News for St Nicholas

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.

“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.

Read the whole news release here (pdf).

Coalition Appoints Episcopal Patrons

NEWS RELEASE
JULY 6, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BISHOPS JOHN SAXBEE, PETER SELBY TO BE PATRONS OF NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION

LONDON – The Right Reverend Dr John Saxbee and the Right Reverend Dr Peter Selby have been appointed Episcopal Patrons of the international No Anglican Covenant Coalition.

“The Anglican Communion doesn’t need a Covenant because Anglicanism is a Covenant, predicated on grace and goodwill,” Dr Saxbee said. “If there is grace and goodwill, a Covenant is unnecessary. If there is no grace or goodwill, a Covenant will be unavailing.” Dr Saxbee was Bishop of Lincoln from 2001 until his retirement in January of this year.

Dr Selby, Bishop of Worcester from 1997 to 2007, has been a supporter of the Coalition since its launch last November. “This proposed Covenant is not the solution to the tensions in the Anglican Communion,” he said. “It will inevitably create a litigious Communion where every serious disagreement will become a possible occasion to seek a province’s exclusion.”

“More and more questions are being raised about the potential pitfalls of the proposed Anglican Covenant,” said the Reverend Dr Lesley Fellows, Moderator of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition. “We have consistently seen that support for the Covenant tends to collapse in the face of full and fair discussion and analysis. We are very pleased to welcome Bishops Selby and Saxbee as our first Episcopal Patrons. They are well respected in the Church of England and throughout the Anglican Communion. We expect that their views on the Covenant will persuade many more people to take a harder look at the risks inherent in this radical proposal.”

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A PDF version of the above announcement can be found here.