The Anglican Church of Ireland’s General Synod has published an alternative form of an Anglican Covenant. The Irish province accepts the need for a covenant, it does not find the present form helpful.
The Covenant as they propose it calls upon the Anglican provinces to recognize the moral authority of the “Instruments of Communion” while making clear they have no juridical authority over the provinces. In extreme instances when a province will not fulfill the substance of the Covenant by actively listening and engaging with the other provinces, that province could be considered to have withdrawn from the Communion.
From the report:
“In discussion it became clear that, though procedures were felt to be inappropriate within the context of a Covenant, the Anglican Communion would have to put in place procedures, in keeping with the Covenant, to deal with crises which might develop.
The redrafting of the Covenant as attached here is offered in the sincere conviction that the Church of Ireland has a real contribution to make. This response is representative of work undertaken together by those of a wide variety of views in relation to both churchmanship and issues of human sexuality.
It reflects a determination to stay together in the face of the current difficulties. This redrafting is offered as a suggestion as to a possible Covenant which might be agreed on the one hand by those who emphasized the need for a greater sense of communion and all that this implied, and on the other by those who stressed the need for the recognition that provincial autonomy must remain paramount.”
Read the full text of the proposed Covenant here.
Hat tip to Thinking Anglicans for the pointer.