Anglican Communion Covenant Forum

A lot of insightful remarks are appearing on the Web about the Anglican covenant, and it is increasingly difficult to keep up with the flood of words, much less provide commentary on it. I just finished watching a video from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and I want to recommend that readers watch it without much further analysis from me. In the video, which lasts a bit over an hour, three panelists give their views on the draft covenant before the Anglican Communion. The panelists are Ms. Sara Lawton, Dr. Rod Dugliss, and the Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers. The moderator is Dr. Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski.


Here are just a few ideas I copied down while watching the video:

1. Sections 1 and 2 are difficult to object to. Problems start with Section 3 and, particularly, Section 4.
2. Section 4 represents the “meat” of the document.
3. There is little role for the laity in the mechanisms described in the covenant draft.
   
4. The current draft is less doctrinal that previous ones. The draft is, in the end, political.
5. It is not clear at what point the covenant, as it is adopted by provinces, becomes the Anglican Covenant.
6. The organization of the Communion embedded in the covenant draft looks much like the organization of the British Commonwealth.
7. It is not clear how well implementation of the covenant processes will allow for the work of the Holy Spirit.
8. There is a danger that, as soon as the covenant is in place, The Episcopal Church will be ousted from the Communion and replaced with the Anglican Church in North America.

View the CDSP forum for yourself. The discussion is thought-provoking.

Anglican Communion Covenant Forum from CDSP on Vimeo.