Two major Church of England groups, Inclusive Church and Modern
Church, have joined together to campaign against the proposed Anglican
Covenant.
In November 2010 the Church of England’s General Synod will be asked
to approve the Covenant, which has emerged from attempts by the
Archbishop of Canterbury and others to resolve the wrangling in the
Anglican Communion over sexuality, authority and related issues - and
from the lobbying of conservative hardliners, say critics.
The Covenant was first proposed by the Windsor Report in 2004 to put
pressure on the North American churches, after a diocese in the USA had
elected an openly gay bishop and a diocese in Canada had approved a
same-sex blessing service.
"Many Synod members do not realise it, but it could be the biggest
change to the Church since the Reformation," say Inclusive Church and
Modern Church (formerly the Modern Churchpersons Union).
The groups charge that the Church of England, if it signs, will
become subordinate to a bureaucratic structure and will thereby become
more centralised, dogmatic, backward-facing, inward looking and
clerically dominated.
Such a retrograde move will hinder ecumenical relations, make the
Church more off-putting to young people, and disable effective mission,
they say.
Each of the 38 Provinces in the Anglican Communion is being asked to
sign the Covenant. By signing, a Province undertakes not to introduce
any new development if another Anglican province anywhere in the world
opposes it – unless granted prior permission from a new international
body, the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion.
The campaign over the issue began yesterday (Friday 29 October), when
full-page advertisements appeared in both the Church of England
Newspaper and the Church Times.
It will continue during the weeks leading up to the General Synod debate scheduled for Wednesday 24 November 2010.
If the draft is not rejected, but referred to the dioceses, it will continue throughout 2011, the two groups declare.
International initiatives against the Covenant are also about to be launched.
The full text of the Church Times advert is available as a PDF file here, courtesy of Thinking Anglicans: http://thinkinganglicans.org.uk/uploads/IC_MCU_for_CT.pdf
The final text of the Anglican Covenant can be found here: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/commission/covenant/final/text.cfm
Modern Church background on the Covenant: http://www.modernchurch.org.uk/resources/mcu/cp/index.htm
Inclusive Church: http://www.inclusivechurch2.net
SIC: Ekklesia/UK