The seventh edition of the Canons of the Church of England was recently published. Paper copies are available for purchase from Church House Publishing and elsewhere, and a Kindle version is available from Amazon.
The Canons are also available to view online. This is new, but it does replace the pdf version which was available for the sixth edition.
I wonder if there are *any* clergy who abide by every one of the canons? C27 probably knocks quite a few out:
The apparel of a bishop, priest, or deacon shall be suitable to his office; and, save for purposes of recreation and other justifiable reasons, shall be such as to be a sign and mark of his holy calling and ministry as well to others as to those committed to his spiritual charge.
It’s perhaps as well that the Archbishop of Sydney doesn’t have to abide by this particular canon. He seems to prefer ‘dressing down’ on the few occasions he presides at the Eucharist. This seems to be ‘de rigueur’ for some Sydney Evangelical clergy – even to the extent of collar and tie. (or jeans).
In my view the Canons are a straw man argument. It seems to me, and I have witnessed this on a number of occasions, that both the liberals and(although to a lesser extent) the evangelicals are keen to see the others uphold the Canon whilst disregarding them themselves….plank and speck come to mind!