The final text of the Anglican Communion covenant was released for formal consideration for adoption by the Communion’s provinces on Dec. 18. The Rev. Canon Dr. Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, made the announcement (in a letter [PDF] addressed to “Primates, Moderators and Provincial Secretaries of the Anglican Communion”), saying that the presentation of the covenant to the provinces “represents an invitation to deepening of relationships among those provinces.”

“We have a long history of friendship, affinities and collaboration between provinces, dioceses, parishes and people across the globe, and we celebrate these manifold expressions of our oneness in Christ.” Canon Kearon wrote. “The covenant represents a further step in these relationships, building on and giving expression to the bonds of affection which shape our common life.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams offered a preview to the official release of the text via a video message on Dec. 18, saying he hopes that the covenant “will be adopted by as many provinces as possible.”

“In recent years in the Anglican family, we’ve discovered that our relations with each other as local churches have often been strained, that we haven’t learned to trust one another as perhaps we should, that we really need to build relationships, and we need to have a sense that we are responsible to one another and responsible for each other,” Archbishop Williams wrote. “In other words, what we need is something that will help us know where we stand together, and help us also intensify our fellowship and our trust. The covenant text sets out the basis on which the Anglican family works and prays and lives and hopes.”

The archbishop emphasized that “it’s quite important in this process to remember what the covenant is and what it isn’t,” noting in particular that “it’s not going to be a constitution, and it’s certainly not going to be a penal code for punishing people who don’t comply.”

Citing the fourth and final section of the covenant text, Archbishop Williams called it “the most controversial, because that’s where we spell out what happens if relationships fail or break down.”

“It doesn’t set out … a procedure for punishments and sanctions,” he noted. “It does try and sort out how we will discern the nature of our disagreement, how important is it? How divisive does it have to be? Is it a Communion-breaking issue that’s in question — or is it something we can learn to live with?

“What we’re trying to do is simply to give a practical, sensible and Christian way of dealing with our conflicts, recognizing that they’re always going to be there.”

Next Steps

Both Canon Kearon and Archbishop Williams described the next steps in the covenant reception process.

“Each church will, within its own processes, decide how to handle it, and by the next meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council [ACC-15] in three years’ time, we hope that many provinces will already have said yes to this and adopted it into their own understanding and identity,” Archbishop Williams said. He acknowledged that “the process won’t all be over by then, but we’re hoping to see some enthusiasm, some general adoption of the principles. We hope to see a new kind of relationship emerging.”

Canon Kearon explained that the text “is being sent only to the member churches of the Anglican Consultative Council for consideration and decision on acceptance or adoption by them” and asking them to report by 2012 “on the progress made in the processes of response to, and adoption of, the covenant.” He noted that the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order “will be assisting the reception process for the covenant by developing educational materials and arranging for the translation of the text into several languages.”

Archbishop Williams also noted that the covenant will “at some point … be open to other bodies, other ecclesial bodies as they’re called, other churches and communities to adopt … and be considered for incorporation into the Anglican Communion. Meanwhile, it’s open to anybody that wishes to affirm the principles of the covenant — to say that this is what they wish to live with.”

But Canon Kearon pointed out that the Standing Committee “will neither invite any other churches (beyond the schedule of members of the ACC) to adopt the covenant … nor propose any amendments to it … until [the committee] has had an opportunity to evaluate the situation after ACC-15.”

The archbishop concluded his message by emphasizing that “we hope and pray that the covenant for the Anglican Communion will be a truly effective tool for witness and mission in our world.”

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