Posted at The Living Church on February 2, 2009:
There has been a “pulling back from the language of sanctions and teeth” in the crafting of the Anglican Covenant, the Primate of Australia told reporters at the Primates' Meeting in Alexandria on Feb 2.
The Most Rev. Philip Aspinall said that whereas earlier drafts of the covenant envisioned sanctions for violations, disciplinary mechanisms were not likely to make it into the final draft.
“Hitting people over the head with sticks” was not what the Anglican Communion wanted to do to provinces that violated the Covenant, Archbishop Aspinall said. Instead, the covenant—designed to set the parameters of Anglican life and worship—is evolving into a document about “koinonia…fellowship…of communion” between churches, and would not be a sanctions-based legal code, he explained.
Creating a document whose goal was increased fellowship, but whose ultimate sanction “is not inviting you to a meeting,” was self-defeating the Australian primate observed.
The primates’ first day of business included presentations on the covenant and papers given by five primates on the effects of the controversy over homosexuality in their provinces.
Gathering for Morning Prayer with Eucharist at 7:15 am, the primates began their day after breakfast with a Bible study at 9:15, breaking at 10:15 for tea and beginning their first business session at 11:00. Controversies over the corporate reception of Holy Communion, which had dogged the last three primates meetings, were not aired at the first two Eucharists, Archbishop Aspinall said in answer to a reporter’s question.
He said he had not been keeping watch over who did or did not receive Holy Communion, but one participant told The Living Church that no one abstained. However, no tally was kept of who was present at the service.
Mission Impact
At the opening session, the primates of The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma), and the Church of Uganda responded to a question given them by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, asking them what affect the present difficulties had on mission in their provinces.
This elicited a “very interesting discussion” Archbishop Aspinall observed, noting there was a “huge diversity” of responses. One primate told The Living Church that there had been a “full and frank” statement of views and a clear statement of where each church was.
Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz spoke of his province’s open discussion of these issues over a number of years, adding that issues in human sexuality had been a live issue outside the church for over a decade. Changing social attitudes, the courts, and civil government were behind the change in society’s attitude towards homosexuality, he said, not the church.
Burmese Archbishop Stephan Than Myint Oo said that social taboos in his province forbad the discussion of homosexuality. The church’s bishops had discussed the issue, but it had not percolated down to the grass roots, and it was the bishops’ desire that the issue not be raised as it would be unsettling to church life in the midst of a difficult political and social climate.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori spoke of the unique polity of The Episcopal Church that had led to the election of Bishop Gene Robinson by the Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003. She noted that the issues had been under discussion for many years and had been given a thorough theological airing. She also noted The Episcopal Church could not be bound by decisions made by bodies other than its General Convention.
The Most Rev. Henry Orombi spoke to his province’s adherence to the clear words of scripture and the unbroken tradition of the Christian Church through the ages on human sexuality, saying the innovation proposed in the United States and Canada on homosexuality was not a faithful witness to the world. The issue could not be tested against the vagaries of culture, he argued, but against the immutable words of scripture.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town, the South African primate, offered a plea for continued dialogue. Drawing upon the recent experience of his province, he said that the Anglican Church in South Africa had nearly been torn apart over the issue of armed struggle against the apartheid regime. The South African experience of working through what seemed an irreconcilable division, could lend itself to the current disputes over doctrine and discipline.
‘Increasing Realism’
In the afternoon session, the Most Rev. John Chew, Primate of Southeast Asia and Archbishop of Singapore, gave a presentation on the covenant process. Members of the Covenant Design Group were receiving responses from the provinces through March 9, and then would prepare a final draft for submission to the Anglican Consultative Council at its May meeting in Jamaica.
Archbishop Aspinall told reporters that it was his impression that there was an “increasing realism” about the limits of the covenant. The emphasis was on developing closer relations, “building trust” and encouraging “self-limitation” from the provinces. He said a covenant with teeth, punishment or sanctions was unrealistic in the current environment. It was the opinion of many bishops at the 2008 Lambeth Conference that a covenant that was crafted as a “moral obligation” was more likely to be adopted by the Communion, he added.
The push to remove disciplinary mechanisms from the covenant does not come as a surprise to conservative primates. A number of Global South primates said they were skeptical of the viability of a covenant, absent an independent authority who could judge whether it had been broken. Citing the failed Panel of Reference and the responses by The Episcopal Church to the Dar es Salaam communiqué, many of the Global South primates were not convinced that any covenant would work given the current structures of the Communion.
Archbishop Aspinall said a communiqué drafting committee had been formed led by the Primate of Burundi, the Most Rev. Bernard Ntahoturi. The committee also includes the Most Rev Alan Harper of Ireland, the Most Rev. Ian Earnest of the Indian Ocean, the Most Rev. Paul Kwong of Hong Kong, and the Most Rev. Carlos Touche-Porter of Mexico, with the assistance of the Rev. Canon Gregory Cameron, the ACC’s Deputy Secretary General.
On Tuesday, the primates will hear presentations from the Windsor Continuation Group and discuss theological education and global warming. Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone is expected to address the primates, explaining his support for the Anglican Church in North America.
(The Rev.) George Conger
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