The denial in this viewpoint is stunning. pecusa has been losing a thousand members a week for a few years now and one of the principal causes of that doesn't see the new province for North America lasting long? The churches associated with the new province have been growing. The trend couldn't be more obvious except to those in deep denial. ed.
From the Anglican Journal via TitusOneNine:
Ecumenical News International
Chris Herlinger
Jun 29, 2009
New York
A new North American group claiming to embrace "traditional Anglican values" will not last long, the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop has predicted.
Bishop Gene Robinson, an openly homosexual man living openly with a partner, whose 2003 consecration as bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire created a backlash among traditional believers within the U.S., church, told Ecumenical News International he does not believe the new Anglican grouping has long-term viability.
"A church that does not ordain women or openly gay people - I don't see a future for that," Robinson told ENI after delivering a sermon on 28 June at the First Presbyterian Church in New York City during the city's annual gay pride festivities.
His response came after the June 22-25 assembly of the Anglican Church in North America, meeting in Dallas, Texas, formalised years of dissatisfaction with the Episcopal Church over policies that have included the ordination of women, permission to perform holy unions for same-sex couples and the consecration of an openly gay bishop.
Calling the week the foundation of a "hopeful future," Archbishop Robert Duncan, the former Episcopal bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said of the new denomination, "We are reaching out to North America in particular, and the whole world with the transforming love of Jesus Christ."
The breakaway grouping claims 100 000 members in 700 U.S. and Canadian parishes. These include four U.S. dioceses that cut ties with the Episcopal Church: Pittsburgh; Fort Worth, Texas; San Joaquin, California; and Quincy, Illinois. It also includes a number of other groups that had formed in recent years, including groupings with missionary efforts in Kenya, Uganda and the Southern Cone of South America.
Duncan announced that two African Anglican provinces, those of Uganda and Nigeria, which are said to be the two largest Anglican provinces in the world, had formally recognised the new North America group.
Among those addressing the assembly, attended by some 700 clergy and laity, was the Rev. Rick Warren, an evangelical leader in the United States, and Metropolitan Jonah, himself a former Episcopalian and the new primate of the Orthodox Church in North America, who told those assembled: "I am seeking an ecumenical restoration by being here today. This is God's call to us."
The Episcopal Church and of the Anglican Church of Canada did not formally comment on the ACNA assembly, the Episcopal News Service reported, but a representative of a group of Episcopalians who are remaining with the established U.S. church noted there is still unresolved litigation between the break-away Anglicans and the U.S. Episcopal Church over such issues as church property.
"Despite the ACNA's grand words, the new organization is being built largely with assets belonging to the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. It is unclear what Christian moral principles can be invoked to justify this," said Kenneth Stiles, a Pittsburgh attorney and vice president of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
ACNA'09 -- WHERE'S THE SPIN?
Commentary
By Canon Gary L'Hommedieu
www.virtueonline.org
6/26/2009
There's a species of language that Americans have grown accustomed to, perhaps without knowing it. For the sake of convenience let's call it spin.
Spin is communication inappropriately overlaid with the self-interest of the speaker. Spin is not always dishonest or devious. It could just be overly defensive. But it becomes dishonest in a hurry. Anyone who wants to con you is going to weave normal sounding speech with deceptive markers that turn facts into something else. The point is, there is no "pure" speech, completely devoid of the self-interest of the speaker. If it didn't serve some need or purpose, why would we bother opening our mouths?
In honest speech the self-interest of the speaker does not intrude upon the legitimate self-interest of the listener. This is the Golden Rule of communication: speak unto others as if their needs and interests mattered as much as your own. Christians get in trouble very quickly when they pretend they're more selfless than they are or than anyone ever can be. Every word, like every act in general, is laden with, even driven by, some form of self-interest.
Some would call this a cynical view of human motivation. It is only "cynical" relative to a false notion of honesty. We all love to think of our words and actions as dripping with selfless good intentions, and we have a lot invested in making sure everybody notices. This is not "speaking the truth in love." It leaves people wondering, "Why can't he just come out and say it? Who's he trying to convince of all his good intentions?"
In honest speech the speaker recognizes, perhaps only intuitively, that his own interests are best served by promoting the needs and interests of the listener. When he resists the temptation to make a display of his good intentions, what comes across is a servant's heart. A servant does not need to apologize in advance or constantly reassure his audience. And nothing is more tedious than to be endlessly subjected to the profession of someone's sterling intentions. Uriah Heep in Dickens' "David Copperfield" comes to mind.
Spin carries its own weight. It generates a certain static that fills a room and takes on the property of a physical presence. Those who grow accustomed to spin as the regular mode of communication live under a weight which they likely will not be aware of until they find themselves in a circumstance where a speaker is speaking simply and directly with the sole purpose of conveying a message and not promoting or protecting himself.
I first noticed this two years ago when I heard Archbishop Drexel Gomez, recently retired Archbishop of the West Indies and Caribbean, address the clergy of Central Florida on the heels of the Primates' Meeting in Dar Es Salaam.
In Dar es Salaam we were dizzied with the constant spin. The press conferences were more like dog and pony shows. The ACC was always close at hand to let us know things were very much under control--theirs. There was the constant reminder that the Primates were locked away under guard.
On a Sunday morning at Christ Church Cathedral on the island of Zanzibar, we were subjected to a thirty-five minute apology by Rowan Williams for the English involvement in the slave trade. The Cathedral's promotional leaflet happened to mention that slavery ended on that very site 200 years before when British warships blockaded the island thus shutting down the Muslim slave trade. Presumably the Archbishop was embarrassed by the display of British militarism. Whereas earlier Christian leaders considered their role that of Christian apologetics, the Archbishop of Canterbury has settled for apologizing for Christianity. In the heat of the subtropical summer, the spin was almost nauseating.
The comparison with Archbishop Gomez was shocking. When I heard him, I realized I hadn't heard a straight talker in years. He said what he meant, expressing passion and even indignation, but there was a lightness about it. What was missing was the invisible layer upon layer of defensive self-promotion--the spin.
This is a long introduction to a brief report on the ACNA conference that concluded yesterday in Bedford, Texas. Some of us kept waiting for the spin, but there wasn't any.
In teachings, sermons, announcements, interviews, directions, predictions, press conferences, passing remarks, spin was conspicuously absent. Lay and clergy leaders said what they meant, didn't hide when they didn't know an answer, didn't gloss over potential problem areas, and above all did not seem to be hiding something. People communicated carefully, but not so carefully that we all came away wondering what they weren't telling us.
In a press conference when Archbishop Robert Duncan called himself "the servant of the servants of God", people's eyes began to role. But he followed quickly with a remark I've never heard from a bishop: "We speak for the people because we know them, not because we're over them." This was reinforced throughout his public remarks, where he declared repeatedly the priority of the new Province to promote mission.
"We're actually bringing people together, without papering over differences," said CANA Bishop Martyn Minns. This will be easier said than done, of course. But Minns was not trying to sweet talk anyone. I've heard Bishop Minns speak too carefully before. Here he was quite matter-of-fact.
Throughout the week we were all aware that there was disagreement between catholic- and protestant-leaning factions of ACNA. These will undoubtedly bubble to the surface at some point. There is disagreement regarding women in holy orders. Some are disappointed that women were marginalized in the proceedings, others that they were rammed down everyone's throats. No one expects the controversy to disappear. Certainly no one expects the ACNA leadership to sweet talk it into nonexistence.
While we hammered away in the press room, we became aware of a strange anxiety among Anglicans looking on from the blogosphere. There seems to be a growing panic at the thought of giving up the old antagonisms that have fueled the present movement. Many disgruntled Anglicans will be lost without a cause for their disgruntlement. Sour grapes is a type of reverse spin--where the hidden self-interests of the listener intrude upon the legitimate interests of the speaker.
If representatives of the new Province become known for nothing more than speaking the truth and saying what they mean, they will convey something of the character of God that North Americans, including North American Christians, have all but forgotten. This would form a foundation for the missionary objective of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Perhaps the medium of straight talk will be the new bridge that tomorrow's Anglicans will build to the culture, rather than the old "bridge" of accommodation and appeasement.
---The Rev. Canon J. Gary L'Hommedieu is Canon for Pastoral Care at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, Florida, and a regular columnist for VirtueOnline.
By Canon Gary L'Hommedieu
www.virtueonline.org
6/26/2009
There's a species of language that Americans have grown accustomed to, perhaps without knowing it. For the sake of convenience let's call it spin.
Spin is communication inappropriately overlaid with the self-interest of the speaker. Spin is not always dishonest or devious. It could just be overly defensive. But it becomes dishonest in a hurry. Anyone who wants to con you is going to weave normal sounding speech with deceptive markers that turn facts into something else. The point is, there is no "pure" speech, completely devoid of the self-interest of the speaker. If it didn't serve some need or purpose, why would we bother opening our mouths?
In honest speech the self-interest of the speaker does not intrude upon the legitimate self-interest of the listener. This is the Golden Rule of communication: speak unto others as if their needs and interests mattered as much as your own. Christians get in trouble very quickly when they pretend they're more selfless than they are or than anyone ever can be. Every word, like every act in general, is laden with, even driven by, some form of self-interest.
Some would call this a cynical view of human motivation. It is only "cynical" relative to a false notion of honesty. We all love to think of our words and actions as dripping with selfless good intentions, and we have a lot invested in making sure everybody notices. This is not "speaking the truth in love." It leaves people wondering, "Why can't he just come out and say it? Who's he trying to convince of all his good intentions?"
In honest speech the speaker recognizes, perhaps only intuitively, that his own interests are best served by promoting the needs and interests of the listener. When he resists the temptation to make a display of his good intentions, what comes across is a servant's heart. A servant does not need to apologize in advance or constantly reassure his audience. And nothing is more tedious than to be endlessly subjected to the profession of someone's sterling intentions. Uriah Heep in Dickens' "David Copperfield" comes to mind.
Spin carries its own weight. It generates a certain static that fills a room and takes on the property of a physical presence. Those who grow accustomed to spin as the regular mode of communication live under a weight which they likely will not be aware of until they find themselves in a circumstance where a speaker is speaking simply and directly with the sole purpose of conveying a message and not promoting or protecting himself.
I first noticed this two years ago when I heard Archbishop Drexel Gomez, recently retired Archbishop of the West Indies and Caribbean, address the clergy of Central Florida on the heels of the Primates' Meeting in Dar Es Salaam.
In Dar es Salaam we were dizzied with the constant spin. The press conferences were more like dog and pony shows. The ACC was always close at hand to let us know things were very much under control--theirs. There was the constant reminder that the Primates were locked away under guard.
On a Sunday morning at Christ Church Cathedral on the island of Zanzibar, we were subjected to a thirty-five minute apology by Rowan Williams for the English involvement in the slave trade. The Cathedral's promotional leaflet happened to mention that slavery ended on that very site 200 years before when British warships blockaded the island thus shutting down the Muslim slave trade. Presumably the Archbishop was embarrassed by the display of British militarism. Whereas earlier Christian leaders considered their role that of Christian apologetics, the Archbishop of Canterbury has settled for apologizing for Christianity. In the heat of the subtropical summer, the spin was almost nauseating.
The comparison with Archbishop Gomez was shocking. When I heard him, I realized I hadn't heard a straight talker in years. He said what he meant, expressing passion and even indignation, but there was a lightness about it. What was missing was the invisible layer upon layer of defensive self-promotion--the spin.
This is a long introduction to a brief report on the ACNA conference that concluded yesterday in Bedford, Texas. Some of us kept waiting for the spin, but there wasn't any.
In teachings, sermons, announcements, interviews, directions, predictions, press conferences, passing remarks, spin was conspicuously absent. Lay and clergy leaders said what they meant, didn't hide when they didn't know an answer, didn't gloss over potential problem areas, and above all did not seem to be hiding something. People communicated carefully, but not so carefully that we all came away wondering what they weren't telling us.
In a press conference when Archbishop Robert Duncan called himself "the servant of the servants of God", people's eyes began to role. But he followed quickly with a remark I've never heard from a bishop: "We speak for the people because we know them, not because we're over them." This was reinforced throughout his public remarks, where he declared repeatedly the priority of the new Province to promote mission.
"We're actually bringing people together, without papering over differences," said CANA Bishop Martyn Minns. This will be easier said than done, of course. But Minns was not trying to sweet talk anyone. I've heard Bishop Minns speak too carefully before. Here he was quite matter-of-fact.
Throughout the week we were all aware that there was disagreement between catholic- and protestant-leaning factions of ACNA. These will undoubtedly bubble to the surface at some point. There is disagreement regarding women in holy orders. Some are disappointed that women were marginalized in the proceedings, others that they were rammed down everyone's throats. No one expects the controversy to disappear. Certainly no one expects the ACNA leadership to sweet talk it into nonexistence.
While we hammered away in the press room, we became aware of a strange anxiety among Anglicans looking on from the blogosphere. There seems to be a growing panic at the thought of giving up the old antagonisms that have fueled the present movement. Many disgruntled Anglicans will be lost without a cause for their disgruntlement. Sour grapes is a type of reverse spin--where the hidden self-interests of the listener intrude upon the legitimate interests of the speaker.
If representatives of the new Province become known for nothing more than speaking the truth and saying what they mean, they will convey something of the character of God that North Americans, including North American Christians, have all but forgotten. This would form a foundation for the missionary objective of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Perhaps the medium of straight talk will be the new bridge that tomorrow's Anglicans will build to the culture, rather than the old "bridge" of accommodation and appeasement.
---The Rev. Canon J. Gary L'Hommedieu is Canon for Pastoral Care at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, Florida, and a regular columnist for VirtueOnline.
ACNA'09: New Anglican church will benefit former Episcopalians, Iker says
Via VirtueOnline:
By Jim Jones
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
June 26th, 2009
The new Anglican Church in North America will give former Episcopalians new confidence and pride in being Anglicans, Jack Iker, bishop of a Fort Worth group that has left the Episcopal Church, declared Wednesday.
"Over the last 30 years, our members have winced or shuddered when they saw a story about the Episcopal Church in the public press," he said, "because it has usually been about some scandal or outrageous thing one of our leaders has said or done."
Iker said the new Anglican body "gives mainstream clergy and laity a chance to recover confidence and enthusiasm in being an Anglican Christian."
The new Anglican body, he said, will concentrate on planting churches and winning converts.
"So it's good to be a part of something that accentuates that part of Anglicanism and being a biblical missionary group among the united people of God," he said.
Iker spoke at a news conference Wednesday evening at Christ Church in Plano before the consecration of Robert Duncan, the former Episcopal bishop of Pittsburgh, as the archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America.
END
By Jim Jones
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
June 26th, 2009
The new Anglican Church in North America will give former Episcopalians new confidence and pride in being Anglicans, Jack Iker, bishop of a Fort Worth group that has left the Episcopal Church, declared Wednesday.
"Over the last 30 years, our members have winced or shuddered when they saw a story about the Episcopal Church in the public press," he said, "because it has usually been about some scandal or outrageous thing one of our leaders has said or done."
Iker said the new Anglican body "gives mainstream clergy and laity a chance to recover confidence and enthusiasm in being an Anglican Christian."
The new Anglican body, he said, will concentrate on planting churches and winning converts.
"So it's good to be a part of something that accentuates that part of Anglicanism and being a biblical missionary group among the united people of God," he said.
Iker spoke at a news conference Wednesday evening at Christ Church in Plano before the consecration of Robert Duncan, the former Episcopal bishop of Pittsburgh, as the archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America.
END
Is a New Anglican Communion in the Making?
COMMENTARY
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
6/28/2009
The pieces of the Anglican puzzle are beginning to fall into place and the puzzle is beginning to take shape - for many, a new shape altogether.
The first born ecclesiastical child from the Anglican womb was GAFCON, the Global Anglican Future Conference the orthodox Anglican answer and response to the Lambeth Conference.
This movement, though unrecognized by the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council, represents fully two thirds and more (approximately 40 million) of the entire communion of 55 million Anglican Christians. They are mostly evangelical with a minority of Anglo-Catholics. (This figure, discounts the 26 million Church of England followers who are baptized Anglican at birth, but who make no later claims to being Christians, hence the 80 million is deemed fictitious.)
By contrast, the Lambeth Conference represents one third of The Anglican Communion with about two-thirds of its bishops.
This week in Bedford, Texas, The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) was born amidst calls for a new reformation, renewal, evangelism, discipleship and, on the darker side, a rejection of The Episcopal Church's "gospel" of MDGs, continuing lawsuits and hostility from a church that many believe has lost its moral and theological way.
ACNA claims 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes with some 28 or more dioceses. It is bigger than the Anglican provinces of Wales and Scotland. It has a clear understanding of mission, evangelism and discipleship. Being gospel driven, it will only grow, much to the annoyance and chagrin of The Episcopal Church that hopes it will split over issues and become another splinter operation, much like what followed the 1977 St. Louis Convention. At that time, four priests announced they were leaving TEC over women's ordination and, over time, morphed into a Heinz 57 Varieties of Anglo-Catholics, most of whom will not engage each other in meaningful unity talks.
That movement failed to coalesce into a single province with a single overarching archbishop and one House of Bishops. ACNA has done precisely that. It has even pulled in Forward in Faith North America, who will consecrate their own bishop making them a full constituent member of ACNA.
ACNA has been well planned and well executed. It has received the imprimatur of a number of global Anglican Primates adding legitimacy to its existence and continuance.
While those Anglican jurisdictions who have joined together will maintain, as it were, dual memberships (CANA, AMIA et al), they have come together, not to bury their differences, but to come under a single umbrella of Anglican orthodoxy. Is it a perfect union? By no means. The issue of women's ordination remains a thorn in the side of this movement, and does not seem likely to be extracted any time soon. Archbishop Robert Duncan said on two occasions (Bedford and Plano) that God will sort it out, and one hopes He does.
But that might not be the biggest issue at all. The powerful, uniting service at Christ Church, Plano, was barely over when an evangelical bishop whispered in this reporter's ear that there is an ecclesiastical tug of war brewing over Anglo-Catholic verses Evangelical dominance of the new province. Time will tell.
Clearly, Archbishop Duncan has his work cut out for him. Both sides must work together to avoid a such a situation. The new province could devolve into schism before it is off the ground.
Three things, however, need to be said at this point. Duncan has shown great leadership to date and a good deal of humility in drawing together 28 dioceses. That is no small feat. Many believe he has done the nearly impossible. The canons and constitutions quickly passed indicate that compromises could and were made. The focus on the mission of the church (the gospel first) and centrality of the local church to do mission without a top down ecclesiastical hierarchy is a reverse model from that of The Episcopal Church. That may be its strongest feature.
Thirdly, the continuing presence of Bishop Jack Iker of Ft. Worth, Texas, and Bishop John-David Schofield of San Joaquin, two leading Anglo-Catholic bishops in America to have left TEC, speaks volumes about their willingness to let the issue of women's ordination ride, refusing to let it become a province dividing issue. (This has met with a good deal of hostility from other smaller Anglo-Catholic jurisdictions that have excoriated these Anglo-Catholics for compromising on this issue.) The Bishop of the Episcopal Missionary Church (EMC), The Rt. Rev. William Millsaps ripped Duncan in an open letter for compromising over the ordination of women. http://tinyurl.com/m9hc6k
For all its problems, the ACNA ship has set sail and there is no turning back.
Next week in London, another significant occasion will occur in the life of the Church of England. A movement calling itself the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) will be launched amid signs that the Church of England is in desperate shape and in fast decline.
The Rt. Rev. Paul Richardson, assistant Bishop of Newcastle, wrote in "The Telegraph" this week that Britain is no longer a Christian nation. The latest figures reveal a continuing annual decline in Sunday attendance running at around 1 per cent, resulting in a church that can survive for no more than 30 years. He says its leaders are not prepared to face that possibility.
The FCA is the brainchild of GAFCON. They invite individuals, congregations, dioceses and even whole provinces to join. All members have to do is assent to the Jerusalem Declaration and the goals of the FCA as a mandatory step.
This may rule out the vast majority of the Church of England who still think that Jerusalem will be built on England's green and pleasant lands, but the FCA people know better. They are signaling very politely, as only the British do, that the CofE is a theologically and morally spent force and it is time do something about it. FCA is the answer.
Their list of speakers includes a number of Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical Bishops who will launch FCA, much as ACNA had. They include five bishops: among them Dr. Michael Nazir Ali, the very evangelical and able Bishop of Rochester and Bishop John Broadhurst of Fulham, a leader in the Forward in Faith, the Anglo-Catholic movement in the UK. Other speakers include Wallace Benn (Lewes) an evangelical and a leading US Anglo-Catholic Bishop, Keith Ackerman. They will lead sessions on how FCA is a catalyst for united mission, ministry and focus for both orthodox Anglicans, be they evangelical or Anglo Catholic.
So it is clear that evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics can work together to make common cause over the gospel and much more.
This united front is being created as the result of the apostasy of both The Episcopal Church and increasingly The Church of England over pansexuality, a loss of faith among its bishops and clergy, little or no evangelistic focus and an unwillingness to see how bankrupt Anglicanism has become in the UK.
It is further acerbated by Dr. Rowan Williams' lackluster leadership (ACC-14 in Jamaica was a total debacle) and his inability to offer any real leadership except on social issues like the environment and the rise of the British National Party, while turning a blind eye to the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada's sexual permissiveness in the sacristy and pulpit. Williams, has both infuriated and galvanized Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics to act. And act they have. Another factor in all this is the complete failure of the so-called inside strategy to succeed. It has collapsed amidst growing lawsuits, and hardened lines over pansexual behavior and same-sex rites, now sure to pass at GC2009. The solemn but farcical triumph of sodomy (same sex rites) in all its bedroom and ecclesiastical forms only awaits signatures from the House of Bishops and House of Deputies. This will be followed by orgiastic cries of joy from The Rev. Susan Russell (Integrity) and Dr. Louie Crew, Integrity (Emeritus) who now believe the Kingdom of God can be ushered in by the fairies ably assisted by angels of the LGBT movement and perhaps Sufi the Rumi for good measure.
This failure of the inside strategy was revealed this week by the Bishop of South Carolina, Mark Lawrence who conceded defeat on the issue, announcing that while he would send delegates to GC2009, he would not send Kendall Harmon, his canon theologian, to whisper in our (media) ears that if we just wait out one more general convention, the orthodox will prevail.
He has conceded defeat for any hope that The Episcopal Church can be saved. "The cause of biblical orthodoxy within TEC is no longer a realistic thing to strive for...Politically speaking, we have lost the day," he wrote in a letter to his diocese.
What now for him and his diocese? He swore almost eternal fealty to Mrs. Jefferts Schori to get the job as bishop (after the second try), so what will he do now? He says he will stay in TEC. You can be sure that the revisionist ecclesiastical necklacing by TEC leaders of orthodox dioceses will only continue and become more strident after GC2009.
What is very clear to this writer is that a new Anglican Communion is slowly being born. It has been pushed over the last decade by the strident evangelical voices of the Global South and by such evangelical lions as Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Henry Luke Orombi (Uganda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya) and Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), to name but a few. (Nzimbi laid hands on Duncan in Plano).
They have had enough of TEC, the ACofC, and, increasingly, the Church of England with its lackluster leadership out of Lambeth.
There is no formal structure for schism in The Anglican Communion. We do not have a pope, there is no Magisterium. There is no common set of canons and constitutions to which all can adhere, but the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury has been shaken to the core. Williams is desperate to keep it altogether though he admitted in Jamaica that he might not be able to do so.
What is now clear, however, is that the Archbishop of Canterbury's authority is so seriously diluted and dissipated that he has been rendered impotent and irrelevant. ACNA, the new 39th province of the Anglican Communion, doesn't need his or the Anglican Consultative Council's approval. Why ever would they seek it?
For all their faults, strains and apparent weaknesses, GAFCON, ACNA and FCA are the future of the Anglican Communion. Their train has sounded the final blast and it is "All aboard." for a new gospel driven day in the Worldwide Anglican Communion.
END
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
6/28/2009
The pieces of the Anglican puzzle are beginning to fall into place and the puzzle is beginning to take shape - for many, a new shape altogether.
The first born ecclesiastical child from the Anglican womb was GAFCON, the Global Anglican Future Conference the orthodox Anglican answer and response to the Lambeth Conference.
This movement, though unrecognized by the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council, represents fully two thirds and more (approximately 40 million) of the entire communion of 55 million Anglican Christians. They are mostly evangelical with a minority of Anglo-Catholics. (This figure, discounts the 26 million Church of England followers who are baptized Anglican at birth, but who make no later claims to being Christians, hence the 80 million is deemed fictitious.)
By contrast, the Lambeth Conference represents one third of The Anglican Communion with about two-thirds of its bishops.
This week in Bedford, Texas, The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) was born amidst calls for a new reformation, renewal, evangelism, discipleship and, on the darker side, a rejection of The Episcopal Church's "gospel" of MDGs, continuing lawsuits and hostility from a church that many believe has lost its moral and theological way.
ACNA claims 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes with some 28 or more dioceses. It is bigger than the Anglican provinces of Wales and Scotland. It has a clear understanding of mission, evangelism and discipleship. Being gospel driven, it will only grow, much to the annoyance and chagrin of The Episcopal Church that hopes it will split over issues and become another splinter operation, much like what followed the 1977 St. Louis Convention. At that time, four priests announced they were leaving TEC over women's ordination and, over time, morphed into a Heinz 57 Varieties of Anglo-Catholics, most of whom will not engage each other in meaningful unity talks.
That movement failed to coalesce into a single province with a single overarching archbishop and one House of Bishops. ACNA has done precisely that. It has even pulled in Forward in Faith North America, who will consecrate their own bishop making them a full constituent member of ACNA.
ACNA has been well planned and well executed. It has received the imprimatur of a number of global Anglican Primates adding legitimacy to its existence and continuance.
While those Anglican jurisdictions who have joined together will maintain, as it were, dual memberships (CANA, AMIA et al), they have come together, not to bury their differences, but to come under a single umbrella of Anglican orthodoxy. Is it a perfect union? By no means. The issue of women's ordination remains a thorn in the side of this movement, and does not seem likely to be extracted any time soon. Archbishop Robert Duncan said on two occasions (Bedford and Plano) that God will sort it out, and one hopes He does.
But that might not be the biggest issue at all. The powerful, uniting service at Christ Church, Plano, was barely over when an evangelical bishop whispered in this reporter's ear that there is an ecclesiastical tug of war brewing over Anglo-Catholic verses Evangelical dominance of the new province. Time will tell.
Clearly, Archbishop Duncan has his work cut out for him. Both sides must work together to avoid a such a situation. The new province could devolve into schism before it is off the ground.
Three things, however, need to be said at this point. Duncan has shown great leadership to date and a good deal of humility in drawing together 28 dioceses. That is no small feat. Many believe he has done the nearly impossible. The canons and constitutions quickly passed indicate that compromises could and were made. The focus on the mission of the church (the gospel first) and centrality of the local church to do mission without a top down ecclesiastical hierarchy is a reverse model from that of The Episcopal Church. That may be its strongest feature.
Thirdly, the continuing presence of Bishop Jack Iker of Ft. Worth, Texas, and Bishop John-David Schofield of San Joaquin, two leading Anglo-Catholic bishops in America to have left TEC, speaks volumes about their willingness to let the issue of women's ordination ride, refusing to let it become a province dividing issue. (This has met with a good deal of hostility from other smaller Anglo-Catholic jurisdictions that have excoriated these Anglo-Catholics for compromising on this issue.) The Bishop of the Episcopal Missionary Church (EMC), The Rt. Rev. William Millsaps ripped Duncan in an open letter for compromising over the ordination of women. http://tinyurl.com/m9hc6k
For all its problems, the ACNA ship has set sail and there is no turning back.
Next week in London, another significant occasion will occur in the life of the Church of England. A movement calling itself the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) will be launched amid signs that the Church of England is in desperate shape and in fast decline.
The Rt. Rev. Paul Richardson, assistant Bishop of Newcastle, wrote in "The Telegraph" this week that Britain is no longer a Christian nation. The latest figures reveal a continuing annual decline in Sunday attendance running at around 1 per cent, resulting in a church that can survive for no more than 30 years. He says its leaders are not prepared to face that possibility.
The FCA is the brainchild of GAFCON. They invite individuals, congregations, dioceses and even whole provinces to join. All members have to do is assent to the Jerusalem Declaration and the goals of the FCA as a mandatory step.
This may rule out the vast majority of the Church of England who still think that Jerusalem will be built on England's green and pleasant lands, but the FCA people know better. They are signaling very politely, as only the British do, that the CofE is a theologically and morally spent force and it is time do something about it. FCA is the answer.
Their list of speakers includes a number of Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical Bishops who will launch FCA, much as ACNA had. They include five bishops: among them Dr. Michael Nazir Ali, the very evangelical and able Bishop of Rochester and Bishop John Broadhurst of Fulham, a leader in the Forward in Faith, the Anglo-Catholic movement in the UK. Other speakers include Wallace Benn (Lewes) an evangelical and a leading US Anglo-Catholic Bishop, Keith Ackerman. They will lead sessions on how FCA is a catalyst for united mission, ministry and focus for both orthodox Anglicans, be they evangelical or Anglo Catholic.
So it is clear that evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics can work together to make common cause over the gospel and much more.
This united front is being created as the result of the apostasy of both The Episcopal Church and increasingly The Church of England over pansexuality, a loss of faith among its bishops and clergy, little or no evangelistic focus and an unwillingness to see how bankrupt Anglicanism has become in the UK.
It is further acerbated by Dr. Rowan Williams' lackluster leadership (ACC-14 in Jamaica was a total debacle) and his inability to offer any real leadership except on social issues like the environment and the rise of the British National Party, while turning a blind eye to the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada's sexual permissiveness in the sacristy and pulpit. Williams, has both infuriated and galvanized Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics to act. And act they have. Another factor in all this is the complete failure of the so-called inside strategy to succeed. It has collapsed amidst growing lawsuits, and hardened lines over pansexual behavior and same-sex rites, now sure to pass at GC2009. The solemn but farcical triumph of sodomy (same sex rites) in all its bedroom and ecclesiastical forms only awaits signatures from the House of Bishops and House of Deputies. This will be followed by orgiastic cries of joy from The Rev. Susan Russell (Integrity) and Dr. Louie Crew, Integrity (Emeritus) who now believe the Kingdom of God can be ushered in by the fairies ably assisted by angels of the LGBT movement and perhaps Sufi the Rumi for good measure.
This failure of the inside strategy was revealed this week by the Bishop of South Carolina, Mark Lawrence who conceded defeat on the issue, announcing that while he would send delegates to GC2009, he would not send Kendall Harmon, his canon theologian, to whisper in our (media) ears that if we just wait out one more general convention, the orthodox will prevail.
He has conceded defeat for any hope that The Episcopal Church can be saved. "The cause of biblical orthodoxy within TEC is no longer a realistic thing to strive for...Politically speaking, we have lost the day," he wrote in a letter to his diocese.
What now for him and his diocese? He swore almost eternal fealty to Mrs. Jefferts Schori to get the job as bishop (after the second try), so what will he do now? He says he will stay in TEC. You can be sure that the revisionist ecclesiastical necklacing by TEC leaders of orthodox dioceses will only continue and become more strident after GC2009.
What is very clear to this writer is that a new Anglican Communion is slowly being born. It has been pushed over the last decade by the strident evangelical voices of the Global South and by such evangelical lions as Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Henry Luke Orombi (Uganda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya) and Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), to name but a few. (Nzimbi laid hands on Duncan in Plano).
They have had enough of TEC, the ACofC, and, increasingly, the Church of England with its lackluster leadership out of Lambeth.
There is no formal structure for schism in The Anglican Communion. We do not have a pope, there is no Magisterium. There is no common set of canons and constitutions to which all can adhere, but the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury has been shaken to the core. Williams is desperate to keep it altogether though he admitted in Jamaica that he might not be able to do so.
What is now clear, however, is that the Archbishop of Canterbury's authority is so seriously diluted and dissipated that he has been rendered impotent and irrelevant. ACNA, the new 39th province of the Anglican Communion, doesn't need his or the Anglican Consultative Council's approval. Why ever would they seek it?
For all their faults, strains and apparent weaknesses, GAFCON, ACNA and FCA are the future of the Anglican Communion. Their train has sounded the final blast and it is "All aboard." for a new gospel driven day in the Worldwide Anglican Communion.
END
ESV-Kindle-Only Churches Growing Fast
A little Monday humor from TBNN. Hat tip to The Rev. Drew Collins.
23 June, 2009
A new technological trend is sweeping across vast sections of our country. In particular, this trend can be found in the emerging/emergent church movement. TBNN has discovered that a growing number of these churches have taken a dogmatic stance on the scriptures. They claim to be ESV-Kindle-Only (EKO).
Christ the Redeemer Community Fellowship is currently the fastest growing church in the greater Phoenix, AZ area. It is also unashamedly ESV-Kindle-Only (EKO). David Hopper, lead pastor at Christ the Redeemer, told us, "When we began our church, our people were using all kinds of bibles. It was crazy. We couldn't even follow along when someone else was reading. That's when we decided to go ESV-only. We strongly believe the ESV is the actual word of God, free from any error. All other versions have problems because they have been corrupted."
Gene Carmer, pastor of small groups at Christ the Redeemer, told us, "We used the regular ESV for a while, but it was just taking too long for our people to find bible passages. It required them to know where the different books of the bible are located, etc. Additionally, regular book bibles are really bulky and a pain to carry around. That's when we decided to give Kindle a try. What happened was amazing! Our people were no longer stressed about how to find their way around the bible. They had full electronic access at their finger tips. This is clearly a far better option that the book version of the ESV. The Kindle is also far lighter, especially when compared to the ESV Study Bible."
While many people are happy with this situation (as shown by Christ the Redeemer's 350% growth rate over the past two years), not everyone is thrilled. Frank Jacobs loves his church, but does not like the Kindle. According to Frank, "I'm just not that technologically oriented. I like to bring my ESV book bible with me to church. Ever since the church went EKO, I have been getting stares and rude comments from people. Some church members who I thought were my friends now walk the other way when they see me. Last week was the worst when one young lady pointed at my (non-Kindle) bible and yelled, 'Why do you carry that counterfeit version? It was made by the Devil and belongs in Hell!' I was shocked and didn't know what to say. Now I'm hearing through the grapevine that the pastors are considering bringing church discipline against me and possibly denying me the Lord's Supper."
When we asked about Mr. Jacobs' situation, Pastor Hopper replied, "We in the emerging/emergent movement have been criticized for not saying what we really believe and for not taking a stand on important issues. Well, this is an important issue to us. We strongly believe that the ancient manuscript evidence shows that not only is the ESV the only valid bible version, but that the ESV-Kindle is what Paul would have wanted us to use. We will accept the persecution that comes with being ESV-Kindle-Only. We will not give in on this issue."
Posted by Elder Eric at 3:00 PM
About TBNN
Team Tominthebox News Network® is a satirical online blog written by Tom Slawson, V. Carlos Slawson Jr., Eric Carpenter and Bill Harris. All names of people or places mentioned in stories are fictional, except when a public figure is being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental. The content of this blog is Copyright 2008 by Team Tominthebox News Network. Transmission of and linking to articles ore materials found at this site is encouraged. ARTICLES, GRAPHICS OR AUDIO CLIPS MAY NOT BE ALTERED OR CHANGED, AND THIS SITE MUST BE REFERENCED VIA A LINK TO THIS SITE. The purpose of this blog is to make a point through the use of satire. Soli Deo Gloria!
23 June, 2009
A new technological trend is sweeping across vast sections of our country. In particular, this trend can be found in the emerging/emergent church movement. TBNN has discovered that a growing number of these churches have taken a dogmatic stance on the scriptures. They claim to be ESV-Kindle-Only (EKO).
Christ the Redeemer Community Fellowship is currently the fastest growing church in the greater Phoenix, AZ area. It is also unashamedly ESV-Kindle-Only (EKO). David Hopper, lead pastor at Christ the Redeemer, told us, "When we began our church, our people were using all kinds of bibles. It was crazy. We couldn't even follow along when someone else was reading. That's when we decided to go ESV-only. We strongly believe the ESV is the actual word of God, free from any error. All other versions have problems because they have been corrupted."
Gene Carmer, pastor of small groups at Christ the Redeemer, told us, "We used the regular ESV for a while, but it was just taking too long for our people to find bible passages. It required them to know where the different books of the bible are located, etc. Additionally, regular book bibles are really bulky and a pain to carry around. That's when we decided to give Kindle a try. What happened was amazing! Our people were no longer stressed about how to find their way around the bible. They had full electronic access at their finger tips. This is clearly a far better option that the book version of the ESV. The Kindle is also far lighter, especially when compared to the ESV Study Bible."
While many people are happy with this situation (as shown by Christ the Redeemer's 350% growth rate over the past two years), not everyone is thrilled. Frank Jacobs loves his church, but does not like the Kindle. According to Frank, "I'm just not that technologically oriented. I like to bring my ESV book bible with me to church. Ever since the church went EKO, I have been getting stares and rude comments from people. Some church members who I thought were my friends now walk the other way when they see me. Last week was the worst when one young lady pointed at my (non-Kindle) bible and yelled, 'Why do you carry that counterfeit version? It was made by the Devil and belongs in Hell!' I was shocked and didn't know what to say. Now I'm hearing through the grapevine that the pastors are considering bringing church discipline against me and possibly denying me the Lord's Supper."
When we asked about Mr. Jacobs' situation, Pastor Hopper replied, "We in the emerging/emergent movement have been criticized for not saying what we really believe and for not taking a stand on important issues. Well, this is an important issue to us. We strongly believe that the ancient manuscript evidence shows that not only is the ESV the only valid bible version, but that the ESV-Kindle is what Paul would have wanted us to use. We will accept the persecution that comes with being ESV-Kindle-Only. We will not give in on this issue."
Posted by Elder Eric at 3:00 PM
About TBNN
Team Tominthebox News Network® is a satirical online blog written by Tom Slawson, V. Carlos Slawson Jr., Eric Carpenter and Bill Harris. All names of people or places mentioned in stories are fictional, except when a public figure is being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental. The content of this blog is Copyright 2008 by Team Tominthebox News Network. Transmission of and linking to articles ore materials found at this site is encouraged. ARTICLES, GRAPHICS OR AUDIO CLIPS MAY NOT BE ALTERED OR CHANGED, AND THIS SITE MUST BE REFERENCED VIA A LINK TO THIS SITE. The purpose of this blog is to make a point through the use of satire. Soli Deo Gloria!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical Bishops back UK launch of Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (UK and Ireland)
Via VirtueOnline:
Issued by the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (UK)
www.anglican-mainstream.net
June 27th, 2009
FIVE English Bishops are to take part in the launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in London on July 6, expressing the breadth of support the fellowship, which had its roots in the Gafcon conference in Jerusalem last year, is experiencing. Organisers, who booked Westminster Central Hall for the day-long event, have seen registrations from church leaders flooding in since the launch was announced just two months ago.
In addition to video and personal greetings from international guests including Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Bishop of Asaba and Archbishop of Bendel, Nigeria, and Archbishop Henri Orombi from Uganda, delegates will also learn of the depth of support and good wishes from English bishops, leaders of both the evangelical and Anglo Catholic wings of Anglicanism.
English Bishops John Broadhurst (Fulham), Wallace Benn (Lewes), John Hind (Chichester) and Michael Nazir-Ali (Rochester) are all billed to speak to the gathering, and Peter Forster (Chester) has sent greetings. Two other diocesan bishops will attend the event. Leading Anglo Catholic Bishop, Keith Ackerman, will lead a main session on how FCA is a catalyst for united mission, ministry and focus for both orthodox Anglicans, be they evangelical or Anglo Catholic.
Bishop Ackerman, who is President of Forward in Faith in the USA, said: "One of the reasons I am really looking forward to being with my friends in England is so that I might be able to share with them the anointing of the Holy Spirit that has occurred at this gathering (of the installation of Archbishop Bob Duncan as Primate of the Anglican Church in North America at Christ Church Plano on June 24) here in Texas.
"Some people say that they really like to stand in line and have a little bit of food from here and there - a smorgasbord - other people like casseroles. At this event the Holy Spirit has brought this meal forward, he has blended together those unique contributions that each of the strains brought and while not losing its integrity is able to put forth that which is well pleasing in his sight and to God be the glory.
"The time is right for us right now not to lose sight of what he is calling his entire Church to. The entire Anglican Communion is being called to stand up and Be Faithful. at this very time. Luke-warmness has gone and we are now ready to talk about the light of the world, Jesus Christ who is ready to ignite the work he has placed before us at this time. I cannot wait to see everyone."
Event spokesman, the Revd Paul Perkin, a vicar from London, added: "Some are staying in the Church, but failing to stand for Christian truth and practice; others are standing firm for Christian truth and practice, but are not staying. We are standing, and we are staying."
The gathering will also hear from a personal video message from veteran evangelical and Anglican statesman, Dr. Jim Packer, before Archbishop Peter Jensen from Australia will give a 30 minute presentation on Why the Jerusalem Statement, agreed at Gafcon in 2008 is central to the fellowship's development across the globe, and in the UK.
For more information about FCA (UK), visit www.fca.net
Issued by the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (UK)
www.anglican-mainstream.net
June 27th, 2009
FIVE English Bishops are to take part in the launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in London on July 6, expressing the breadth of support the fellowship, which had its roots in the Gafcon conference in Jerusalem last year, is experiencing. Organisers, who booked Westminster Central Hall for the day-long event, have seen registrations from church leaders flooding in since the launch was announced just two months ago.
In addition to video and personal greetings from international guests including Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Bishop of Asaba and Archbishop of Bendel, Nigeria, and Archbishop Henri Orombi from Uganda, delegates will also learn of the depth of support and good wishes from English bishops, leaders of both the evangelical and Anglo Catholic wings of Anglicanism.
English Bishops John Broadhurst (Fulham), Wallace Benn (Lewes), John Hind (Chichester) and Michael Nazir-Ali (Rochester) are all billed to speak to the gathering, and Peter Forster (Chester) has sent greetings. Two other diocesan bishops will attend the event. Leading Anglo Catholic Bishop, Keith Ackerman, will lead a main session on how FCA is a catalyst for united mission, ministry and focus for both orthodox Anglicans, be they evangelical or Anglo Catholic.
Bishop Ackerman, who is President of Forward in Faith in the USA, said: "One of the reasons I am really looking forward to being with my friends in England is so that I might be able to share with them the anointing of the Holy Spirit that has occurred at this gathering (of the installation of Archbishop Bob Duncan as Primate of the Anglican Church in North America at Christ Church Plano on June 24) here in Texas.
"Some people say that they really like to stand in line and have a little bit of food from here and there - a smorgasbord - other people like casseroles. At this event the Holy Spirit has brought this meal forward, he has blended together those unique contributions that each of the strains brought and while not losing its integrity is able to put forth that which is well pleasing in his sight and to God be the glory.
"The time is right for us right now not to lose sight of what he is calling his entire Church to. The entire Anglican Communion is being called to stand up and Be Faithful. at this very time. Luke-warmness has gone and we are now ready to talk about the light of the world, Jesus Christ who is ready to ignite the work he has placed before us at this time. I cannot wait to see everyone."
Event spokesman, the Revd Paul Perkin, a vicar from London, added: "Some are staying in the Church, but failing to stand for Christian truth and practice; others are standing firm for Christian truth and practice, but are not staying. We are standing, and we are staying."
The gathering will also hear from a personal video message from veteran evangelical and Anglican statesman, Dr. Jim Packer, before Archbishop Peter Jensen from Australia will give a 30 minute presentation on Why the Jerusalem Statement, agreed at Gafcon in 2008 is central to the fellowship's development across the globe, and in the UK.
For more information about FCA (UK), visit www.fca.net
Q&A with Bishop Minns on the Inauguration of the Anglican Church in North America
From June 20 to 25, CANA's Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns led CANA's delegation at the inaugural Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) hosted by the Diocese of Forth Worth based in Bedford, Texas, and by Christ Church in Plano, Texas. During these days, CANA's delegation of more than 20 laity and clergy, representing the breadth of CANA, had opportunities to ask Bishop Minns many questions:
What were your impressions of the inaugural Assembly and what do you hope ACNA will achieve?
It was a wonderful coming together of the various jurisdictions represented in the Anglican Church in North America, everyone was determined to make it work and we kept our eyes upon Jesus and the gospel.
CANA is a founding member of ACNA. Please describe how CANA will operate as a member of ACNA.
Since Day 1, CANA has been and will continue to be a full participant in the life of the new province, and will continue to maintain our own identity. We will encourage groups of congregations when they are ready, to establish themselves as free-standing dioceses. Our goal is to support the work, mission, and ministry of the gospel on this continent and bring our own particular distinctive to that task.
Will any CANA districts such as the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) or the Anglican District of the Great Lakes (ADGL) apply to become a new diocese in ACNA?
In time, it is expected that several clusters will be formed and will apply for recognition. In the coming months I will be working with groups across CANA who are wanting to explore this process.
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) amended its constitution to include CANA. Will CANA continue to have an official relationship with the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)?
Yes we will. Part of the work this summer is to meet with the canonical lawyers in the Church of Nigeria to work on this process. CANA has a significant number of Nigerian clergy and congregations. For many in CANA - both Nigerian and non-Nigerian - our link with the Anglican Church of Nigeria is important. We are also reminded through this link that the body of Christ is larger than North America and that we are members of the global family of believers.
Will CANA congregations have two Archbishops: Archbishop Bob Duncan of ACNA and Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria?
CANA congregations will continue to be under my leadership as Missionary Bishop. I will continue to be a missionary bishop in the Church of Nigeria, however I will be working closely with Archbishop Duncan in the work that takes place in North America. For a period of time, CANA congregations will have a 'dual citizenship'. They will be members of the Church in Nigeria and as a result of that relationship, full members of the global Anglican Communion. CANA congregations are also members of the Anglican Church in North America. CANA is a founding member and full participant in ACNA and will participate fully in the life of the new province.
Will CANA congregations have to join a new diocese in ACNA or will they be able to stay as CANA congregations?
No one will be required to change anything. I am encouraging CANA churches to move forward and develop missionary structures that help us do the work of the gospel.
What distinctives can CANA offer member churches and ACNA?
First, our connections with the largest Province of the Anglican Communion, the Church of Nigeria which represents about 25% of the entire population of the Communion. CANA also has a distinct connection with the GAFCON and Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans movement, and with the Global South. We have a radical commitment to ministry of the poor which crosses all ethnic lines, to planting new churches, equipping the 'next generation' for leadership in the church, and educating the church about how to engage with a resurgent Islam in North America.
Are new congregations and clergy joining CANA?
Absolutely. The numbers continue to grow. We are welcoming new clergy and new congregations on a regular basis. We also have a growing number of individuals who are seeking ordination.
As you consider the inauguration of ACNA and the continued ministry of CANA, what are some of the challenges and opportunities that are ahead?
We need to keep our eyes fixed on the gospel and mission, rather than becoming side-tracked with lots of debates and discussion about the things we disagree over. Sometimes questions about structure can consume us; however, I believe we need to keep focused on the local congregation fulfilling the mission of the gospel.
On a personal level, you have worked hard to see ACNA established. What now is the future for Martyn Minns?
This is only the very first step. A lot of work remains to be done. By God's grace, I anticipate being involved in this ongoing work to find ways where we can have a common mission and strategy across the nation; ways where our worship can have a common life, common governance so that structures serve the ministry of the church! There is a huge amount of work still to be done. I will also continue to encourage clergy to faithfully fulfill the ministry that has been entrusted to them and offer leadership in the growth of the local church and the planting of new congregations.
This week we found out that churches and clergy in the USA formerly under the jurisdiction of Uganda now are part of their own diocese within the new province. Does that mean they are no longer members of ADV?
Those who are in Virginia remain part of ADV in mission and ministry. Their new jurisdictional home was established so that the clergy and congregations associated with Uganda could be transferred and become part of only the Anglican Church in North America and no longer be canonically resident or under the jurisdiction of Uganda.
How will the roles of various bishops who have helped orthodox congregations through this transition change within the new province?
We are going to invite some of the bishops who have assisted in the past to serve as episcopal consultants; they will therefore be part of the college of bishops in the new province. Some of the bishops will have a change in their assignments and this will help to further strengthen our shared life together.
Will the constitution and canons for ACNA continue to change and is there a formal group tasked with overseeing that process?
I believe that we have a strong foundation from which we can move forward. There will be a group that will be tasked to deal with any changes or amendments. Archbishop Duncan chose as the first chancellor for the ACNA the best person for the job: Hugo Blankingship. Hugo is a supremely distinguished canonical lawyer who loves Jesus and the church. He was the son of a bishop, a former member of Truro Church, and more recently of The Falls Church (Falls Church, Virginia). Also, CANA's own Chancellor Scott Ward will be the assistant ACNA chancellor assisting Hugo for affairs in the USA, while Mrs. Cheryl Chang will help in Canada.
How does the ACNA constitution address church property issues?
As is the case in CANA, the emphasis in ACNA is on each congregation owing its own property. We have made it very clear that there will be no claims made against local church property by the Province - in contrast to what The Episcopal Church is doing.
What is the vision for the future?
The challenge is to keep our eyes firmly fixed upon the Lord himself and to keep the main thing as the main thing. The future involves radical inclusion, profound transformation, and inspired service. The vision has not changed. Jesus Christ is the same and the gospel remains unchanged! The new province has given us a way to do this work more effectively and more collaboratively.
What were your impressions of the inaugural Assembly and what do you hope ACNA will achieve?
It was a wonderful coming together of the various jurisdictions represented in the Anglican Church in North America, everyone was determined to make it work and we kept our eyes upon Jesus and the gospel.
CANA is a founding member of ACNA. Please describe how CANA will operate as a member of ACNA.
Since Day 1, CANA has been and will continue to be a full participant in the life of the new province, and will continue to maintain our own identity. We will encourage groups of congregations when they are ready, to establish themselves as free-standing dioceses. Our goal is to support the work, mission, and ministry of the gospel on this continent and bring our own particular distinctive to that task.
Will any CANA districts such as the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) or the Anglican District of the Great Lakes (ADGL) apply to become a new diocese in ACNA?
In time, it is expected that several clusters will be formed and will apply for recognition. In the coming months I will be working with groups across CANA who are wanting to explore this process.
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) amended its constitution to include CANA. Will CANA continue to have an official relationship with the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)?
Yes we will. Part of the work this summer is to meet with the canonical lawyers in the Church of Nigeria to work on this process. CANA has a significant number of Nigerian clergy and congregations. For many in CANA - both Nigerian and non-Nigerian - our link with the Anglican Church of Nigeria is important. We are also reminded through this link that the body of Christ is larger than North America and that we are members of the global family of believers.
Will CANA congregations have two Archbishops: Archbishop Bob Duncan of ACNA and Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria?
CANA congregations will continue to be under my leadership as Missionary Bishop. I will continue to be a missionary bishop in the Church of Nigeria, however I will be working closely with Archbishop Duncan in the work that takes place in North America. For a period of time, CANA congregations will have a 'dual citizenship'. They will be members of the Church in Nigeria and as a result of that relationship, full members of the global Anglican Communion. CANA congregations are also members of the Anglican Church in North America. CANA is a founding member and full participant in ACNA and will participate fully in the life of the new province.
Will CANA congregations have to join a new diocese in ACNA or will they be able to stay as CANA congregations?
No one will be required to change anything. I am encouraging CANA churches to move forward and develop missionary structures that help us do the work of the gospel.
What distinctives can CANA offer member churches and ACNA?
First, our connections with the largest Province of the Anglican Communion, the Church of Nigeria which represents about 25% of the entire population of the Communion. CANA also has a distinct connection with the GAFCON and Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans movement, and with the Global South. We have a radical commitment to ministry of the poor which crosses all ethnic lines, to planting new churches, equipping the 'next generation' for leadership in the church, and educating the church about how to engage with a resurgent Islam in North America.
Are new congregations and clergy joining CANA?
Absolutely. The numbers continue to grow. We are welcoming new clergy and new congregations on a regular basis. We also have a growing number of individuals who are seeking ordination.
As you consider the inauguration of ACNA and the continued ministry of CANA, what are some of the challenges and opportunities that are ahead?
We need to keep our eyes fixed on the gospel and mission, rather than becoming side-tracked with lots of debates and discussion about the things we disagree over. Sometimes questions about structure can consume us; however, I believe we need to keep focused on the local congregation fulfilling the mission of the gospel.
On a personal level, you have worked hard to see ACNA established. What now is the future for Martyn Minns?
This is only the very first step. A lot of work remains to be done. By God's grace, I anticipate being involved in this ongoing work to find ways where we can have a common mission and strategy across the nation; ways where our worship can have a common life, common governance so that structures serve the ministry of the church! There is a huge amount of work still to be done. I will also continue to encourage clergy to faithfully fulfill the ministry that has been entrusted to them and offer leadership in the growth of the local church and the planting of new congregations.
This week we found out that churches and clergy in the USA formerly under the jurisdiction of Uganda now are part of their own diocese within the new province. Does that mean they are no longer members of ADV?
Those who are in Virginia remain part of ADV in mission and ministry. Their new jurisdictional home was established so that the clergy and congregations associated with Uganda could be transferred and become part of only the Anglican Church in North America and no longer be canonically resident or under the jurisdiction of Uganda.
How will the roles of various bishops who have helped orthodox congregations through this transition change within the new province?
We are going to invite some of the bishops who have assisted in the past to serve as episcopal consultants; they will therefore be part of the college of bishops in the new province. Some of the bishops will have a change in their assignments and this will help to further strengthen our shared life together.
Will the constitution and canons for ACNA continue to change and is there a formal group tasked with overseeing that process?
I believe that we have a strong foundation from which we can move forward. There will be a group that will be tasked to deal with any changes or amendments. Archbishop Duncan chose as the first chancellor for the ACNA the best person for the job: Hugo Blankingship. Hugo is a supremely distinguished canonical lawyer who loves Jesus and the church. He was the son of a bishop, a former member of Truro Church, and more recently of The Falls Church (Falls Church, Virginia). Also, CANA's own Chancellor Scott Ward will be the assistant ACNA chancellor assisting Hugo for affairs in the USA, while Mrs. Cheryl Chang will help in Canada.
How does the ACNA constitution address church property issues?
As is the case in CANA, the emphasis in ACNA is on each congregation owing its own property. We have made it very clear that there will be no claims made against local church property by the Province - in contrast to what The Episcopal Church is doing.
What is the vision for the future?
The challenge is to keep our eyes firmly fixed upon the Lord himself and to keep the main thing as the main thing. The future involves radical inclusion, profound transformation, and inspired service. The vision has not changed. Jesus Christ is the same and the gospel remains unchanged! The new province has given us a way to do this work more effectively and more collaboratively.
American Anglican Council: The Chaplain's Corner
By The Rev. Phil Ashey, Esq.
In the afterglow of Bedford, confidence and hope
I have just returned from the first Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America where we "constituted" what is now in effect the 39th Province of the Anglican Communion. I'm basking in the afterglow of an incredible time of worship in the Anglican tradition - Catholic, Charismatic and Evangelical, all streams flowing together in praise and glory to God. I watched so many of our bishops stop to pray for people as needs arose, and to publicly affirm their faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Bible, modeling in word and deed what we have longed to see and experience for so many years. It was a joy to rekindle and renew friendships with old friends (some I had not seen since seminary days!) and to make new friends across jurisdictions in this one, united, missional Anglican Province for North America that holds so very much promise. I was overcome with joy as we processed in to Christ Church Plano among thousands of friends and supporters - reminded that our six year journey from "Plano I" had come full circle to a new day, a new church, and a new Province.
I'm still in that afterglow, but I want to reflect on this question: what did we really accomplish? There are at least four things we can rejoice in as significant milestones for the realignment of Anglicanism in North America:
1. North American Anglicans united in their affirmation of the uniqueness and Universality of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of all
Applause was frequent, loud and sustained whenever any speaker proclaimed the lordship of Jesus Christ, the centrality of His substitutionary and atoning death on the cross for our sins, his physical and bodily resurrection from the dead, and the timeless inspiration and authority of His word written, the Bible. These are the non-negotiables for Anglicans in the Anglican Church in North America. They are at the heart of our "Fundamental Declarations" in Article I of the Constitution. They are the reasons for which we have joined together as a Province, despite conscientious and reasoned differences over holy orders and worship. We have drawn a line in the sand on the uniqueness and universality of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of all, and this line will not be crossed or blurred in any way.
Our detractors in the "Torn Communion" and in the media insist that we are preoccupied with sex. They need to take a look in the mirror and stop projecting their preoccupations on us. Sexual disorder in the Anglican Communion is merely a symptom of the deeper problem of the denial of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of all. It is the result of a willful defiance of Biblical norms and authority. It betrays a defective understanding of the power of Christ's love to transform every measure of our life.
Why did the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America publicly reopen a dialogue with North American Anglicans that has been suspended for many years? Why did he publicly announce the possibility of reunification of our two churches? Because the Anglican Church in North America has chosen to affirm and proclaim the fullness of Jesus Christ as God and man, and the fullness of his transforming love, by reaffirming the authority of Holy Scripture, the Councils of the Church, the Creeds, and the essential doctrines of the Christian faith concerning the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Now that's significant!
2. Evangelism, discipleship and mission will be "the main thing"
Quoting the great Casey Stengel, Archbishop Robert Duncan reminded us time and again that "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." And the main thing is nothing less than extending the transforming love of Jesus Christ to North America - making disciples of Jesus Christ, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to do everything Jesus has commanded us (Matthew 28:16-20). Pastor Rick Warren reminded us that "a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will build a great Communion." Edwina Thomas of SOMA USA reminded us that we need the power of the Holy Spirit, and all the gifts he would give us, to fulfill this mission and to stay focused on it. Bishop-elect Todd Hunter of AMiA began to lay out a vision and a strategy for fulfilling our provincial target of planting 1,000 new churches in the next five years.
The main thing will not be legislation and resolutions and parliamentary maneuverings at provincial and diocesan gatherings. That's the old DNA. I think we have rediscovered something during our Exodus and our oversight by Anglican brothers and sisters in the Global South. We have rediscovered the DNA of Confessing Anglicanism - it is the sheer joy of leading people into a personal and life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. It is evangelism, discipleship and mission in and through the local church - in the words of Pastor Rick Warren, to move people from "Come and see" to "Come and die" to "Go and tell."
This will be much more exciting - and challenging - than anything we have done so far in birthing this new province. Nothing will be more rewarding than planting new churches where people will come to know Jesus Christ, put their whole trust in his transforming love, and become fully devoted followers who make disciples and plant more churches!
Just as we did for Plano I, and the Anglican Communion Network, and GAFCON, the American Anglican Council will continue to help organize leaders and churches in the Anglican Church in North America, locally and regionally, to pursue evangelism, discipleship and mission as "the main thing." We will have more details about this in the coming months - count on it.
3. We ratified a Constitution and Canons that are genuinely Anglican, and that will support and sustain the mission of the Province
Just over a year ago, the GAFCON Primates gave the green light for the formation of the Anglican Church in North America. At their strong suggestion, we began a process of drafting a Constitution and Canons that are recognizably and authentically Anglican. We did so. It was a labor of love and prayer and mutual submission. It was a process with the input of the GAFCON Primates, every Common Cause Partner, every representative of the Provincial Council, Anglican theologians, canon lawyers, bishops, priests, deacons, examining chaplains, and many other Anglicans in North America whose conscientious comments helped shape these documents.
It is a testimony to prayer and the providence of God that this Provincial Assembly approved them in two afternoons - not in a rush of emotion, but in recognition of the greater good which they secure through the Fundamental Declarations, the Declaration of Mission, and the structures they set in place to extend the transforming love of Jesus Christ to North America. Theological differences remain. We will need to address the "hermeneutics of suspicion" that often distort a plain reading of the Constitution and Canons. Bishops especially will need to help rebuild trust by pastorally addressing conscientious concerns, and reminding us to be shaped not by the betrayals of the past, but by the call to mission. As we live into this new Constitution and the Canons, we will discover what needs to be changed. I fully expect that the Standing Committee on Constitution and Canons will be ready to meet and receive recommendations and propose changes that will further enable us to fulfill the mission God has set before us.
4. Provincial recognition has begun
Barely five minutes after the Canons were ratified by the Provincial Assembly, Bishop John Guernsey rose to announce this news he had just received from the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda:
"Concerning the formation of the Anglican Church in North America, the House of Bishops resolved that it warmly supports the creation of the new Province in North America, the Anglican Church in North America, recognizes Bishop Bob Duncan as its new Archbishop, and declares that it is in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America.
Likewise, the Bishops resolved to release, effective immediately, the Bishops, clergy and churches in America under its ecclesiastical oversight and to transfer them to the Anglican Church in North America. The House of Bishops further resolved to continue its partnership and friendship with them in mission and ministry, extends its hand of fellowship, and wishes them well."
This announcement is significant for two reasons. First, it signifies (with the Church of Nigeria's recognition of the new Province) a communion-wide process of recognition by Primates and Provinces that will result in the recognition of the Anglican Church in North America as the 39th Province of the Anglican Communion. It is this Primatial recognition that determines whether a body becomes a recognized Province in the Communion. The best way we can secure that 2/3 recognition by Primates is to BE the church - by planting churches, evangelizing, discipling and extending the transforming love of Jesus Christ to North America.
Secondly, the announcement by the Church of Uganda signifies the end - the necessary end - of cross-provincial interventions. The Anglican Church in North America will now become the only Anglican body in North America that is fully compliant with all three of the moratoria recommended by the Windsor Continuation Group and endorsed by the Anglican Consultative Council. This fact needs to be impressed upon every Primate and every province in the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Church in North America will not be "more or less" compliant... not "two out of three"... it will be FULLY compliant with all Communion moratoria.
In the meantime, we have a mission to fulfill. We can hope for Canterbury's blessing, but we cannot wait. Multitudes and multitudes are in need of the transforming love of Jesus Christ. As Anglicans with so much to offer from our great tradition, let's go forth and bring them home!
Yours in Christ,
Phil+
In the afterglow of Bedford, confidence and hope
I have just returned from the first Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America where we "constituted" what is now in effect the 39th Province of the Anglican Communion. I'm basking in the afterglow of an incredible time of worship in the Anglican tradition - Catholic, Charismatic and Evangelical, all streams flowing together in praise and glory to God. I watched so many of our bishops stop to pray for people as needs arose, and to publicly affirm their faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Bible, modeling in word and deed what we have longed to see and experience for so many years. It was a joy to rekindle and renew friendships with old friends (some I had not seen since seminary days!) and to make new friends across jurisdictions in this one, united, missional Anglican Province for North America that holds so very much promise. I was overcome with joy as we processed in to Christ Church Plano among thousands of friends and supporters - reminded that our six year journey from "Plano I" had come full circle to a new day, a new church, and a new Province.
I'm still in that afterglow, but I want to reflect on this question: what did we really accomplish? There are at least four things we can rejoice in as significant milestones for the realignment of Anglicanism in North America:
1. North American Anglicans united in their affirmation of the uniqueness and Universality of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of all
Applause was frequent, loud and sustained whenever any speaker proclaimed the lordship of Jesus Christ, the centrality of His substitutionary and atoning death on the cross for our sins, his physical and bodily resurrection from the dead, and the timeless inspiration and authority of His word written, the Bible. These are the non-negotiables for Anglicans in the Anglican Church in North America. They are at the heart of our "Fundamental Declarations" in Article I of the Constitution. They are the reasons for which we have joined together as a Province, despite conscientious and reasoned differences over holy orders and worship. We have drawn a line in the sand on the uniqueness and universality of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of all, and this line will not be crossed or blurred in any way.
Our detractors in the "Torn Communion" and in the media insist that we are preoccupied with sex. They need to take a look in the mirror and stop projecting their preoccupations on us. Sexual disorder in the Anglican Communion is merely a symptom of the deeper problem of the denial of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of all. It is the result of a willful defiance of Biblical norms and authority. It betrays a defective understanding of the power of Christ's love to transform every measure of our life.
Why did the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America publicly reopen a dialogue with North American Anglicans that has been suspended for many years? Why did he publicly announce the possibility of reunification of our two churches? Because the Anglican Church in North America has chosen to affirm and proclaim the fullness of Jesus Christ as God and man, and the fullness of his transforming love, by reaffirming the authority of Holy Scripture, the Councils of the Church, the Creeds, and the essential doctrines of the Christian faith concerning the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Now that's significant!
2. Evangelism, discipleship and mission will be "the main thing"
Quoting the great Casey Stengel, Archbishop Robert Duncan reminded us time and again that "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." And the main thing is nothing less than extending the transforming love of Jesus Christ to North America - making disciples of Jesus Christ, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to do everything Jesus has commanded us (Matthew 28:16-20). Pastor Rick Warren reminded us that "a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will build a great Communion." Edwina Thomas of SOMA USA reminded us that we need the power of the Holy Spirit, and all the gifts he would give us, to fulfill this mission and to stay focused on it. Bishop-elect Todd Hunter of AMiA began to lay out a vision and a strategy for fulfilling our provincial target of planting 1,000 new churches in the next five years.
The main thing will not be legislation and resolutions and parliamentary maneuverings at provincial and diocesan gatherings. That's the old DNA. I think we have rediscovered something during our Exodus and our oversight by Anglican brothers and sisters in the Global South. We have rediscovered the DNA of Confessing Anglicanism - it is the sheer joy of leading people into a personal and life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. It is evangelism, discipleship and mission in and through the local church - in the words of Pastor Rick Warren, to move people from "Come and see" to "Come and die" to "Go and tell."
This will be much more exciting - and challenging - than anything we have done so far in birthing this new province. Nothing will be more rewarding than planting new churches where people will come to know Jesus Christ, put their whole trust in his transforming love, and become fully devoted followers who make disciples and plant more churches!
Just as we did for Plano I, and the Anglican Communion Network, and GAFCON, the American Anglican Council will continue to help organize leaders and churches in the Anglican Church in North America, locally and regionally, to pursue evangelism, discipleship and mission as "the main thing." We will have more details about this in the coming months - count on it.
3. We ratified a Constitution and Canons that are genuinely Anglican, and that will support and sustain the mission of the Province
Just over a year ago, the GAFCON Primates gave the green light for the formation of the Anglican Church in North America. At their strong suggestion, we began a process of drafting a Constitution and Canons that are recognizably and authentically Anglican. We did so. It was a labor of love and prayer and mutual submission. It was a process with the input of the GAFCON Primates, every Common Cause Partner, every representative of the Provincial Council, Anglican theologians, canon lawyers, bishops, priests, deacons, examining chaplains, and many other Anglicans in North America whose conscientious comments helped shape these documents.
It is a testimony to prayer and the providence of God that this Provincial Assembly approved them in two afternoons - not in a rush of emotion, but in recognition of the greater good which they secure through the Fundamental Declarations, the Declaration of Mission, and the structures they set in place to extend the transforming love of Jesus Christ to North America. Theological differences remain. We will need to address the "hermeneutics of suspicion" that often distort a plain reading of the Constitution and Canons. Bishops especially will need to help rebuild trust by pastorally addressing conscientious concerns, and reminding us to be shaped not by the betrayals of the past, but by the call to mission. As we live into this new Constitution and the Canons, we will discover what needs to be changed. I fully expect that the Standing Committee on Constitution and Canons will be ready to meet and receive recommendations and propose changes that will further enable us to fulfill the mission God has set before us.
4. Provincial recognition has begun
Barely five minutes after the Canons were ratified by the Provincial Assembly, Bishop John Guernsey rose to announce this news he had just received from the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda:
"Concerning the formation of the Anglican Church in North America, the House of Bishops resolved that it warmly supports the creation of the new Province in North America, the Anglican Church in North America, recognizes Bishop Bob Duncan as its new Archbishop, and declares that it is in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America.
Likewise, the Bishops resolved to release, effective immediately, the Bishops, clergy and churches in America under its ecclesiastical oversight and to transfer them to the Anglican Church in North America. The House of Bishops further resolved to continue its partnership and friendship with them in mission and ministry, extends its hand of fellowship, and wishes them well."
This announcement is significant for two reasons. First, it signifies (with the Church of Nigeria's recognition of the new Province) a communion-wide process of recognition by Primates and Provinces that will result in the recognition of the Anglican Church in North America as the 39th Province of the Anglican Communion. It is this Primatial recognition that determines whether a body becomes a recognized Province in the Communion. The best way we can secure that 2/3 recognition by Primates is to BE the church - by planting churches, evangelizing, discipling and extending the transforming love of Jesus Christ to North America.
Secondly, the announcement by the Church of Uganda signifies the end - the necessary end - of cross-provincial interventions. The Anglican Church in North America will now become the only Anglican body in North America that is fully compliant with all three of the moratoria recommended by the Windsor Continuation Group and endorsed by the Anglican Consultative Council. This fact needs to be impressed upon every Primate and every province in the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Church in North America will not be "more or less" compliant... not "two out of three"... it will be FULLY compliant with all Communion moratoria.
In the meantime, we have a mission to fulfill. We can hope for Canterbury's blessing, but we cannot wait. Multitudes and multitudes are in need of the transforming love of Jesus Christ. As Anglicans with so much to offer from our great tradition, let's go forth and bring them home!
Yours in Christ,
Phil+
New US Province is formed
From Religious Intelligence via the American Anglican Council:
Wednesday, 24th June 2009. 1:20pm
By: George Conger.
The Anglican Communion’s 39th Province-in-waiting was formed this week, as the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) held its founding convocation at St Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas.
New US Province is formed
God, history, and provinces representing the overwhelming majority of the members of the Anglican Communion were on the side of the ACNA, Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan told the 234 delegates drawn from the ACNA’s 28 founding jurisdictions including four former dioceses of the Episcopal Church, representing some 700 congregations and 100,000 Anglicans in the US and Canada.
The break with the Episcopal Church was now complete, Bishop Duncan said. “There is no one here who will go back.”
Delegates attending the June 22-25 convocation formally adopted the ACNA’s Constitution and Canons and were also addressed by Bishop Duncan --- who was elected archbishop on June 21 by a meeting of the ACNA’s House of Bishops --- and California megachurch pastor Rick Warren, and Metropolitan Jonah, the head of the Orthodox Church in America.
Archbishop Duncan lauded the comprehensiveness and unity of the new province, which bridged the traditional theological divide between High and Low churchmen, Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals, in addition to the modern question of the ordination of women.
It was a “miracle” that those who “believe the ordination of women” was a “grave error” along with those “who see it as a being justified by Scripture” can “work together towards mission,” he said.
The themes of martyrdom and mission were central to the new archbishop’s vision. The ACNA served to win souls for Christ, while also providing a haven for those “who are harassed because of him.” He also urged the province to take up the “battle cry” of muscular Christianity as its own --- “No cross, no crown.”
The future for the new province was bright, he argued. “We are proud to be part of the great reformation of the Christian church” now taking place as there was “an ever-growing stream of North American Protestantism that has embraced” a foundational view of Scripture, while “at the same time Pentecostals and evangelicals are moving towards Tradition.”
The ACNA was the outworking of this movement of the Spirit within North American Anglicanism, he argued, as the “whole world is looking here to Bedford.”
“Our adversary, the devil, is also interested in what is happening here,” he said, for a “reformed Anglican Church in North America is one of the enemy’s greatest concerns,” and he will “try to draw us into old ways and old fights.”
“It is essential that we stand together” and “move on,” Archbishop Duncan said.
California evangelist Rick Warren built upon Archbishop Duncan’s comments on the second day of the convocation, also telling the ACNA to let go of the hurts of the past and focus on the future.
Referring to the lawsuits over parish property and the recent spate of California decisions in favour of the Episcopal Church, Pastor Warren said “you may lose your steeple, but you won’t lose your people,” and urged the ACNA to make making relationships not location the “glue” holding the church together.
In his first speech since he offered the invocation at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January, Pastor Warren gave the ACNA his full support, telling the delegates his “heart was full for you.”
For the ACNA to prosper and grow, it now had to put aside the past and focus on evangelism. “A great commitment to the great commandment and the great commission will grow a great Communion,” Pastor Warren said.
The work of building the new province lay with the parish priest, he said, urging them to be faithful their ministries and eschew politics and secular temptations. “If God has called you to serve in a local church, as a parish priest, lay leader, staff member, don’t you ever step down to become the president of the United States, or anything else, because nothing matters more,” he said.
This commitment to faith first, should be kept in mind when contemplating litigation over parish properties, he added. “Christ did not die for property,” he said. “God’s agenda is that he is building a family” of believers.
To do this he told the ACNA must model its ministry on the Trinity. “Get the Father’s perspective, follow the Son’s pattern, and appropriate the spirit’s power,” he said, but do not use the tools and weapons of this world. “I have no interest in politics,” Pastor Warren said, adding that if “you can change hearts through politics, I would have been a politician.”
“Jesus did not die for America, he died for Americans,” he said, urging the ACNA not to make the mistake of asking God to bless what it wanted to do, but to be patient and ask for God’s blessings that will allow it to be faithful to his word.
During its two afternoon business sessions, delegates ratified the ACNA’s constitution and canons offering only minor changes to drafts first published in December. "We have done the work dear brothers and sisters. The Anglican Church in North America has been constituted,” Archbishop Duncan said at the close of business on June 22.
The Book of Common Prayer and the Articles of Religion served as the theological bases for the canons, which were designed to permit structural flexibility while assuring confessional unity as expressed in questions of Faith and order. The new province permits women priests, but not bishops --- but allows dioceses to opt out of women clergy, vests the ownership of parish property with the congregation and churchwardens, requires a clergyman wishing to remarry after a divorce to seek a licence from his bishop, and adopted a strong stance against abortion on demand.
At the close of the business sessions, the Bishop of Okigwe-North in the Church of Nigeria, the Rt Rev Alfred Nwaizuzu rose to congratulate the delegates. He noted that his province had been criticized for its intervention in the United States in recent years, but today “Archbishop Akinola is happy." For "today it is America solving the problem.”
The convocation continues through June 25, with presentations by Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America --- who is expected to welcome the ACNA as its dialogue partner with Anglicans in the US, presentations on church planting, and the formal ceremony of installation for the new primate, Archbishop Duncan.
Wednesday, 24th June 2009. 1:20pm
By: George Conger.
The Anglican Communion’s 39th Province-in-waiting was formed this week, as the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) held its founding convocation at St Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas.
New US Province is formed
God, history, and provinces representing the overwhelming majority of the members of the Anglican Communion were on the side of the ACNA, Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan told the 234 delegates drawn from the ACNA’s 28 founding jurisdictions including four former dioceses of the Episcopal Church, representing some 700 congregations and 100,000 Anglicans in the US and Canada.
The break with the Episcopal Church was now complete, Bishop Duncan said. “There is no one here who will go back.”
Delegates attending the June 22-25 convocation formally adopted the ACNA’s Constitution and Canons and were also addressed by Bishop Duncan --- who was elected archbishop on June 21 by a meeting of the ACNA’s House of Bishops --- and California megachurch pastor Rick Warren, and Metropolitan Jonah, the head of the Orthodox Church in America.
Archbishop Duncan lauded the comprehensiveness and unity of the new province, which bridged the traditional theological divide between High and Low churchmen, Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals, in addition to the modern question of the ordination of women.
It was a “miracle” that those who “believe the ordination of women” was a “grave error” along with those “who see it as a being justified by Scripture” can “work together towards mission,” he said.
The themes of martyrdom and mission were central to the new archbishop’s vision. The ACNA served to win souls for Christ, while also providing a haven for those “who are harassed because of him.” He also urged the province to take up the “battle cry” of muscular Christianity as its own --- “No cross, no crown.”
The future for the new province was bright, he argued. “We are proud to be part of the great reformation of the Christian church” now taking place as there was “an ever-growing stream of North American Protestantism that has embraced” a foundational view of Scripture, while “at the same time Pentecostals and evangelicals are moving towards Tradition.”
The ACNA was the outworking of this movement of the Spirit within North American Anglicanism, he argued, as the “whole world is looking here to Bedford.”
“Our adversary, the devil, is also interested in what is happening here,” he said, for a “reformed Anglican Church in North America is one of the enemy’s greatest concerns,” and he will “try to draw us into old ways and old fights.”
“It is essential that we stand together” and “move on,” Archbishop Duncan said.
California evangelist Rick Warren built upon Archbishop Duncan’s comments on the second day of the convocation, also telling the ACNA to let go of the hurts of the past and focus on the future.
Referring to the lawsuits over parish property and the recent spate of California decisions in favour of the Episcopal Church, Pastor Warren said “you may lose your steeple, but you won’t lose your people,” and urged the ACNA to make making relationships not location the “glue” holding the church together.
In his first speech since he offered the invocation at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January, Pastor Warren gave the ACNA his full support, telling the delegates his “heart was full for you.”
For the ACNA to prosper and grow, it now had to put aside the past and focus on evangelism. “A great commitment to the great commandment and the great commission will grow a great Communion,” Pastor Warren said.
The work of building the new province lay with the parish priest, he said, urging them to be faithful their ministries and eschew politics and secular temptations. “If God has called you to serve in a local church, as a parish priest, lay leader, staff member, don’t you ever step down to become the president of the United States, or anything else, because nothing matters more,” he said.
This commitment to faith first, should be kept in mind when contemplating litigation over parish properties, he added. “Christ did not die for property,” he said. “God’s agenda is that he is building a family” of believers.
To do this he told the ACNA must model its ministry on the Trinity. “Get the Father’s perspective, follow the Son’s pattern, and appropriate the spirit’s power,” he said, but do not use the tools and weapons of this world. “I have no interest in politics,” Pastor Warren said, adding that if “you can change hearts through politics, I would have been a politician.”
“Jesus did not die for America, he died for Americans,” he said, urging the ACNA not to make the mistake of asking God to bless what it wanted to do, but to be patient and ask for God’s blessings that will allow it to be faithful to his word.
During its two afternoon business sessions, delegates ratified the ACNA’s constitution and canons offering only minor changes to drafts first published in December. "We have done the work dear brothers and sisters. The Anglican Church in North America has been constituted,” Archbishop Duncan said at the close of business on June 22.
The Book of Common Prayer and the Articles of Religion served as the theological bases for the canons, which were designed to permit structural flexibility while assuring confessional unity as expressed in questions of Faith and order. The new province permits women priests, but not bishops --- but allows dioceses to opt out of women clergy, vests the ownership of parish property with the congregation and churchwardens, requires a clergyman wishing to remarry after a divorce to seek a licence from his bishop, and adopted a strong stance against abortion on demand.
At the close of the business sessions, the Bishop of Okigwe-North in the Church of Nigeria, the Rt Rev Alfred Nwaizuzu rose to congratulate the delegates. He noted that his province had been criticized for its intervention in the United States in recent years, but today “Archbishop Akinola is happy." For "today it is America solving the problem.”
The convocation continues through June 25, with presentations by Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America --- who is expected to welcome the ACNA as its dialogue partner with Anglicans in the US, presentations on church planting, and the formal ceremony of installation for the new primate, Archbishop Duncan.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The contrast couldn't be more stark
Most of the posts this week have been about the inaugural assembly of the new province in North America, the ACNA. These posts are consistently upbeat and enthusiastic. The post previous to this one is about pecusa. The contrast between the two churches could hardly be more extreme.
On the one hand we have the Anglican Church in North America, a province for the United States and Canada, that is made up of lay people and clergy who are excited by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On the other hand you have pecusa, an old, graying church that is beset with financial problems, unrecognized (by them) theological problems, and above all, led by persons who for the most part don't believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sure, they would dispute that last statement, but look at their public statements and their record.
The ACNA is youthful, growing, mission-oriented and already endorsed by the primates who represent over half of the Anglican Communion members. Is it 28 of the provinces of the Anglican Communion who have declared themselves either out of communion or in impaired communion with pecusa? It's something like that. At the ACNA Assembly the Metropolitan for the Orthodox in the U.S. stated that ecumenical conversations with pecusa are suspended but that he very much is supportive of ecumenical conversations with the ACNA. So, pecusa is rebuked from within and without the Anglican Communion and the ACNA is already supported by the Orthodox, the second largest portion of Christendom. If it hasn't already happened, I would expect the Roman Catholic Church to also support the ACNA given the support already given by Pope Benedict, who was Cardinal Ratzinger when he encouraged the formation of the Anglican Communion Network.
The contrast couldn't be more stark. The ACNA is the province with a bright future in North America; pecusa and the Anglican Church in Canada will continue to decline.
On the one hand we have the Anglican Church in North America, a province for the United States and Canada, that is made up of lay people and clergy who are excited by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On the other hand you have pecusa, an old, graying church that is beset with financial problems, unrecognized (by them) theological problems, and above all, led by persons who for the most part don't believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sure, they would dispute that last statement, but look at their public statements and their record.
The ACNA is youthful, growing, mission-oriented and already endorsed by the primates who represent over half of the Anglican Communion members. Is it 28 of the provinces of the Anglican Communion who have declared themselves either out of communion or in impaired communion with pecusa? It's something like that. At the ACNA Assembly the Metropolitan for the Orthodox in the U.S. stated that ecumenical conversations with pecusa are suspended but that he very much is supportive of ecumenical conversations with the ACNA. So, pecusa is rebuked from within and without the Anglican Communion and the ACNA is already supported by the Orthodox, the second largest portion of Christendom. If it hasn't already happened, I would expect the Roman Catholic Church to also support the ACNA given the support already given by Pope Benedict, who was Cardinal Ratzinger when he encouraged the formation of the Anglican Communion Network.
The contrast couldn't be more stark. The ACNA is the province with a bright future in North America; pecusa and the Anglican Church in Canada will continue to decline.
Budget Chair: Triennium Income Could Fall by $9M
From The Living Church:
Posted on: June 25, 2009
The three-year, $162-million draft budget submitted by Executive Council will likely be reduced by the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F) before it is submitted for approval to General Convention on July 15, according to Pan Adams-McCaslin, PB&F chairwoman.
In an interview with Episcopal News Service (ENS) June 24, Ms. McCaslin said income could be $9 million less than previously estimated. During the 2006-2009 triennium, Executive Council was forced to reduce $152 million approved by the 75th General Convention on several occasions. For example, at two meetings during 2007, council reduced the budget a total of $5.6 million.
The draft budget approved by Executive Council in January assumed an annual increase of 8 percent in endowment income, and that diocesan income would increase by 1 percent in 2010 and 2 percent in both 2011 and 2012. Under the Executive Council draft budget dioceses would contribute $96 million while endowment income would contribute $29 million. Historically, other income sources have included government grants, advertising and subscription fees from the monthly newspaper, Episcopal Life, and income from renters at the Episcopal Church Center.
However, Ms. McCaslin said that the committee has been conducting an ongoing survey of bishops and diocesan financial officers. They were asked how realistic the income assumptions made six months earlier by Executive Council now appear. Those who already have responded have been “very candid” in their replies, she said.
Kurt Barnes, treasurer for The Episcopal Church, told ENS that “church center staff have not been formally asked to submit adjusted budget requests,” but the PB&F had previously asked department heads to participate in an exercise in which it was assumed that the available funds were 50 percent less than in the Executive Council draft budget.
New revenue projections will be released after PB&F meets in Anaheim, Calif., on July 6, two days before General Convention begins. PB&F will hold three open hearings during convention: one on budget priorities July 7 and two on spending and revenue decisions July 9 and 10. A final vote is expected July 16, the day before convention adjourns.
Ms. McCaslin said the committee is concerned that reduced revenue projections are accompanied by pre-filed resolutions which call for “several million dollars” Canonical and corporate expenses must be funded by canon. These include the office of the Presiding Bishop, the office of the president of the House of Deputies, and the General Convention office, which includes the committees, commissions, agencies and boards charged with carrying out priorities established by convention.
“The tension that PB&F faces is, of the gifts that we have to share, how do we make prayerful decisions on funding the ‘have-tos’ and the ‘wants?’,” she said, and added the committee was “not going into convention in fear.
“We are going in as educated as possible about the draft budget that was approved by Executive Council, as educated as possible about the proposed resolutions with funding implications—both revenue-specific and those with funding implied—in order that PB&F can listen to the convention and the Holy Spirit so that the mission of the church is fulfilled and not political agendas,” she said.
Posted on: June 25, 2009
The three-year, $162-million draft budget submitted by Executive Council will likely be reduced by the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F) before it is submitted for approval to General Convention on July 15, according to Pan Adams-McCaslin, PB&F chairwoman.
In an interview with Episcopal News Service (ENS) June 24, Ms. McCaslin said income could be $9 million less than previously estimated. During the 2006-2009 triennium, Executive Council was forced to reduce $152 million approved by the 75th General Convention on several occasions. For example, at two meetings during 2007, council reduced the budget a total of $5.6 million.
The draft budget approved by Executive Council in January assumed an annual increase of 8 percent in endowment income, and that diocesan income would increase by 1 percent in 2010 and 2 percent in both 2011 and 2012. Under the Executive Council draft budget dioceses would contribute $96 million while endowment income would contribute $29 million. Historically, other income sources have included government grants, advertising and subscription fees from the monthly newspaper, Episcopal Life, and income from renters at the Episcopal Church Center.
However, Ms. McCaslin said that the committee has been conducting an ongoing survey of bishops and diocesan financial officers. They were asked how realistic the income assumptions made six months earlier by Executive Council now appear. Those who already have responded have been “very candid” in their replies, she said.
Kurt Barnes, treasurer for The Episcopal Church, told ENS that “church center staff have not been formally asked to submit adjusted budget requests,” but the PB&F had previously asked department heads to participate in an exercise in which it was assumed that the available funds were 50 percent less than in the Executive Council draft budget.
New revenue projections will be released after PB&F meets in Anaheim, Calif., on July 6, two days before General Convention begins. PB&F will hold three open hearings during convention: one on budget priorities July 7 and two on spending and revenue decisions July 9 and 10. A final vote is expected July 16, the day before convention adjourns.
Ms. McCaslin said the committee is concerned that reduced revenue projections are accompanied by pre-filed resolutions which call for “several million dollars” Canonical and corporate expenses must be funded by canon. These include the office of the Presiding Bishop, the office of the president of the House of Deputies, and the General Convention office, which includes the committees, commissions, agencies and boards charged with carrying out priorities established by convention.
“The tension that PB&F faces is, of the gifts that we have to share, how do we make prayerful decisions on funding the ‘have-tos’ and the ‘wants?’,” she said, and added the committee was “not going into convention in fear.
“We are going in as educated as possible about the draft budget that was approved by Executive Council, as educated as possible about the proposed resolutions with funding implications—both revenue-specific and those with funding implied—in order that PB&F can listen to the convention and the Holy Spirit so that the mission of the church is fulfilled and not political agendas,” she said.
Inaugural Assembly Concludes with Call to Build the Kingdom of God
From ACNAassembly.org:
“Do we have the imagination for entering the world of unchurched American’s and experiencing things from their point of view – while keeping our bearings in Christ?” This was Anglican Mission bishop-elect, the Rev. Dr. Todd Hunter’s challenge to the final plenary session of the Anglican Church in North America’s provincial assembly in Bedford, Texas.
Hunter – a past president of ALPHA USA – is currently focusing on church growth through reaching unchurched Americans in the western states. He committed, God willing, to start 200 of the 1000 churches newly installed Archbishop Robert Duncan said he wanted established during his five-year term leading the Anglican Church in North America.
“Why would God create a new Anglican province?” Hunter asked rhetorically. Not to relieve the pain and angst of the past, he responded, but to help build “the Kingdom of God”. Our loyalty, he said, cannot be in denominations or “church brands;” no one cares about our “brand” or our internal disputes. It isn’t about creating more Anglicans, he said. However, Anglicanism provides a “treasure chest” of tools for introducing people to Jesus Christ – tools such as the Prayer Book, the Eucharist, the ancient rhythms of church calendar, the Lectionary (selected daily Scripture readings), and daily prayers.
People are asking if there is any reality beyond ourselves, Hunter said. Our Anglican heritage offers what post-modern North Americans are looking for – especially the growing number who identify themselves in surveys as “spiritual but not religious”.
Hunter’s prepared remarks will be posted to his website: www.c4so.org.
“I’m loving this new Anglicanism!” one attendee at the Anglican Church in North America was heard remarking.
“Do we have the imagination for entering the world of unchurched American’s and experiencing things from their point of view – while keeping our bearings in Christ?” This was Anglican Mission bishop-elect, the Rev. Dr. Todd Hunter’s challenge to the final plenary session of the Anglican Church in North America’s provincial assembly in Bedford, Texas.
Hunter – a past president of ALPHA USA – is currently focusing on church growth through reaching unchurched Americans in the western states. He committed, God willing, to start 200 of the 1000 churches newly installed Archbishop Robert Duncan said he wanted established during his five-year term leading the Anglican Church in North America.
“Why would God create a new Anglican province?” Hunter asked rhetorically. Not to relieve the pain and angst of the past, he responded, but to help build “the Kingdom of God”. Our loyalty, he said, cannot be in denominations or “church brands;” no one cares about our “brand” or our internal disputes. It isn’t about creating more Anglicans, he said. However, Anglicanism provides a “treasure chest” of tools for introducing people to Jesus Christ – tools such as the Prayer Book, the Eucharist, the ancient rhythms of church calendar, the Lectionary (selected daily Scripture readings), and daily prayers.
People are asking if there is any reality beyond ourselves, Hunter said. Our Anglican heritage offers what post-modern North Americans are looking for – especially the growing number who identify themselves in surveys as “spiritual but not religious”.
Hunter’s prepared remarks will be posted to his website: www.c4so.org.
“I’m loving this new Anglicanism!” one attendee at the Anglican Church in North America was heard remarking.
Young Anglicans envision the future of the Church
From ACNAassembly.org:
“A church assembly ... does not have to be overwhelmingly gray-headed,” said Archbishop-designate Robert Duncan in his opening address Monday. “More than 20 percent of the voting delegates of the Provincial Assembly are 25 years of age or younger!”
And they are committed to their Church.
Californian Serena Howe, a rising sophomore at Hillsdale College, says she “converted to Anglicanism” from a non-denominational church because she fell in love with the church’s liturgy. She has traditional taste in church music, too, saying that she hopes youth ministry can break free of the “rock band thing.”
Jonathan Oliver, 19, recalls his first thought when he learned he would be a youth delegate to the Assembly.
“Oh, boy. I can’t be a kid anymore. I have to grow up.”
Oliver, a Pittsburgh delegate who is spending a year in England teaching religion classes in lower schools, intends to major in youth ministry and chemistry at Geneva College beginning in the fall.
Delegate Taylor Schley, a rising high-school junior from the Diocese of Fort Worth, hopes the youth delegates will mobilize as a missionary wing of the Church. With his friend Joseph Francis, he has launched a Web site – yacna.org – to bring young Anglicans together to speak up for their faith.
“A church assembly ... does not have to be overwhelmingly gray-headed,” said Archbishop-designate Robert Duncan in his opening address Monday. “More than 20 percent of the voting delegates of the Provincial Assembly are 25 years of age or younger!”
And they are committed to their Church.
Californian Serena Howe, a rising sophomore at Hillsdale College, says she “converted to Anglicanism” from a non-denominational church because she fell in love with the church’s liturgy. She has traditional taste in church music, too, saying that she hopes youth ministry can break free of the “rock band thing.”
Jonathan Oliver, 19, recalls his first thought when he learned he would be a youth delegate to the Assembly.
“Oh, boy. I can’t be a kid anymore. I have to grow up.”
Oliver, a Pittsburgh delegate who is spending a year in England teaching religion classes in lower schools, intends to major in youth ministry and chemistry at Geneva College beginning in the fall.
Delegate Taylor Schley, a rising high-school junior from the Diocese of Fort Worth, hopes the youth delegates will mobilize as a missionary wing of the Church. With his friend Joseph Francis, he has launched a Web site – yacna.org – to bring young Anglicans together to speak up for their faith.
More Anglican Leaders Join Supporters of the Anglican Church in North America
From ACNAassembly.org:
The leaders of three Anglican Provinces have recently joined a number of others formally supporting the Anglican Church in North America.
The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer H. Anis, president bishop of the Episcopal/Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East wrote: “Our prayers are for you and for the new Province to continue to stand firm in faith as you have always done. May the Lord keep your unity in order to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ in North America!”
Also writing to offer support was the Most. Rev. John Chew, of the Province of Southeast Asia. “Today you are making a very historic and apostolic stand. Please be assured of our full and deep communion in the Lord”
On June 23, the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda “resolved that it warmly supports the creation of the new Province in North America, the Anglican Church in North America, recognizes Bishop Bob Duncan as its new Archbishop, and declares that it is in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America.”
Archbishop Peter Jensen of the Diocese of Sydney and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans wrote: “I send my warmest greetings and congratulations to the new Anglican Province. We recognise that authentic Anglican brothers and sisters have come together in a wonderful new fellowship in the service of the Lord Jesus. We pray that your faithful witness to the gospel will prosper and that as you live under the authority of God’s word you will maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Support also came from England. Bishop Wallace Benn and Archdeacon Michael Lawson sent greetings on behalf of the Church of England Evangelical Council: “We wish you to know that we consider it a privilege given by God that we are joyful to be in full communion with you all. We are especially grateful for your unity expressed among Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical traditions, and recognise that this is in part a fruit of the Jerusalem Conference where the Primates present encouraged you to form a new and orthodox entity in North America. You are of course in fellowship with 80% of the Anglican Communion who share with us in the historic orthodox faith. It is for this reason that we call on many more of our brothers and sisters worldwide to affirm that they recognise the authentic marks of the Apostolic church and true Anglican identity in your witness,” they wrote.
Anglican Mainstream Convener, Philip Giddings, and Canon Dr. Chris Sugden wrote: “It has been our privilege to stand with you in fellowship and prayer…We rejoice to see the Lord’s hand of blessing on you witness as he adds daily to your number those who are being saved.”
Anglican leaders from around the world have welcomed the formation of the Anglican Church in North America. A total of nine Anglican provinces sent formal delegations to the Inaugural Assembly in Bedford June 22-25. Many others sent personal greetings to Archbishop Robert Duncan.
The leaders of three Anglican Provinces have recently joined a number of others formally supporting the Anglican Church in North America.
The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer H. Anis, president bishop of the Episcopal/Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East wrote: “Our prayers are for you and for the new Province to continue to stand firm in faith as you have always done. May the Lord keep your unity in order to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ in North America!”
Also writing to offer support was the Most. Rev. John Chew, of the Province of Southeast Asia. “Today you are making a very historic and apostolic stand. Please be assured of our full and deep communion in the Lord”
On June 23, the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda “resolved that it warmly supports the creation of the new Province in North America, the Anglican Church in North America, recognizes Bishop Bob Duncan as its new Archbishop, and declares that it is in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America.”
Archbishop Peter Jensen of the Diocese of Sydney and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans wrote: “I send my warmest greetings and congratulations to the new Anglican Province. We recognise that authentic Anglican brothers and sisters have come together in a wonderful new fellowship in the service of the Lord Jesus. We pray that your faithful witness to the gospel will prosper and that as you live under the authority of God’s word you will maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Support also came from England. Bishop Wallace Benn and Archdeacon Michael Lawson sent greetings on behalf of the Church of England Evangelical Council: “We wish you to know that we consider it a privilege given by God that we are joyful to be in full communion with you all. We are especially grateful for your unity expressed among Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical traditions, and recognise that this is in part a fruit of the Jerusalem Conference where the Primates present encouraged you to form a new and orthodox entity in North America. You are of course in fellowship with 80% of the Anglican Communion who share with us in the historic orthodox faith. It is for this reason that we call on many more of our brothers and sisters worldwide to affirm that they recognise the authentic marks of the Apostolic church and true Anglican identity in your witness,” they wrote.
Anglican Mainstream Convener, Philip Giddings, and Canon Dr. Chris Sugden wrote: “It has been our privilege to stand with you in fellowship and prayer…We rejoice to see the Lord’s hand of blessing on you witness as he adds daily to your number those who are being saved.”
Anglican leaders from around the world have welcomed the formation of the Anglican Church in North America. A total of nine Anglican provinces sent formal delegations to the Inaugural Assembly in Bedford June 22-25. Many others sent personal greetings to Archbishop Robert Duncan.
Church of Uganda Declares itself in Full Communion with Anglican Church in North America
Via ACNAassembly.org:
From the communications department of the Church of Uganda
The House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda, in its regularly scheduled meeting on 23rd June 2009, made several resolutions concerning the state of the Anglican Communion and the future of global Anglicanism.
The Bishops reaffirmed their commitment to the Anglican Communion and to the GAFCON movement as a force of renewal within the Communion, and pledged to continue to be a voice of orthodox faith, which is the biblical and historic faith of Anglicanism.
The Bishops were deeply concerned that the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) refused to seat the Church of Uganda’s duly appointed clergy delegate, Rev. Phil Ashey, and deprived the Church of Uganda from the representation to which it is entitled. The Bishops said, “The Church of Uganda’s prerogative to choose who should represent us was abused by the ACC by refusing to seat our delegate. We consider this to be a profound violation of our rights by the Joint Standing Committee and the ACC.”
The House of Bishops also reaffirmed its commitment to not receive funds from the Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Anglican Church of Canada, revisionist TEC and Canadian dioceses and parishes, and funding organs associated with them. The Bishops also chastised and called to account those Bishops among them who have violated this collective and long-standing decision.
Finally, concerning the formation of the Anglican Church in North America, the House of Bishops resolved that it warmly supports the creation of the new Province in North America, the Anglican Church in North America, recognizes Bishop Bob Duncan as its new Archbishop, and declares that it is in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America.
Likewise, the Bishops resolved to release, effective immediately, the Bishops, clergy and churches in America under its ecclesiastical oversight and to transfer them to the Anglican Church in North America. The House of Bishops further resolved to continue its partnership and friendship with them in mission and ministry, extends its hand of fellowship, and wishes them well.
Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said, “This really is the moment we have been waiting for. We have been longing to be able to repatriate our clergy and congregations to a Biblical and viable ecclesiastical structure in North America, and that day has now come. To God be the glory.”
From the communications department of the Church of Uganda
The House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda, in its regularly scheduled meeting on 23rd June 2009, made several resolutions concerning the state of the Anglican Communion and the future of global Anglicanism.
The Bishops reaffirmed their commitment to the Anglican Communion and to the GAFCON movement as a force of renewal within the Communion, and pledged to continue to be a voice of orthodox faith, which is the biblical and historic faith of Anglicanism.
The Bishops were deeply concerned that the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) refused to seat the Church of Uganda’s duly appointed clergy delegate, Rev. Phil Ashey, and deprived the Church of Uganda from the representation to which it is entitled. The Bishops said, “The Church of Uganda’s prerogative to choose who should represent us was abused by the ACC by refusing to seat our delegate. We consider this to be a profound violation of our rights by the Joint Standing Committee and the ACC.”
The House of Bishops also reaffirmed its commitment to not receive funds from the Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Anglican Church of Canada, revisionist TEC and Canadian dioceses and parishes, and funding organs associated with them. The Bishops also chastised and called to account those Bishops among them who have violated this collective and long-standing decision.
Finally, concerning the formation of the Anglican Church in North America, the House of Bishops resolved that it warmly supports the creation of the new Province in North America, the Anglican Church in North America, recognizes Bishop Bob Duncan as its new Archbishop, and declares that it is in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America.
Likewise, the Bishops resolved to release, effective immediately, the Bishops, clergy and churches in America under its ecclesiastical oversight and to transfer them to the Anglican Church in North America. The House of Bishops further resolved to continue its partnership and friendship with them in mission and ministry, extends its hand of fellowship, and wishes them well.
Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said, “This really is the moment we have been waiting for. We have been longing to be able to repatriate our clergy and congregations to a Biblical and viable ecclesiastical structure in North America, and that day has now come. To God be the glory.”
North American Anglicans Reaffirm Their Traditional Mission
From ACNAassembly.org:
PLANO, Texas, June 24, 2009 – Orthodox Anglicans from the United States and Canada, meeting Wednesday night at Christ Church in a Dallas suburb, celebrated the unification of a Christ-centered, missionary Church – the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
“It is a great day because working together, we have been able, by God’s grace, to reunite a significant portion of our Anglican Church family here in North America,” said Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh at a news conference before his installation as the ACNA’s first archbishop. “We are uniting 700 congregations, and more importantly, committed Anglican believers in the north and in the south, on the west coast, and the east coast.”
The ACNA held its first Provincial Assembly this week, working to ratify the constitution and canons drafted by their bishops, clergy and lay leaders at a meeting in suburban Chicago last December when they announced they were forming a new “province” – a large regional Anglican jurisdiction in North America.
Mrs. Cheryl Chang, a member of the Governance Task Force that helped draft the constitution and canons, said, “Our task was to ensure that the structure was supporting the mission, not the mission supporting the structure.”
The preamble to the constitution says that orthodox Anglicans are “grieved by the current state of brokenness within the Anglican Communion [Anglicans’ worldwide church] prompted by those who have embraced erroneous teaching and who have rejected a repeated call to repentance.”
During the news briefing, many of the ACNA officials said the formation of a new province was a reaffirmation of the traditional values of the Anglican Communion.
“The teachings we hold to are the teachings that have governed the Anglican branch of Christianity for decades,” said Bishop Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. “So, in that sense, we’re not doing anything particularly new, but what we are doing is establishing that we want to stay within the [Christian] mainstream.”
Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth said that central theme of this new Provincial Assembly was an emphasis on evangelism and mission. “What I think is significant about that for Anglicans and Episcopalians in North America is that this is the beginning of the recovery of confidence in Anglicanism as a biblical, missionary church,” he said.
ACNA officials said that formal recognition as an Anglican province will take time. Duncan said he is in regular contact with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the principal leader of the Anglican Communion.
Nine Anglican provinces, representing the vast majority of Anglicans from as far away as Africa, Asia and South America, sent official delegations to the ACNA Assembly, indicating their support.
“We are in the process of being recognized by and partnering with churches around the world,” Duncan said. “Just the other day, the Church of Uganda recognized our new province.” Earlier this year, the Anglican Church of Nigeria also recognized the ACNA. Together, these provinces represent the Anglican Communion’s two largest provinces and tens of millions of Anglicans.
Duncan went on to say that Anglicans are part of a worldwide movement. “We are part of something big,” he said. “God isn’t just bringing Anglican Christians together. Across the Church, people are re-embracing Scripture’s authority. Christians are once again discovering the beauty, wisdom and grace of our 2,000-year-old tradition.”
Jurisdictions that have joined together to form the 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation of the Anglican Church in North America are: the dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy and San Joaquin; the Anglican Mission in the Americas (including the Anglican Coalition in Canada); the Convocation of Anglicans in North America; the Anglican Network in Canada; the Reformed Episcopal Church; and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. The American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America also are founding organizations.
The Anglican Church in North America unites some 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes into a single church.
“The events of this week and the months leading up to it represent the answers to decades of prayer,” said Dr. Michael Howell, executive director of Forward in Faith North America. ”And, I am fully convinced that only God could have brought this about.”
The Provincial Assembly concludes Thursday at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas. For more information, visit www.acnaassembly.org.
PLANO, Texas, June 24, 2009 – Orthodox Anglicans from the United States and Canada, meeting Wednesday night at Christ Church in a Dallas suburb, celebrated the unification of a Christ-centered, missionary Church – the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
“It is a great day because working together, we have been able, by God’s grace, to reunite a significant portion of our Anglican Church family here in North America,” said Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh at a news conference before his installation as the ACNA’s first archbishop. “We are uniting 700 congregations, and more importantly, committed Anglican believers in the north and in the south, on the west coast, and the east coast.”
The ACNA held its first Provincial Assembly this week, working to ratify the constitution and canons drafted by their bishops, clergy and lay leaders at a meeting in suburban Chicago last December when they announced they were forming a new “province” – a large regional Anglican jurisdiction in North America.
Mrs. Cheryl Chang, a member of the Governance Task Force that helped draft the constitution and canons, said, “Our task was to ensure that the structure was supporting the mission, not the mission supporting the structure.”
The preamble to the constitution says that orthodox Anglicans are “grieved by the current state of brokenness within the Anglican Communion [Anglicans’ worldwide church] prompted by those who have embraced erroneous teaching and who have rejected a repeated call to repentance.”
During the news briefing, many of the ACNA officials said the formation of a new province was a reaffirmation of the traditional values of the Anglican Communion.
“The teachings we hold to are the teachings that have governed the Anglican branch of Christianity for decades,” said Bishop Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. “So, in that sense, we’re not doing anything particularly new, but what we are doing is establishing that we want to stay within the [Christian] mainstream.”
Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth said that central theme of this new Provincial Assembly was an emphasis on evangelism and mission. “What I think is significant about that for Anglicans and Episcopalians in North America is that this is the beginning of the recovery of confidence in Anglicanism as a biblical, missionary church,” he said.
ACNA officials said that formal recognition as an Anglican province will take time. Duncan said he is in regular contact with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the principal leader of the Anglican Communion.
Nine Anglican provinces, representing the vast majority of Anglicans from as far away as Africa, Asia and South America, sent official delegations to the ACNA Assembly, indicating their support.
“We are in the process of being recognized by and partnering with churches around the world,” Duncan said. “Just the other day, the Church of Uganda recognized our new province.” Earlier this year, the Anglican Church of Nigeria also recognized the ACNA. Together, these provinces represent the Anglican Communion’s two largest provinces and tens of millions of Anglicans.
Duncan went on to say that Anglicans are part of a worldwide movement. “We are part of something big,” he said. “God isn’t just bringing Anglican Christians together. Across the Church, people are re-embracing Scripture’s authority. Christians are once again discovering the beauty, wisdom and grace of our 2,000-year-old tradition.”
Jurisdictions that have joined together to form the 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation of the Anglican Church in North America are: the dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy and San Joaquin; the Anglican Mission in the Americas (including the Anglican Coalition in Canada); the Convocation of Anglicans in North America; the Anglican Network in Canada; the Reformed Episcopal Church; and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. The American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America also are founding organizations.
The Anglican Church in North America unites some 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes into a single church.
“The events of this week and the months leading up to it represent the answers to decades of prayer,” said Dr. Michael Howell, executive director of Forward in Faith North America. ”And, I am fully convinced that only God could have brought this about.”
The Provincial Assembly concludes Thursday at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas. For more information, visit www.acnaassembly.org.
North American Anglicans Reaffirm Their Traditional Mission
From ACNAassembly.org:
PLANO, Texas, June 24, 2009 – Orthodox Anglicans from the United States and Canada, meeting Wednesday night at Christ Church in a Dallas suburb, celebrated the unification of a Christ-centered, missionary Church – the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
“It is a great day because working together, we have been able, by God’s grace, to reunite a significant portion of our Anglican Church family here in North America,” said Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh at a news conference before his installation as the ACNA’s first archbishop. “We are uniting 700 congregations, and more importantly, committed Anglican believers in the north and in the south, on the west coast, and the east coast.”
The ACNA held its first Provincial Assembly this week, working to ratify the constitution and canons drafted by their bishops, clergy and lay leaders at a meeting in suburban Chicago last December when they announced they were forming a new “province” – a large regional Anglican jurisdiction in North America.
Mrs. Cheryl Chang, a member of the Governance Task Force that helped draft the constitution and canons, said, “Our task was to ensure that the structure was supporting the mission, not the mission supporting the structure.”
The preamble to the constitution says that orthodox Anglicans are “grieved by the current state of brokenness within the Anglican Communion [Anglicans’ worldwide church] prompted by those who have embraced erroneous teaching and who have rejected a repeated call to repentance.”
During the news briefing, many of the ACNA officials said the formation of a new province was a reaffirmation of the traditional values of the Anglican Communion.
“The teachings we hold to are the teachings that have governed the Anglican branch of Christianity for decades,” said Bishop Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. “So, in that sense, we’re not doing anything particularly new, but what we are doing is establishing that we want to stay within the [Christian] mainstream.”
Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth said that central theme of this new Provincial Assembly was an emphasis on evangelism and mission. “What I think is significant about that for Anglicans and Episcopalians in North America is that this is the beginning of the recovery of confidence in Anglicanism as a biblical, missionary church,” he said.
ACNA officials said that formal recognition as an Anglican province will take time. Duncan said he is in regular contact with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the principal leader of the Anglican Communion.
Nine Anglican provinces, representing the vast majority of Anglicans from as far away as Africa, Asia and South America, sent official delegations to the ACNA Assembly, indicating their support.
“We are in the process of being recognized by and partnering with churches around the world,” Duncan said. “Just the other day, the Church of Uganda recognized our new province.” Earlier this year, the Anglican Church of Nigeria also recognized the ACNA. Together, these provinces represent the Anglican Communion’s two largest provinces and tens of millions of Anglicans.
Duncan went on to say that Anglicans are part of a worldwide movement. “We are part of something big,” he said. “God isn’t just bringing Anglican Christians together. Across the Church, people are re-embracing Scripture’s authority. Christians are once again discovering the beauty, wisdom and grace of our 2,000-year-old tradition.”
Jurisdictions that have joined together to form the 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation of the Anglican Church in North America are: the dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy and San Joaquin; the Anglican Mission in the Americas (including the Anglican Coalition in Canada); the Convocation of Anglicans in North America; the Anglican Network in Canada; the Reformed Episcopal Church; and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. The American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America also are founding organizations.
The Anglican Church in North America unites some 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes into a single church.
“The events of this week and the months leading up to it represent the answers to decades of prayer,” said Dr. Michael Howell, executive director of Forward in Faith North America. ”And, I am fully convinced that only God could have brought this about.”
The Provincial Assembly concludes Thursday at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas. For more information, visit www.acnaassembly.org.
PLANO, Texas, June 24, 2009 – Orthodox Anglicans from the United States and Canada, meeting Wednesday night at Christ Church in a Dallas suburb, celebrated the unification of a Christ-centered, missionary Church – the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
“It is a great day because working together, we have been able, by God’s grace, to reunite a significant portion of our Anglican Church family here in North America,” said Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh at a news conference before his installation as the ACNA’s first archbishop. “We are uniting 700 congregations, and more importantly, committed Anglican believers in the north and in the south, on the west coast, and the east coast.”
The ACNA held its first Provincial Assembly this week, working to ratify the constitution and canons drafted by their bishops, clergy and lay leaders at a meeting in suburban Chicago last December when they announced they were forming a new “province” – a large regional Anglican jurisdiction in North America.
Mrs. Cheryl Chang, a member of the Governance Task Force that helped draft the constitution and canons, said, “Our task was to ensure that the structure was supporting the mission, not the mission supporting the structure.”
The preamble to the constitution says that orthodox Anglicans are “grieved by the current state of brokenness within the Anglican Communion [Anglicans’ worldwide church] prompted by those who have embraced erroneous teaching and who have rejected a repeated call to repentance.”
During the news briefing, many of the ACNA officials said the formation of a new province was a reaffirmation of the traditional values of the Anglican Communion.
“The teachings we hold to are the teachings that have governed the Anglican branch of Christianity for decades,” said Bishop Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. “So, in that sense, we’re not doing anything particularly new, but what we are doing is establishing that we want to stay within the [Christian] mainstream.”
Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth said that central theme of this new Provincial Assembly was an emphasis on evangelism and mission. “What I think is significant about that for Anglicans and Episcopalians in North America is that this is the beginning of the recovery of confidence in Anglicanism as a biblical, missionary church,” he said.
ACNA officials said that formal recognition as an Anglican province will take time. Duncan said he is in regular contact with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the principal leader of the Anglican Communion.
Nine Anglican provinces, representing the vast majority of Anglicans from as far away as Africa, Asia and South America, sent official delegations to the ACNA Assembly, indicating their support.
“We are in the process of being recognized by and partnering with churches around the world,” Duncan said. “Just the other day, the Church of Uganda recognized our new province.” Earlier this year, the Anglican Church of Nigeria also recognized the ACNA. Together, these provinces represent the Anglican Communion’s two largest provinces and tens of millions of Anglicans.
Duncan went on to say that Anglicans are part of a worldwide movement. “We are part of something big,” he said. “God isn’t just bringing Anglican Christians together. Across the Church, people are re-embracing Scripture’s authority. Christians are once again discovering the beauty, wisdom and grace of our 2,000-year-old tradition.”
Jurisdictions that have joined together to form the 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation of the Anglican Church in North America are: the dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy and San Joaquin; the Anglican Mission in the Americas (including the Anglican Coalition in Canada); the Convocation of Anglicans in North America; the Anglican Network in Canada; the Reformed Episcopal Church; and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. The American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America also are founding organizations.
The Anglican Church in North America unites some 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes into a single church.
“The events of this week and the months leading up to it represent the answers to decades of prayer,” said Dr. Michael Howell, executive director of Forward in Faith North America. ”And, I am fully convinced that only God could have brought this about.”
The Provincial Assembly concludes Thursday at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas. For more information, visit www.acnaassembly.org.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA CONCLUDES ASSEMBLY
June 25, 2009
Today, Delegates completed the Inaugural Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America in Bedford Texas.
Bishop-elect Todd Hunter challenged the Anglican Church in North America to go forth to build God's Kingdom.
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/112
Archbishop Robert Duncan was formally installed at Christ Church Plano on June 24.
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/108
More Anglican Leaders Join Supporters of the Anglican Church in North America.
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/110
Orthodox Church Leader Rekindles Relationship with Anglicans
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/106
Young Anglicans envision the future of the Church
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/111
For complete coverage of the assembly of the Anglican Church in North America, including video recordings of a number of events, visit the assembly website at http://www.acnaassembly.org.
--
Today, Delegates completed the Inaugural Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America in Bedford Texas.
Bishop-elect Todd Hunter challenged the Anglican Church in North America to go forth to build God's Kingdom.
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/112
Archbishop Robert Duncan was formally installed at Christ Church Plano on June 24.
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/108
More Anglican Leaders Join Supporters of the Anglican Church in North America.
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/110
Orthodox Church Leader Rekindles Relationship with Anglicans
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/106
Young Anglicans envision the future of the Church
A report is available here:
http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php/acna/page/111
For complete coverage of the assembly of the Anglican Church in North America, including video recordings of a number of events, visit the assembly website at http://www.acnaassembly.org.
--
A Letter to the Clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina
From the Episcopal Diocese of SC website:
June 24, 2009
The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I begin by remembering the words of two remarkable followers of Jesus Christ. First, from the one who called himself the least of the apostles:
“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that we have behaved in the world, and still more toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:12)
And secondly from one of my earlier heroes of spiritual leadership, Charles Henry Brent—Episcopal Bishop of the Philippines and later Western New York—that apostle of Christian unity:
“Every self-respecting person craves an exacting task, a task that strains human nature. We need more than that degree of obligation which demands the exercise only of those gifts and powers that we know are ours. We must be under the domination of a responsibility which calls for the assertion of our latent and untried capacity, the power that declares itself only in the using.”
This summer like the last—which had the global events such as GAFCON and Lambeth—offers gatherings that can potentially change the landscape of Anglicanism in North America and throughout the world. I have sent one of our deans, the Very Reverend Craige Borrett, to be an observer at the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) gathering in Bedford, Texas. Even as I write this letter this landmark convention is meeting. It is made up of many with whom some of us here in South Carolina have served alongside in this Episcopal Church where, unlike them, we are still members. My prayers are with them as they meet in this pioneering work, even if we do not travel the same path, and though we function in some cases in parallel jurisdictions. Am I troubled by this development? Yes, for it is a bit odd at times to realize that we in the Diocese of South Carolina labor side by side, but not in full communion—and sometimes even in tension—with others who consider themselves and seek to remain, like us, as Anglicans. As sisters and brothers in Christ we are sometimes in and, sadly, sometimes out of fellowship. It is a temporary state I hope, brought about by the extraordinarily divisive times we are in. We travel what has been called the Canterbury trail on paths that sometimes are so close we can carry on hopeful conversations in sight of one another, and then there is a switchback that, even while traveling toward perhaps the same God-given destiny, takes us through trees which separate us from one another.
Later this summer, just two weeks from today, I will gather with the deputies of the Diocese of South Carolina, and other brothers and sisters in Christ at the 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church. We will meet from July 8—17th in Anaheim, California. Our beloved retired bishop, Ed Salmon, and I will be representing us in the House of Bishops. Those representing us in the House of Deputies are: In the clergy order, John Burwell, Steve Wood, Haden McCormick, and David Thurlow: and in the lay order, Wade Logan, Lydia Evans, Boo Pennewill, Reid Boylston, and Lonnie Hamilton (Alternate). Seasoned observers of General Convention and delegates to our own Diocesan Convention may immediately notice that long time General Convention strategist, Kendall Harmon, while elected to the deputation, is not slated to attend this year’s event. This will not go unnoticed in many quarters of the House of Deputies and it should not go unexplained to our own diocese.
In numerous conversations, Kendall and I have felt that the strategizing and networking to pass or defeat resolutions, for most of us in the conservative or reasserting cause, is no longer anything for which we have passion or, for that matter, any hope of success—even if we should attempt it. The cause of biblical orthodoxy within TEC is no longer a realistic thing to strive for through the councils of TEC. Politically speaking, we have lost the day. Those of us who are going from South Carolina go to bear witness—to speak the truth as we have received it, and with love (as St. Paul enjoins us). But the days of strategizing with others who may align sympathetically with us to win some political victory through resolutions on the floor of the HOD or HOB is, at least for now, a thing of the past. We are too small and insignificant of a “party.” Too many have been, or have felt, driven out of our Church. Along with these facts, I fear that the ecclesial-political operatives of General Convention seem too determined to ignore the prevalent teaching of Scripture and the Church, as well as the mind of the larger Communion, but we shall see. I do not state this as one who is disheartened by it. It is just a reality that needs to be recognized and admitted—call it “reality therapy” if you will. It is my conviction that Kendall’s time and energy can be better directed by working in his new role as Anglican Communion Development Coordinator. Just for your information, the Chairman of the Anglican Communion Development Committee is Fr. Bob Lawrence (no relation to me, as you know). Other deanery representatives are Frs. Chris Royer, Michael Hub, Michael Clarkson, Paul Fuener, and Charlie Walton.
As I stated in my Bishop’s Address at our Diocesan Convention in March, I see little reward or benefit in expending our resources and energies in unfruitful expeditions trying to stem the tide of revisionism in The Episcopal Church. Certainly I ask those who are intercessors to pray that God would “stay the hand of the revisionists” at General Convention. And we who attend will, under God, carry out our roles in faithful witness to the truth as we have received it in Holy Scripture and in the traditions of the Church. But the creative thrust of the diocese—beyond the gospel imperative to preach the gospel, make disciples, and plant churches as missionary outposts of the Kingdom of God—needs to be elsewhere than in political machinations of the General Convention. As I’ve stated before, God has called us to help shape the future of Anglicanism through mutually enriching missional relationships and through inter-diocesan, inter-provincial accountability. Certainly, Kendall as our Canon Theologian will monitor the developments at General Convention 2009, but I believe it is in keeping with our declared vision as a diocese to focus on what we believe God is calling us to do, not on the strategies and battles he called us to engage in yesterday.
Before I conclude, let me address an issue that I find is sometimes confusing to many within the diocese, as well as those who are watching us in the reappraiser wing of North American Anglicanism, specifically in what is called “The Inside Strategy.” Among the writers and bloggers of North American Anglicanism there has emerged what some call the inside and the outside strategy in battling with heterodox teaching and practice in the Church. Some who were once Episcopalians have left because they were convinced that anything resembling orthodox belief and practice was lost. Many of these are now gathering at the ACNA convention. They are sometimes referred to as engaging in the outside strategy. That is, in the cause of orthodoxy in North American Anglicanism they have left previously official churches, such as the Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church in the United States. According to this understanding it is believed the best way to revive or reform Anglicanism in North America is to work outside the established churches of the Anglican Communion. In distinction from those outside there are those who remain within TEC and the Anglican Church in Canada. Since they are staying, but still hold to the same understanding of the faith as those who have left, it is assumed by some that they must be carrying out an inside strategy of reformation. We in South Carolina are then said to be carrying out such an agenda—battling for orthodoxy, seeking to win back the day in The Episcopal Church in some maneuvering of ecclesiastical politics. While some within the Church may indeed be doing this, it is certainly not my intent. The stakes at present are much higher than what is happening in Episcopalianism or the continuing Anglican bodies in North America.
If we could be said to be carrying out an “Inside Strategy” it is not towards TEC: it is toward the Anglican Communion. Put simply, we remain inside the structures of the Communion to help shape the emerging Anglicanism of the 21st Century so long as we are able. It is ironic that as one of the few dioceses of The Episcopal Church with documented growth in every significant metric of measurement—membership, average Sunday attendance (ASA), spiritual vitality, finances, missional relationships through the last decade—we can influence the developments within global Anglicanism more effectively than we can influence our own Church! When conferences are held for bishops and leaders in TEC about growth and reaching new generations, why are experts brought in from non-Anglican sources and the prior architect of growth in the one diocese in TEC that has documented growth, Bishop Salmon, is not invited to speak? Why are the rectors in this diocese who have so clearly effectively reached their communities with the gospel never once referenced or consulted? Even the Presiding Bishop had to revise her statement that no diocese in TEC had seen growth, when documentation was cited that South Carolina had seen significant decadal growth. But, irony aside, getting back to my main point, our “Inside Strategy” is not to tilt at windmills in Quixotic fashion thinking we can turn back the clock to some prior age; it is to help shape the future that is emerging in global Anglicanism from within the Communion.
Certainly since we are in TEC we will bear witness to the truth, speak the truth, and stand steadfastly in the faith once delivered to the saints. We proclaim Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of the Father and the only mediator between God and humankind; teaching the trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God; and abiding by the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of Christ as this Church has received them, not as the latest political machinations has sought to reinterpret them. Nevertheless, along with the Gospel mandate, our focus, energy, and resources must be devoted to helping shape an Anglicanism sufficient for the 21st Century by “Making Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age.”
Doubtlessly, the developments from the General Convention in Anaheim and at the ACNA Convention in Texas will change the mercurial landscape in which we have to carry out this work, perhaps making all too relevant the words I’ve cited from the Apostle Paul, and Bishop Brent at the beginning of this rather lengthy letter. It is possible we will be confronted with monumental challenges, even “a task that strains human nature” as Bishop Brent put it. Several of our deputies will be blogging from GC’09, and in all likelihood I will address issues that may emerge from the Convention. So please note: in order for us to take reconnaissance and inventory on the demands these two gatherings will place upon us in the diocese, I have scheduled a Clergy Day for Thursday, August 13th from 10:30 a.m.—2:30 p.m. at St. James, James Island (note: box lunches will be served). We will have reports from our deputies to General Convention as well as a report from Craige Borrett. Please keep our deputations as well as me in your daily prayers as we prepare for and debrief from General Convention.
Faithfully yours in Christ our Savior and Lord,
+Mark Lawrence
South Carolina
June 24, 2009
The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I begin by remembering the words of two remarkable followers of Jesus Christ. First, from the one who called himself the least of the apostles:
“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that we have behaved in the world, and still more toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:12)
And secondly from one of my earlier heroes of spiritual leadership, Charles Henry Brent—Episcopal Bishop of the Philippines and later Western New York—that apostle of Christian unity:
“Every self-respecting person craves an exacting task, a task that strains human nature. We need more than that degree of obligation which demands the exercise only of those gifts and powers that we know are ours. We must be under the domination of a responsibility which calls for the assertion of our latent and untried capacity, the power that declares itself only in the using.”
This summer like the last—which had the global events such as GAFCON and Lambeth—offers gatherings that can potentially change the landscape of Anglicanism in North America and throughout the world. I have sent one of our deans, the Very Reverend Craige Borrett, to be an observer at the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) gathering in Bedford, Texas. Even as I write this letter this landmark convention is meeting. It is made up of many with whom some of us here in South Carolina have served alongside in this Episcopal Church where, unlike them, we are still members. My prayers are with them as they meet in this pioneering work, even if we do not travel the same path, and though we function in some cases in parallel jurisdictions. Am I troubled by this development? Yes, for it is a bit odd at times to realize that we in the Diocese of South Carolina labor side by side, but not in full communion—and sometimes even in tension—with others who consider themselves and seek to remain, like us, as Anglicans. As sisters and brothers in Christ we are sometimes in and, sadly, sometimes out of fellowship. It is a temporary state I hope, brought about by the extraordinarily divisive times we are in. We travel what has been called the Canterbury trail on paths that sometimes are so close we can carry on hopeful conversations in sight of one another, and then there is a switchback that, even while traveling toward perhaps the same God-given destiny, takes us through trees which separate us from one another.
Later this summer, just two weeks from today, I will gather with the deputies of the Diocese of South Carolina, and other brothers and sisters in Christ at the 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church. We will meet from July 8—17th in Anaheim, California. Our beloved retired bishop, Ed Salmon, and I will be representing us in the House of Bishops. Those representing us in the House of Deputies are: In the clergy order, John Burwell, Steve Wood, Haden McCormick, and David Thurlow: and in the lay order, Wade Logan, Lydia Evans, Boo Pennewill, Reid Boylston, and Lonnie Hamilton (Alternate). Seasoned observers of General Convention and delegates to our own Diocesan Convention may immediately notice that long time General Convention strategist, Kendall Harmon, while elected to the deputation, is not slated to attend this year’s event. This will not go unnoticed in many quarters of the House of Deputies and it should not go unexplained to our own diocese.
In numerous conversations, Kendall and I have felt that the strategizing and networking to pass or defeat resolutions, for most of us in the conservative or reasserting cause, is no longer anything for which we have passion or, for that matter, any hope of success—even if we should attempt it. The cause of biblical orthodoxy within TEC is no longer a realistic thing to strive for through the councils of TEC. Politically speaking, we have lost the day. Those of us who are going from South Carolina go to bear witness—to speak the truth as we have received it, and with love (as St. Paul enjoins us). But the days of strategizing with others who may align sympathetically with us to win some political victory through resolutions on the floor of the HOD or HOB is, at least for now, a thing of the past. We are too small and insignificant of a “party.” Too many have been, or have felt, driven out of our Church. Along with these facts, I fear that the ecclesial-political operatives of General Convention seem too determined to ignore the prevalent teaching of Scripture and the Church, as well as the mind of the larger Communion, but we shall see. I do not state this as one who is disheartened by it. It is just a reality that needs to be recognized and admitted—call it “reality therapy” if you will. It is my conviction that Kendall’s time and energy can be better directed by working in his new role as Anglican Communion Development Coordinator. Just for your information, the Chairman of the Anglican Communion Development Committee is Fr. Bob Lawrence (no relation to me, as you know). Other deanery representatives are Frs. Chris Royer, Michael Hub, Michael Clarkson, Paul Fuener, and Charlie Walton.
As I stated in my Bishop’s Address at our Diocesan Convention in March, I see little reward or benefit in expending our resources and energies in unfruitful expeditions trying to stem the tide of revisionism in The Episcopal Church. Certainly I ask those who are intercessors to pray that God would “stay the hand of the revisionists” at General Convention. And we who attend will, under God, carry out our roles in faithful witness to the truth as we have received it in Holy Scripture and in the traditions of the Church. But the creative thrust of the diocese—beyond the gospel imperative to preach the gospel, make disciples, and plant churches as missionary outposts of the Kingdom of God—needs to be elsewhere than in political machinations of the General Convention. As I’ve stated before, God has called us to help shape the future of Anglicanism through mutually enriching missional relationships and through inter-diocesan, inter-provincial accountability. Certainly, Kendall as our Canon Theologian will monitor the developments at General Convention 2009, but I believe it is in keeping with our declared vision as a diocese to focus on what we believe God is calling us to do, not on the strategies and battles he called us to engage in yesterday.
Before I conclude, let me address an issue that I find is sometimes confusing to many within the diocese, as well as those who are watching us in the reappraiser wing of North American Anglicanism, specifically in what is called “The Inside Strategy.” Among the writers and bloggers of North American Anglicanism there has emerged what some call the inside and the outside strategy in battling with heterodox teaching and practice in the Church. Some who were once Episcopalians have left because they were convinced that anything resembling orthodox belief and practice was lost. Many of these are now gathering at the ACNA convention. They are sometimes referred to as engaging in the outside strategy. That is, in the cause of orthodoxy in North American Anglicanism they have left previously official churches, such as the Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church in the United States. According to this understanding it is believed the best way to revive or reform Anglicanism in North America is to work outside the established churches of the Anglican Communion. In distinction from those outside there are those who remain within TEC and the Anglican Church in Canada. Since they are staying, but still hold to the same understanding of the faith as those who have left, it is assumed by some that they must be carrying out an inside strategy of reformation. We in South Carolina are then said to be carrying out such an agenda—battling for orthodoxy, seeking to win back the day in The Episcopal Church in some maneuvering of ecclesiastical politics. While some within the Church may indeed be doing this, it is certainly not my intent. The stakes at present are much higher than what is happening in Episcopalianism or the continuing Anglican bodies in North America.
If we could be said to be carrying out an “Inside Strategy” it is not towards TEC: it is toward the Anglican Communion. Put simply, we remain inside the structures of the Communion to help shape the emerging Anglicanism of the 21st Century so long as we are able. It is ironic that as one of the few dioceses of The Episcopal Church with documented growth in every significant metric of measurement—membership, average Sunday attendance (ASA), spiritual vitality, finances, missional relationships through the last decade—we can influence the developments within global Anglicanism more effectively than we can influence our own Church! When conferences are held for bishops and leaders in TEC about growth and reaching new generations, why are experts brought in from non-Anglican sources and the prior architect of growth in the one diocese in TEC that has documented growth, Bishop Salmon, is not invited to speak? Why are the rectors in this diocese who have so clearly effectively reached their communities with the gospel never once referenced or consulted? Even the Presiding Bishop had to revise her statement that no diocese in TEC had seen growth, when documentation was cited that South Carolina had seen significant decadal growth. But, irony aside, getting back to my main point, our “Inside Strategy” is not to tilt at windmills in Quixotic fashion thinking we can turn back the clock to some prior age; it is to help shape the future that is emerging in global Anglicanism from within the Communion.
Certainly since we are in TEC we will bear witness to the truth, speak the truth, and stand steadfastly in the faith once delivered to the saints. We proclaim Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of the Father and the only mediator between God and humankind; teaching the trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God; and abiding by the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of Christ as this Church has received them, not as the latest political machinations has sought to reinterpret them. Nevertheless, along with the Gospel mandate, our focus, energy, and resources must be devoted to helping shape an Anglicanism sufficient for the 21st Century by “Making Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age.”
Doubtlessly, the developments from the General Convention in Anaheim and at the ACNA Convention in Texas will change the mercurial landscape in which we have to carry out this work, perhaps making all too relevant the words I’ve cited from the Apostle Paul, and Bishop Brent at the beginning of this rather lengthy letter. It is possible we will be confronted with monumental challenges, even “a task that strains human nature” as Bishop Brent put it. Several of our deputies will be blogging from GC’09, and in all likelihood I will address issues that may emerge from the Convention. So please note: in order for us to take reconnaissance and inventory on the demands these two gatherings will place upon us in the diocese, I have scheduled a Clergy Day for Thursday, August 13th from 10:30 a.m.—2:30 p.m. at St. James, James Island (note: box lunches will be served). We will have reports from our deputies to General Convention as well as a report from Craige Borrett. Please keep our deputations as well as me in your daily prayers as we prepare for and debrief from General Convention.
Faithfully yours in Christ our Savior and Lord,
+Mark Lawrence
South Carolina
PLANO, TX: "I am Archbishop Robert Duncan of the Anglican Church in North America"
By David W. Virtue in Bedford, Texas
www.virtueonline.org
6/24/2009
Announcing to all the world that he is now the Archbishop of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America, The Most Rev. Robert Duncan told a press conference that the church he now leads will "reunite a significant portion of our Anglican Church family here in North America."
"We are uniting 700 congregations, (and 28 dioceses) and more importantly committed Anglican believers, in the north (Arctic) and in the south, on the west coast and the east coast. We are oriented toward a hopeful future again. We are not turning back to the hurts of our past. We are moving forward together in Christian mission. The main thing is Jesus Christ."
Duncan drew a wide net saying that God isn't just bringing Anglican Christians together, "across the church people are re-embracing Scripture's authority. Christians are rediscovering the grace of our 2,000 year-old tradition."
Alluding to the Metropolitan Jonah's Orthodox outstretched hand to the newly formed church, Duncan said "that we are not as far apart as we thought."
Earlier the Patriarch of All America and Canada and leader of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), told the conferees and delegates that he is calling for a "full...intercommunion" with the Anglican Church in North America. "What will it take," he asked, "for a true ecumenical reconciliation? That is what I am seeking by being with you today."
What would it take for this reconciliation to occur? "Full affirmation of the orthodox Faith of the Apostles and Church Fathers, the seven Ecumenical Councils, the Nicene Creed in its original form (without the filioque clause inserted at the Council of Toledo, 589 A.D.), all seven Sacraments and a rejection of 'the heresies of the Reformation."
His Beatitude listed these in a series of 'isms'; Calvinism, anti-sacramentalism, iconoclasm and Gnosticism. The ordination of women to the Presbyterate and their consecration as Bishops has to end, if intercommunion is to occur.
The Russian Orthodox Church broke off ecumenical talks with The Episcopal Church over the consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly non-celibate homosexual to the episcopacy.
Duncan said the desire of the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church to re-establish the dialogue with Anglicanism was "extraordinary ecumenical news."
Asked by VOL if the new archbishop had received a congratulatory word from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Duncan said he was in regular contact with the Anglican leader, but gave no indication that he had received any particular word from him on this "historic day".
Asked if ACNA could technically be the 39th Province in the Anglican Communion without the approval of the ABC and the Anglican Consultative Council, Duncan said, "We are a province in process of being recognized. We have been recognized by the provinces of Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Southeast Asia, Jerusalem and the Middle East and the Indian Ocean. We have been recognized by unanimous declaration."
Duncan said The Archbishop of Kenya, The Most Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi would be the chief consecrator at the investiture and will do the anointing as a sacramental sign. "This is not just another ordination. It is the giving of another gift."
Questioned on lawsuits and property issues in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Duncan said that the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Pittsburgh was one of his staunchest allies and that he had called him to assure him that in the eventuality of there being a loss of property his people will never be without a place to worship. "We have a great missionary partnership. There is more that unites us than separates us." Some 61 parishes and a Diocesan headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh are at stake.
Ft. Worth Bishop Jack Leo Iker said the emphasis of ACNA is on evangelism and mission. "This is the beginning and of the recovery of confidence in Anglicanism as a Biblical missionary church. Our desire is to bring the whole gospel to the whole world."
Iker said people wince over the scandals that have taken place over the years in The Episcopal Church. The ANCA gives the mainstream of our clergy a chance to recover the gospel. "We are evangelical and catholic, high church and low church, and this was reflected in our thrusts this week. We are a Biblical missionary movement."
The Anglo-Catholic bishop disputed that ACNA was a new church. "This is not about change it is the old historic church. We have not begun something new we are not innovators. We have the same faith and practice that I have practiced throughout my 35 years." Iker said the litigation was based on the need to differentiate ourselves.
Martyn Minns, missionary bishop of CANA, a missionary initiative of the Anglican Church of Nigeria said that what united this church was "our faith in Christ and our faith in the Anglican way."
Cheryl Chang, an attorney and chancellor of the Canadian Anglican Church in North America and responsible for the drafting of the Canons and Constitutions of the ACNA, said the new structure would support mission, not the other way round. "We will move across geographic boundaries. This is an incredible movement."
Layman Michael Howell, Executive Director of Forward in Faith in North American, said his group will ordain a bishop (William Ilgenfritz) to be a missionary bishop with FIFNA, echoing other speakers saying that "only God could have brought this about."
"Despite our differences and there are some significant ones, we will address them as Christians regardless of our differences. We love Jesus Christ and our desire is to spread His gospel. This is not the end but the beginning of a wonderful ministry."
Questioned on the Covenant being circulated around the Anglican Communion, a worldwide effort to hold the communion together, Duncan said ACNA was ready to adopt the Covenant "when it is right to do so. We are communion players and partners with mainstream players."
Duncan said he will serve as archbishop for five years and is "at peace" in his new role.
END
www.virtueonline.org
6/24/2009
Announcing to all the world that he is now the Archbishop of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America, The Most Rev. Robert Duncan told a press conference that the church he now leads will "reunite a significant portion of our Anglican Church family here in North America."
"We are uniting 700 congregations, (and 28 dioceses) and more importantly committed Anglican believers, in the north (Arctic) and in the south, on the west coast and the east coast. We are oriented toward a hopeful future again. We are not turning back to the hurts of our past. We are moving forward together in Christian mission. The main thing is Jesus Christ."
Duncan drew a wide net saying that God isn't just bringing Anglican Christians together, "across the church people are re-embracing Scripture's authority. Christians are rediscovering the grace of our 2,000 year-old tradition."
Alluding to the Metropolitan Jonah's Orthodox outstretched hand to the newly formed church, Duncan said "that we are not as far apart as we thought."
Earlier the Patriarch of All America and Canada and leader of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), told the conferees and delegates that he is calling for a "full...intercommunion" with the Anglican Church in North America. "What will it take," he asked, "for a true ecumenical reconciliation? That is what I am seeking by being with you today."
What would it take for this reconciliation to occur? "Full affirmation of the orthodox Faith of the Apostles and Church Fathers, the seven Ecumenical Councils, the Nicene Creed in its original form (without the filioque clause inserted at the Council of Toledo, 589 A.D.), all seven Sacraments and a rejection of 'the heresies of the Reformation."
His Beatitude listed these in a series of 'isms'; Calvinism, anti-sacramentalism, iconoclasm and Gnosticism. The ordination of women to the Presbyterate and their consecration as Bishops has to end, if intercommunion is to occur.
The Russian Orthodox Church broke off ecumenical talks with The Episcopal Church over the consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly non-celibate homosexual to the episcopacy.
Duncan said the desire of the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church to re-establish the dialogue with Anglicanism was "extraordinary ecumenical news."
Asked by VOL if the new archbishop had received a congratulatory word from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Duncan said he was in regular contact with the Anglican leader, but gave no indication that he had received any particular word from him on this "historic day".
Asked if ACNA could technically be the 39th Province in the Anglican Communion without the approval of the ABC and the Anglican Consultative Council, Duncan said, "We are a province in process of being recognized. We have been recognized by the provinces of Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Southeast Asia, Jerusalem and the Middle East and the Indian Ocean. We have been recognized by unanimous declaration."
Duncan said The Archbishop of Kenya, The Most Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi would be the chief consecrator at the investiture and will do the anointing as a sacramental sign. "This is not just another ordination. It is the giving of another gift."
Questioned on lawsuits and property issues in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Duncan said that the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Pittsburgh was one of his staunchest allies and that he had called him to assure him that in the eventuality of there being a loss of property his people will never be without a place to worship. "We have a great missionary partnership. There is more that unites us than separates us." Some 61 parishes and a Diocesan headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh are at stake.
Ft. Worth Bishop Jack Leo Iker said the emphasis of ACNA is on evangelism and mission. "This is the beginning and of the recovery of confidence in Anglicanism as a Biblical missionary church. Our desire is to bring the whole gospel to the whole world."
Iker said people wince over the scandals that have taken place over the years in The Episcopal Church. The ANCA gives the mainstream of our clergy a chance to recover the gospel. "We are evangelical and catholic, high church and low church, and this was reflected in our thrusts this week. We are a Biblical missionary movement."
The Anglo-Catholic bishop disputed that ACNA was a new church. "This is not about change it is the old historic church. We have not begun something new we are not innovators. We have the same faith and practice that I have practiced throughout my 35 years." Iker said the litigation was based on the need to differentiate ourselves.
Martyn Minns, missionary bishop of CANA, a missionary initiative of the Anglican Church of Nigeria said that what united this church was "our faith in Christ and our faith in the Anglican way."
Cheryl Chang, an attorney and chancellor of the Canadian Anglican Church in North America and responsible for the drafting of the Canons and Constitutions of the ACNA, said the new structure would support mission, not the other way round. "We will move across geographic boundaries. This is an incredible movement."
Layman Michael Howell, Executive Director of Forward in Faith in North American, said his group will ordain a bishop (William Ilgenfritz) to be a missionary bishop with FIFNA, echoing other speakers saying that "only God could have brought this about."
"Despite our differences and there are some significant ones, we will address them as Christians regardless of our differences. We love Jesus Christ and our desire is to spread His gospel. This is not the end but the beginning of a wonderful ministry."
Questioned on the Covenant being circulated around the Anglican Communion, a worldwide effort to hold the communion together, Duncan said ACNA was ready to adopt the Covenant "when it is right to do so. We are communion players and partners with mainstream players."
Duncan said he will serve as archbishop for five years and is "at peace" in his new role.
END
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Assembly Eucharist and Recognition of Archbishop
Wednesday · 7:30pm-10:00pm
All are welcome to attend a festival Eucharist at Christ Church Plano. This service will include the installation and recognition of the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan as archbishop of The Anglican Church in North America.
All are welcome to attend a festival Eucharist at Christ Church Plano. This service will include the installation and recognition of the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan as archbishop of The Anglican Church in North America.
OCA Synod ‘Enthusiastic’ About Dialogue with ACNA
From The Living Church:
Posted on: June 24, 2009
If Anglicans foreswear Calvinism, female priests, and the filioque clause, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) would be ready to begin a dialogue leading to the possible recognition of Anglican orders and full Eucharistic fellowship.
In a June 24 address, His Beatitude Jonah, the Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada of the OCA, said the Orthodox and the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) shared a common apostolic heritage and shared morality. He also announced that his church had switched ecumenical ties, abandoning all relations and dialogue with The Episcopal Church in favor of the ACNA.
“We can come together as the bastion and bulwark of an authentically orthodox church,” the archbishop said. “We can come together to bear witness to the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as handed over by the fathers.”
Metropolitan Jonah told the ACNA assembly the OCA’s synod of bishops was “enthusiastic about the opportunities” dialogue would bring. His offer of a dialogue on full communion was made only on behalf of the OCA, he said. He added that he was traveling from Fort Worth to New York for a meeting of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), the umbrella group of all Orthodox churches in the Americas. The SCOBA bishops were “anxious to hear of my report on this meeting,” he said
The Presiding Bishop’s Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, the Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, told The Living Church he was not aware of the OCA’s plans, but said the announcement was not unexpected.
“We’ve not had formal ecumenical relations with the OCA since I joined the Presiding Bishop’s Office” in 2001, he said. Bishop Epting said he had sought to foster dialogue with the Orthodox churches in America based on the Anglican-Orthodox agreed statement, The Triune Faith. However, the Orthodox had not responded.
The archbishop, 49, told the assembly that he had been raised as an Episcopalian at St James by the Sea Church, La Jolla, Calif., but as a college student came to Orthodoxy through a study of the Tractarians in search of the true church.
“The goal of my life is to live and actualize, to participate in as fully as I can, the full integrity of the Catholic Church, the full integrity of the Orthodox Church,” he said.
There have been relations between Anglicans and the Russian Orthodox Church since the Elizabethan settlement, he noted, and said 100 years ago that “that relationship became extremely strong” in the United States under the leadership of Metropolitan Tikhon.
“St. Tikhon had a vision of unity … that vision of unity resulted in the time of the proclamation by about half of the Orthodox churches of the validation of the Anglican orders,” he said. However, “it fell apart on the Anglican side with the affirmation of a protestant identity more than a catholic identity. This shattered the unity. We need to pick up where they left off.”
To complete the work of St. Tikhon, who hoped The Episcopal Church could be “declared a fellow Orthodox church,” he proposed a dialogue whose goal was a “unity in faith” where it “can be celebrated together in the sacrament of the Eucharist.” To get there, “there are some issues we have to resolve,” he said.
“One hundred years ago, St. Tikhon came to the Anglican Church with arms wide open. I am the successor of St Tikhon. I occupy the place, the throne, that St. Tikhon held as the leader of the OCA. Our arms are wide open,” he said to a standing ovation from the delegates.
In response to the Metropolitan’s address, the dean of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, the Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, said that “in times of crisis Anglicanism by nature always turn east.” It is a “time for a huge opportunity, let’s not miss it.”
Reactions from the ACNA delegates broke along party lines. One Fort Worth delegate said there was hardly anything the OCA had proposed that Anglo-Catholics could not accept. However, an AMiA delegate was less sanguine, saying rejecting Calvinism was tantamount to rejecting Anglicanism.
Turning back on women’s orders was also problematic for many of the evangelical delegates, and is a point of contention within the new province.
(The Rev.) George Conger
Posted on: June 24, 2009
If Anglicans foreswear Calvinism, female priests, and the filioque clause, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) would be ready to begin a dialogue leading to the possible recognition of Anglican orders and full Eucharistic fellowship.
In a June 24 address, His Beatitude Jonah, the Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada of the OCA, said the Orthodox and the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) shared a common apostolic heritage and shared morality. He also announced that his church had switched ecumenical ties, abandoning all relations and dialogue with The Episcopal Church in favor of the ACNA.
“We can come together as the bastion and bulwark of an authentically orthodox church,” the archbishop said. “We can come together to bear witness to the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as handed over by the fathers.”
Metropolitan Jonah told the ACNA assembly the OCA’s synod of bishops was “enthusiastic about the opportunities” dialogue would bring. His offer of a dialogue on full communion was made only on behalf of the OCA, he said. He added that he was traveling from Fort Worth to New York for a meeting of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), the umbrella group of all Orthodox churches in the Americas. The SCOBA bishops were “anxious to hear of my report on this meeting,” he said
The Presiding Bishop’s Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, the Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, told The Living Church he was not aware of the OCA’s plans, but said the announcement was not unexpected.
“We’ve not had formal ecumenical relations with the OCA since I joined the Presiding Bishop’s Office” in 2001, he said. Bishop Epting said he had sought to foster dialogue with the Orthodox churches in America based on the Anglican-Orthodox agreed statement, The Triune Faith. However, the Orthodox had not responded.
The archbishop, 49, told the assembly that he had been raised as an Episcopalian at St James by the Sea Church, La Jolla, Calif., but as a college student came to Orthodoxy through a study of the Tractarians in search of the true church.
“The goal of my life is to live and actualize, to participate in as fully as I can, the full integrity of the Catholic Church, the full integrity of the Orthodox Church,” he said.
There have been relations between Anglicans and the Russian Orthodox Church since the Elizabethan settlement, he noted, and said 100 years ago that “that relationship became extremely strong” in the United States under the leadership of Metropolitan Tikhon.
“St. Tikhon had a vision of unity … that vision of unity resulted in the time of the proclamation by about half of the Orthodox churches of the validation of the Anglican orders,” he said. However, “it fell apart on the Anglican side with the affirmation of a protestant identity more than a catholic identity. This shattered the unity. We need to pick up where they left off.”
To complete the work of St. Tikhon, who hoped The Episcopal Church could be “declared a fellow Orthodox church,” he proposed a dialogue whose goal was a “unity in faith” where it “can be celebrated together in the sacrament of the Eucharist.” To get there, “there are some issues we have to resolve,” he said.
“One hundred years ago, St. Tikhon came to the Anglican Church with arms wide open. I am the successor of St Tikhon. I occupy the place, the throne, that St. Tikhon held as the leader of the OCA. Our arms are wide open,” he said to a standing ovation from the delegates.
In response to the Metropolitan’s address, the dean of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, the Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, said that “in times of crisis Anglicanism by nature always turn east.” It is a “time for a huge opportunity, let’s not miss it.”
Reactions from the ACNA delegates broke along party lines. One Fort Worth delegate said there was hardly anything the OCA had proposed that Anglo-Catholics could not accept. However, an AMiA delegate was less sanguine, saying rejecting Calvinism was tantamount to rejecting Anglicanism.
Turning back on women’s orders was also problematic for many of the evangelical delegates, and is a point of contention within the new province.
(The Rev.) George Conger
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