No Anglican Covenant: Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity

You are viewing the Home page of No Anglican Covenant.Who we are and the purpose of No Anglican Covenant.Communicate with the people behind No Anglican Covenant.How the Anglican Communion came to be where it is, along with information about the status of the Anglican Covenant.Materials opposing adoption of the Anglican Covenant.Other materials, including a variety of graphics for our No Anglican Covenant logo.

 Welcome

Welcome to No Anglican Covenant. We invite you to explore this site, which we hope you will find both interesting and useful. Below, we answer some of the questions you are likely to have. Contact us if you have further questions or comments.

What is the Anglican Covenant?

All thirty-eight provinces (national and regional churches) of the Anglican Communion have been asked to adopt an agreement, the Anglican Covenant (or Anglican Communion Covenant), which sets out reputedly common doctrine and describes a process for dispute resolution among Communion churches. The idea for a covenant was proposed in the Windsor Report, which was written in the wake of a Canadian diocese’s authorizing a liturgy for the blessing of same-sex unions and an American diocese’s electing a partnered gay bishop. A brief introduction to the Covenant can be found here. To see where churches stand in the adoption process of the Covenant, click here.

Who are we, and why do we oppose the Covenant?

We are an international group of Anglicans, both lay and ordained, who are active in our respective churches and concerned about the future of Anglicanism. (Click here to read more about us.) We want an Anglican Communion comprising churches that are respectful of one another and are united in gospel mission. We have grave doubts that the Covenant will advance this vision. We believe that the drafters of the Anglican Covenant were motivated by a desire for uniformity, as they have favoured the use of coercion over the hard work of reconciliation. To see ten reasons why we think the Covenant is a bad idea, click here.

What is our view of Anglicanism?

We believe in an Anglicanism adapted to local needs and based on a shared heritage of worship, not on specific understandings of church doctrines to which all must subscribe. Our view of Anglicanism leads us to conclude that the Anglican Covenant is profoundly un-Anglican.

How can you help?

Together we can make a difference. Please click on the buttons below to (1) view our Facebook

page, (2) be added to our list of supporters, or (3) follow us on Twitter. You will be joining the campaign to stop the radical transformation of the Anglican Communion that the Covenant threatens to bring about.

What you can find on this site?

No Anglican Covenant is designed to educate Anglicans about the Anglican Covenant and to present the case against its adoption. The site includes useful material for those studying the Covenant or looking for resources to support the campaign against it. You can also find background material here and track the status of the adoption (or rejection) of the Covenant across the Communion. To read our Site Guide, click here.

 
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New Short Introduction
to Covenant Available

London, July 19, 2011 — Seeing a need for a concise introduction to the Covenant, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition has issued “A Short Introduction to the Anglican Covenant.”

“A Short Introduction” is intended for duplication and distribution to Anglicans who need to know about the Covenant but who do not have the time or inclination to wade through the flood of history and commentary available on this Web site and elsewhere. As the Revd. Dr. Lesley Fellows, Moderator of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition put it, “This brief, plainlanguage explanation is intended to help ordinary Anglicans worldwide to understand what is being proposed.”

“A Short Introduction” also attempts to give a more balanced view of the Covenant than is available elsewhere. As our Convenor for the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Revd. Canon Hugh Magee, has said, “Many people have complained that the official study material from the Anglican Communion Office has lacked balance and has failed to take seriously the concerns of Covenant critics.

Read the Coalition’s news release about “A Short Introduction.” A one-page version of the new handout is available as a PDF file for letter-size or A4 paper. An more attractive two-page version is also available as a PDF file for letter-size or A4 paper.


Site Tools

Main pages of the No Anglican Covenant Web site allow visitors to search the site, go directly to our Comprehensive Unity blog, go to our Facebook page, get help with site navigation, or translate the page into another language. Look for these options at the top right  of the page body, just under the menu bar.


Why November 3rd?

Our Web site premiered on 3 November 2010. The selection of that date was no accident. Read about why we chose to roll out our site on that particular date here. You can also read our news release about the No Anglican Covenant Coalition and its Web site.


Updates

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition issued a news release 18 January 2016 regarding the outcome of the meeting of the Anglican primates that ended on 15 January.

The 2015 General Convention of The Episcopal Church rejected resolutions that would not have adopted the Covenant in favor of a resolution that says nothing about the Covenant. No plans were made to consider the Covenant further. Details are here.

Talking points have been prepared for the legislative hearing on Covenant resolutions at The Episcopal Church’s General Convention, which begins 25 June 2015. Details are here.

It is expected that The Episcopal Church will pass some resolution about the Anglican Covenant when it meets beginning 25 June 2015. Lionel Deimel has written about the resolutions that have been offered. Details are here.

Our listing of the status of the Covenant by church has been updated 27 January 2015. Our listing is more comprehensive than the listing available from the official Anglican Communion Web site.

The Church of the Province of Melanesia adopted the Covenant in November 2014. Details are here.

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia indicated a willingness to consider a covenant but pointedly passed up an opportunity to act on the covenant on offer. Details are here.

South Sudan and Sudan has approved the Covenant. Details are here.

Southern Africa completed the adoption of the Covenant in October 2013. Details are here.

Canada did indeed postpone any decision on the Covenant until 2016. A resolution to that effect was passed by the General Synod on July 5, 2013. Details are here.

It was announced June 20, 2013, that the Hong Kong Anglican Church has adopted the Covenant. (See Background page.)

Information about the Anglican Church of Canada’s 2013 General Synod has now been posted on the Web. As expected, a resolution will be presented that seeks to postpone a decision on the Covenant until at least 2016.

Last July, the Anglican Communion Web site added a page listing official adoptions and rejections of the Covenant. (Our own Background page is more comprehensive.) The page also includes an extensive list of comments on Covenant drafts from various churches, organizations, and individuals. The listing for this page on our Resources page is here.

 

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