Prof. [Ephraim] Radner, one of 10 members of the group drafting the proposed Anglican Covenant, made no bones about division as an endearing reality in the church\u2019s life. He called unity a thing not to \u201ccleaned of division,\u201d\u009d but rather emanating from \u201cthe blood of the cross, from which there is no escape. We are called to be one,\u201d\u009d he said, \u201cbut our soul depends on the sharp sword of division.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Bishop [James] Stanton, billing his talk \u201ca report from the front lines in the struggle for a Communion Covenant,\u201d\u009d took issue with too-easy attempts to define the Greek word koinonia as mere \u201cfellowship,\u201d\u009d when the \u201ckoinonia\u201d\u009d of God through Christ \u201d\u201c his entering into flesh and blood\u201d\u009d in fact brings unity through restoration of \u201cfallen, broken humanity.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt belongs to koinonia,\u201d\u009d he said, \u201cto endure sacrifice and suffering until the battle is through.\u201d\u009d Among the obstacles to achievement of koinonia, in Bishop Stanton\u2019s recounting: inadequate education concerning the whole question; the lack of \u201ccorporation memory\u201d\u009d concerning the church\u2019s own promises to rein in divisive, free-lance activity by advanced spirits; and, last, inability \u201cto articulate in a compelling way why the office and person of the Archbishop [of Canterbury] is critical to our continuing Communion.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n