St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

An "Anglican Covenant"

When the Anglican Church in the USA (ECUSA) decided to consecrate as bishop a gay man living in a same-sex relationship, there was an outcry and the threat of a schism - a threat which still hangs over us. Some Christians maintain that these things are not “first order issues” (that’s to say, Christians ought to agree to disagree on them), but others say that they show the churches in question have turned their backs on the bible and are no longer fit to be called churches. How do you resolve a dispute like that?

Well, a couple of years ago we had the “Windsor Report” which basically said (i) ECUSA needs to be asked to explain how its actions are compatible with the bible, and until it does so it ought to be asked to stay on the sidelines of the Anglican Communion, and (ii) there needs to be an across-the-board agreement about how these types of issues are handled in the future. The deadline for (i) hasn’t passed yet, but General Synod was asked to debate (ii) in July.

The “across the board agreement” is going to be called the “Anglican Covenant”, and Synod was asked to approve getting involved with it. We don’t know what the “Covenant” will say, but it’s a bit like a group of students deciding it would be a good idea to talk about “house rules” when they discover that although they are friends, they simply can’t put up with Alan playing loud music until 4am, Kelly leaving the kitchen in a dreadful state, and Susie shouting at everyone at the top of her voice. The “Anglican Communion” got going without any “house rules”, and it has discovered it can’t live without them.

Some people argue that the Church of England has always been a broad church. It has never forced people to sign up to a basis of faith, and it has always ministered to the whole community. How “unAnglican” to have a “Covenant”.

But history doesn’t bear this out. The Church of England started out with the bible and the creeds, and it drafted its “39 Articles” so as to lay down how it believed the bible should be interpreted. And when the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was produced, the “Act of Uniformity” required all the clergy to sign up or get out. It may be true that the gate has been kept fairly wide, but there has always been a gate.

David Jenkins, the former bishop of Durham, believes that the time is now right to scrap the Anglican Communion, on the grounds that it will fragment anyway and will do more harm than good. Maybe he will be proved right? But for the moment, Synod decided that we will go down the path of drawing up house rules. Otherwise anarchy will reign.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. August 2007, Page 8.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (August 2007) Prayer, Appointments, Hymnwriters, Egypt, Covenant. Other articles on church organisation.	An "Anglican Covenant" When the Anglican Church in the USA (ECUSA) decided to consecrate as bishop a gay man living in a same-sex relationship, there was an outcry and the threat of a schism - a threat which still hangs over us. Some Christians maintain that these things are not “first order issues” (that’s to say, Christians ought to agree to disagree on them), but others say that they show the churches in question have turned their backs on the bible and are no longer fit to be called churches. How do you resolve a dispute like that? Well, a couple of years ago we had the “Windsor Report” which basically said (i) ECUSA needs to be asked to explain how its actions are compatible with the bible, and until it does so it ought to be asked to stay on the sidelines of the Anglican Communion, and (ii) there needs to be an across-the-board agreement about how these types of issues are handled in the future. The deadline for (i) hasn’t passed yet, but General Synod was asked to debate (ii) in July. The “across the board agreement” is going to be called the “Anglican Covenant”, and Synod was asked to approve getting involved with it. We don’t know what the “Covenant” will say, but it’s a bit like a group of students deciding it would be a good idea to talk about “house rules” when they discover that although they are friends, they simply can’t put up with Alan playing loud music until 4am, Kelly leaving the kitchen in a dreadful state, and Susie shouting at everyone at the top of her voice. The “Anglican Communion” got going without any “house rules”, and it has discovered it can’t live without them. Some people argue that the Church of England has always been a broad church. It has never forced people to sign up to a basis of faith, and it has always ministered to the whole community. How “unAnglican” to have a “Covenant”. But history doesn’t bear this out. The Church of England started out with the bible and the creeds, and it drafted its “39 Articles” so as to lay down how it believed the bible should be interpreted. And when the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was produced, the “Act of Uniformity” required all the clergy to sign up or get out. It may be true that the gate has been kept fairly wide, but there has always been a gate. David Jenkins, the former bishop of Durham, believes that the time is now right to scrap the Anglican Communion, on the grounds that it will fragment anyway and will do more harm than good. Maybe he will be proved right? But for the moment, Synod decided that we will go down the path of drawing up house rules. Otherwise anarchy will reign. John Hartley
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