Covenant
IN THE NAME OF GOD: FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.
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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:
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Membership
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.
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).
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
At no time may two or more representatives of any single Full Partner entity serve on the Steering Committee.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.