Speaking at a conference on the proposed Anglican Covenant, the Rev. Canon Gregory Cameron, deputy secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, did not offer hope to those eager for other Anglican provinces to follow the North American churches’ perceived leadership in social justice ministries.
 
Canon Cameron was the final keynote speaker at “An Anglican Covenant: Divisive or Reconciling?”, a conference held April 10-12 at The General Theological Seminary’s Desmond Tutu Center. He explained that the Archbishop of Canterbury has no juridical authority, and noted that while individual bishops have differing levels of sympathy for full inclusion of homosexual persons, neither intervention nor affirmation can be expected at this summer’s Lambeth Conference.
 
“We must get our ecclesiology right,” he stressed. “Lambeth bishops cannot command and require. They can only commend. Therefore when any of the instruments speak, they don’t speak as law but as advisors. Like the [British] monarchy, they do not rule or govern, but they can be consulted.”
 
Canon Cameron strongly advocated for the adoption of an Anglican Covenant as a “dynamic open-ended relational commitment, which arises from mutual identity.” He suggested that this is both affirming and intervening as it serves as a way forward together. “Why a covenant at this juncture?” he asked rhetorically. “Because by its very nature, a covenant is relational.”
 
Canon Cameron characterized The Episcopal Church as a “covenanting-mad” church, listing a half-dozen previous ecumenical covenants. He admitted that these served primarily for the definition of financial questions, and fell short in addressing a common mission.
 
Earlier in the conference, Canon Jenny Te Paa of New Zealand voiced her reservations about the status of the proposed covenant, saying it was “too many words with too little text.” She said, “There may be many unexplored pathways to restoring the Communion. We need those who have never lost faith in the covenanted relationship to use their voice.”
 
The Rev. J. Robert Wright had been scheduled to present a paper, but he had to cancel because of illness. Instead his paper was read by the Rev. Ellen Sloan, chaplain at GTS.
 
“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.”
 
During his presentation in the final panel, Prof. Christopher Seitz of Wycliffe College, Toronto, said, “Covenant by its very nature is mission minded to bring all things into subjection in Christ.
 
“If it fails, division will be a fact on the ground and not a matter to be pondered,” he concluded. “Devolving into national denominations will not preserve Anglicanism. It will destroy it. A covenant is conceived to preserve it.”
 
Maggie Hasslacher
 
We invite your response to this article through a Letter to the Editor. Email your letter to tlc@livingchurch.org. Please include your name, city and state.
 
To find more news, feature articles, and commentary about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion not available online, read The Living Church magazine each week.  Click here to start your subscription.