Church of England rejects 'covenant' to unite Anglicans

From Christian Post-

First proposed in 2004 amid the controversy surrounding some member churches' acceptance of homosexuality and female clergy, the covenant laid a process to deal with any church seen as possibly disrupting the unity of the 77 million member Anglican Communion.

Championed by outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams, the covenant was declared defeated after the 23 nay votes had been cast out of the 44 Dioceses of the Church of England.

Howard Dobson, media officer for the Church of England Council of the Archbishop, told The Christian Post that the vote has a wide-reaching effect on the attempted "unity covenant."

"The Covenant is clearly now not going to receive the support of the majority of synods and as a result the General Synod will not be able to give it final approval once the diocesan reference process is complete," said Dobson.

"The Synod will need to debate the diocesan results either in July or February and that will provide an opportunity for reflection on the implications, not least in the context of the progress of consideration of the Covenant elsewhere in the Communion."

Dobson believes that "it is too early at the moment to offer views on what the diocesan decision means. This is something for further discussion both within the [Church of England] and within the Communion itself."

More here-

http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/church-of-england-rejects-covenant-to-unite-anglicans/7187.htm