In today’s sessions, the Anglican Consultative Council began its work considering the latest draft of the proposed Covenant, and what action the Council might decide to take.
According to ENS, a resolution is being considered that, if adopted, would send the Covenant out for adoption with responses by the Provinces required either way by December 2014.
“The resolution came to the ACC representatives from the Joint Standing Committee of the ACC and the Primates, or leaders, of the communion’s churches. That committee met in Kingston last week before the ACC meeting.
In presenting the resolution, Diocese of Brisbane Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, said, ‘Archbishop Drexel has left us with no doubt that there is no matter that will come before us this week that is more important than the question of the covenant,’ adding that a ‘solemn responsibility’ had fallen on the ACC.
Gomez told the representatives that ‘the communion is close to the point of breaking up … The chance that the covenant offers to give something to the communion as a description of what Anglicans care about … won’t last much longer.’
Gomez linked the urgency of that timeframe to the July 8-17 meeting of the Episcopal Church’s General Convention and the recognition by conservative Anglican leaders and former Episcopalians of a proposed new Anglican entity in North America. He also said that ‘a number of primates’ had told him that their governing bodies ‘are beginning to become impatient with the communion’s life if the communion can’t say something clear at this stage of its life.’
If the ACC does not agree to send the covenant out to the provinces for their approval, Gomez predicted, ‘there will be clear breaks in the communion after this meeting.'”
Read the full article here.
ENS has posted the text of Archbishop Gomez’s presentation here.
In the discussion that followed the introduction of the resolution, some voices called for the immediate adoption of the Covenant and Gregory Cameron, Deputy Secretary General of the ACC, and now a bishop in Wales, giving his opinion that 15 to 20 provinces were ready to quickly adopt the document.
The Canadian report on the day’s discussions can be found here. Marites Sison’s report points out that Bishop Cameron’s remarks today somewhat contradict remarks by the Secretary General Kenneth Kearon earlier that participation in the Covenant would not affect a Province’s status in the Communion.