LONDON — Leaders of conservative Anglicans on Wednesday rejected a proposed covenant to hold their global communion together, just as the Church of England gave preliminary approval to the plan.
The covenant, backed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, is intended to contain deep splits within the Anglican Communion over sexuality, the role of women and the authority of the Bible.
The communion represents churches affiliated with the Church of England in more than 160 countries.
The Church of England’s governing General Synod voted Wednesday to approve draft legislation that could lead to a final vote in 2012.
The covenant will now be referred to dioceses for consideration.
The traditionalists dismissed the covenant as “fatally flawed,” but the plan also has been attacked by liberals within the church.
“While we acknowledge that the efforts to heal our brokenness through the introduction of an Anglican Covenant were well intentioned, we have come to the conclusion the current text is fatally flawed and so support for this initiative is no longer appropriate,” said the statement from leaders of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and the GAFCON movement.
The statement was endorsed by archbishops from West Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Australia and Anglican Church of North America, a breakaway group from the Episcopal Church.
Front Section, Pages 14 on 11/25/2010