Standing Committee releases Anglican covenant’s revised section 4

Anglicans United
Cheryl M. Wetzel
December 19th, 2009

[Ed. Note: Section 4 is the "hard news" section of the Covenant because it deals with discipline. This new Section 4 is expanded from the first Section 4, in order, I believe, to give clearer explanation for the precepts of this section. The 1st paragraph adds that provinces, "freely offer this commitment to other Churches in order to live more fully into the ecclesial communion and interdependence which is foundational to the Churches of the Anglican Communion." The next paragraph states that, "..each Church recognises in the preceding sections a statement of faith, mission and interdependence of life which is consistent with its own life and with the doctrine and practice of the Christian faith as it has received them." This is not submission to an external jurisdiction. However, other churches and/or dioceses may be offered the opportunity to sign the Covenant, which does not imply that they are part of the Communion. In their expanation, the Standing Committee stated that, "“In Anglican ecclesiology, there is a creative tension between the understanding of “local Church”, which is that portion of God’s people gathered around their bishop, usually in the form of a territorial diocese, and “Church” as a term or description for a national or regional ecclesial community, which is bound together by a national character, and/or common liturgical life, governance and canon law..." TEC insisted that the new US province not be established as the 'authentic Anglican Church' because they signed the Covenant and it is uncertain (actually, unlikely now) that TEC will do so. That request was respected, but given latitude. "The Covenant operates to express the common commitments and mutual accountability..." the rest