We oppose the Draft Anglican Covenant on the grounds that<\/p>\n
\u201d\u00a2 it would transform the Windsor process from admonition and counsel into an
\nunprecedented and unjustifiable ecclesiastical coup d’\u00c3\u00a9tat;<\/p>\n
\u201d\u00a2 its central proposal is to transfer power from the presently autonomous Provinces to a
\nMeeting of the 38 Primates. The ambiguity of the text leaves open the possibility that
\nthis power would be unlimited, unaccountable, and irreversible;<\/p>\n
\u201d\u00a2 the consequences of this development for Anglican theology and polity, and for
\necumenical agreements, would be extensive and have scarcely been explored;<\/p>\n
\u201d\u00a2 the proposed innovation in granting juridical power to the Primates\u2019 Meeting would be
\na distortion and not a legitimate development in Anglican ecclesiology;<\/p>\n
\u201d\u00a2 the consultative processes and timetable are wholly inadequate and in particular they
\ncompletely marginalise the voice of the laity;<\/p>\n
\u201d\u00a2 the proposals have not been adequately justified in their own terms (the creation of
\ntrust) nor in the wider terms of better ordering and facilitating the mission of the
\nChurch;<\/p>\n
\u201d\u00a2 and yet Anglicanism has a rich storehouse of dispersed authority, of hospitality,
\nmutual respect and trusting co-operation, of valuing difference and openness to new
\ndevelopments, of the honest and open search for truth, all of which can provide an
\nalternative to the Draft Anglican Covenant as grounds for hope for the future.<\/p>\n