No decision on the Covenant from Australia: The Church of England Newspaper, March 26, 2010 p 8. April 7, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Covenant, Church of England Newspaper.trackback
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The proposed Anglican Covenant requires careful study, the bishops of the Anglican Church of Australia concluded at their annual meeting last week in Safety Bay in Western Australia. However, the complexities of the issues involved and the unique polity of the Australian Church will prevent a quick decision.
Australia’s 40 bishops met for three days near Perth last week for the church’s annual House of Bishops meeting. Discussions ranged from the Covenant to plans for another national “Back to Church Sunday”. The Primate of Australia, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall of Brisbane stated the bishops were pleased with the results of last September’s “Back to Church Sunday”.
“Last year at our meeting on the Gold Coast bishops agreed to hold the event. It went ahead in September and the feedback was impressive. Australia-wide we welcomed thousands of new comers to services as well as many who decided to return after an absence.
“So strong was the support that bishops have agreed to hold the nation-wide event in September for the next three years,” Dr. Aspinall said.
The bishops believe it is a “good initiative which highlights the importance people put on being warmly welcomed to Church on a specific day. Our challenge is to ensure new and returning people feel that they can become a regular part of their local parish family and enjoy worship and fellowship on a more regular basis.”
Discussions of the needs of indigenous ministry, as well as programmes for experimenting with different ‘Models of Ministry’ were discussed, as was the Covenant. However, Australia’s federated national church structure that gives a high degree of independence to the dioceses, militates against a quick adoption of the document.
“There are implications for the Anglican Church of Australia if we sign up to the Covenant and that’s why the bishops thought that any decision should not be rushed,” Dr Aspinall said.
