Originally from the Church of England Newspaper, George Conger writes:
Predictions of the death of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) appear to have been premature, as the leaders of the third Anglican province-in-waiting in North America report that in its first year of operations it has added 106 congregations.
Archbishop Robert Duncan, the Bishop of Pittsburgh and leader of ACNA, last week reported that since the Church’s founding convocation in June 2009, 106 new churches have either been planted or joined the ACNA, bringing its total number of congregations to 809 comprising an estimated 100,000 Anglicans in the United States and Canada.
“When we began in June of 2009, I issued a challenge that we plant 1,000 new churches in the five years of my service as your Archbishop. It is wonderful to see how much progress has already been made,” Archbishop Duncan said.
In Virginia, the Convocation of Anglican Churches in North America (CANA) reported on April 12 that it had added one congregation and three missions to its membership.
The Rev Patrick Ware, the founding pastor of Winchester Anglican Church, stated his congregation was planted in response to local needs and he hoped it would “spread the Gospel” in its corner of the state.
“We are excited about the growth we’re seeing in the Anglican District of Virginia and welcome this congregation and these mission fellowships,” spokesman Jim Oakes said. “We look forward to partnering with them to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout the state of Virginia and beyond.”
The Anglican Mission in America’s (AMiA) new congregation in Addison, Texas, meets in a restaurant on Sunday mornings, but since its start in October draws 100 to 120 to its services.
“We just want to do church for the sake of others. We really feel we have a calling for those who are broken, those who are lost and those who are looking for a place where they can walk through life together and grow in faith with other believers,” said the Rev Jed Roseberry, Resurrection’s founding priest.
Both Winchester and Resurrection were plants, or churches sponsored by existing congregations — The Falls Church in Falls Church, Virginia and Christ Church in Plano, Texas — two of the largest congregations in the Episcopal Church before their secessions, that are drawing the ‘un-churched’ into their fellowships. However, other congregations are being formed by disaffected Anglicans who have quit the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church in Canada.
The Church of the Epiphany in Hamilton, Ontario, led by the Victoria Hedelius, opened its doors on January 31 and was formed by separatists from the Diocese of Niagara’s Church of the Holy Trinity. “We left everything behind, and we started fresh,” Mrs Hedelius said.
Meeting in the chapel of St John’s United Church, the new congregation has weathered well its exit from the Anglican Church of Canada. “We stepped out naked, and he has clothed us… All you have to do is take the first step, and he guides you on to the next,” she explained.
Mrs Hedelius said that being “part of this movement of God’s Spirit in our church is exciting. It’s humbling, it’s such a blessing.
I would be interested in seeing some statistics on these 106 congregations–for example how many are re-organized Anglican Church of Canada or Episcopal Church congregations, how many are composed of former Canadian Anglicans and US Episcopalians, and how many are composed largely of unchurched Canadians and Americans who have not previously attended any church or have not attended any church for a number of years, that is, the hard-core unchurched.
Correct me if I am wrong but I detect a hidden accusation of sheep stealing from your comment. Even if these congregations consist of a large number of true Anglicans it is indeed a time for rejoicing as we may be witnessing a wakeup by many in the pews who recognize the ACoC and the TEC have turned their back on the God of the Scripture and have traded Him for the gods of political acceptance. It is indeed time for ALL Christians to be watchful with respect to church leadership. Our faith should not be in the church but rather in our Lord and Saviour. When we see so-called bishops allowing motions on the floor of Synod that are totally contradictory to the Scripture, it is indeed time to examine where we should be as Christians. To be a true Anglican one must accept both the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture. Tragically many so-called bishops in the ACoC and the TEC have come to believe that God’s word is subject to their approval. We do pray for their conversion and repentance but until that happens neither can claim to be truly Anglican.
Frank (#2), take a look at other stuff Robin has written (click on his name or Google it). I don’t think he can be accused of being a TEC (or ACoC) supporter, but he’s pretty down on the ACNA.
Mr. Jordan – I visited your web site and found some serious criticism of ACNA but nothing, zero, zip about you. If you could enlighten a bit I am sure your critiques would be better received. Including this one. Nothing is perfect, but when you have something that is better than the next best thing, its certainly a good starting point….. wouldn’t you say?
Warren any sheep stealing will be invariably from the wolves. Can I recommend lamb-basting 101.
ACNA may be growing now; it will be interesting to visit the same organization 50 years from now. Once upon a time, the New Testament church was strong in what is modern Turkey today. The face of today’s Anglicanism is African. Nigeria is the largest Province in the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Church of Canada is very small with a lot of unhappy members. Perhaps the future face will be Asian.
Michael the “face” of MY Anglicanism is and always has been that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
#6 Stuck in Toronto, ON: The face of YOUR Anglicanism is not the literal face of today’s multicultural Anglicanism which is mostly African due to literal numbers of membership in Africa. The literal face has changed from Jewish, to European, and now to African as of 2010. The literal face will change again and again. I do believe that the face of our Lord Jesus Christ remains the same.
Michael if you think the Lord looks at his church and sees multiculturalism, you need a walk through John 3:16 again. His Church has no Africans or Asians or Americans,Brits, or Canadians. It has Brothers and Sisters, co-inheritors with Him and with each other in the Kingdom of Heaven. Unified, ah nevermind that for now. The Anglican Church (my part anyway) exists solely as a part of the body of Christ. This is our first estate, and our last vestige on this mortal coil.
80% are in the Global south. Then why do most churches (I’ve visited over 40) continue to cater to Caucasians and push out the non-Europeans, natives, et al? Awareness of communication through language like 3rd world (who’s 1st?) rather than developing world or, cultural insensitivity? There are no second-class brothers and sisters in Christ. We ought to strive for “one church, one faith, one Lord”. Growth in Christ is good.
#8
I must admit to having some difficulty in understanding the points that Stuck makes from time to time. But not this time. Well said Stuck.
# Stuck in Toronto, ON: There is a difference between the physical face of Anglicanism and the spiritual face of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Of course, in Christ there is no east or west, south or north. The Anglican Church of Canada is very small in the Anglican Communion and the Anglican Communion is small in the earthly worldwide Christian church. Over all, true followers of Jesus are very very small in numbers. Among those who think they are true followers of Jesus have trouble to get along with everybody else. Just one interesting thought came to my mind right now. I do have friends who belong to the newly-formed ACNA. I do admire their sincere efforts to uphold the truth of the Gospel. Just one thought here – Over a hundred years ago, some people believed that the Germans were the one creative race to emerge from the ruins of the Roman Empire. Today some believers may think very highly of the current ACNA which has emerged from the declining Anglican churches in the U.S. and Canada.
Excuse me? Care to elaborate on that a little bit?
Going back to responses 1 and 2 – I think number 1 is exactly right and it doesn’t matter what his stand on ACNA is. I suspect it is very likely that 95%+ of the people in the 106 ACNA congregations are made up of Anglicans or Episcopalians from other Anglican/Episcopal churches. But I wouldn’t call it sheep stealing as it is more like a reorganization. But if the ACNA churches do not put major emphsis on evengelism there is no way that 1000 new churches will be planted in the next 5 years, whether they be filled with stolen sheep or new converts.
Michael (11) Assuming that your statement “Over all, true followers of Jesus are very very small in numbers”, is referring to a small portion of the Christian population Could you please define and elaborate on what is an untrue believer in Jesus Christ?
Malachi (13) It took us 2000 years to get to where we are. ACNA is coming on to 1 year old. She is running the race set for Her with great patience. She needs your prayers and support, not your perception of failure. Fair criticism aside.
Siena (9) “We ought to strive for “one church, one faith, one Lord”. Growth in Christ is good.”
SO what is missing in our 2000 year history that keeps us from this?
actually this is an open question to all.
#10 Hello my brother – this lack of understanding me keeps popping up. I understand perfectly! It may well be true that I am not playing with a full deck, but that’s not to say the cards I hold are not of value. Helping me is encouraged.
Although I am not presently a member of ANiC or any other Diocese of ACNA, I am also not at present a member of ACoC.
If by the guiding hand of God I someday end up in ACNA than no-one will be able to say that this sheep was stolen from anyone. For this sheep has chosen his Sheppard, and seeks Him where-ever He may be.
I think the same can be said for most member of ANiC and ACNA.
#14 Stuck in Toronto, ON: Fr. Terry Fullam used to say a Christian is the person who says that he or she is a Christian and we should accept his/her word for it. An untrue believer in Jesus is someone who believes himself/herself as a god. True followers of Jesus are always small in numbers in our world. Too many people think they are gods. They do what they want; they don’t get along with anybody else.
Michael thanks for your response, I had hoped it would be as you have explained, except for the (semantics-always tricky). By this I mean, and with substance, hope, that there is no such thing as an untrue believer, there is only the journey to the cross. I suffer because of the interference of self and with God’s help struggle daily. In short it is my simplistic opinion that there are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who are on the path because they believe and those who are not and are lost. In our Christian community the wheat and tares grow side by side and in many cases the separation is indistinct. Consequently Love not judgement is the vehicle of choice.
Frank #2
If I thought that the ACNA was stealing sheep, I would had made that accusation. I am interested to know how the ACNA is primarily growing. It is a measure of the ACNA’s effectiveness in evangelism and church planting. If the ACNA is growing largely by transfer growth not conversion growth and warm starts not cold starts, then it will eventually reach a point where it cannot grow in this way. If it growing largely by conversation growth and cold starts, it is doing something right. The ACNA can expect to grow intially from transfer growth and warm starts but once it reaches that point then the rubber hits the road. What happens from then on is a real measure of the ACNA’s ability to grow. The Continuum initially experienced growth but failed to sustain that growth. Continuum congregations are aging and shrinking as members die. They never moved from the chaplaincy stage – a priest ministering to a congregation – to the gospel church stage – everyone involved in gospel ministry of some kind and the priest leading them. Chaplaincies dwindle and die; if they still have the financial resources for a priest, he is essentially a caretaker, a hospice worker. Only gospel churches experience gospel growth–both numerical and spiritual growth. I have been involved in church planting in TEC, the AMiA, and several non-Anglican bodies. Episcopalians do not make good new church pioneers.
I took note that a number of those who posted comments felt that I am “down” on the ACNA. I believe that folks need to take a hard look at the ACNA. It has a lot of potential but it also has a multitude of problems that need fixing. One them is the unnecessary alignment of its fundamental declarations and canons with the doctrinal views with one theological school of thought in Anglicanism rather than maintaining theological neutrality in language that would be acceptable to conservative Anglicans of all stripes.
For those who would like to know more about me, I was baptized in the Church of England and confirmed in the then Protestant Episcopal Church. I am a Conservative Evangelical who believes that the Bible is the word of God written and our sole rule of faith and practice, being inspired by God and containing everything necessary to our salvation. If you visit the Latimer Trust web site and read the Latimer Trust memorandum of association, you will have a fairly good idea of what else I believe. For 17 years I was a licensed lay reader in the Episcopal Church; I have long been a supporter of the idea of a new province–actually two new provinces in North America. In 2001 I was asked to resign due to my open sympathy for the AMiA. I became disillusioned with the AMiA after it became increasingly apparent that it did not take its Solemn Declaration of Principles seriously. I also had concerns about its emerging structure and form of governance. This caused me to take a good hard look at the Common Cause Partnership, its Theological Statement, and the direction in which it was going. For me the honeymoon has been over before it started. I am waiting for everyone else to wake up and see their new spouse as he or she really is.
In the Anglican world of North America something somewhere began to go awry this slowly developed into heresy and now we are faced with growing apostacy. There are organisms within the ACoC and TEC who remain in opposition to this. There is also a coalition of those who felt it necessary to leave the ACoC and TEC and from these has been formed the ACNA. There is on “our” side of the difference no question as to whom is standing fast and who is creating a new religion.
I have much to fear regarding the direction of ACNA, I have spoken of this on several fronts but never as an open criticism. I would hope that my thoughts would be seen as suggestions.
In my paradigm there is the church, influenced over 2000 years by the efforts of man. This includes its rubrics, canons, apologies, theological commentaries, sectarian influences, schisms and misguided but well intentioned influences. For instance, the creed. A beautiful piece of work to center ourselves in commonality. But to call it a statement of Faith is well, simply wrong. It has shaped our thinking away from the truth –
Faith is incremental, and I would have to say that we (the Church) of today can only be described in the words (not context) of our Lord as being “O ye of little faith”
We juggle furiously with the phrase Apostolic Succession and define it as having a continuing unbroken line back to time of the apostles.
Has that ensured continuity, or has it in any way guaranteed anything in the way of obedience and understanding? I think not. What it has failed to do is carry on the apostolic tradition of the laying on of Hands, the emparting by faith, the Pentecostal Spirit for the purposes of empowerment in the various gifts of that same Spirit. Why? the lack of Faith that’s why!
And one more thing …… do you think Jesus was joking when he prayed that we be as one as He and the Father are one? Do you think it’s just not possible? – O ye of little faith –
So you see Robin there are other things besides the folley of man, and their gigantic struggle to do the Father’s will. There is a Spiritual side and we just don’t get it. Oh sure the church can talk a good game…. But sometime a long long time ago She just stopped playing it.
Today is The Day of Pentecost I worshipped in yet another Church 30 odd white haired old people in an old musty building they proudly called “their Church” (actually it was quite beautiful, a monolithic Gothic reminder of 200 years of history.) No children, no younger generation and another year without the tongues of fire. Do you think I’m silly? Jesus said I could move mountains – I believe Him, O God have mercy on our unbelief.
Here endeth my rant – for those who are offended blame the church for forgetting the gifts at her first birthday.
Robin (#19):
As with another commenter, I took this from the tone of your original comment. If not intended, I stand corrected. Your question, however, is not likely to be answered in a forum such as this, so it could be taken as rhetorical.
This isn’t true for numerical growth. Joel Osteen’s church – the largest in the US – is an excellent case in point.
I made the “down” comment and stand by it. Whether or not you are justified in being “down” on the ACNA is a separate question. I skimmed through several of other things you have written concerning the ACNA and, based on that, would characterize you as cautiously pessimistic.
The impression that I get from your writings (and I admit that I may be wrong) is that your knowledge of the broader evangelical scene in North America (outside of Episcopalian circles) is mostly academic and “textbook based”, and that you don’t have a lot of “hands-on” experience. I come from the opposite perspective; much hands-on experience in quite a broad range of evangelical denominations and churches.
This is a complete aside, but I read your observations on church music with some interest. My wife is very musical and, since we’ve been married, has been heavily involved in the music ministry at 13 churches crossing 10 denominations. While I agree with many of your observations from a theoretical perspective, I know that such observations often don’t translate well to reality. A church may be doing everything “correct” from a biblical perspective, yet the music-related worship (and music is only one element of worship) is complete a valley of dry bones. Another church may have a questionable music ministry from a biblical perspective yet God is using it powerfully to build His kingdom (there may be a parallel here with the ACNA). We’ve been part of 17 churches and none of them has had a music program that hasn’t drawn criticism from some quarter. I don’t envy the job of those responsible for music in churches – it is usually a thankless job.
Did it ever occur to you that we really do see ACNA as it really is, and approve? A wait for perfection is likely to be a pretty long wait.
Thanks Kate I said earlier in #4 “Nothing is perfect, but when you have something that is better than the next best thing, its certainly a good starting point….. wouldn’t you say?”. Unfortunately Mr. Jordan must have missed my question. I think it is important to add that the ACNA began with a long sighted view and gently made considerable room, for compromise and flexability this to me was one of her great strengths.
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I pray that what will come forth from Rev’d Packer’s self described last quest will be an inspiring primer for our way forward.
PS; fun and pleasant to be on the same page with you