Dear Rowan

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."


Yours truly,
Ann
The Rev. Ann Fontaine
a vicar of small church on the Oregon Coast.