Synod yes to Covenant

General Synod's vote to give the green light to the Anglican Communion Covenant is a double if predictable blow against both compassion and freedom. Key gospel values are being sacrificed for the sake of ecclesiastical politics. The conservative bishops are not content simply to disagree with their more liberal colleagues over human sexuality: they want to make it a test of anglican orthodoxy. But liberals cannot and should not accept this. What is at stake is whether Anglicans are prepared to let our spirit of openness to truth in reason and experience be quenched by a basically fundamentalist approach. It is deeply tragic that more bishops are not prepared to stand up against the conservatives. And most tragic of all is Rowan William's belief that he must lead by seeking resolution of these differences in this way rather than leading the Communion to greater engagement with the issues; tragic because of recent Archbishops he is the most well equipped intellectually and spiritually to make the case for diversity within unity.