Covenant

IN THE NAME OF GOD: FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.

+
WHEREAS the Great Commission (Mt. 28:18-20, Luke 24-47, Acts 1:8) declares all followers of Jesus
Christ who seek to obey the Great Commandment to be the bearers of the Good News of God's
Kingdom and provides a mandate for Global Mission; and
WHEREAS after nearly 2000 years we still do not yet see his Great Commission fulfilled, but do see
much of the world languishing in spiritual darkness, need, and deep oppression; and
WHEREAS there is an urgent need to make disciples among those who have not heard and responded
to the Gospel, especially among those who live in societies with few or no believers and among the
young who live in increasingly post-Christian societies; and
WHEREAS God has raised up individuals, churches, dioceses, and agencies to pursue fulfillment of the
Great Commission through the Anglican Communion; and
WHEREAS we value our partnership with Anglicans around the world who are a vital, growing force
for the accomplishment of the Great Commission and the invigoration of Biblically faithful
Anglicanism; and
WHEREAS collaboration among individuals, churches, dioceses, and agencies may tend to increased
effectiveness in our common cause;
THEREFORE the undersigned representatives and individuals establish this Covenant as follows:

ARTICLE I
Name. This collaborative network shall be known as the “Anglican Global Mission Partners North
America (AGMP-NA).”

ARTICLE II
Vision. The members of Anglican Global Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA) envision an
Anglican Church in North America passionately committed to make disciples of all nations in the name
of Jesus Christ.

ARTICLE III
Mission. The members of Anglican Global Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA) will network
missionary movements within the Anglican Church in North America in order to propagate the
unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples of all nations. We pursue fulfillment of the Great
Commission of Jesus through collaborating, exhorting, equipping, sending and receiving in ways that
increase the impact of one another's ministries and the entire Body of Christ.

ARTICLE IV
Authority. The members of Anglican Global Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA) commit to
conduct our mission and our deliberations under the authority of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments and in accordance with catholic, apostolic Tradition. We also submit to the godly
authorities who are committed to the ultimate authority of the living God as revealed in the Holy
Scriptures.

ARTICLE V
Structure. The Anglican Global Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA) network shall be
structured as follows:
1. Membership
1. Anglican Global Mission Partners shall consist of Partner nonprofit entities such as
mission agencies, parishes, and dioceses that publicly affirm or whose charters fully
comply with the statement “A Place to Stand/A Call to Mission” (Appendix 1) and/or the
“Confession and Calling of the Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes” (Appendix
2). Other documents approved at the Partners Meeting may be required.
2. There shall be two categories of Full Partner entities: Agency Partners and Church
Partners. In addition to these Full Partners, there shall also be individual Associate
Partners.
Full Partners shall be non-profit entities whose governing boards have voted to subscribe
to this Anglican Global Mission Partners Covenant and the Anglican Global Mission
Partners Missiological Statement and so confirmed by the signatures of the board or
legal policy-making body, whose activities include substantial pursuit of the Great
Commission. For this application for Partnership to go into effect it must be approved by
the Steering Committee and ratified by the next Partners meeting of the Anglican Global
Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA. Each full Partner organization may
designate one representative who shall have both voice and vote in the meetings of
Anglican Global Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA).
3. In votes taken in the Annual Partnership Meeting, Agency Partners shall have the right to
veto any action of the entire body by a simple majority of Agency Partner representatives
present at the meeting. Such a vote may be conducted in a closed session of the Agency
Partners and reported to the whole body.
4. Associate Partners shall be individuals who subscribe to the Anglican Global Mission
Partners Covenant and the Anglican Global Mission Partners Missiological Statement,
and whose application for Partnership has been accepted by the Steering Committee and
ratified at the Partners Meeting. Associate Partners have voice in Partner meetings, but
have no vote in the Partner Meetings. Secondary representatives from each Full Partner
entity may also have voice but not vote in the Partner Meetings. All Partners, Full and
Associate, must publicly subscribe to “A Place to Stand, A Call to Mission” and/or the
theological statement of the Anglican Communion Network “Confession and Calling of
the Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes” or another document approved for this
purpose at an AGMP-NA Partners Meeting. (see Appendices).
5. Application for and renewal of Partnership for both Full Partners and Associate Partners
shall be submitted in writing every 3 years. They shall include prescribed signatures and
provide supporting documentation as per forms approved by the Steering Committee.
2. Steering Committee
1. There shall be a Steering Committee consisting of nine representatives, and up to three
selected consultative representatives. Six of the nine representatives shall be chosen from
among the Agency Partner Members and three from among the Church Partner Members
through the process of drawing lots by the full membership of Anglican Global Mission
Partners North America (AGMP-NA) at its annual meeting, terms of office to commence
at the time of selection for a period of three years.
2. Each year three of the nine representatives, including two Agency representatives and
one Church representative, shall be chosen from among the Church Partner Members
through the process of drawing lots by the full membership of Anglican Global Mission
Partners North America (AGMP-NA) at its annual meeting, terms of office to commence
at the time of selection for a period of three years. In addition, any vacancies due to
resignation of Steering Committee members shall also be filled in the same manner at
that time. When a new Steering Committee member is selected to fill a vacancy due to
resignation, the term of service shall be the balance of the unexpired term.
3. At no time may two or more representatives of any single Full Partner entity serve on the
Steering Committee.
4. Up to three consultative, non-voting, representatives may be selected by the unanimous
approval of the Steering Committee to serve at any one time as representatives on the
Steering Committee, such representative's term to begin at the time of selection and
continue until the next Annual Meeting.
5. Standards for serving on the Steering Committee include a commitment to attend
mutually scheduled meetings, an acceptance of limited committee assignments for the
Steering Committee, the possession of the temperament, gifts and experience to
contribute effectively in a steering committee, and a sense God is calling that person to
stand for selection. A three year rotation shall be established, with three representatives
on the Steering Committee rotating off every year.
6. Any vacancy in the Steering Committee caused by resignation of a representative or a
Full Partner entity's departure from Anglican Global Mission Partners North America
(AGMP-NA) shall be filled by the Steering Committee from the Partner members. The
next Partners meeting shall fill that position by using the selection process following a
Partner removal as described below. The Chair of the Steering Committee for the
following year shall be selected by the new Steering Committee during a recess the last
day of the annual meeting. Except where specified by this Covenant, the Steering
Committee shall be empowered to act on behalf of the entire Anglican Global Mission
Partners between Partner meetings.
7. It shall be the responsibility of the Steering Committee to remove from Partnership any
organization or individual which departs from the standards of this Covenant. Any such
removal may be contested at the next annual meeting by the removed party.
8. Any or all representatives on the Steering Committee may be removed with or without
cause by a 2/3rds vote at any Partnership meeting. Selection of new Steering Committee
representatives to fill the terms of the vacant seat(s) shall proceed immediately by asking
for volunteers who meet the standards for Steering Committee participation from among
the Full Partners, including those just removed. Steering Committee representatives shall
 then be selected from among those volunteers by prayer and casting lots. The selection
thus rendered shall not be overturned for a period of one year.
9. Anglican Global Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA) may select
representatives from among the Partners to liaison with other bodies for specific
purposes. Such representatives will be chosen by the Steering Committee. The choice of
ongoing representatives must be ratified by the Partner meeting.
10.The Steering Committee may either coordinate AGMP-NA activities and manage a
budget directly or delegate that responsibility to an AGMP-NA Coordinator. A full
accounting of all AGMP-NA activities and all income and expenses shall be given at the
Annual Partners Meeting. Any AGMP-NA staffing decisions shall be approved at the
Annual Partners Meeting.
3. Partnership Meetings
1. There shall be an annual meeting of Anglican Global Mission Partners North America
(AGMP-NA) in the first half of every year. The time and place of this meeting shall be
selected either at the previous annual meeting or with at least 6 months prior notification
to all Partners.
2. Other Partnership meetings may be called by the Steering Committee with two months
advance notice to all Partners via mail, email, or other personal or electronic means. The
annual meeting and other Partner meetings shall be chaired by the Chair of the Steering
Committee or their designee. A majority of Agency Partner representatives shall
constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE VI
Relationship to the World Wide Anglican Communion. We seek to ignite and fuel global missions
through the Anglican Communion of Churches. We also commit ourselves to maintaining, rebuilding,
and strengthening missionary relationships beyond the Anglican Communion; and we eagerly anticipate
a greater realignment among all churches committed to the primary authority of Scripture.

ARTICLE VII
Affiliation. This Partnership calls upon other like-minded agencies, dioceses, parishes, congregations,
and individual missionaries to apply for affiliation with Anglican Global Mission Partners North
America (AGMP-NA). Any entity desiring to affiliate with the Anglican Global Mission Partners
network shall fulfill the requirements for Partnership as established in this Covenant and administered
by the Steering Committee.

ARTICLE VIII
Ordination. The Partners of the Anglican Global Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA) may
hold differing positions regarding the ordination of women and pledge that we shall recognize and
honor the positions and practices on this issue of others in this network.
ARTICLE IX
Amendments. This Covenant may be amended by the vote of two thirds of the Partners of the Anglican
Global Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA) at a duly called Partner meeting. Proposed
amendments to this Covenant must be circulated to the Full Partners in writing no less than 10 days
prior to any Partner meeting. The provisions of Article V. Section c. apply to this Article.

ARTICLE X
Collaboration. Anglican Global Mission Partners North America (AGMP-NA) is not a new global
mission hierarchy within North American Anglicanism. It is a network. Therefore we intend to pursue
all our joint initiatives through extant or emerging freestanding agencies or ecclesiastical entities. We
covenant to work together in every way possible to bless one another's unique ministries, to create
missionary partnerships, to encourage missionary vocations among young people, to raise up new
generations of missionaries, to increase the efficiency and impact of our missionary endeavors, to
identify and address gaps in the current configuration of our missionary endeavors, and to faithfully
make disciples of all nations.

Adopted unanimously by representatives of agencies, parishes, and dioceses present on May 21, 2004,
at the Bishop Mason Conference Center, Flower Mound, Texas. Amended, May 25, 2006 at the Annual
Partners Meeting, Heartland Center, Kansas City, Missouri.
A Place to Stand, A Call to Mission
A common confession of the gospel
The Gospel and the Triune God: We rejoice in the grace of the Triune God, who has forgiven our sins
and given us redemption in Jesus Christ. We proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, fully human and fully
divine, who became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, lived a life of perfect obedience to his heavenly
Father, died on the cross to atone for the sins of the world, and rose bodily in accordance with the
Scriptures. God the Holy Spirit draws us to faith in Jesus Christ, through whom alone we are justified
and found acceptable by God the Father.
Christian Obedience: We confess Jesus as the Lord to whom all authority in heaven and earth has
been given by the Father. We commit ourselves to follow him and love him above all else and to
conform our lives to his example and teaching by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Holy Scripture: We believe all Scriptures were "written for our learning" (Romans 15:4), that they are
"God's Word written," and that we are to "hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them." We
commit ourselves to regular Bible study and to preach and teach only that which is in accordance with
Holy Scripture.
Congregational Life: We hold corporate worship, discipleship, and mission to be interconnected and
indispensable aspects of our response to God as he revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ. We are
committed to being sacrificially involved in all three aspects of congregational life.
Mission and Missions: The Risen Lord commissioned his disciples to preach the gospel and to follow
his commandments. The mission of the Church includes both evangelistic proclamation and deeds of
love and service. We commit ourselves and our resources to this mission, both locally and to the
uttermost parts of the earth. We affirm our particular responsibility to know, love, and serve the Lord in
our local settings and contexts. Since the biblical pattern of witness moves from the local to the global,
we will endeavor to be well-informed about our local communities and active in church planting,
evangelism, service, social justice, and cross-cultural, international mission, with particular concern for
the poor and the unreached peoples of the world.
Historic Faith, Ecumenical Vision: We affirm the Faith of the Church as it is set forth in the Nicene
and Apostles' Creeds and in the classical Prayer Book tradition, including those documents contained in
the "Historical Documents" section of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (BCP p.863). We further
affirm the principles of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral (BCP p.876) as an expression of the
normative authority of Holy Scripture and as a basis for our present unity with brothers and sisters in
the Anglican Communion and for the future reunion of all the divided branches of Christ's one holy,
catholic and apostolic Church.

Contemporary Implications of the Gospel

Christian mission is rooted in unchanging biblical revelation. At particular times, however, specific
challenges to authentic faith and holiness arise which require thoughtful and vigorous response. We
therefore speak to the following issues of our time and culture.
The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ: While religions and philosophies of the world are not without
elements of truth, Jesus Christ alone is the full revelation of God. In and through the Gospel, Jesus
judges and corrects all views and doctrines. All persons everywhere need to learn of him, come to know
and believe in him, and receive forgiveness and new life in him, as there is no other name given under
heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
Church and State: Biblical social commandments and Christian ethical principles are foundational to
the well-being of every society. Recognizing the call of Christians to be faithful witnesses and a
challenging presence in society, we are committed to seek ways to express these commandments and
principles in all spheres of life, including the public life of the nation.
Sanctity of Life: All human life is a sacred gift from God and is to be protected and defended from
conception to natural death. We will uphold the sanctity of life and bring the grace and compassion of
Christ to those who face the realities of previous abortion, unwanted pregnancy, and end-of-life illness.
True Inclusivity: In grateful response to Christ Jesus, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave
nor free, male nor female, we will extend the welcome of the Church to every person, regardless of
race, sex, social or economic status, sexual orientation, or past behavior. We will oppose prejudice in
ourselves and others and renounce any false notion of inclusivity that denies that all are sinners who
need to repent.
Marriage, Family, and the Single Life :God has instituted marriage to be a life-long union of hus-
band and wife, intended for their mutual joy, help, and comfort, and, when it is God's will, for the
procreation and nurture of children. Divorce is always contrary to God's original intention, though in a
fallen world it is sometimes a tragic necessity. The roles of father and mother, exercised in a variety of
ways, are God-given and profoundly important since they are the chief providers of moral instruction
and godly living. The single life, either by call or by circumstance, is honored by God. It is therefore
important for unmarried persons to embrace and be embraced by the Christian family.
Human Sexuality: Sexuality is inherent in God's creation of every human person in his image as male
and female. All Christians are called to chastity: husbands and wives by exclusive sexual fidelity to one
another and single persons by abstinence from sexual intercourse. God intends and enables all people to
live within these boundaries, with the help and in the fellowship of the Church.

Support of the Episcopal Church

We desire to be supportive of congregations, dioceses, provinces, and the national structures of the
Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion. However, when there arise within the
Church at any level tendencies, pronouncements, and practices contrary to biblical, classical Anglican
doctrinal and moral standards, we must not and will not support them. Councils can err and have erred,
and the Church has no authority to ordain anything contrary to God's Word written (Articles of
Religion XIX, XX - BCP p.871). When teachings and practices contrary to Scripture and to this
orthodox Anglican perspective are permitted within the Church- or even authorized by the General
Convention- in obedience to God, we will disassociate ourselves from those specific teachings and
practices and will resist them in every way possible.

Invitation to Association
We invite all members of the Episcopal Church who concur in this classical Anglican perspective, to
stand with us for mutual enlightenment, encouragement, mission, and ministry, and, where necessary,
for protection of the right to live and minister in obedience to Scripture, Anglican tradition, and
conscience. We further invite all persons who share this faith to stand with us.

Confession and Calling

Of the Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes

Preface
There are times within the history of the church when Christians have been faced with threats, some
internal and some external, to the integrity of their common life and faith. The recent actions of the
Diocese of New Westminster and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church U.S.A. confront the
various provinces of the Anglican Communion with just such a threat to the historic Faith and Order
that defines their existence as a communion. In the face of this, obedience requires a faithful statement
of belief and a renewed commitment to the practices that give expression to the saving truth of the
Christian Gospel. The statement of confession and calling that follows has been occasioned by actions
that have compromised the witness and mission of Anglicans throughout the world, rent the unity of the
Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church U.S.A., torn the fabric of the Anglican
Communion, and violated the trust so necessary for the fruitful relations with other churches and other
faiths. It is offered with an admission of common responsibility for the dire circumstances in which the
Anglican Communion finds itself, with a deep sense of penitence for shared disobedience. We are
committed to amendment of life, the genuineness of which we pray shall be attested by the appearance
among us of the fruits and the gifts of the Spirit. The statement is offered also with the knowledge that
the spiritual health of our Communion and the authenticity of its witness and mission require of us not
only fidelity to the faith of the Apostles but amendment of life in ways marked out by the path of
suffering taken by our Lord.

I. Stewards of a Trust
1. We confess, hold and bear witness before God and the world, that we have been “entrusted with
a glorious Gospel” by God (1 Tim. 1:11), a “message of reconciliation” in Christ Jesus (2 Cor .
5:19) ; and that as “stewards of God's mysteries” our calling is to be “trustworthy” (1 Cor .
4:1f.) , willing to “guard the truth” that the Holy Spirit has shared with us through our baptism
 (2 Tim. 1:14) in the Church, passed on to us from the apostles (1:13) . Our identity as Anglicans,
whether in the Episcopal Church, USA or the Anglican Church in Canada , is founded on this
trust and this calling.
2. We confess, hold and bear witness that this “mystery of the faith” (1 Tim. 3:9) is the Church's
knowledge and proclamation of and life within the glorious reality of the Trinity, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. This trust embraces the full knowledge of God, given for the life of the world
(cf. Jn 1:18) and revealed in Christ through the Church's own life and teaching (cf. Eph. 1:15-
23) .
3. We confess, hold and bear witness that we are obliged to share this “mystery of Christ” even and
particularly in suffering (Col. 4:3) . Its form and meaning is embodied in the historical reality of
God's own self-giving, the Father “sending the Son” (1 Jn . 4:9f.) in Jesus' incarnation, death,
resurrection, and ascension (1 Tim 3:16) . It is given testimony through and for the sake of the
Holy Spirit's work in our lives (1 Cor . 2:7 ff.), “sending us” in the same movement as the Father
sends His Son ( Jn . 20:21f.) , so that, in the end, God might be glorified (cf. Rom 16:27). This is
our mission, located in God's own life.
4. We confess, hold and bear witness that this sending, the work of the Holy Spirit in particular, is
accomplished not through drawing us into new truths, but by binding us more fully to
Scripture's remembered word, especially the living testimony to Jesus' very words, rooted in the
Old Testament's promises and meanings. Thus, the mystery of God's own life as Trinity lived in
mission is shared with the world through his revealed word and human lives that listen and live
within the revelation of God's own being in Christ (compare Jn . 2:22; 14:24ff; Acts 11:16) .
5. We confess, hold and bear witness, in particular therefore, that this trust is given to us in the
Holy Scripture's received authority: the “Word of God” making known the “mysteries” of God
through the prophets and apostles by the Holy Spirit (Col 1:25ff.; Rom. 16:25f.; Eph. 3:5;
Nicene Creed) . This Word is made known and rightly apprehended, furthermore, in the
Church's life as it is bound in the unity of love and truth before the eyes of the world ( Jn . 17:20-
26; Col 2:1-6) , expressed in the common Creeds and Canons of the Christian churches, as they
have been led in recognized council across the ages. Within the Anglican Church of which we
are a part, this means that Scripture's meaning is rightly discerned in addition through the
theological ordering of our common historic formularies, including the sixteenth and
seventeenth century authorized Books of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles which
ground the belief and practices of our Communion's life. “In this way the authorities, which the
church needs for her mission, are defined and limited.” (Barmen Declaration Article 1) .
6. We confess, hold and bear witness finally that Scripture's authority is fruitfully received and
fulfills its formative function for the people of the Church when it is read in common, as a
whole, coherently and comprehensively, Old and New Testaments together, as a single revelation
of God's mysteries which teaches and builds up the Church in truth and holiness (2 Tim. 3:16; 2
Pet. 1:19-21; I Cor . 10:6) .

II. Trustworthy in Obedience and Communion

1. In light of this trust, we are called by God to two primary acts and attitudes of faithfulness:
obedience and communion. The preaching of Jesus Christ is done for the sake “bringing about
the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26) , and to this we submit ourselves, standing firm over
against “every wind of doctrine” precisely for the sake of “growing up in every way into him
 who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together upbuilds itself
in love” (Eph. 4:14-16) .
2. We are called because of this to found our communion in Christ on common obedience to God's
word which requires of us not pluriformity of truth and practice, but that we be of one mind and
follow the pattern of holiness marked out for us by our Lord and his Apostles ( Jn. 17:14 & 17;
Phil. 2:2 & 5; I Pet. 2:21; II Pet. 1:20; I Tim. 1:15-16) .
3. We are called therefore to oppose assaults on the authority of the Scriptures. We are also called
to oppose assaults on the way of life that the Scriptures enjoin (1 Tim. 6:3-6) . This opposition
comes, not from a divisive spirit, but from the precious vocation to holiness, which leads us
away from sin into the clear and obedient participation in God's own nature (Lev. 11:44: 20:26;
Matt. 5:48: I Pet. 1:14-16; 2 Pet. 1:4) .
4. We are called in our day and place, to oppose all those actions of synods, conventions,
individual bishops and priests, that contradict the apostolic and the Church's commonly
accepted scriptural teaching on marriage between man and woman as the divinely ordained,
holy, and exclusive context of human sexual activity, as the privileged social sacrament of God's
covenant of faithfulness for and figure of human redemption (Hosea 2:16-21; Mark 10:5-9: Eph.
5:29-32; Rev. 19: 7-9) , and on chastity outside of marriage as a holy and worthy calling (Matt.
19:12; I Cor. 7:32) . Such contradictions of Christian teaching subvert the communion of our
churches within the Anglican Communion and rend relationships within the larger Church. In
doing this, they represent an attack on the very mysteries of God, the evangelical trust of which
we are stewards
5. We are called to confess our profound sorrow for how these actions have broken ecumenical
trust within the wider household of faith. We are further called, then, to oppose all such actions
that subvert the truth of the gospel and the unity of the church that flows from it. We recognize
that this opposition will involve a struggle to discern true witness and in this struggle we seek to
be governed by charity and the desire to build up and not tear down others in the integrity of
their faith (I Cor. 8:1, 9; 2 Cor. 13:10; I Tim. 6:11; Titus 3:9ff) . For we uphold the truth that all
persons are called in baptism to a life that is daily renewed in the image of Christ Jesus
according to his word (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29; Col. 3:5-17) . We seek always to witness to this
universal gift and challenge together.
6. We are called to preach, convince, rebuke, exhort and teach in accordance with the Scripture's
truth that draws us together in Christ (2 Tim. 4:2) .
7. Our calling to obedience in particular commits us to follow the apostolic injunction to direct
ourselves to the knowledge and commending of Holy Scripture (Acts 20:27; 1 Tim. 4:13; Col.
3:16) , devoting ourselves to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and
the prayers (Acts 2:42) . To that end,
1. We commit ourselves to the study of Scripture, through serious, regular, and responsible
discipline and scholarship;
2. We commit ourselves to the clear explication of Scripture's full and perspicuous meaning
as apprehended within the common witness of the Church, in our preaching, writing, and
witness;
3. We commit ourselves to an obedient following of Scripture through disciplined habits of
prayer, zeal to maintain the unity of the body in the bond of peace, a common life
 conformed to the pattern of our Lord's, and through humble listening, conforming, and
mutual correction according to the teaching of Holy Scripture;
4. We commit ourselves to teaching the people and leaders of the Church through word and
example the truths of Scripture's mysteries through disciplined and accountable means of
Christian and priestly formation.
8. Our calling to communion in Christ in particular leads us to a commitment to engage, be formed
by, contribute to, and promote the “proper working” of the “knitted joints” of Christ's Body
within the church in which we are placed by God:
1. We commit ourselves to the primary organ of stewardship within the Church of Christ,
that is, an episcopate rooted in holiness, knowledge of Scripture, and apostolic
faithfulness (Titus 1:7-9);
2. We commit ourselves to the organs of communion within the Anglican Fellowship of
churches, respecting, living within, and holding accountable the representative bodies of
our larger church, especially in its faithful witness to the Gospel of which she is a
steward;
3. We commit ourselves to conciliar discussion and decision-making, and reject the
patterns of autonomous and sectarian self-rule that characterize the present age;
4. We commit ourselves to the virtues of communion (cf. Rom. 12:9-21; Eph. 4:25-5:21) ,
which embody the revealed truth of the Scripture's witness to the very being of God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the pattern of love itself;
5. We commit ourselves to the work of healing schism and estrangement within the Body
of Christ (1 Cor. 1:10) , through truth-telling, testing of the faith, repentance, humility,
apostolic authority, and building each other up (2 Cor. 13:5-11) .
6. We commit ourselves to the support of communion, through our ministry, mission, and
the sharing of our goods and resources in partnership with those to whom God has
joined us in the Body of His Son.

III. Repentance, Reconciliation, Reform, Renewal

1. We know that the trust we have been given is ours to guard even in the face of divine judgment,
and even through the midst of suffering (2 Tim. 1:11f) . Our faithfulness as stewards is tied both
to our own penitence and accepted affliction, “rejoicing in the sharing of Christ's sufferings”
and in the testing and justice of God, “entrusting our souls to a faithful Creator” (1 Pet. 4:12-
19) . Our confession and calling therefore lead us to repent (Mk 1:14-15; Lk 24:45-47); to seek
reconciliation among ourselves, in the church and in the world (2 Cor. 5:18-20) ; to reform our
lives and the life of God's Church (Matt. 5:17-20); and to renew the church where God has
placed us (Rom 12:1-2), and to do this:
1. through disciplined patterns, held in common among us and our leaders, of prayer, bible
study, and the humility of constant repentance, gentleness, and suffering (James 4:6ff; 1
Tim. 1:15; Gal. 6:14) . These patterns will be founded on a rule of life, of prayer, fasting
and almsgiving as outlined by our Lord (Matt. 6:1-21) including but not limited to: the
Daily Office using the Lectionary, Daily study of Scripture, weekly Communion,
submission to appropriate spiritual authorities, regular fasting, and sacrificial giving.
2. through the mission of sharing the glorious Gospel of God and teaching obedience to its
revelation among all peoples (Matt.28:18-20) , that “every family in heaven and on
earth” might come to know and be transformed by the “fullness” of Christ's love (Eph.
3:14-19) ;
3. through the formation of believers in the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:12-4:6) , in
knowledge and sacrificial service;
4. through a unity of belief and practice that serves to expose the individualism and
congregationalism that is now regnant within the Church at large and that denies the
Name of Jesus (1 Cor. 1:10; Phil. 2:1-11) ;
5. through our seeking of the oneness of Christ's body for which our Lord prayed, working
to overcome the fractures past and present that have marred the Church of Christ “One
Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.” (Nicene Creed) .