The Maori Anglican Church has discarded a proposed covenant that could have been used to discipline churches which ordain gay bishops and priests. The proposal arose following the 1994 ordination of an openly gay bishop by the American Episcopal church, after which The Archbishop of Canterbury set up a commission to look at ways that the Anglican Communion could stay together in the face of conflicts. Maori Anglican Members discussed the proposal at a meeting at Te Papa-i-o-uru Marae in Rotorua, but rejected it due to not wanting to conform to the standards of the rest of the world. “The proposed Covenant is trying to impose on us something that should be based on relationship – on whanaungatanga or manaakitanga,” Archdeacon Turi Hollis said, according to an article on the church's website. Seconding the motion, the Rev Don Tamihere said the Covenant was not about homosexuality. “It is about compliance and control. “We are being asked to sign over our sovereignty, our rangatiratanga to an overseas group… To a standing committee over whom we have no choice or control. And they have the power to recommend punishment. “The proposed Covenant offers us nothing new – or nothing we need as Anglicans, as Hahi Mihinare, or as disciples of Jesus Christ. “We don’t need it to have faith in Jesus Christ: We already have a covenant that binds us to our saviour, Jesus Christ. And that is the only covenant we need.” The article explains that the Covenant will still come before General Synod in July, but a decision to accept it requires a majority vote in all three houses - lay, clergy and bishops - and by all three tikanga. It says the Maori Anglican Church's decision effectively binds all Maori representatives on General Synod to say no. Non-Maori dioceses are split on the measure, with Wellington, Nelson and Waikato-Taranaki all expressing qualified support, while Auckland, Waiapu and Dunedin have rejected it. Christchurch and Polynesia have yet to come up with recommendations.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 7th November 2011 - 3:08pm