TEC Convenor Lionel Deimel's speaking notes - TEC Committee Hearing re: Anglican Covenant

Check against delivery

I’m Lionel Deimel, from the Diocese of Pittsburgh. I am founder and Episcopal Church Convenor for the No Anglican Covenant Coalition.

The Anglican Covenant is a reaction to developments in church understandings in a fast-paced world.

Coming from Pittsburgh, I see in the Anglican Covenant the same dynamics that nearly destroyed my own diocese.  The Covenant seeks to wrest control of worldwide Anglicanism from those who seek to keep their churches relevant to the 21st-century context in which they operate, and deliver it into the hands of those who believe the church should never change. The underlying purpose of the Covenant is not to explicate Anglican theology nor to manage change, but to suppress change and preserve a mythical “biblical Anglicanism” that never was.

Many promote the Covenant in the name of unity. But Anglicanism is not monolithic, and is more of an ecumenical movement in itself. We sometimes have more in common with the Moravians or Lutherans than we do with our Anglican brothers and sisters.

Those who believe that the Holy Spirit has nothing more to teach humanity cannot but embrace the proposed Covenant.  Those who see the Kingdom of God as something in the process of becoming , cannot but be dismayed by the prospect that our church might adopt the Covenant, now or in the future.

Those who study innovation know that change does not simply happen when everyone agrees. It happens slowly, as new ideas are embraced by early adopters, often at great personal cost, and are tested in the real world. Widespread adoption comes only after the more timid see the advantages of innovations and become convinced that embracing them is both safe and advantageous. This applies to personal computers and to institutions.

The Episcopal Church has been an innovator, though not a speedy one by secular standards. Many of our innovations have been a blessing to the church and to the world. We may not always be right, but we do not need other churches punishing us for our modest attempts to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.

The Episcopal Church needs to lead on the matter of the Covenant and take a firm stand against its adoption or further development. The Covenant is a bad idea badly implemented, and we should encourage its quick demise.