Traditional Anglicanism in America
Sarah
Leander Harding’s Earlier Response to the Announcement of The Anglican Covenant



There is more where the below came from:

I continue to think that an Anglican Covenant with a clear process for handling disputes as described in the Windsor process is the best hope for maintaining the faith, order and mission of the world wide Anglican Communion. In the course of the original Windsor meetings, Bishop N.T. Wright described the proposed covenant as a scheme for fire-proofing the building. The covenant per se is not for fire fighting. It is not a solution for the pastoral and ecclesial crisis both within and between provinces that has been produced by the unilateral action of the Anglican churches of North America. What has always been needed has been both a short term and a long term strategy. The proposed covenant was the long term strategy. Various other schemes to address the problem in the short term, Alternative Primatial Oversight, Council of Advice, mandated mediation by experts have been proposed and have come to nothing due to an inexplicable lack of follow through by the instruments of unity. As we contemplate the hopeful development of a form of the covenant ready for adoption by the Provinces, it must be noted that this long term solution can be overtaken by developments in the short term which may make it practically irrelevant. The proposed covenant on its own is not adequate to inspire hope in and commitment to the future of the Anglican Communion and its existing instruments of unity. More vigorous personal pastoral leadership in the midst of the current crisis is needed and in particular leadership which encourages and provides some cover for those who are an embattled minority resisting the innovations in the North American churches.






Posted January 05, 2010 at 8:00 am
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