This past week General Theological Seminary held a conference on the Covenant proposed by the Windsor Report as a means of preserving the Anglican Communion.
The Living Church, an independent weekly covering The Episcopal Church and Anglicanism, reported on the conference. This most recient article covering the final key-note speaker of three, The Rev. Canon Gregory Cameron, deputy secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, is telling.
Here is the link to the article.
It seems that those who voice their opposition to any kind of formal covenant between the various provinces of the Anglican Communion may well be in the minority. Now, it will be interesting to see whether this minority will abide by the same call they make to the minority in their own midst - the conservatives - to stay with the whole.
In an ideal world, I would much rather not have to resort to a formalized covenant. We can remain together if we simply decide to. There are lots of points-of-view I strongly disagree with on both the liberal and conservative side of things, but I choose to remain with these people - even the ones I don't like all that much. It may be that this Utopian idea has finally run its course. It may have run its course because those who have traditionally run the Anglican Communion - more liberal-minded Westerners - are now the minority as formerly subservient and intimidated rest-of-the-world representatives are exercising their vote and voicing their perspective and opposition.
Our troubles have gone into overtime, and perhaps the only way to preserve the Communion is to now formalize our relationship with one another beyond common heritage and our word and a hand-shake. From the paper that was to be presented from my former professor, J. Robert Wright, and subsequently read by GTS's chaplain, Ellen Slone, The Living Church quoted:
"'Without a covenant there would be even less structure for resolving differences,' Prof. Wright wrote. 'We would have no part in the greater Anglican Communion if we chose to disregard [the covenant,] we would have no mechanism within ourselves, and our ecumenical partners would have no understanding of what we as Anglicans believe. We need to devise a coherent structure of corporate Anglican identity.'"
