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An Anglican Covenant

The idea for an Anglican Covenant was first mooted in the Windsor Report (paragraphs 113-120). The Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and of the Anglican Consultative Council commissioned a study paper on the idea in March 2005, Towards an Anglican Covenant.

At its meeting in May 2006, the Joint Standing Committee asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to establish a Covenant Design Group to further the project. This group gave a preliminary report to the Primates Meeting at Dar es Salaam in February 2007. The report included the Nassau Draft - a draft for the covenant on which initial consultation was taken in the course of 2007.

The draft is accompanied by a number of supporting documents, including the introduction, a commentary and a draft appendix.

The Covenant Design Group met again at the end of January 2008, and produced a second report and draft - the St. Andrew's Draft - taking into account many of the submissions to the group. This draft was offered for further reflection to the Provinces, but extensive reflection and discussion were undertaken by the bishops at this year's Lambeth Conference.

The comments and discussion of the bishops were received by the Covenant Design Group at their meeting in Singapore in September 2008 - and a Lambeth Commentary has now been issued which picks up on the many points of the bishops thinking, as well as offering the further reflection of the Covenant Design Group.

The current period of consultation closes at the beginning of March 2009, when the Covenant Design Group will meet to develop a further revision of the text, and a comprehensive report which will present a review of the progress on the Covenant Process for consideration at the fourteenth meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in May 2009.

The Covenant Design Group continues to welcome comments and criticisms on the draft texts, and intends to publish responses as part of the consultation process. Documents can be viewed here.

This part of the website includes all this documentation, together with other contributions and insights received in connection with the covenant process. Submissions on the covenant process are welcome and should be sent to The Secretary of the Design Group, Canon Gregory Cameron at the Anglican Communion Office. covenant@anglicancommunion.org