General Synod votes to send Jerusalem Declaration to Australian churches for study

The National Synod of the Anglican Church has voted to commend the study of the Jerusalem Declaration, formulated at GAFCON in 2008.

Synod also wants churches to consider the Anglican Covenant, put forward by the Anglican Consultative Council, as part of a three year process of discussion.

Dr Peter Bolt, of Sydney’s Moore College, urged the Synod to reject the motion calling for a national debate on the covenant saying many people around the world had already rejected it.

Bishop Garry Weatherill of the South Australian Diocese of Willochra said he felt “incredibly ambivalent about the Covenant.”

“I believe the Covenant as we have it now is too little, too late, too tricky and too simplistic but not simple,” he said.

Synod sent the Covenant for debate but declined to ‘welcome’ it, instead it was ‘received’.

Debate on the Jerusalem Declaration began with prominent Melbourne delegate Muriel Porter declaring the document should not be sent to churches because it would then be accorded the same status at the Covenant.

Synod did not agree, although the motion was amended by Archbishop Roger Herft, who defended circulating the Declaration.

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