After a debate in which concerns about the content and implementaÂtion of the Covenant were raised, all three Houses of the Synod voted overwhelmingly for the motion: “That the draft Act of Synod adopting the Anglican Communion Covenant be considered.”
In the House of Bishops, 39 voted in favour, none against, with one abstention; in the House of Clergy, 145 voted in favour, and 32 against, and 11 abstained; in the House of Laity, 147 voted in favour, and 25 against, and eight abstained.
Introducing a debate on the Big Society on Tuesday, the Bishop of LeiÂcester, the Rt Revd Timothy Stevens, said that the programme had begun to unleash a new wave of energy in the Churches for practical social action. The Synod enthusiastically welcomed the conÂcept of the Big Society as an opportunity for the Church and a way of emphasising work that is already being done.
Here we have the money sentence:
“He insisted that the Covenant was “an attempt to set out a structure of consent rather than a structure of disciplineâ€.
The GAFCON primates are right, but the Covenant is all we’ve got, unless, as we’ve said on another thread, we all care to “tier” up.