Dioceses supporting the Covenant

According to The Living Church's report the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams,

"has welcomed an endorsement of the first three sections of the Anglican Covenant by the Diocese of Central Florida’s board and standing committee".

Presumably ++Rowan will also be pleased to learn that the Synods of the Dioceses of Nelson and Christchurch in the Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia have resolved as follows:

"(1) That this Synod notes the Ridley Cambridge Draft (RCD) of the Anglican Communion
Covenant;

(2) That this Synod notes the Resolution of ACC 14, held in Jamaica, May 2009:
“Resolution 14.11: The Anglican Communion Covenant - Resolved, 08.05.09

The Anglican Consultative Council:
a. thanks the Covenant Design Group for their faithfulness and responsiveness in producing the drafts for an Anglican Communion Covenant and, in particular, for the Ridley Cambridge Draft submitted to this meeting;
b. recognises that an Anglican Communion Covenant may provide an effective means to
strengthen and promote our common life as a Communion;
c. asks the Archbishop of Canterbury, in consultation with the Secretary General, to appoint a small working group to consider and consult with the Provinces on Section 4 and its possible revision, and to report to the next meeting of the Standing Committee;
d. asks the Standing Committee, at that meeting, to approve a final form of Section 4;
e. asks the Secretary General to send the revised Ridley Cambridge Text, at that time, only to the member Churches of the Anglican Consultative Council for consideration and decision on acceptance or adoption by them as The Anglican Communion Covenant;
f. asks those member Churches to report to ACC-15 on the progress made in the processes of response to, and acceptance or adoption of, the Covenant.”

(3) That this Synod:
(3.1) Supports in principle the Anglican Communion Covenant process as initiated by The Windsor Report (2004);
(3.2) Commends the Ridley Cambridge Draft as it currently stands as the practicable means available to make the Anglican Communion Covenant process become effective in the life of the Anglican Communion;
(3.3) Conveys this Synod’s commendation to our General Synod Secretariat and the Covenant Working Group by the Feast Day of All Saints, 1 November, 2009."

Provinces sign up to the Covenant, but provinces are made up of dioceses. The more dioceses queuing up to endorse or commend the Covenant the better for those concerned that provinces reflect grass roots support rather than the views of those who can afford the time to be at general conventions and general synods!

Conversely, those not supportive of the Covenant - remember, that includes those on the 'left' and the 'right' of Communion life - are committed to the life of the Communion and will be keenly aware of any momentum generated through diocesan synods and the like which begins to give a clear sense of the mind of the Communion on the Covenant.