Seven Episcopal bishops urge covenant endorsement at all church levels

From Episcopal Life Online-

Seven Episcopal Church bishops who met September 1 with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams say that dioceses and congregations ought to endorse the proposed Anglican covenant, either in its current partial draft form or when a text becomes final.
The call came in a September 7 statement which also urged the church's General Convention to adopt an Anglican covenant when it next meets in 2012.

Bishops Mark Lawrence of South Carolina, Gary Lillibridge of West Texas, Edward Little of Northern Indiana, Bill Love of Albany, Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana, Michael Smith of North Dakota and James Stanton of Dallas met with Williams at Lambeth Palace in London.

The bishops said in their statement that they discussed their concerns in light of some of the actions taken at the July meeting of General Convention and the subsequent episcopal nominations of people "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion," in the words of Resolution B033, passed by the General Convention in 2006.

In early August, the dioceses of Minnesota and Los Angeles included openly gay partnered priests on their slates of candidates for election as bishops later this fall. A majority of bishops with jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees must consent to the ordination of the two bishops suffragan to be elected in Los Angeles and the diocesan bishop in Minnesota. The church's canons (III.11.4) require such consent in all bishop elections.

The seven bishops said they told Williams that General Convention's actions during its July 8-17 meeting in Anaheim, California "have essentially rejected the teaching of 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10 [on human sexuality] as the mind of the communion, and raise a serious questions whether a covenant will be adopted by both Houses at General Convention 2012."

The convention passed two resolutions (D025 and C056) that focused on issues of human sexuality and the Episcopal Church's commitment to the Anglican Communion.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_114535_ENG_HTM.htm