News for Week Ending 2/20/2012

Four CoE dioceses vote against Covenant

Diocesan Synods in the Church of England dioceses of Leicester, Portsmouth, Rochester, and Salisbury voted this past weekend against sending the proposed Anglican Covenant back to the General Synod in July for final adoption. Vote totals were reported by Thinking Anglicans. Comprehensive Unity: The No Anglican Covenant Blog reports that 10 dioceses have now voted against the Covenant, but only 5 have voted in favor of it. A failure to garner yes votes in a majority of the Church of England’s 44 dioceses will derail the adoption process in the Mother Church of worldwide Anglicanism. It is unclear what the implications would be of a failure of the Church of England to adopt the Covenant.

Washington bishops support same-sex marriage

According to Episcopal News Service, the bishops of the two Washington state Episcopal dioceses, Seattle and Olympia, supported the recently enacted law allowing same-sex marriage and will make provisions for the blessing of such marriages in their dioceses. Although the law is scheduled to go into effect in June, implementation may be delayed or derailed through a measure expected to be on the November ballot. According to ENS, Olympia Bishop Greg Rickel has predicted that the 2012 General Convention will pass legislation similar to the Washington legislation allowing same-sex marriage.