News for Week Ending 3/12/2012

CoE dioceses continue to reject Covenant

On Saturday, March 10, six additional Church of England dioceses voted on whether the General Synod should consider final adoption of the Anglican Covenant. Four of those dioceses voted against the referral, and only two voted for it. (Details can be read here.) To date, only 10 of the 44 dioceses have voted to consider the Covenant further, whereas 17 have voted against it. A complete tally of the voting can be found here.

There have been a couple of video responses to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s video talk “Why the Covenant Matters”—see Pittsburgh Update story here. Episcopal Church gay activist and past Executive Council member Louie Crew questioned Rowan Williams’ contention that the Covenant is not punative in this video. Oxford history professor Diarmaid MacCulloch also responded to Williams in a video.

Covenant not doing well in Scotland

Although the Church of England has received the most attention as its dioceses vote on the Covenant, a similar process is ongoing in the Episcopal Church of Scotland. Paul Bagshaw has published a report from Hugh Magee. That church has only seven dioceses, and five of those have already voted against Covenant adoption. Magee believes the other two will do so also. Additional details can be read on Bagshaw’s blog.

SCLM releases excerpts of ‘Blessing Same-Gender Relationships’ report

Episcopal News Service reported March 8, 2012, that the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music has released excerpts of a report prepared for the 2012 General Convention. The report is titled “I Will Bless You, and You Will Be a Blessing: Resources for Blessing Same-Gender Relationships.” Included in the material available here is a liturgy, “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant,” intended for trial use during the coming triennium. The released material also includes theological resources related to same-gender relationships and two resolutions for the General Convention. The ENS describes the material and its importance is some detail.

Blog invites budget feedback

As the 2012 General Convention approaches, attention is being focused on the proposed budget for 2013–2015. Perhaps in response to the unhappiness over the last-minute changes to the proposed budged in 2006, a blog has been established to collect feedback on the budget. The blog can be found here. The proposed budget can be found here. Episcopal News Service discussed the budget and the new blog here.

Candidate walkabouts next week

The five candidates being considered as the next Bishop of Pittsburgh will meet the people of the diocese in so-called “walkabouts” next week. The Q&A sessions are being held in each of the diocese’s four districts March 20–23, 2012. Deputies should attend at least one of the sessions, but anyone may attend. For various attendance-related purposes, people are being asked (though not required) to register for the session they wish to attend. Information and a brief registration from can be found on the diocesan Web site here.