29 March 2012

Another Weekend of English Synods

This just in: Manchester votes NO. The Covenant failed in all three houses of their vote by orders, Lay, Clergy and Bishops. More than anything this vote demonstrates that the Covenant cannot stand scrutiny. Here is a table for Manchester.
  Votes YES    Votes NO   Abstentions 
House of Bishops    1    2    0  
House of Clergy  15  25  1
House of Laity  12  23  0


It is very late in the evening in England as I type this. Saturday morning, a number of synods will begin to consider business including the vote on the Anglican Covenant, and various, "following motions." One diocese, London, voted today. The vote is another overwhelming defeat for the Covenant supporters. And it is another example of how discontented from their flocks the Shepherds stand.

  Votes YES    Votes NO   Abstentions 
House of Bishops    2    1    0  
House of Clergy  17  32  1
House of Laity  26  33  2

Manchester also votes this Palm Sunday Weekend. We are awaiting them with as much interest as we had before the absolute majority of the Church of England's synods voted no. Each diocese and each voter is important.

As the reaction to the no voters' victory has emerged, the proponents of the covenant have been looking for what we Americans call, "spin." For those who do not follow the genre, "spin" is a way to lie about votes you do not like and pretend you somehow won. Cf. the {warning pretentious title follows} "Secretary General of the Anglican Communion" statement for a particularly dismal example. I advise preparation for more spin.

FWIW
jimB

2 comments:

MadPriest said...

Are more bishops voting against the covenant now that it has been defeated?

JimB said...

It is hard to say as the sample is so small. We will know about that after the next few weeks when we see some more synods. It appears more clergy are, but then they have always understood better how the Coveant would screw them over.

It is an interesting question isn't it? If as appears to be the early case, that the hard core supporters are going to take this as only a delay, then it really does matter. We need more data to really know if there is a trend.

FWIW
jimB

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