The General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia today (Monday 9 July 2012) voted that it “Is unable to adopt the proposed Anglican Covenant due to concerns about aspects of Section 4, but subscribes to Sections 1, 2, and 3 as currently drafted to be a useful starting point for consideration of our Anglican understanding of the church.”
Anglican Taonga (the communications arm of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia) reports this as “Unable to adopt” covenant.
As expected, the General Synod said a final: ‘No’ to the proposed Anglican covenant today.
But it did so quietly, and the original motion was amended to stress this church’s desire to remain tightly knit with the Communion.
And to suggest that the early parts of the covenant – the non contentious bits about “Our Inheritance in Faith” etc – “are a useful starting point” for future Anglican thinking about their church…
Also available is the full text of the resolution as passed by the Synod.
This decision, on the part of our Anglican Province in the South Pacific bears tribute to our cultural diversity, which we rejoice in.
Added to the ‘NO’ of the Dioceses of the Church of England, we can hope that our relationship will one day be even closer – when the Church of England ordains Women as Bishops.
Covenant?
Oh yes, I remember the Covenant. It’s history.
“but subscribes to Sections 1, 2, and 3 as currently drafted to be a useful starting point”
The content of the motion aside, this is terrible grammar! The verb ‘subscribes’ can’t take a supplementary infinitive.
“..The content of the motion aside, this is terrible grammar! The verb ‘subscribes’ can’t take a supplementary infinitive.
– Posted by: ScottM on Tuesday –
But, Scott, what do you expect from us, we are only ex-Colonials. However, we do know a lame horse when we see one.
In international Anglican dealings, I’ve met a few Church of England people who wouldn’t countenance use of the New Zealand Book of Prayer, regarding it as “heretical” — not sure why. I countered by proposing we use the Canadian Book of Common Prayer — French edition.