Oxford Movement (or not?)

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition has posted a concise negative review of the equally concise analysis of the Proposed Anglican Covenant prepared for the Diocese of Oxford. The NACC point to the irony of claiming the document will, at one level, "make no difference at all" (5.1) but then go on to claim (5.2) that the PAC may help the churches of the Communion

• To articulate and explain the Anglican traditions and faith they have inherited 


• Express their solidarity with each other, when any is the subject of misunderstanding or persecution 


• To reinforce interdependence, mutual responsibility, and awareness of each others’ differing cultures

These assertions do not appear to me to stand up very well to close examination. I am not alone in noting the extent to which the PAC

• introduces a significantly "different" manner of working and governance for the Communion


• departs from several basic elements of "Anglican tradition"


• may well formalize forms of misunderstanding and at least marginalization if not outright persecution, and


• may impede interdependence by promoting dependency and submission, cultivate irresponsibility in enforcing change on provinces without adequate awareness of the consequences, and attempt to suppress or subsume the differences in cultures that have led to the disagreements in the first place

So, all in all, not a very good analysis from Oxford.



Tobias Stanislas Haller

see my topic tag link to Anglican Covenant for more on the problems with the PAC and its ancestors; you will note that I have waffled a bit on the extent to which the PAC is pernicious or useless, but I have never thought it was a Good Idea, particularly at this time. I never counsel marriage when a couple are having difficulties in their relationship.