A General Convention Resolution to Reject the Covenant

No Anglican Covenant Coalition Episcopal Church Convenor Lionel Deimel has announced that a new General Convention resolution has been introduced. The resolution is D022, and it is not even on the General Convention Web site yet. The new resolution, which can be read here, goes somewhat further toward rejecting the Anglican Covenant than do Deimel’s earlier suggestions.

Deimel has written an essay on his blog arguing that The Episcopal Church has gone along to get along with the Anglican Communion long enough and needs to deliver a Covenant rejection once and for all. He argues that doing so will doom the Covenant, as its real purpose is to control Western churches like The Episcopal Church. Rejecting the Covenant will also encourage the Anglican Church of Canada to do the same at its General Synod next year.

In fact, Deimel has written two essays, titled “Time for a Definitive Response to the Anglican Covenant.” An abbreviated version is here, and the complete version is here. The essays not only include the text of A040 and D022 but also trace the troubled relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion since the 2003 General Convention consented to the consecration of the Rev. Canon Gene Robinson.

Those who will be participating in the Salt Lake City General Convention should definitely read Deimel’s essay and let others know about Resolution D022. It is our hope that the General Convention will pass D022 or something very much like it.
 

Covenant Proposal for Episcopal Church General Convention

A proposed resolution on the Anglican Covenant will be offered at this summer’s General Convention of The Episcopal Church. Episcopal Church convenor Lionel Deimel has written two blog posts about the resolution. Resolution A040 does not adopt the Covenant, but it is kinder than we in the No Anglican Covenant Coalition think appropriate. You can read Deimel’s blog posts here and here. If you are a bishop or convention deputy, you should definitely read these posts. Deimel suggests amendments that will improve Resolution A040.

Update: Lionel Deimel had written a third post on Resolution A040 here.

How Many Churches Have Adopted the Covenant?

A recent Anglican Communion News Service story indicates that Melanesia is the 12th church to adopt the Anglican Covenant. Episcopal Church Convenor Lionel Deimel argues that Melanesia is only number 11. His carefully documented blog post is “How Does the Anglican Communion Office Count?”
 

Melanesia Adopts Covenant

Anglican Communion News Service has reported that The Church of the Province of Melanesia adopted the Anglican Covenant at its November 2014 General Synod. The ACNS story is here. Our own tally of provincial actions on the covenant is here.
 

IASCUFO Still Waiting for Covenant Decisions

Not much has been heard about the Anglican Covenant of late. I suspect that it is significant that Communion churches are not falling all over themselves to act on the Covenant. Despite occasional declarations that the Covenant is dead, it isn’t dead until it is officially dead.

Chief Covenant cheerleader Alyson Barnett-Cowan, Director for Unity, Faith and Order, delivered a report from the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order (IASCUFO) to the just-concluded meeting of the Anglican Communion Standing Committee. The report of the second through fourth days of the Standing Committee meeting includes the following paragraph:

Dr Barnett-Cowan told the Standing Committee that IASCUFO was waiting for to hear from all provinces about their decisions regarding the Anglican Communion Covenant. She expected the Covenant to be an agenda item at ACC-16 in Lusaka, Zambia in 2016.

(The report on the first day of the meeting, by the way, is here.)

I suspect that some pressure will  be brought to bear on churches to make a decision about the Covenant. The best outcome, of course, would be for ACC-16 to conclude that the time for the Covenant has passed and to put an end to this ill-considered project.

Stay tuned and don’t become complacent.

Australia Fails to Adopt Covenant

Without fanfare, the following item was added to the page on the Anglican Communion Web site that keeps track of the status of “responses” to the Anglican Covenant:

• The Anglican Church of Australia declined to adopt the Covenant but adopted a resolution affirming its commitment to the Anglican Communion. July 2014.

In particular, on June 30, 2014, the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia passed the following motion:

That this General Synod:

1. Affirms the commitment of the Anglican Church of Australia to the Anglican Communion;
2. Affirms its openness to participating in any further consideration of a covenant proposal; and
3. Urges upon the Instruments of Communion a course of action that continues to seek reconciliation and the preservation of the Communion as a family of interdependent but autonomous churches.

In other words, while expressing support for the Anglican Communion, the Australian church pointedly declined to adopt or reject the covenant on offer. This is, of course, standard Anglican politeness. Apparently, Australia has no interest in the present Anglican Covenant and covets its autonomy.

The motion as passed and the record of amendments that were rejected can be found on page 15 of the minutes of the June 30, 2014, session of the General Synod, which can be found here.

Sudan Adopts Covenant

It was reported at the just completed meeting of the Standing Committee in London that the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan has adopted the Anglican Covenant. (See ACNS report here.) Note that, although the nation of Sudan split into Sudan and South Sudan, the church in that part of the world has remained united.

The official tally of Covenant reception is here. The accounting by the No Anglican Covenant Coalition, which includes more detail, is here.