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Inquiring Minds Want to Know: A Lay Person's Perspective on the Proposed Anglican Covenant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2012

Fredrica Harris Thompsett
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Abstract

Baptism is the sacrament that incorporates Christians into the Body of Christ; 99 percent of the church are laity. The proposed Anglican Covenant's emphasis on formal authority exercised by bishops and primates changes the relationships among all Anglicans, not just bishops. This change may run against a fundamental Anglican tradition of ongoing communal reflection that acknowledges that elements of church life change because they are no longer convenient or useful in particular locales. In adopting the Anglican Covenant, are we stating that traditional Anglican polity is no longer convenient or useful for the Provinces of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church?

Keywords

AnglicanauthoritybaptismcovenantEpiscopal Churchlaity
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Anglican Studies , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , 30 March 2012 , pp. 42 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust 2012

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Footnotes

1.

Dr Fredrica Harris Thompsett is Mary Wolfe Professor of Historical Theology and faculty emerita at the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA.

References

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10. See Bishop Christopter Epting's reflections on the proposed covenant in Episcopal Café, available at: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/anglican_communion/an_ecumenist_off_two_minds_on.html#more (accessed 5 October 2010).Google Scholar

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