Executive Council expresses concern with covenant’s disciplinary section
Response to communion outlines divergent views on current draft
By Mary Frances Schjonberg in Episcopal Life
The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council said October 8 that the majority of the General Convention deputations and individual deputies that expressed an opinion do not support the disciplinary process outlined in the latest draft of a proposed Anglican covenant.
The comment came in the council’s official response to the Ridley Cambridge Draft, which the members said addresses “some of the most difficult matters and substance relating to such a covenant.”
The Anglican Communion’s provinces were asked for specific comments on the draft’s Section Four, which contains a dispute-resolution process.
“One [General Convention] deputation stated that Section Four is ‘disturbing’ because it creates a system of governance contrary to our understanding of Anglicanism and establishes a punitive system executed by a select committee,” the council said. “On the other hand, a deputation felt that the fourth section is important because a governance section is needed to maintain a covenant.”
Another response called the authority the communion’s Standing Committee would have in the disciplinary process so “ill-defined as to endanger the very essence of Anglicanism.”
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