The Covenant is ‘the only game in town’ if the Church of England is to remain in any meaningful sense apart of the third largest world church. There is no alternative.  So the Church of England’s choices are to adopt the Covenant, or to disappear from the world's radar as a significant voice in the world.

Our understanding of ourselves as Anglicans is greatly enhanced by our links with those in other Provinces, and by our identity as a ‘global church’.

Nobody thinks that the Covenant is going to solve all our problems, but it provides some sort of framework, some antidote to fragmentation, which we did not have before.

The Church of England has consistently supported the Covenant up to now; why turn our backs on it?

While many in the Church of England may not until now have given much thought to the wider Anglican Communion, those in other Provinces care deeply about links with Canterbury and the Church of England.

Many of those who have already adopted the Covenant are poor parts of the world, to whom those links are especially important. E.g. Papua New Guinea in adopting it said they were ‘proud to be Anglican’. If we reject the Covenant, it will send out the message that we don’t think we need them.

We don’t have to do what the Archbishop of Canterbury tells us, but we do have to accept that his priority is trying to hold the Communion together, and that he has a global view that most of us lack. We should therefore at least listen to him.