American responses to the launching of ACNA
Here are the items relating to some of the American
responses to the launching of ACNA:
1. Statement, 3 Dec. 2008, from The Episcopal Church
Concerning the Formation of the North American Anglican Province.
2. Blog of Midwest Conservative Journal,
3. Laurie Goodstein,
4. Article,
5. Hills of the North blog,
6. Duke Hefland of the Los Angeles Times,
7. The Institute on Religion & Democracy article,
8. Comment,
They're a mixed bag. You might find # 1 and 8 most
worth reading.
Lovingly,
Patricia.
Patricia Birkett
Anglican Gathering of
Prayer Co-ordinator
www.anglicangathering.ca
613-238-4680
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1.
Statement from The Episcopal
Church Concerning the Formation of New NA Province
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/12/3
Statement
from The Episcopal Church Concerning the Formation of the
The Rev. Dr. Charles K. Robertson, Canon to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts
Schori, has issued the following concerning the Common Cause meeting in
We will not predict what will or will not come out of this meeting, but simply
continue to be clear that The Episcopal Church, along with the Anglican Church
of Canada and the La Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico, comprise the official,
recognized presence of the Anglican Communion in
And we reiterate what has been true of Anglicanism for centuries: that there is
room within The Episcopal Church for people with different views, and we regret
that some have felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in
Christ.
The Rev. Dr. Charles K. Robertson
Canon to the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church
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2.
The long-awaited new North
American Anglican province has been announced. It will be called the
Anglican Church in
We receive The Book of
Common Prayer as set forth by the Church of England in 1662, together with the
Ordinal attached to the same, as a standard for Anglican doctrine and
discipline, and, with the Books which preceded it, as the standard for the
Anglican tradition of worship.
GAFCON has officially been
confirmed.
We affirm the Global
Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) Statement and
ACNA will embrace both the
The
founding entities of the Anglican Church in
- The American Anglican Council
- The Anglican Coalition in
- The Anglican Communion Network
- The Anglican
- The Anglican Network in
- The Convocation of Anglicans in
- Forward in Faith –
- The Missionary Convocation of
- The Missionary Convocation of
the Southern Cone
- The Missionary Convocation of
- The Reformed Episcopal Church
Depending on
one’s view of a Certain Issue, the following is either realism or ACNA’s
Achilles heel.
The Province shall make
no canon abridging the authority of any member dioceses, clusters or networks
(whether regional or affinity-based) and those dioceses banded together as
jurisdictions with respect to its practice regarding the ordination of women to
the diaconate or presbyterate.
This is a nice touch and
one wonders whether the drafters had Katharine Jefferts Schori in
mind when they wrote it.
The Archbishop will be
known as the Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in
Because Bob Duncan now
sounds a lot more important than Mrs. Schori does.
Initially, the
Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership shall serve as Archbishop and Primate
of the Province.
ACNA’s treasure is not in
the same place TEO’s is.
All church property,
both real and personal, owned by each member congregation now and in the future
is and shall be solely and exclusively owned by each member congregation and
shall not be subject to any trust interest or any other claim of ownership
arising out of the canon law of this Province. Where property is held in
a different manner by any diocese or grouping, such ownership shall be
preserved.
And if any
ACNA diocese should happen to apostatize…
As may be provided by
canon, a member diocese, cluster or network (whether regional or
affinity-based) or any group of dioceses organized into a distinct jurisdiction
may be removed from membership in the Province, after due warning from the
Executive Committee, if agreed to by two-thirds of the members present and
voting and at least a majority in two of the three orders of bishops, clergy
and laity within the Provincial Council.
ACNA’s provisional canons
are here.
Now what? George Conger suggests that de
jure recognition of ACNA could take years. But it seems to me
that if the Anglican primates are willing to move beyond mere words, de
facto recognition could be much quicker, relatively easy and
eventually lead to de jure recognition anyway.
If the primates demand that
Bob Duncan be invited to the next Primates Meeting regardless of how loudly Mr.
Hiltz and Mrs. Schori scream about it, then the Anglican Church in
But if Dr. Williams
refuses to admit
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3.
Episcopal
Sally Ryan for The New York Times
A group of conservative bishops met on
Wednesday at the Resurrection Anglican Church in
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published:
The move threatens the fragile unity of the Anglican Communion, the world's
third-largest Christian body, made up of 38 provinces around the world that
trace their roots to the Church of England and its spiritual leader, the
Archbishop of Canterbury.
The conservatives intend to seek the approval of leaders in the global Anglican
Communion for the province they plan to form. If they should receive broad
approval, their effort could lead to new defections from the Episcopal Church,
the American branch of Anglicanism.
In the last few years, Episcopalians who wanted to leave the church but remain
in the Anglican Communion put themselves under the authority of bishops in
It would also result in two competing provinces on the same soil, each claiming
the mantle of historical Anglican Christianity. The conservatives have named
theirs the Anglican Church in
"We're going through Reformation times, and in Reformation times things
aren't neat and clean," Bishop Robert Duncan of
Bishop Duncan will be named the archbishop and primate of the North American
church, which says it would have 100,000 members, compared with 2.3 million in
the Episcopal Church.
The conservatives contend that the American and Canadian churches have broken
with traditional Christianity in many ways, but their resolve to form a unified
breakaway church was precipitated by the decision to ordain an openly gay
bishop and to bless gay unions.
The Rev. Charles Robertson, canon for the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop,
Katharine Jefferts Schori, said Wednesday, "There is room within the
Episcopal Church for people of different views, and we regret that some have
felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in Christ."
He added that the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada and La
Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico will continue to be "the official, recognized
presence of the Anglican Communion in
In a news conference on Wednesday evening, the conservative group unveiled its
new constitution and canons at a large evangelical church here in
The proposed new province would unite nine groups that have left the Episcopal
Church and the Anglican Church of Canada over the years. This includes four
Episcopal dioceses and umbrella groups for dozens of individual parishes in the
Besides
The new province would also absorb a handful of other groups that had left the
Episcopal Church decades earlier over issues like the ordination of women or
revisions to the Book of Common Prayer. One of the groups, the Reformed
Episcopal Church, broke away from the forerunner of the Episcopal Church in
1873.
Conservative leaders in
These are the same primates who met in
Bishop Duncan and other conservative leaders in
Bishop Martyn Minns, a leading figure in the formation of the new province,
said of the Archbishop of Canterbury: "It's desirable that he get behind
this. It's something that would bring a little more coherence to the life of
the Communion. But if he doesn't, so be it."
Bishop Minns, a priest who led his large, historic church in Fairfax, Va., out
of the Episcopal Church two years ago and was subsequently ordained a bishop by
the Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria, said in an interview: "One of the
questions a number of the primates are asking is why do we still need to be
operating under the rules of an English charity, which is what the Anglican
Consultative Council does. Why is
Jim Naughton, canon for communications and advancement in the Episcopal Diocese
of Washington, and a liberal who frequently blogs on Anglican affairs, said he
doubted that a rival Anglican province could grow much larger.
"I think this organization does not have much of a future because there
are already a lot of churches in the
Since the Episcopal Church ordained Bishop Gene Robinson, an openly gay man who
lives with his partner, in the Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003, the parallel rifts
in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion have widened.
In the first years after Bishop Robinson was ordained, bishops representing
about 14 dioceses in the Episcopal Church joined meetings to explore the
formation of a new Anglican entity in
Asked why only four dioceses broke away, Bishop Minns said: "It's one
thing to feel distressed. It's another thing to do something about it."
He added: "There's some people standing back to wait and see if we pull
this off, which I think we'll do. Then others will join us - parishes, and
maybe dioceses."
If the conservatives try to take their church properties with them, they are
likely to face lawsuits from the Episcopal Church. The church is already suing
breakaway parishes and dioceses in several states to retain church property.
Bishop Duncan said members of the proposed province would spend the next six
months discussing the constitution, and would meet to ratify the document next
summer at a "provincial assembly." He said it would probably be held
at the Episcopal Cathedral in
The Episcopal Church is also holding its General Convention next summer.
The founding members of this new province have major theological differences
among themselves on liturgical practices, and whether to ordain women.
Bishop Duncan, whose theological orientation is more evangelical, has ordained
women in the diocese of
Under their new constitution, each of the nine constituent dioceses or groups
that would make up the new province could follow its own teachings on women's
ordination. Each congregation would also keep its own property.
Told of this new Anglican entity, David C. Steinmetz, Amos Ragan Kearns
professor of the history of Christianity at the Divinity School at Duke
University, said in a phone interview, "It's really an unprecedented and
momentous event," that all of these dissident groups had agreed to bury
their differences.
"It's certainly going to be deplored by one part of the Communion and
hailed by another," Professor Steinmetz said. "Are we going to end up
with two families of Anglicans, and if so, are they in communion with each
other in any way? There are so many possibilities and geopolitical differences,
it's really hard to predict where this will go."
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 4. Horrors!
A North American Anglican Sect for "True Believers"? "This
statement does not represent the end of Anglicanism, merely another chapter
in a centuries-old struggle for dominance by those who consider themselves
the only true believers." The Presiding
Bishop of the Episcopalian religion intones a creed: There are bad people who
want to "dominate" the church with clear statements of Christian
faith and practice - "true believers." Schori wants an open-minded
church defined by which of its insiders are entitled to specific territory,
property and bank accounts. The
emerging Anglican Church in North America, to the horror of the good Episcopalian insiders, is
"based on theology" rather than titles and geographical boundaries. But it turns out
that Schori's Episcopal Church (TEC) is itself based on a "theology for
true believers" who share non-geographical affinity. In 2006, an
Episcopalian insider told a Seminary gathering that TEC is guided by a "theology of
inclusion" and that the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori herself
came from this belief. And this theology is based on affinity groups rather
than parishes or dioceses: "I firmly believe we will continue to see the
results of this 'mainstreaming' in the flowering of Asian, Black, Latino and
Native American ministries along with the growth of women, youth, gay and all
ministries which were once marginalized," said the bureaucrat. But this
"theology of inclusion" serves a much narrower group than the lofty
words admit. "Youth ministry" is pretty much non-existent in old, gray TEC. Native American ministry is a disaster. Historic Black parishes are shutting down. Notice that the insider did not include un-sexy,
inconvenient special needs people in his list of the
"marginalized." In fact, TEC as a whole is withering. If you do a bit
of unpacking, you find that the "theology of inclusion" is about
the campaign of one small group of "true believers" to dominate TEC
- to rid it of inconvenient people and keep lots of money and property to
serve itself.
If you visit the blogs or attend any Episcopalian functions,
you know that I could go on and on listing examples. The point is this: TEC curses what it has become. It is a
narrow sect, dominated by true believers. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 5. Welcome to Hills of the North, blog of an Anglican layperson
in Rome, Georgia, offered as a resource and
place of fellowship for orthodox, traditional Anglicans in this part of Much will be written today elsewhere about the fledgling
Anglican Church in North America, which yesterday came into being, at least
in a provisional sense. Surely it is time for such a move, if only to stem
the flow of orthodox Episcopalians out of the Anglican fold entirely. And the
anecdotal evidence (and the numbers not adding up) suggests that's exactly
what is happening to most of those orthodox who have been leaving the
Episcopal Church. Certainly in this part of There are many shortcomings in this new enterprise, ones that
are evident in the constitutive documents--meaning they are ones that the
founders acknowledge, which is a good thing. The model of subsidiarity that
Bishop Duncan spoke of does give hope that some of the differences within the
entities that make up the new province can be accomodated. That said, there
will be a need for identity, in nomenclature so as to prevent confusion, and
in structure so as to ensure efficiency. This will have to be more than
merely another alphabet-soup collection of Anglican-ish entities if it is to
succeed. Right now it appears to be more Articles of Confederation than
Constitution, and one suspects therein may now be its strength, but later its
weakness. Perhaps the greatest weakness, though, is that it does not yet
provide anything, save a spot of hope, for those not near any parish that's
in the new province--and that is most of North America. That's not the fault
of the new province; indeed, to have the 700 parishes and church plants they
have is extraordinarily impressive. But it will be many years before there is
parish coverage across the country. So here is my modest suggestion for the new province. Enable a
class of at-large membership, membership that does not supplant or discourage
membership in a local church, but that gives an orthodox Anglican either
stuck in a heterodox Episcopal Church, or having to affiliate for the moment
with another sort of church because of there being no orthodox Anglican
church, a way to keep their Anglican identity. There are models for dual
membership already, particularly for college students who are away from their
home church, or "snowbirds" in Florida--called
"watchcare" membership in some places. Such an affiliate membership
would have many benefits: 1. It would significantly expand the membership base of the
new province. 2. It would provide financial support for the province beyond
the current membership base, and provide those with affiliate membership a
place they can send their tithes and offerings if they are unable by reason
of conscience to give it to their local church. 3. It would enable the province to gauge where there is a
critical mass for a church plant. 4. It would provide a mechanism for affiliate members to find
one another for fellowship or to work toward a church plant. 5. It would actually make it more palatable for those where
there is no Anglican church, but who have stopped attending their Episcopal
Church, to move their letters from an Episcopal Church to the non-Anglican
church they now attend, as they would not in the process lose their Anglican
identity. And the Episcopal Churches would then, if honest, have off of their
rolls numbers they now legitimately claim as members, but who in fact have
nothing at all to do with the Episcopal Church. 6. If it were possible to transfer membership to the new
province from a local parish, this would also provide a rather visible way
for those still in the Episcopal Church to register their disapproval for
what they see happening in the denomination. 7. If structured so, it could provide services and resources
to those stuck in non-orthodox or non-Anglican churches--alternatives for
confirmation instruction, for example, and involvement in the various ministries
(men's, women's, youth, college, etc.) that one presumes will soon have to
spring up as part of the new Anglican Church in North America. We are as Anglicans quite wed to the parish model of
membership, and that does not have to be jettisoned or diluted. But the times
call for a bit of creativity, and one way the new Anglican Church in North
America can expand its ministry is to consider new forms of membership that
show the same flexibility as has been shown in putting together this
enterprise so far. This is fact could be the key to a much more rapid
expansion than those leading the new province have thus far considered
possible. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 6.
Split in Episcopal Church hits new level
Scott Strazzante /
Chicago Tribune American Anglican Church Bishop Robert William Duncan
acknowledges applause after he was introduced during service at United States
Evangelical Free Church in Wheaton, Illinois on Wednesday. Conservatives who fled liberal views of Scripture have formed
a breakaway church in North America. By Duke Helfand December 4, 2008 Hundreds of conservative Episcopal congregations in North
America, rejecting liberal biblical views of others in the denomination,
formed a breakaway church Wednesday that threatened to further divide a
global Anglican body already torn by the ordination of an openly gay bishop. Leaders of the new Anglican Church in North America said they
took the extraordinary step to unify congregations and dioceses that had fled
the American Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada over issues
of Scripture. The 700 renegade churches, mostly from the U.S., had already
expressed their displeasure by placing themselves under the jurisdiction of
Anglican leaders in vast, self-governing foreign provinces. The festering disputes have prompted numerous lawsuits over
church property, as well as spirited -- and prayerful -- debate over the role
of gays and lesbians in church life. Leaders of the churches and splinter groups, saying they
represent 100,000 Christians, adopted a provisional constitution Wednesday to
govern their new province. They acted at the behest of conservative global
Anglican leaders who, during a gathering in Jerusalem last summer, called for
the creation of a new independent North American province. To gain official recognition, the new province must still get
approval from two-thirds of the 38 provincial Anglican leaders who represent
77 million Christians worldwide. If approved, it would be the first such
province based on theology, not geography, a dramatic departure from Anglican
policy. "This is a reformational movement," said the Rev.
Peter Frank, a spokesman for the Common Cause Partnership, which is
spearheading the effort. "We believe that Anglicanism is a beautiful
thing. Here in America it got on a track that was taking it farther and
farther away from its core beliefs. We're attempting to return to that." Leaders of the 2.1-million-member Episcopal Church lamented
the loss but were uncertain about its effect on existing church bodies. "We will not predict what will or will not come out of
this meeting but simply continue to be clear that the Episcopal Church, along
with the Anglican Church of Canada and La Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico,
comprise the official, recognized presence of the Anglican Communion in North
America," the Rev. Charles Robertson, advisor to the Episcopal Church's
presiding bishop, said in a statement. "And we reiterate what has been true of Anglicanism for
centuries -- that there is room within the Episcopal Church for people with
different views, and we regret that some have felt the need to depart from
the diversity of our common life in Christ." The Rev. Ian Douglas of the Episcopal Divinity School in
Cambridge, Mass., predicted the move would have limited effect. "I do
not think Wednesday's event is as big a deal as the organizers think it
is," Douglas said. He added that "while claiming more conservative tradition
on human sexuality and biblical interpretation, their approach is radical and
contrary to church polity." Four Episcopal dioceses -- in Pittsburgh; Fort Worth, Texas;
Quincy, Ill.; and California's San Joaquin Valley -- are among the religious
bodies spearheading the creation of the province. The dioceses -- and individual parishes -- had already taken
steps to distance themselves from the Episcopal Church in recent years. Some
parishes, including in Southern California, declared that they had placed
themselves under the jurisdiction of conservative bishops overseas. Some dioceses announced that they had aligned themselves with
the Argentina-based Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America. That
alignment would no longer be necessary if the churches created their own
province. It was unclear whether the Anglican Communion or its leader,
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, would agree to such a step. The action comes almost a year after the Diocese of San
Joaquin, based in Fresno, voted to become the first diocese in the nation to
secede from the Episcopal Church. It also comes five years after the Episcopal Church
consecrated its first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
Although some of the conservative churches split with the Episcopal Church
before Robinson was installed in 2003, most cite the event as the catalyst
that drove conservatives away. The new province, they think, will provide a necessary
alternative. "We support this constitution as it reflects the very
qualities that all of us . . . have hoped for in the new Anglican province --
biblically grounded, Christ-centered, mission-driven, outwardly focused,
committed to evangelism and discipleship, and proudly Anglican," said
Bishop Martyn Minns of the group Convocation of Anglicans in North America
and a key player in creating the province. The differences go beyond the role of gays and lesbians in
church life. San Joaquin, for instance, is one of just three of the church's
110 dioceses that do not ordain women. On the issue of gay rights, the diocese's bishop has said he
views homosexuality as contrary to the Bible's teachings. Conversely, California's six leading Episcopal bishops this
summer announced their opposition to Proposition 8, the measure banning gay
marriage in the state. Helfand is a Times staff writer. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 7.
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8.
Christian leaders formerly associated with the Episcopal Church have
announced the creation of a new denomination -- the Anglican Church in North
America. The announcement came Wednesday as conservative Anglican leaders
met in Wheaton, Illinois to plan for a future province of the Anglican
Communion -- in this case a province determined by theological conviction, not
geographical designation.
As The New York Times reported:
Conservatives alienated from the Episcopal Church announced on
Wednesday that they were founding their own rival denomination, the biggest
challenge yet to the authority of the Episcopal Church since it ordained an
openly gay bishop five years ago.
The move threatens the fragile unity of the Anglican Communion, the
world’s third-largest Christian body, made up of 38 provinces around the world
that trace their roots to the Church of England and its spiritual leader, the
Archbishop of Canterbury.
The strange part of that account is the statement that this move
"threatens the fragile unity of the Anglican Communion."
That fragile unity was shattered by the actions of more liberal churches in
North America to bless same-sex unions, ordain homosexual ministers, and elect
an openly-homosexual bishop. The lack of unity is what has
prompted the establishment of this new denomination.
Indeed, this division among the Anglicans and related national churches
can be traced directly back to the Anglican Communion's failure to establish
and maintain doctrinal boundaries and a clear affirmation of biblical
authority. Liberals and conservatives have been increasingly at odds over
a host of issues related to biblical authority.
The action of the American church, the Episcopal Church USA, to elect and
consecrate an openly-homosexual man as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 set the
stage for what now appears to be a schism in the church.
From The Guardian [London]:
The constitution comes in the wake of a conference held in Israel last
June with leaders from more than one-half of the world's 77 million Anglicans.
At that conference, the leaders outlined their intentions to, in their view,
reform, heal and revitalise the Anglican Communion by adhering to a more
literal interpretation of the Bible.
"The public release of our draft constitution is an important
concrete step toward the goal of a biblical, missionary and united Anglican
Church in North America," said Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh,
moderator of Common Cause Partnership.
Duncan, who was deposed by bishops in the Episcopal Church in September,
was elected as the new province's first Archbishop, and thus the first Primate
of the Anglican Church in North America.
The fact that the Wheaton announcement framed the issue theologically was
not missed by the national media. The Washington Post reported that the new
province would be "one that would be based less on geography than on
theology." The New York Times explained that,
"for the first time, a province would be defined not by geography, but by
theological orientation."
The announcement of the Anglican Church in North America is good
news. The big question is just how many churches and dioceses will join
this new province and depart the Episcopal Church. Officials with the
Episcopal Church sought to downplay the development, suggesting that the new
group was rejecting the denomination's commitment to diversity. In the
eyes of those forming the Anglican Church in North America, the Episcopal
Church has rejected the Bible.
The schism within the Anglican Communion is painful to watch and even more
painful to endure. There are difficult questions ahead, including the
response of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. There are other
provinces ready to recognize the Anglican Church in North America [ACNA], but
no one knows exactly how many. There are also unsettled issues within the
leaders of the ACNA, and some of these are theologically significant.
Nevertheless, the fact that the establishment of the Anglican Church of
North America was motivated by explicitly theological concerns and commitments
is a sign of hope. The battle for biblical authority arises again and
again, and it is good that these leaders recognize the centrality of this commitment.
In the end, the greatest achievement of this new group may be to make one
point exceedingly clear -- the true church is rightly defined by theology,
not territory.
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