From the American Anglican Council

Message from Bishop David Anderson Bishop Anderson Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Those of us who have been in the theological battles in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada, and those of who who have left our former church homes for the Anglican Church in North America have, over the past years, developed a jargon with many acronyms to describe events, groups, and governing bodies. Many years ago, when the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America morphed into the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the acronym PECUSA gave way to ECUSA. Subsequently, they jettisoned a good deal of their moral standards and revised their theology to accommodate new-found freedoms in human sexuality, and changed their name again. Additionally, under Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the American Episcopalians have been busy establishing relationships with client dioceses and other Anglican provinces, positioning themselves as an alternative to Dr. Rowan Williams' version of the official Anglican Communion. In the process of adding new associate dioceses and provinces, they felt that they needed a less nationalistic name, and so TEC, or The Episcopal Church was born; same contents, just a different label. In this same time period, orthodox Anglicans began to realign within the larger Anglican Communion. An orthodox group originally called the Anglican Communion Network came into being; it was formed in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, who suggested the name "Network," though later, when it became a going concern, he opined that he had really meant network with a small "n". This group's acronym was "the ACN" and it consisted of orthodox Anglicans both in TEC and those that departed for greener pastures. Later, many members of this group joined the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), and several of its participating groups had their own acronyms, such as the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC), and the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). Then in 2008, most of them gathered in Jerusalem for the Global Anglican Future Conference and GAFCON was born. The point of all of this is to apologize to all those who have trouble figuring out "who is who." And this is only a sampling of the acronyms - we could fill pages with additional examples.

Sometimes our terminology is confusing as we speak of a church, parish, mission, or congregation, with all these terms referring to a local Anglican group of Christians who gather for regular worship. In the past in the United States, a mission was a church that was not able to fully fund their local operations, and so needed assistance from either a diocese or larger parish. If it was a diocesan mission, the bishop was the rector, the priest directly serving the people was called the Vicar, meaning he/she was serving vicariously for the bishop. The local mission was governed by a Bishop's Committee that was appointed or approved by the Bishop and served at his/her pleasure. If the congregation grew large enough to support itself fully, then they could become a Parish, choose their own Rector, elect their own Vestry, and hold title to the property in their own name (subject, of course, to the Bishop's litigation if the vestry started to act as if the transfer of title actually meant anything). Missions could also be underwritten by parishes, and in that case they had most of the prerogatives that the bishop otherwise held. Many churches began with a few women starting a Sunday School for their children, and then together with their husbands having services in a borrowed hall. In Wyoming, I have held church services in a restaurant, in a bar, in a field, and in a borrowed Presbyterian Church. Morning Prayer services could be led by a lay person until a visiting priest could come by and have Holy Communion. These informal beginnings were often called Preaching Stations when they were added to the circuit of a Missionary Priest of the diocese. Preaching Stations might then grow in time to become established Missions recognized officially by the Diocese and given representation at Diocesan gatherings. I was recently asked a question by a reader, "Why do you use the term congregation(s) instead of parishes?" The easy answer is that we use the broader term 'congregation' when the size or status of the church group doesn't really matter. If the size or status does matter, we will call it a parish or a mission, but in both cases it is a congregation. The only nuance is that the congregation is the gathered body of the local church, and the term doesn't speak to its legal incorporation status or size. In a time when many congregations in TEC have shrunk to under 50 in Sunday attendance, and many in the ACNA have started out with the same number, the meaning of the word 'parish' has simply become blurred. In the Anglican realignment, anywhere from a large majority to 25 or fewer people may have left a TEC congregation to form a new orthodox Anglican church. They are often led by a layperson. They will incorporate under their state's laws, set up their own Council and call themselves a parish, even though in former times their size would have indicated otherwise. These small parishes often secure a priest part time, and then proceed to grow, and in time apply for membership in the ACNA. For those from England where the word parish meant something very specific, I can only say that in North America, with TEC shrinking and the ACNA starting small and rapidly growing, the terminology will need a decade or two to catch up with the complex reality. Although we can't answer personally every question that our readers might direct our way, we do our best to try and provide clarity where needed. Have a blessed Pentecost Sunday, and live in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Faithfully in Christ, +David The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr. President and CEO, American Anglican Council