West Indies adopts Anglican Covenant: The Church of England Newspaper, Feb 11, 2011 p 7.

Archbishop John Holder of Barbados

First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop John Holder of Barbados, reports his province has formally adopted the Anglican Covenant.

In a statement released via the Anglican Communion News Service during the Dublin primates meeting on Jan 30, Archbishop Holder stated his province saw the Covenant as a “workable document that can help the Anglican Communion to move forward while still addressing issues that face its member Churches.”

“For some, the document is only being seen in the light of sexuality issues. That’s a restrictive view. It is a document that can help us to function in relation to the many issues that will arise in the Communion. Today it’s human sexuality, tomorrow it will be something else.”

“Our understanding is that it is not an exclusive document; it does not exclude, but rather it helps to lead people to reflect on their role as Anglicans, and identify their responsibilities as members of the Communion,” the archbishop said.

The 2009 West Indian General Synod, under the presidency of former West Indian Archbishop Drexel Gomez endorsed the covenant.  The Church of England Newspaper reported last year that the Nov 16-20, 2010 joint meeting of the West Indian House of Bishops in Trinidad and provincial standing committee was expected to ratify the covenant on behalf of the province.

The province gave its formal notice of acceptance of the covenant to the ACC last month.

The Anglican Covenant was not “punitive,” he said.  “It invites the members of the Communion to follow a different way, to remember their responsibilities to other members of the wider community, to respect where others are in their journey.”

While some churches saw the covenant as a “threat to their independence”, the West Indian Church saw it as a mark of the communion’s interdependence, “as an enabler on the journey for communion,” Archbishop Holder said.