Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church In North America as Ratified
The final texts of the Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church In North America are available. The Constitution is available here. The canons are available here.
Inaugural Assembly Concludes with Call to Build the Kingdom of God
“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
“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
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
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
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.
Metropolitan Jonah, Orthodox Church in America, Archbishop Duncan, Anglican Church in North America
Orthodox Church Leader Rekindles Relationship with Anglicans
The leader of the Orthodox Church in America has re-kindled the oldest ecumenical relationship in Christian history. Addressing delegates and attendees of the inaugural assembly of the Anglican Church in North America, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, said, “I am seeking an ecumenical restoration by being here today. This is God’s call to us.” This significant gesture represents the possibility of full communion being exchanged between the churches.
Metropolitan Jonah represents the American branch of the Orthodox Church, a Christian denomination that has a long history of strong relationships with the Anglican Church. “We have to actualize that radical experience of union in Christ with one another,” Jonah said. Speaking for 45 minutes, the Metropolitan addressed the importance of looking past our differences in order to work together for mission. “Our unity transcends our particularity,” he said.
His Beatitude’s message was focused on unity but did not fail to address areas of contrasting beliefs between the two churches. Though united in upholding the authority of the Bible and uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the Orthodox Church and Anglican Church in North America have differing opinions on matters such as the ordination of women and other doctrinal issues. Despite this, the Metropolitan told the audience that “our arms are open wide.”
Following the speech, a representative of an Orthodox seminary, St. Vladimir’s, announced a cooperative effort with Nashotah House, an orthodox Anglican seminary, that would help further these ecumenical relationships and what Jonah described as a “new dialogue between the Orthodox Church in North America and the new Anglican province in North America.
Metropolitan Jonah, Archbishop of Washington and New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada
Bedford Assembly Newsletter: Wednesday Edition
The Wednesday News, which is distributed to all delegates,participants and guests at the Anglican Church in North America’s Inaugural Assembly in Bedford, is now available as a pdf file here.
Media Hear About Ministry Initiatives
A media briefing Tuesday afternoon focused on several ministry initiatives within the Anglican Church in North America: the Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ARDF), Youth Ministries, Catechism and Anglican Global Missions Partners.
Canon Nancy Norton, ARDF executive director, told the gathered media that, since its inception, the ARDF had provided more than $3.7 million in funding to 96 relief and development projects, improving the lives of a half million people in 32 countries.
Obinna Jon-Ubabuko, a youth delegate from the Diocese of Fort Worth said formation of the Anglican Church in North America was a dream come true. He expressed appreciation and surprise at the degree of youth involvement in this Assembly – with youth comprising 20 per cent of delegates.
The Rev Dr Jack Gabig, co-chair of the Catechism and Curriculum Task Force, spoke of the centrality of catechism in creating disciples in our new Province. He said the task force was now developing a series of guiding principles and planned to have an initial series of white papers ready in September, with a second series due in January.
A survey of over 100 Anglican Church in North America leaders found that only 17 per cent were very satisfied with the overall effectiveness of current catechesis in the Church. The survey also provided a wealth of information on what is “right” with catechism in the Church. (The full results of the survey are on the Assembly website – www.acnaassembly.org.)
Canon John MacDonald of the Anglican Global Mission Partners said that the health of a parish is measured by how many missionaries, clergy and Christian leaders are being raised up out of your congregation. Unfortunately, missions has not been part of the culture of many churches in the past.
St. Vincent’s Cathedral, Fort Worth, TX
Anglican Church in North America pin
Pastor Rick Warren addresses Anglican Church in North America Assembly
Pastor Rick Warren addressed over 800 delegates and attendees at the Anglican Church in North America’s inaugural assembly today. Urging the audience to focus on the mission of the Church and “winning one more for Jesus,” the influential pastor encouraged and prayed for the new church and its representatives.
Welcomed by Archbishop-designate Bob Duncan of the Anglican Church in North America and Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America, Pastor Warren stepped on to the stage at St. Vincent’s Cathedral Bedford, Texas, to a standing ovation. Warren spoke for the next 45 minutes, giving practical advice to the gathered clergy and church leaders on such matters as nurturing Christian maturity, sharing the faith and building healthy, growing churches.
Reminding the audience to stay focused on God and His love for people, Warren said, “Jesus didn’t die to save America, he died to save Americans.” The work of the church, he said, was to preach the Gospel and make disciples. “Don’t ask God to bless what you are doing. Do what God is blessing.”
Along that theme and in the context of the current lawsuits brought against many in the ACNA, Pastor Warren said, “The church has never been made up of buildings, it’s made up of people,” and “Christ did not die for property… You may lose the steeple, but you will not lose the people.”
After the speech, which was punctuated by lengthy applause, Pastor Warren took questions from the audience.
The Anglican Church in North America unites some 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes into a single church. Jurisdictions which 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; the Convocation of Anglicans in North America; the Anglican Network in Canada; the Anglican Coalition in Canada; the Reformed Episcopal Church; and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. Additionally, the American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America are founding organizations.
Minority of Anglican Leaders Satisfied with Effectiveness of Christian Training
Survey reveals need for stronger emphasis on catechesis in contemporary Anglicanism
A survey of leaders in the Anglican Church in North America reveals a need for a greater emphasis on Christian training – traditionally known as “catechisis” – in the church. Among the survey’s findings are:
- Only 17% of respondents are very satisfied with the overall effectiveness of catechesis in the Church;<
- Where catechesis is offered, respondents believed it was often highly effective among adults, but generally saw it as less effective among children and, especially, adolescents;
- When asked, “What is missing from current catechetical content?” the most frequent answer was the inability to move from belief to action.
In general, the survey suggests that Anglican churches have failed to prepare individuals to be effective as disciples of Christ and active members in the Church.
“Given the confusion about the basic tenets of the Christian faith and life that persists across the culture in general we are not surprised by the findings,” said Jack Gabig, co-chair of the Anglican Church in North America’s committee on Catechesis and Curriculum that sponsored the research. Gabig also noted that, in general, there has been “too little in terms of both foundation and formation in catechesis.” Dr. Phil Harrold, who co-chairs the committee with Gabig, recalled that catechism and confirmation have been largely neglected in the North American Church since the 1970s. “The whole idea that a rite of passage like catechesis plays a key role in shaping the future of the Church has been lost for more than a generation,” Harrold observed.
Respondents also provided a wealth of information on what is going right with catechesis in the church. “We see it as a great time that people desire to do a better job teaching the faith,” said Gabig. The co-chairs expect that the Church will be working to get behind, promote and extend the things that are working even as new resources are developed.
The survey included over 100 respondents from a broad base of constituents in the orthodox Anglican movement in the United States including AMIA, Southern Cone, CANA, the REC, Uganda, Kenya, Bolivia, ANiC, Pittsburgh, San Jaoquin, Fort Worth, Quincy and others.
For more information, contact the Rev. Jack Gabig at 412-841-9344
Rick Warren at ACNA Assembly
Bedford Assembly Newsletter: Tuesday Edition
The News which is distributed to all delegates, participants and guests at the Anglican Church in North America’s Inaugural Assembly in Bedford, is now available as a pdf file.
Greetings from Archbishop Nzimbi
Praise and Worship
Archbishop-designate Duncan at the Assembly
St. Vincent’s Cathedral, Fort Worth, TX
Ecumenical and Anglican Visitors Attending Assembly
Anglican official delegations
- West Africa: Archbishop Justice Akrofi
- Nigeria: Bishop Alfred Nwaizuzu
- Uganda: Bishop Evans Kisekka (Representing Archbishop Henry Orombi)
- Kenya: Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi
- Southern Cone: Archbishop Gregory Venables; Bishop Tito Zavala (Chile); Bishop Frank Lyons (Bolivia)
- Jerusalem & the Middle East: Rev. Sherif Lemey Gendy (Representing Archbishop Mouneer Anis)
- Myanmar: Bishop Saw Noel Nay Lin, Bishop of Mandalay (Representing Archbishop Stephen Oo)
- South East Asia: the Rev. Canon Tak Meng Wong (Representing Archbishop John Chew)
- Rwanda: Bishop Chuck Murphy (Representing Archbishop Emanuel Kolini)
Anglican Visitors
- Bishop John Ellison, Church of Paraguay/Church of England
- Ven. Norman Russell, Church of England
- Rev. Canon Dr. Chris Sugden, Church of England
- Bishop Santosh Marray, Bishop of Seychelles (Indian Ocean), (Representing the Anglican Communion Office)
- Bishop Alpha Muhammad, Tanzania
Ecumenical Guests
- Metropolitan Jonah, Orthodox Church in America
- Bishop Walter Grundorf, Anglican Province of America
- Rev. Dr. Samuel Nafzger, Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
- Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church
- Bishop Kevin Vann, Roman Catholic Bishop of Fort Worth
Bishops Elected on June 21
The Anglican Church in North America College of Bishops, meeting June 20-21, prior to the Assembly, completed the election of five bishops and welcomed three bishops-elect.
Three bishops-designate from the diocese of Anglican Network in Canada
The Venerable Charles Masters, Executive Archdeacon
The Venerable Dr Trevor Walters, Archdeacon for BC
The Rev Stephen Leung, rector, Church of the Good Shepherd (Vancouver, BC)
Three bishops-designate from the dioceses of the Anglican Mission in the Americas previously selected by the Anglican Province of Rwanda.
The Rev Dr Todd Hunter, leader of Churches for the Sake of Others
The Rev Canon Doc Loomis, Canon Missioner for AMiA;
The Rev Silas TAK Yin Ng, rector, Richmond Emmanuel (Richmond, BC)
For the Diocese of Western Anglicans
The Rev William Thompson
For Forward in Faith Diocese in formation
The Rev William Ilgenfritz
Anglican Church in North America officially constituted
Delegates to the inaugural Provincial Assembly gathered in Bedford, Texas, ratified the constitution of the Anglican Church in North America today, officially constituting the Church. The constitution is posted to the Assembly website.
Following ratification at 4:23 pm Central Time, Archbishop-designate Robert Duncan said, “We have done the work, dear brothers and sisters. The Anglican Church in North America has been constituted.”
Prior to consideration of the constitution, Bishop Duncan reported on the work of the College of Bishop this past week. The bishops completed the election of eight bishops for several dioceses and officially elected Bishop Duncan as the Archbishop-designate of the Anglican Network in Canada.
Nine provinces in the Anglican Communion have official representatives at this Inaugural Provincial Assembly: West Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya (Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi), Southern Cone (including Archbishop Gregory Venables), Jerusalem & the Middle East, Myanmar, South East Asia and Rwanda. For a list of bishops-designate, see the Assembly website.
In addition, a number of ecumenical guests are at the Assembly, including: Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church, Bishop Walter Grundorf of the Anglican Province of America, the Rev Dr Samuel Nafzger of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, and Bishop Kevin Vann, Roman Catholic Bishop of Fort Worth. For a list of delegations and ecumenical guests, see the Assembly website.
The Anglican Church in North America unites some 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes into a single church. Jurisdictions which 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; the Convocation of Anglicans in North America; the Anglican Network in Canada; the Anglican Coalition in Canada; the Reformed Episcopal Church; and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. Additionally, the American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America are founding organizations.
Delegates acknowledge ratification of the constitution of the ACNA
Constitution Passes: The Anglican Church in North America is Constituted
“We have done the work dear brothers and sisters the Anglican Church in North America has been constituted,” said Archbishop Robert Duncan on the ratification of the Constitution of the Anglican Church in North America at 4:23 pm Central Time in Bedford, Texas. The text of the constitution is available here.
Delegates, Attendees kick off Inaugural Assembly
More than 900 people - including 234 delegates and 533 attendees, as well as staff, volunteers and media - began the Inaugural Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America today at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford Texas.
The assembly will formally create an Anglican church with 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation, more than 700 congregations and 100,000 members – with an average Sunday attendance of 69,100 as of the spring of 2009.
“Though the journey took its toll, we know that we have been delivered, and have found that deliverance very sweet indeed,” said Bishop Robert Duncan, archbishop-designate for the Anglican Church in North America. Duncan addressed delegates, attendees, and other guests during the opening worship service at St. Vincent’s.
More than 35 Anglican and ecumenical guests from around the world, including the primates or official delegations from eight Anglican provinces, are joining delegates and attendees in Bedford to observe or participate in this historic moment.
The formation of the Anglican Church in North America is the culmination of years of work and prayers for unity among mainstream Anglicans in North America. It ultimately unites 12 separate Anglican jurisdictions into a single church.
“Our God is up to something very big, both with us and with others. The Father truly is drawing His children together again in a surprising and sovereign move of the Holy Spirit. He is again Re-Forming His Church,” said Bishop Duncan.
Leaders of a number of the world’s Anglican churches, representing a significant majority of the more than 55 million practicing Anglican Christians, have already stated their intention to be in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America.
In the days ahead, Anglicans in Bedford will hear from Christian leaders such as Pastor Rick Warren, Metropolitan Jonah, and the Rev. Todd Hunter. Delegates will work to ratify the Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church in North America and on Wednesday, June 24, Christ Church Plano will host a festive Eucharist and installation ceremony of the new archbishop at 7:30 pm.
Jurisdictions which are joining together to form the Anglican Church in North America are: the dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy and San Joaquin; the Anglican Mission in the Americas; the Convocation of Anglicans in North America; the Anglican Network in Canada; the Anglican Coalition in Canada; the Reformed Episcopal Church; and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. Additionally, the American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America are founding organizations.
Archbishop-elect Duncan’s Opening Address to Provincial Assembly
OPENING ADDRESS
Given by the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Archbishop-designate, at the Inaugural Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America during the Holy Eucharist on 22 June, A.D. 2009, the Feast of St. Alban, Anglican Proto-Martyr (First English Martyr).
God’s Time
The Lord has a way of timing things. How remarkable that we should begin our Inaugural Provincial Assembly on St. Alban’s Day (June 22nd), and that the Assembly’s great Eucharist should fall on the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24th)! We chose these dates because they fit into schedules. God chose these days because He had a message to deliver. It’s about the mission. It’s about our part in that mission. It’s about being witnesses (the Greek word is martyrs) to Jesus and about being fore-runners of Jesus.
St. Alban was a layman who heard the gospel and gave his life to it and for it. He was a pagan householder in the Roman settlement at Verulamium, which today is the English city called St. Albans. Alban took in a fugitive Christian priest who was fleeing the Diocletian persecution. The year was 304 A.D. While in hiding, the priest shared his faith in Jesus Christ with his host, Alban, and Alban was converted. Then the most extraordinary thing happened: as word came that the authorities were searching house to house, Alban asked to put on the priest’s clothes. So it was Alban that was arrested and Alban that was executed. Like Maxmillian Kolbe at Auschwitz centuries later, Alban sacrificed himself to save someone else, someone he had only just met. He lay down his life because he himself had been transformed by the love of Jesus. Some sources say Alban was a soldier, likely enough in a Roman garrison town. Certainly he was a soldier of Christ, the first recorded “anglican” [from the Latin meaning English] martyr.
Many of us have sacrificed a great deal to follow Jesus to this place. Many of us have lost properties and sacred treasures and incomes and pensions and standing and friends Yet, remembering the challenge of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, few of us have suffered [Heb.12.4] to the point of shedding blood (though some here, especially among our global émigrés, actually have.) Alban, a new convert, shows us the way. Jesus isn’t finished with his asking and we aren’t finished with our giving. Are we? Alban was the consummate Christian convert, willing to follow his Savior even into a death for others. Are we ready, if more still is asked? Are we ready? Are we willing?
As we begin – as we gather to re-constitute a faithful Anglican Church here in North America – this drawing together of so many fragments from so many places – the Lord just wanted to remind us about conversion and witness and sacrifice, and about our part in each, for the transformation of others. The work is not over yet, in fact, for us, only just beginning. The giving is not complete yet. The Kingdom has not fully come yet. Like Alban (and the unnamed priest who dared to tell Alban about Jesus) we actually stand at the beginning of something, something that will come to be called Anglican. And, like Alban, we will prove agents of the loving transformation of the world around us, if we will daily choose Jesus and his cross. Our God is reminding us what life in Christ is all about, and of the pure joy that comes from costly faithfulness to Him, both for us and for others. Some here will remember the dictims (dare I call them “battle-cries”?) of that muscular Christianity that once reigned in these lands – in Canada and in the US: “No cross, no crown!” “No pain, no gain.” The fugitive priest was ready. The layman Alban was ready. Are we ready? Are we willing?
On Wednesday night – when the lessons tell us about God’s incredible love for us in sending his Son, and tell us about that extraordinary detail of the Incarnation that is the birth of the fore-runner cousin, John the Baptist – I will focus on our Good Father’s plan for us that we, too, run before his Son our Savior, in the power of His Holy Spirit, in every place where (to turn the phrase as St. Luke does [Lk 10.1] He, Jesus, is about to come. But I will save that till Wednesday… These feast days are our Father’s timing and our Father’s messages. Are we ready? Are we willing?
The New Day
There is no one here who would go back. I hear it over and over. “There has been suffering and loss, some of it very wounding indeed, but we are so much better off than we were before!” I hear it over and over. “God has been so good. God has been so faithful. So many miracles of provision! So many kindnesses and graces!” The stories abound: from the smallest remnants to the great congregations. “God has brought His Israel into joy from sadness.” We have also come out of bondage to all kinds of idols and lesser gods. Though the journey took its toll, we know that we have been delivered, and have found that deliverance very sweet, indeed.
St. Paul’s exhortation is intended for this moment precisely: “For freedom, Christ has set you free. Stand fast then, and do not return again to a yoke of slavery.” [Gal.5.1] This Assembly will be a test for us, as will our Church life in the months and years ahead. Escaping Egypt is sometimes easier than escaping Egypt’s patterns. Let us live in this new day. Let us remember our dependence on the One who got us here and who has provisioned us in the wilderness, whose new day this is. Would any here go back? Are we ready? Are we willing?
How We Got Here
How is it that a once great tradition somehow got cut from its moorings? Most of us were part of the fraying of the lines that had held us to the shore, and to its Rock. We compromised. We were silent. We looked away. No longer.
We fractured into many pieces. Like St. Luke’s telling of the shipwreck in Acts 27, we swam on our own, or floated on pieces of the wreckage. Now we are re-assembling on the shore, and there is the wonder of reflecting on surviving the storm and of making it to shore and of our leaders not succumbing to the serpent’s venom, but we actually know that it is what is ahead of us that really counts. Because the will of our Father is to save not just us, but as the Letter to Titus [2.11] tells us to save all, it is the present witness to the islanders among whom we have suddenly found ourselves and our future witness to everyone with whom we will come into contact that really counts for us now. Are we ready? Are we willing?
The Present Reformation of the Christian Church
There is a great Reformation of the Christian Church underway. We North American Anglicans are very much in the midst of it. While much of mainline Protestantism is finding itself adrift from its moorings (submission to the Word of God), just like Western Anglicanism, there is an ever-growing stream of North American Protestantism that has re-embraced Scripture’s authority (just as we have). At the same time, these Protestant and Pentecostal brothers and sisters are also being drawn to come to terms with something we classic Anglicans know very well, what the late Robert Webber of Wheaton College described so aptly as “the Great Tradition.”. What this means is that Our God is up to something very big, both with us and with others. The Father truly is drawing His children together again in a surprising and sovereign move of the Holy Spirit. He is again Re-Forming His Church. This also explains why there is such keen interest in what is happening here in these days among our Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters. The whole of the Christian Church senses re-alignment in the air. Many even wonder: Is it that our God is bringing about some confluence of the three great streams that are the Evangelical, the Catholic and the Pentecostal? Daring to recover what Anglicanism at its best has always been about, is it any wonder that the whole world is looking here to Bedford at this moment? Are we ready? Are we willing?
The Enemy
Our Adversary, the devil, Satan, the deceiver, that old serpent, is also very interested in what is happening here. Count on that! As St. Peter reminds us, this Adversary is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We are to resist him, firm in our Faith. [I Pet.5.8,9] I believe that the re-gathering of a faithful Anglican Church in North America is among the enemy’s greatest concerns. So we should not be surprised if he tries to break in here. He will attempt to lure us back to old ways and old hurts and old fights. It is essential that we rally around the Fundamental Declarations of the Province in Article One of our Constitution. It is essential that we stand together as confessional Anglicans. The Theological Statement of the Common Cause Partnership which is embedded verbatim in the Constitution is the miracle that God used to bring us all back together. It is evangelical and catholic and charismatic. It allows for those who believe the ordination of women to be a grave error, and for those who believe it scripturally justifiable – reflecting Global Anglicanism – to be in mission together until God sorts us out. It is not perfect, but it is enough. In the flow of things in this Provincial Assembly, it will principally be in our afternoon ratification sessions that temptations to return again to the yoke of slavery will come, but watch out for them everywhere, for “we fight here not just against flesh and blood.” [Eph.6.12] Anyway, fore-warned is fore-armed. And there are companies of intercessors – both here and around the globe – upholding this meeting and its work. So we need not fear, only be watchful. Are we ready? Are we willing?
What We Are Here To Do
We are here – in the words of that eminent authority on life Casey Stengel – to live the simple truth that “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Jesus is the main thing. The sharing of his gospel is the main thing. Being agents of his transforming love is the main thing. The Faith once for all delivered to the saints is the main thing. The authority of the Word of God for living our lives and structuring our witness is the main thing.
So we begin in worship and end in worship, and there is much doxology in every part of these days together. And we are here to learn and to be stretched and to be re-committed. That’s what our plenaries are all about.
We are here to grow in fellowship and trust, to deepen in love and respect for one another, and to receive healing and forgiveness, all the while acknowledging our differences in Christ.
We are also here to prove that a Christian Assembly – at least one that wants to reach the cultures and the peoples of its increasingly lapsed and unconverted continent – does not have to focus on resolutions and legislation, nor does it have to be overwhelmingly gray-headed. [More than 20% of the voting delegates of the Provincial Assembly are 25 years of age or younger!] Even in organizing this emerging Anglican Province – a Province in the mainstream of both global Anglicanism and biblical Christianity – we are here to illustrate that a system of ratifying or sending-back is an alternative to spending disproportionate amounts of time on things that are, in fact, not the “main thing.”
We are also here to show what God’s people have always known: just how much Godly business can be done in a tent (especially a tent) or a gym or a school or in simple accommodations.
We are here, above all, to proclaim to the world what our God has done among us, among us sinners… Remembering those early efforts in the late ‘90s at Anglican Congresses among the Anglican Diaspora… Remembering those heady days in the American Anglican Council and the First Promise Movement within the Episcopal Church… Remembering Plano 2003 and Hope and A Future 2005… Remembering the giving of the vision of “a biblical, missionary and united Anglicanism in North America” to the Anglican Communion Network, and then to the whole movement… Remembering the first coming together of lead bishops of Common Cause in the spring of 2004… Remembering the coming together of the US and Canada… Remembering the missionary interventions of Rwanda and Uganda and Kenya and Nigeria and Southern Cone and the call of the Primates of the Global South to form a “recognizably Anglican” Province here… Considering the miracle which is the constituting of the Anglican Church in North America in these days here and now at Bedford and at Plano… Turning us back toward one another and toward the global mainstream has been God’s great and sovereign work. Our part has been cooperation in what only God could have brought about… Gratitude and thanksgiving must be hallmarks of our time here. Are we ready? Are we willing?
The End of the Beginning
So we begin. We begin this Inaugural Provincial Assembly, which is the end of the beginning, the end of the process of coming apart and coming together that puts us in such a good place to commence what God always intended for North American Anglicanism.
We also begin at the end, the end that is the Holy Eucharist, the future present, the foretaste of where everything is headed in Jesus Christ. All that is ahead is to be seen through this lens of Christ’s atoning death and his glorious resurrection and ascension, and of the imparting of the Holy Spirit. All that is here in these days at Bedford and Plano, and all that follows in all the days God will give us until His Son comes again, all of it is wrapped up in these Holy Mysteries by which we too live and die and live again. We begin with this vision of our ending.
The work is before us. The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing. And the main thing is the mission of Jesus Christ, carried forward by the likes of us, who are loved by our Father, and empowered by the Holy Spirit – all for those who do not yet know Him, have not yet been saved by Him, who are helpless and harassed, like sheep without a shepherd. Are you ready? Are you willing? Shall we, with God’s grace, begin?
God bless you all: in this Cathedral, in the tent outside, and on line across this continent and around the globe. You are welcome and well come, everyone of you. .
Bedford Assembly Newsletter: Monday Edition
The News which is distributed to all delegates, participants and guests at the Anglican Church in North America’s Inaugural Assembly in Bedford, is now available as a pdf file.
Provincial Council endorses Covenant; Expresses solidarity with Communion Partners
The Anglican Church in North America Provincial Council has endorsed the Anglican Covenant and expressed solidarity with the Communion Partners.
The Covenant is a four-part document that outlines the basics of the Christian faith as Anglicans have historically understood and practiced it. It also provides for accountability among Communion members. The Covenant was initiated by the 2005 Windsor Report which in turn was prompted by the crisis in the Anglican Communion created by the deviation from Biblical teaching and morality in North America.
On Sunday 22 June 2009, the Provincial Council unanimously adopting the following resolution:
Resolution on the Anglican Communion Covenant
Resolved, under provisions of Canon I.1.1 of the Constitution and Canons, the Provincial Council of the Anglican Church in North America expresses its readiness to adopt the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant (Ridley Cambridge Draft) at an appropriate future meeting of the Provincial Council.
Further Resolved, that the Provincial Council of the Anglican Church in North America expresses its solidarity with the Communion Partner Bishops in North America in the hope that individual dioceses and other churches [Covenant 4.1.5] might be encouraged to adopt the Anglican Communion Covenant whether or not the Provinces of which they are a part have chosen to do so.
Unanimously adopted by the Provincial Council of the Anglican Church in North America at its meeting on the Third Sunday after Pentecost, 21 June A.D. 2009.
The Communion Partners is a group of Episcopal Church (TEC) bishops and clergy who are working for a return to orthodoxy within that Church. They are strong supporters of the Covenant and have been very involved in the Covenant development process.
Bishop Duncan at Sunday Eucharist
Follow the Assembly on Twitter
Twitter users are welcome to keep up with the Inaugural Assembly by following “acnaassembly.” (www.twitter.com/acnaassembly) Twitter is a free service that automatically distributes short messages, or “tweets,” to subscribers.
Dedicated Website for the Inaugural Assembly
News, video, photos and documents from the Inaugural Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America are now available. The new website is also optimized for web capable cell phones.
“We built acnaassembly.org to be useful to those watching our work in Bedford from afar as well as those who will be participating in the meeting,” said the Rev. Peter Frank, communications director for the Anglican Communion Network. “Our goal is to provide easy access to everything we do at St. Vincent’s and Christ Church Plano to anyone who has an interest,” he added.
Additional website changes will mark the creation of The Anglican Church in North America. The Common Cause Partnership Website, at www.united-anglicans.org, will be relaunched as the homepage of the Anglican Church in North America on June 22. Key features of the old website, such as the parish map, will remain in place. With the relaunch will come a domain name change to www.theacna.org.
“This is an exciting week for orthodox Anglican in North America. We hope these resources provide information and encouragement as we unite for mission,” said Frank.
Inaugural Assembly Schedule Overview (pdf)
An overview of the complete schedule of the Inaugural Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America is available here as a printable pdf file.
Fact Sheet: Who We Are
Fact Sheet: What We Stand For
Fact Sheet: Our Genesis
Fact Sheet: ACNA Assembly Speakers
Fact Sheet: ACNA Dioceses and Delegates
Fact Sheet: Bishop Robert Duncan
Fact Sheet: Glossary
Introduction to the Work of the Governance Task Force
Introduction to the work of the Governance Task Force (pdf). Members of the Governance Task Force, who worked together to draft the proposed Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church in North America, reflect on the shape and intent of the documents they produced.
An Introduction to the Constitution and Canons - By Bishop Robert Duncan
Editor’s Note:Bishop Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and moderator of the Common Cause Partnership gives his view on the proposed Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church in North America
Editor’s Note:Bishop Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and moderator of the Common Cause Partnership gives his view on the proposed Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church in North America
How do we renew what was best about the tradition that produced us? How do we not repeat the patterns that subverted our life as a biblical and missionary province? How do we adapt learnings from the vibrant newer branches of the Anglican Communion? How do we restore our role as the bridge among and between the various denominational expressions of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church? How do we have both freedom and accountability? How can we be truly catholic, truly evangelical, truly charismatic and truly conciliar in a 21st century context – both North American and global? These are all questions that shaped the deliberations of the Governance Task Force, and the wider consultations the Governance Task Force undertook, and that resulted in the Constitution and Canons proposed for ratification at the inaugural Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America.
The Constitution and Canons go much further than anyone imagined possible just a year ago. The key figures in this great advance were the Anglican Archbishops of the Global South, in general, and the GAFCON Primates Council, in particular. It was they who challenged us to move beyond the loose federation known as the Common Cause Partnership toward what could be seen as “a recognizable province of the Anglican Communion.” They truly believed that we were capable of a much higher degree of unity for the sake of Gospel (evangelical) truth, with a much greater similarity to general Anglican (catholic) practice. Their unwillingness to simply accept our early effort, in favor of a far more mature expression of provincial life, proved an inestimable gift.
As I reflect on all that is behind the work now to be considered for ratification, six principles stand out:
1. confessional unity, expressed in matters of Faith and Order;
2. subsidiarity, where what may be wisely left to the local level (both diocesan and congregational) is left to the local level, including property ownership;
3. missionary focus, especially in structures, roles and representation;
4. flexibility, recognizing the diversity of Godly approaches common among the partners coming into union;
5. disciplinary reform, including address of concerns for Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders, as well as provision of a provincial tribunal.
6. collegial accountability, especially in matters relating to bishops.
When you have a question about why something is done in the way proposed (as over against ‘the way we have always done it’), ask yourself whether it is not one or more of these six principles at work.
The charge to the Governance Task Force was to provide a strong skeleton around which a living Church could be built. I believe the GTF, whose work was greatly strengthened by contributions from all the members of the Common Cause Leadership Council in meetings in December and April, has given us a very good starting place to be assessed as a characteristically Anglican Province.
The skeleton allows a place for sub-provincial jurisdictions like the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Mission in the Americas. The same provision allows for the distinctives of culture, history and law that separate the United States and Canada, even providing a way that Canadians might be drawn together as a proto-Province within our larger Province. It gives far more place to the laity of the Church – half the Executive Committee, half the Provincial Council and likely two-thirds of the Provincial Assembly (once voting youth delegates are factored in) – and bishops don’t own the property. Giving is a free exercise, the tithe is upheld, force is not a way forward.
One further comment: “under stress regress.” We are specifically trying to re-constitute a Church whose chief concern is the mission, rather than governance. The notion of a Provincial Assembly focused on mission rather than governance is among our deepest hopes. Very specifically, we do not want to repeat the General Convention (USA) or General Synod (Canada) experience. This is where the notion of “ratification” at Assembly derives. Our vision is for fairly straightforward up or down votes on articles and canons. If the Provincial Council has discerned it rightly, and we have significant consensus, a matter is ratified. If not, the matter is sent back to Provincial Council for more work. Most things, if not easily agreeable, can wait another year or two.
Constitution and Canons are not meant to be exciting, only a framework. What is exciting is the rebirth of the biblical, missionary and united Anglicanism in North America for which so many have prayed for so long and that the proposed constitution and canons represent. This is a new Province. It is not a new Church. Our hope is that the Anglican Church in North America is the re-constitution of a faithful (that is, biblical, missionary and united) Church in Anglican form.
Pastor Rick Warren, Metropolitan Jonah, and the Rev. Todd Hunter to Address Assembly
Three Christian leaders, Pastor Rick Warren, Metropolitan Jonah, and the Rev. Todd Hunter have agreed to be among those addressing the organizing Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America scheduled for June 22-25 at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas.
Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Church, will speak on June 23. Warren, a longtime friend of orthodox Anglicans, has been repeatedly recognized as a key spiritual leader in America. Named “America’s Most Influential Pastor” by Christianity Today in 2003, Warren has also been called one of “America’s 25 Best Leaders” (US News and World Report 2006), and one of the “15 People Who Make America Great” (Newsweek 2006). Saddleback Church, founded by Warren in 1980, is an innovative evangelical congregation of 22,000 in Lake Forest California.
Warren combines strong biblical convictions with a heart for mobilizing Christians around the world to make a difference. He has been particularly active in supporting and funding work to fight the AIDS pandemic in Africa, training leaders in developing countries and empowering local congregations to address poverty, disease, corruption and illiteracy through the PEACE Plan.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, the Archbishop of Washington and New York and the Metropolitan of All America and Canada for the Orthodox Church in America [OCA], will speak on June 24. Elected primate of the OCA in November of 2008, Metropolitan Jonah was tonsured a monk in the late 1980’s at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania after spending time at the Valaam Monastery in Russia. An Episcopalian before joining the Orthodox Church in 1978, he attended St. Vladimir’s Seminary, graduating with a Master of Divinity degree in 1985 and a Master of Theology in Dogmatics in 1988.
Before his consecration to the episcopacy in October 2008, as a priestmonk Metropolitan Jonah served as abbot of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco Monastery, now located in Manton, California. Metropolitan Jonah’s writings on Eastern Orthodox spirituality have been published in numerous Orthodox Christian publications, including “Divine Ascent,” the journal of the Monastery of St. John. He is well known for his insights, offered both in public presentations and through private spiritual dialogue, on the convergence of the ancient Christian ascetic practices and the challenges of living an authentic Christian life in the modern world.
The Rev. Dr. Todd Hunter is the Director of West Coast Church Planting (www.c4so.org) for The Anglican Mission in the Americas and author of Christianity Beyond Belief. Hunter also founded Three is Enough, a small group movement that facilitates missionally focused spiritual formation. A past president of the Alpha USA evangelism ministry, Hunter is an adjunct professor of evangelism and postmodern ministry at George Fox University, Fuller Seminary, Western Seminary and Wheaton College. Earlier in his career he served as the Church Planting coach for Allelon Ministries and the National Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches.
Hunter will speak to delegates and guests on the morning of June 25, sending the Anglican Church in North America out to “Reach North America with the Transforming Love of Jesus Christ.”
“We are very grateful that these Christian leaders have generously agreed to offer their insights and encouragement to us as we bring together the Anglican Church in North America this June,” said Bishop Robert Duncan. Bishop Duncan is the archbishop-designate for the Anglican Church in North America.
A number of other Anglican and ecumenical Christian leaders are expected to be present at the Anglican Church in North America’s organizing assembly, particularly for a festival worship service at Christ Church in Plano on the evening of June 24 where the church’s archbishop will be formally recognized.
The Anglican Church in North America unites some 700 Anglican parishes in 12 Anglican jurisdictions in North America into a single church. Jurisdictions coming together in the Anglican Church in North America are the Anglican Coalition in Canada, the dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy and San Joaquin (of the Anglican Communion Network), the Anglican Mission in the Americas, the Anglican Network in Canada, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, the Reformed Episcopal Church, and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. Additionally, the American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America are founding organizations.
28 Dioceses Recognized
Leaders representing Canadian and US orthodox Anglican jurisdictions approved applications for membership of 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation and finalized plans for launching the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Twelve Anglican organizations are uniting to form the ACNA.
The ACNA Leadership Council, in addition to accepting these dioceses as constituent members, finalized a draft constitution and a comprehensive set of canons (Church bylaws) for ratification by the provincial assembly. A list of the new dioceses, the constitution and the canons will soon be available at www.united-anglicans.org.
“It is a great encouragement to see the fruit of many years’ work,” said the Right Reverend Robert Duncan, archbishop-elect of the Anglican Church in North America and Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. “Today 23 dioceses and five dioceses-in-formation joined together to reconstitute an orthodox, Biblical, missionary and united Church in North America.”
The Anglican Church in North America holds its inaugural provincial assembly 22-25 June 2009 in St Vincent’s Cathedral, Bedford, Texas. Delegates to this inaugural provincial assembly will be selected by the 28 constituent dioceses and dioceses-in-formation according to an agreed apportionment (contained in Title I, Canon 5).
In addition to the official delegates, a number of other Anglican and ecumenical Christian leaders are expected to be present at the provincial assembly, demonstrating the breadth of recognition and fellowship accorded ACNA. Already, three prominent Ecumenical leaders are confirmed speakers at the ACNA provincial assembly:
Pastor Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church,
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, the Archbishop of Washington and New York and the Metropolitan of All America and Canada for the Orthodox Church in America, and
the Rev Todd Hunter, Director of West Coast Church Planting for the Anglican Mission in the Americas.
Earlier this month, seven Primates (Archbishops leading Churches in the Anglican Communion) issued a statement recognizing the Anglican Church in North America as an Emergent Province. These Primates, who represent 70 per cent of committed Anglicans worldwide, said in their statement, “Though many Provinces are in impaired or broken communion with TEC [the Episcopal Church] and the Anglican Church of Canada, our fellowship with faithful Anglicans in North America remains steadfast. The FCA [Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans] Primates’ Council recognizes the Anglican Church in North America as genuinely Anglican and recommends that Anglican Provinces affirm full communion with the ACNA.”
The Anglican Church in North America unites some 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes into a single church. Jurisdictions which 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; the Convocation of Anglicans in North America; the Anglican Network in Canada; the Anglican Coalition in Canada; the Reformed Episcopal Church; and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. Additionally, the American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America are founding organizations.
The Constitution as will be presented to the June Assembly is available here.
The Canons as will be presented to the June Assembly are available here
Proposed Canons of The Anglican Church in North America
Proposed Canons of the Anglican Church in North America (pdf). The proposed Canons will be considered by the Inaugural Assembly.
Proposed Constitution of the Anglican Church in North America
The proposed Constitution (pdf) The proposed constitution of the Anglican Church in North America will be considered by the Assembly.
