Are You Being Served

The inestimable Ruth of the Times has given advance notice that a new draft of the proposed Anglican Covenant will see the light of day on Ash Wednesday. She reports that Archbishop Drexel Gomez seems to think that under the new draft (dubbed the Saint Andrew's) the Episcopal Church will be "unlikely to face discipline or any form of exclusion from the Anglican Communion as a result of consecrating Gene Robinson." (Ruth's words, not Drexel's.) She also reports him as saying (again, not as a quotation but in summary) that "most of the conservative churches of the Global South would welcome the text of the new draft."

As Captain Peacocke once said in reference to Mrs. Slocombe's dress (the one that made her feel 18 years old again), "A remarkable garment indeed."

However, I look forward to the revelation of the Saint Andrew's Draft (even though it sounds rather like a pint of bitter) on Ash Wednesday. Rather than a bitter brew, will it be an exercise in simultaneous cake possession and consumption; or perhaps a new form of Anglican Fudge? Perhaps it might be well to forgo both on one of the official Fast Days in the calendar. But if this new version is as good as seems to be claimed, perhaps it will be irresistible. We may soon know if we are being well served, and the extent to which anyone will be able to claim, having submitted to the bonds of affection, "I'm free!"

Tobias Haller BSG