CoGS members heard a report on the Anglican Communion Covenant from two members of the Covenant Design Group: Dr. Eileen Scully, interim director of the Faith, Worship and Ministry department at the national office of the Anglican Church of Canada; and Dr. Katherine Grieb from the Virginia Theological Seminary. The Covenant has been proposed as an agreement among all the provinces of the Communion on their shared faith, mission and interdependence and as a mechanism to help resolve conflict over issues of sexuality
The fourth section of the covenant looks at how the provinces relate to one another and resolve disputes. Although this section has been approved by the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and sent out to the provinces for consideration, it has raised concerns for some.
Bishop Michael Ingham of the diocese of New Westminster gave notice that his diocese, where some churches have been authorized to bless same-sex unions since 2003, “will not assist the churches to grow together in unity.” Specifically, he said his diocesan council expressed concern that the Covenant could be used in a punitive way against member churches who have taken actions to which other provinces object.
Bp. Ingham actually said that the Covenant, not his diocese, “will not assist the churches to grow in unity.” (Although the version above is true enough.)
The [i]Real Story[/i], though, is that The Council of General Synod joined the Canadian House of Bishops in recommending that the upcoming General Synod not adopt the Anglican Covenant, but undertake a “period of deep reflection.” Overruling that recommendation would probably require a supermajority of General Synod members in each order.
That means that Canada will be outside the Covenant until at least the next Synod meeting in 2012, and more likely 2015 if the adoption is held to affect the Declaration of Principles or a canon affecting doctrine, worship, or discipline. Such matters require a two-thirds majority in each order in two successive sessions (i.e, adoption of the Covenant even in 2015 stands roughly a snowball’s chance in summer somewhere other than Nunavut).
With TEC fairly clearly headed down this same path, the “two tier” Anglican Communion will become a reality when–or if–a majority of the other provinces opt into the Covenant (or when it becomes clear that there is no majority for any expression of common life).
At that point, the centrifugal forces that have been tearing the fabric of mainline Anglicanism since at least the 1990s (and on the fringe since the 70s) will have succeeded in transforming the Communion into a loose network of bilateral agreements for mutual recognition. Oddly enough, that will equally please both the Diocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Sydney.