Rev. Dr. Andrew Goddard

Bishops and Civil Partnerships II: Still More Questions Than Answers

Two weeks since the House of Bishops' decision on civil partnerships finally hit the headlines, many questions (such as those raised in my earlier article, written before media interest in the story) remain unanswered. Some of the processes are, however, beginning to become clearer, though these in turn often provide more questions than answers. What follows attempts to map what has happened, read between the lines to highlight key questions that remain, and point to some of the contextual factors that may have shaped the decision.

Church of England Bishops and Civil Partnerships

Tucked away within a wider press release just before Christmas it has been announced that at their December meeting the Church of England's House of Bishops decided that "the House does not intend to issue a further pastoral statement on civil partnerships" and that "the requirements in the 2005 statement concerning the eligibility for ordination of those in civil partnerships whose relationships are consistent with the teaching of the Church of England apply equally in relation to the episcopate".

Anglican Communion Covenant: Ten Reasons for Voting Positively

Because of its relevance to current circumstances both within The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, The Anglican Communion Institute is pleased to post this contribution by our colleague Andrew Goddard Published in the Church of England Newspaper and on Fulcrum Life is always more interesting when things don't go as planned. That alone should make the Anglican Communion Covenant interesting in 2012. General Synod rarely refers matters to dioceses. When it does, it often seems - as with women bishops - a procedural necessity with a foregone positive conclusion.

Actions and consequences: Reflections on the state of the Anglican Communion

Co-published with Fulcrum Summary: Reflecting on Fulcrum's call not to invite the Presiding Bishop to the Primates' Meeting in Ireland, the consequences of inviting her are highlighted: the widespread principled absence of many Global South primates. As it is still unclear why the Presiding Bishop was invited after the breach of the moratorium and the Pentecost Letter, three possible scenarios are outlined in the hope that the rationale for this decision may be made clear.

GAFCON & The Anglican Covenant

One of the most serious questions left unanswered after the GAFCON conference was where the movement stood in relation to the proposed Anglican covenant.  That question now appears to have been answered fairly unequivocally in two documents (from the GAFCON Theological Resource Team) on the St Andrew's Draft Text to which the 7 GAFCON Primates refer in their response to the Archbishop of Canterbury. These are apparently based on pre-conference discussions in Jerusalem. One is a response to the draft text and includes the following paragraph:

 

The Anglican Communion after New Orleans and The Joint Standing Committee Report

As many predicted, some hopefully and some fearfully, the Joint Standing Committee (JSC) have given a positive assessment of the response of the The Episcopal Church's (TEC) House of Bishops to the Primates' Questions from Dar Es Salaam. In particular, in relation to the two key requests concerning TEC's response to The Windsor Report (TWR), JSC conclude
Subscribe to Rev. Dr. Andrew Goddard

twittersound cloudyoutubeinstagram