable to secure majority support amongst either the clergy or the laity. The bishops voted overwhelmingly for the Covenant, although their votes did not count toward the result.

 

Model Covenant Resolution for 2012 General Convention

A big test for the Anglican Covenant comes this summer when the General Convention of The Episcopal Church takes up the matter of Covenant adoption.

For the benefit of non-Episcopalians, I should explain that the General Convention has two houses, the House of Deputies (clergy and laypeople) and the House of Bishops (bishops, of course). For a resolution to be passed by the governing body of the church, the same text must be approved by both houses.

It has been widely assumed that the Covenant will not be adopted by the American church. Three resolutions about the Covenant have been announced publicly. The church’s Executive Council has proposed a polite resolution that declares that “The Episcopal Church is unable to adopt the Anglican
Covenant in its present form.” Two groups of bishops have offered much more positive resolutions that say something less—even a good deal less—than “no” to the Covenant. (Those three resolutions can be read here.)

It is the view of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition that The Episcopal Church must reject the Anglican Covenant definitively, an action that we hope will encourage other Communion churches to do likewise. It is clear that not all Communion churches—perhaps not even many—will adopt the Covenant, creating the ironic situation of having the Covenant divide the Communion into covenanting and non-covenanting churches. It is our hope that, eventually, churches that have adopted the Covenant will reverse their action, so that the unity of the Anglican Communion can be enhanced and our churches can once again concentrate on the work of Jesus Christ and not on political battles.

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, which is also available here as a Microsoft Word file and here as a PDF file:

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.

______

Explanation: Churches of the Anglican Communion have been asked to adopt the so-called Anglican Communion Covenant. The suggestion for such an agreement was made in the 2004 Windsor Report, which proposed “the adoption by the churches of the Communion of 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.”

The Windsor Report was produced at the request of Primates upset with the impending consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire and the promulgation of a liturgy for the blessing of same-sex unions by the Diocese of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada.

Archbishop Drexel Gomez, of the Anglican Province of the West Indies, was entrusted with leading the development of the first draft of a covenant. This same Archbishop Gomez was one of the editors of To Mend the Net, a collection of essays dating from 2001 and advocating enhancing the power of the Anglican Primates to deter, inter alia, the ordination of women and “active homosexuals,” as well as the blessing of same-sex unions. Archbishop Gomez’s punitive agenda remains evident in the final draft of the proposed Covenant.

Despite protestations to the contrary, the Anglican Communion Covenant attempts to create a centralized authority that would constrain the self-governance of The Episcopal Church and other churches of the Communion. This unacceptably inhibits Communion churches from pursuing the gospel mission as they discern it.

The Church of England has already declined to adopt the Anglican Communion Covenant. The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines has indicated that they will not support the Covenant, and the rejection of the Covenant by the Tikanga Maori of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia renders it virtually certain that those churches will also reject the Covenant. A number of Global South churches have indicated that they will decline to adopt the Covenant.

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.
 

Message to Episcopal Church Supporters

The message below was sent today to members of The Episcopal Church who have signed up as friends of the Coalition on our No Anglican Covenant Web Site.

April 20, 2012

Dear Episcopalian No Anglican Covenant Coalition Supporter,

It has been quite some time since I wrote to our supporters in The Episcopal Church. Much has happened since then, but the big news is that the Church of England has failed to adopt the Anglican Covenant. In principle, this is not a rejection for all time, but, at the very least, adoption cannot be considered again before 2015.

We now need to turn our attention to The Episcopal Church and to the 2012 General Convention that meets this summer in Indianapolis. It has been widely assumed that the General Convention will reject the Covenant, and the resolution proposed some time ago by Executive Council would do essentially that. Recently, however, a group of bishops, led by Ian Douglas, has proposed a resolution that does not accept the Covenant but puts our church on the road to eventually doing so. Another group of bishops, led by John Bauerschmidt, has offered an even stronger pro-Covenant resolution that commits to adoption and looks to constitutional and canonical changes to make the Covenant “active and effective.” Suddenly, the independence of The Episcopal Church appears to be at risk. (If you want to read the resolutions on the Covenant proposed so far, you can do so here. Mark Harris has posted an analysis of the resolutions on his blog.)

I am writing to ask for your help. If you are a deputy or an alternate deputy to the General Convention, please let me know, so that you can help us defeat any attempt to adopt the Covenant or to cause The Episcopal Church to expend any additional resources on the “Covenant process.”

Even if you are not a deputy, please do what you can to encourage your lay and clergy deputies to reject the Anglican Covenant outright. If possible, speak to or write to your bishop(s) about the need to put the Covenant behind us.

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition is planning to propose our own model resolution for the 2012 General Convention. If you have any thoughts as to what that resolution should look like, please send them along to me.

I urge you to continue to look for updates at our Web site, our blog, our Facebook page, and on Twitter.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Faithfully,
Lionel
___________________________
Lionel E. Deimel, Ph.D.
Episcopal Church Convenor
No Anglican Covenant Coalition
828 Rockwood Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15234
+1 412-343-5337
http://deimel.org
lionel@deimel.org