Mulling it over: Reconciliation in Communion initiative from the good people at "Covenant"

I am currently mulling over the "Word to the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church" written by the good people at "Covenant" Blog. I have posted the executive summary below, but do make sure to click HERE to read the entire piece. On first look, I can affirm the vast majority of the statements, and am interested in some dialogue about some others, but I applaud this effort and hope that good can come from this good work. Kudos to Covenant!!!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

From "Covenant-Communion" blog

Reconciliation in Communion

A Word to the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church

An Executive Summary of “Reconciliation in Communion”

NB: The full text of “Reconciliation in Communion” may be found below and online at http://www.covenant-communion.net

• Evangelism is central to the life of the Church’s mission.
• Our Baptismal Covenant calls us to live lives leading to holiness, justice, and peace.
• The rite of Holy Baptism in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer contains no theology unique to the Episcopal Church.
• Baptism before Communion is the best way to be faithful to our Baptismal Covenant as we engage in evangelism, and reflects an ecumenical consensus we cannot ignore.
• The Episcopal Church’s full communion with the See of Canterbury and its full and active participation in the other Instruments of Communion, as well as in the life of the whole Anglican Communion, are essential elements of our identity.
• The actions already taken by General Convention that demonstrate the Episcopal Church’s good faith intention to remain in full communion with the Anglican Communion are to be affirmed.
• Schism undermines the Gospel; what divides the Church is not of Christ.
• Unilateral actions undermine justice, even when such actions are intended to establish it.
• The Anglican Covenant is the only viable path at present for maintaining communion and should be adopted by the Episcopal Church.
• General Convention should not speak with one voice on public policy or other issues when that voice is merely that of the majority, and not reflective of genuine consensus.
• General Convention needs to keep in mind that schism among Anglicans damages the witness of all involved, and thus should focus on building mutual respect leading to reconciliation.
• Youth and young adults are necessary to the growth of the church and should be a top priority over the next Triennium.
• Bishops and other leaders need to pursue constructive and charitable relationships with those who are currently estranged from the Episcopal Church, particularly since we must be mindful of the legacy we will pass on to the next generation.
• Making a commitment to remaining lovingly engaged in worship and service with all members of this church, even amid our conflicts, is an essential feature of what it means to love each other as Christ loves us.

Read the entire piece (HERE), and post a response on the Covenant blog on your thoughts!

It's "Reformation Sunday" ... a few reflections

First, from Stanley Hauerwas, courtesy of the "Covenant" Blog...

Stanley Hauerwas: Reformation is Sin

By Sam Keyes | October 28, 2007

As much as I love singing “A mighty fortress is our God,” I see little reason to celebrate “Reformation Sunday,” observed today by many Lutherans and other Protestants. (No doubt many reformed Anglican congregations observe it as well.) Hauerwas’s rhetoric is, unsurprisingly, provocative, but in a divided Church I think it important to remember this day not as a triumph but as a failure:

I realize that this perspective on Reformation Sunday is not the usual perspective. The usual perspective is to tell us what a wonderful thing happened at the Reformation. The Reformation struck a blow for freedom. No longer would we be held in medieval captivity to law and arbitrary authority. The Reformation was the beginning of enlightenment, of progressive civilizations, of democracy, that have come to fruition in this wonderful country called America. What a destructive story.

You can tell the destructive character of that narrative by what it has done to the Jews. The way we Protestants read history, and in particular our Bible, has been nothing but disastrous for the Jews. For we turned the Jews into Catholics by suggesting that the Jews had sunk into legalistic and sacramental religion after the prophets and had therefore become moribund and dead. In order to make Jesus explicable (in order to make Jesus look like Luther - at least the Luther of our democratic projections), we had to make Judaism look like our characterization of Catholicism. Yet Jesus did not free us from Israel; rather, he engrafted us into the promise of Israel so that we might be a people called to the same holiness of the law.

This whole sermon is online here.

Second, from Fr. Logue at "Irenic Thoughts"...

Reformation Sunday

On October 31, 1517, a seminary professor and monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 propositions for debate to the door of the Wittenburg Castle Church. This action touched off what we now call the Reformation. There is joy in what the Reformation brought about in that having the Bible and the worship in the language of the people (rather than Latin) is a direct result of the debate Luther began within the church. But, the Reformation also led to the prefusion of denominatons and led to more persecutation of persons of varying Christian beliefs.

Read the rest HERE.