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English bishops could have to consider positions
over Lambeth Conference – Bishop of Winchester
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Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt (Photo: Diocese of Winchester) |
Following the debate on the Anglican covenant process at the meeting of the Church of England General Synod earlier this month in York, the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, told the Gazette that if the bishops of The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the United States do not meet the demands of the Dar es Salaam Primates’ Meeting required by next September’s deadline, and if the bishops of the Global South decline to attend next year’s Lambeth Conference, as many as six in ten Church of England bishops could be considering their own positions about attending the ten-yearly episcopal gathering.
However, Bishop Scott- Joynt added that such bishops would feel "constrained" by their loyalty to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who personally invites the bishops.
Bishop Scott-Joynt also said that if the US bishops were not attending and the Global South bishops were, his estimated four in ten minority among the English bishops would be facing similar considerations to those of the majority in the opposite situation.
The issue of disagreement was the consecration in 2003 of the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, the Rt Revd Gene Robinson.
In their February communiqué, the Primates requested, through TEC’s Presiding Bishop, that the House of Bishops of TEC "(1) make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorise any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention … and (2) confirm that the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a samesex union shall not receive the necessary consent … unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion …".
The Primates requested that the answer of the House of Bishops be conveyed to the Primates by TEC’s Presiding Bishop, the Most Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori, by 30th September. In their communiqué, the Primates warned that if the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops could not in good conscience be given, the relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole would remain "damaged at best", and that this would have "consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion".
The debate at the York session of the English General Synod saw the proposal to have an inter-Anglican covenant given positive support. However, the discussion lasted two and a half hours and there were two tabled amendments to the Bishop of Chichester’s motion, but both fell by substantial majorities against.
The debate was preceded by a special address to the General Synod by the Archbishop of the West Indies, the Most Revd Drexel Gomez, who is the Chair of the Covenant Design Group, of which the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Neill, is a member.
Referring to the current inter-Anglican crisis, Archbishop Gomez said that "scaremongering is commonplace". He said that there was a need "to identify the fundamentals that we share in common, and to state the common basis on which our mutual trust can be rebuilt".
The archbishop said that this was essentially all that the covenant proposal was, and stressed that the current draft covenant text marked "only at the beginning of a long period of analysis and testing".
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
The other special presentation to the Synod was by Sir Albert Aynsley-Green, the Children’s Commissioner, who said that Britain was one of the most unfriendly countries for children.
Sir Albert expressed concerns about the use of physical restraint against young people in custody and was critical of proposed changes to the regulations surrounding physical restraint against children and young people. Some members of the Synod then questioned child protection policies in the Church of England, after high-profile convictions of clergy and Church workers for child abuse.
SENIOR CHURCH APPOINTMENTS
The Synod considered a report of a review group established by the Archbishops’ Council to consider the law and practice regarding the appointment of suffragan bishops, deans, archdeacons and residentiary canons.
The Synod, having noted the proposals in the Government’s recent Green Paper, ‘The Governance of Britain’, relating to ecclesiastical appointments, welcomed the prospect of the Church achieving the "decisive voice in the appointment of bishops", for which Synod had voted as far back as 1974, and affirmed its willingness for the Church to have the decisive voice in the selection of cathedral deans and canons appointed by the Crown.
IRAN
A private member’s motion, from Canon Simon Bessant (Blackburn Diocese), addressed the concern that the United States might be considering military action against Iran and argued that unilateral, pre-emptive military action by the US or any other government against Iran could be justified.
However, a procedural motion to move to the next business brought the debate to a swift conclusion, the reason given being consideration for the position of the new Anglican Bishop in Iran. However, a division was necessary and the motion to move on was carried quite narrowly by 113 to 96 votes.
LITURGY
The Liturgical Commission’s report, ‘Transforming Worship: Living the New Creation’, was introduced. Now that the Common Worship texts have been completed, the emphasis in the document was on resourcing the Church to develop best practice in worship across all styles and traditions. The ‘Transforming Worship’ report was commended for "study, reflection and action".
PENSIONS
At the February session of the Synod, the Archbishops’ Council’s recommendations on the changes necessary to preserve a defined benefit pension scheme for the clergy had been endorsed. The Council had subsequently consulted the 24,000 members of the clergy pension scheme and submitted its final proposals to the Synod for approval, which was given. The changes will somewhat reduce the benefits.
ETHICAL INVESTMENT
A private member’s motion from Gavin Oldham (Oxford Diocese), as amended, was carried, urging the making available of more details of how the Church carried out its ethical investment policies, in order to help Christians in managing investments in their care.
THE ANGLICAN METHODIST COVENANT
The Synod commended the report, ‘Living God’s Covenant’, which, while acknowledging both encouragements and disappointments in Church of England- Methodist relations since 2003, examined the issues of Church, State and government; lay ministry; and eucharistic theology.
WYCLIFFE HALL
The Revd Jonathan Alderton-Ford (St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocese) asked the Bishop of Norwich, as Chair of the Ministry Division, what steps the Ministry Division was taking to resolve the matter of media reports that staff relationships had broken down at Wycliffe Hall theological college in Oxford. It was reported to the Synod that a small team of independent advisors would be reporting to the Bishops’ Committee for Ministry, which could then take further action if required.
The editor thanks the Church of England’s Communications Unit for facilitation at the General Synod.