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Japan gives Anglican Covenant Backing

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Kendall Harmon

In the interval between the 57th and 58th Japanese general synods, the Primates’ Meeting, the Lambeth Conference, and the Anglican Consultative Council made “requests and recommendations” that the US and Canada forebear from pursuing gay bishops and blessings, while the “Archbishop of Canterbury has repeatedly given appeals and requests to address the problems.”

Yet, “in spite of the recommendations and appeals [TEC] and the [ACC] have proceeded with the ordination of a homosexual Bishop and recognising the ”˜marriage’ (union) of same sex couples, further complicating the situation and resulting in some provinces threatening to sever relations” with the two North American provinces, while other “provinces have expressed their intention of establishing a separate ”˜Province’.”

“These unfavourable movements have created the situation where a number of Provinces, Dioceses and Churches are unsure of where they stand, dangerously affecting their identity within the Anglican Communion,” Archbishop Uematsu warned.

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * International News & Commentary, - Anglican: Primary Source, Anglican Covenant, Asia, Japan

4 comments on “Japan gives Anglican Covenant Backing”

  1. cseitz says:
    February 17, 2011 at 6:54 am

    I might not have expected Japan to issue this kind of sober warning, in addition to covenant adoption in the same spirit.

  2. robroy says:
    February 17, 2011 at 9:59 am

    I believe Mexico, West Indies and now Japan have approved the revised Covenant. Although he criticizes the TEClub and ACoC for their unilateralism, his only criticism of the revised Covenant is the “un-Anglican-ness” of section four. He does not address the real problem – that the “Standing Committee” is stacked with TEClub lackeys. There is no provisional acceptance. (I didn’t expect there to be.) There will not be approve and improve the revised Covenant. It will be used as a weapon against the orthodox – even the Comm-conners like Tanzania, Burundi, and Sudan.

  3. cseitz says:
    February 17, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    The covenant adopters — if the majority are GS — are hardly going to defer to a SC like the one claiming that role at present.

  4. Douglas LeBlanc says:
    February 18, 2011 at 6:02 am

    I’m afraid the headline on Global South Anglican overstates what Japan has done so far. I failed to post this story on The Living Church’s website in late December, but it appeared in the Jan. 16 issue:

    In addressing the General Synod of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (the Anglican Communion in Japan), the Most Rev. Nathaniel Uematsu asked the synod to consider the suitability of the Anglican Covenant.

    Archbishop Uematsu, primate of the NSKK and Bishop of Hokkaido, described the Covenant as an effort to preserve unity among provinces of the Anglican Communion.

    “The dangerous possibility of a split in the Anglican Communion continues to deepen,” the archbishop said, adding that the Archbishop of Canterbury “has repeatedly given appeals and requests to address the problems. In spite of the recommendations and appeals the Episcopal Church of the USA (TEC) and Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) have proceeded with the ordination of a homosexual Bishop and recognizing the ‘marriage’ (union) of same-sex couples, further complicating the situation and resulting in some provinces threatening to sever relations with both the TEC and ACC, while other provinces have expressed their intention of establishing a separate ‘Province.’

    “These unfavorable movements have created the situation where a number of provinces, dioceses and churches are unsure of where they stand, dangerously affecting their identity within the Anglican Communion. Furthermore, certain movement has occurred that may create a new Anglican Communion which excludes the TEC and the ACC, even going so far as to say they may even exclude the Archbishop of Canterbury.

    “The Covenant provides that all the provinces of the Anglican Communion would be ruled by this one agreement. One of the major characteristics of the Anglican Communion has been that in its long history the richness of diversity has been widely appreciated. Within NSKK the House of Bishops and Theological and Doctrine Committee have expressed their opinion that such a Covenant should not be necessary, as it provides restrictions and exclusions. However, given the present situation of confusion and disagreement among the Anglican Communion, the expectation of the Anglican Covenant is increasing and NSKK needs to consider its suitability.”

    An official with NSKK stressed that the archbishop’s remarks do not commit the province to any side of the Anglican Communion’s debates.

    “It is very important to understand that NSKK is not on one side or the other regarding current issue(s) of Anglican Communion,” Shinya Samuel Yawata, secretary of NSKK’s Partners in Mission, told The Living Church. “When a joint bishops’ meeting took place between the Anglican Church of Korea and NSKK in October this year, some discussion took place regarding these issue and agreed that exclusion of any part of Anglican Communion body will not lead to a solution. The message to this effect has been forwarded to the Archbishop of Canterbury from the House of Bishops of NSKK.”