• The Anglican Covenant and Communion Motions

    The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church will debate and decide on the Anglican Covenant next week on Friday 8 June 2012 during a session that is timed to last from 0915 until 1045.

    The General Synod will debate two motions.

    Anglican Covenant

    Motion 26: That this Synod agree in principle to adopt the Anglican Covenant and instruct the Faith and Order Board to arrange to bring forward appropriate canonical provision for consideration for first reading at General Synod 2013.

    Anglican Communion
    Motion 27: That this Synod

    • Give thanks for the part played by the Scottish Episcopal Church in the early stages of the evolution of the Anglican Communion through the consecration of Samuel Seabury in Aberdeen;
    • Affirm its desire to continue to be part of the Anglican Communion as it seeks closer union while celebrating its diversity;
    • Call on the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primates’ Meeting, the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council to encourage the development of bonds of shared mission, respect and mutual support through which the Anglican Communion can help spread the love of Christ across the world;
    • Affirm the work of the Anglican Communion Networks, bodies and initiatives through which those bonds can be nurtured.

    The notes from last year’s General Synod ‘indaba’ process are available.

    There is also a paper from the Faith and Order Board.

One response to “Eid, Pride and Abraham’s Sacrifice”

  1. Tim Avatar

    As one who grew up(?) in churches leaning toward the view “it’s a tough story for a tough world, how else would God be just?” in varying degrees, I agree the face-value-narrative understanding of the story is repellant.

    One thing stood out for the first time during Sunday’s reading: the plurality in Abraham’s line – “…and we will return to you”. I’ve been idly wondering about that since.
    It doesn’t make the story wholly acceptable as Abraham still ploughs on ever closer.
    But if one’s goal is to find a “by faith, Abraham” in there, better to say it’s the prior confidence that things will somehow work out well (which I thought was how Hebrews was trying to define it), than to locate the commendable quality in violence (which, by rabbiting on about resurrection, Hebrews does).

    In the absence of other clear & wholly mitigating contexts in which to place the story, certainly it’s simplest, easiest and probably best to file it under “that’s how they saw God back then” and move swiftly on.

    Oofft.

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