Thinking Anglicans and Wounded Bird has a round up of reactions to the failure of the Anglican Covenant in the Church of England, and with it, the apparent failure of the plan in the Anglican Communion as a whole.
The London diocesan synod today voted against the Anglican Covenant. This brings to 24 the number of Church of England dioceses against; 22 dioceses against was sufficient to defeat the covenant and that number was reached this past weekend. The Church of England is, for now, an associate, not a constituent, member of the Anglican Communion — if we take Rowan Williams at his word.
“The Communion, and all it has the potential to be and become, under God, matters.”
With practical administration of the Covenant in the hands of those already declaring other provinces out of communion, what are the chances cooler heads would prevail?
“Wouldn’t it be healthier to acknowledge reality? Take this as an invitation to look at the painful image in the mirror.”
Throw in the videos that the ACO released, in which members of the Communion’s faith and order group overtly lobbied on behalf of the covenant, and it becomes clear that the communion office has decided that it has a horse in this race and is attempting to influence the outcome in its favor.
Anglicanism could be seen as a family: in families, you don’t expect everyone to think in exactly the same way. You listen, you shout, cry, talk, compromise. You do not show the door to one member of the family, just because you don’t agree with them. Now Anglicans can start listening afresh.
Reuters and the BBC have posted lengthy reports this evening on the votes that for all intents and purposes have scuttled the Anglican Covenant in the Church of England.
So far today the Dioceses of Lincoln and Oxford have both voted “no” on the question of returning the Anglican Covenant to the General Synod for consideration by the Church of England. With at least 22 dioceses voting against the Covenant, the Church of England will not be able to be part of the Covenant, at least for the immediate future.
The Diocese of Liverpool voted strongly across all “houses” of their diocesan synod to reject the Anglican Covenant today. That degree of rejection must have