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The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) unites more than 600 parishes in 20 dioceses. Together with our ministry partners, this new movement in North American Anglicanism encompasses more 100,000 parishioners. ACNA is a Province-in-formation in the global Anglican Communion, initiated by the request of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCon) in June 2008 and formally recognized by the GAFCon Primates – leaders of Anglican Churches representing 70 per cent of the active Anglicans globally – on 16 April 2009 after a thorough examination of ACNA’s leadership, organizational structure, proposed constitution and proposed canons.
What we stand for
Members of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) are in the mainstream, both globally and historically, of Christianity – the biblically-faithful way of following Jesus and being part of the “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”. As Anglicans, this orthodoxy is defined by and centered on our church’s classic formularies – the Book of Common Prayer, including the Ordinal, and the Thirty-nine Articles – which all point back to the authority of the Holy Bible and articulate foundational principles of the Anglican tradition throughout the world. We wholeheartedly embrace the Jerusalem Declaration, the founding declaration of the global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, and the Theological Statement of the Common Cause Partnership – the precursor to the ACNA.
Leadership
Primate – Bishop Robert Duncan (Bishop of Pittsburgh) is to be installed as Archbishop of ACNA on 24 June 2009 during the ACNA inaugural provincial assembly. The liturgy will take place at Christ Church Plano, Texas.
College of Bishops – The bishops of ACNA form the College of Bishops which will meet periodically to lead in matters of faith and unity.
ACNA Provincial Council – This council is comprised of one bishop, one member of the clergy and two lay persons from each recognized diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, the Provincial Council is the governing body of the church with authority to set the church’s program and budget.
ACNA Assembly – Each diocese is represented by its bishop or bishops, at least two members of the clergy and two lay persons. Additional clergy and lay persons are added for each full one thousand of average Sunday attendance of the diocese beyond the first one thousand. The purpose of the assembly is to strengthen the mission of the church and to ratify and amend the Constitution and Canons of the ACNA.
Chief Operating Officer – Mr Brad B Root
Membership
Membership is currently estimated at 100,000 based on average Sunday attendance of 69,197 (as of spring 2009) – including more than 800 clergy. ACNA is committed to members’ personal growth through discipleship, as well as to church growth through evangelism and church planting. With active church planting initiatives in the 28 dioceses, congregations are being added monthly to ACNA’s current 700+ parishes. Currently, ACNA’s membership equals or exceeds that of 12 of the Anglican Communion’s 38 provinces.
Governance
The proposed Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church in North America will be brought to the inaugural Provincial Assembly, 22-25 June 2009 for ratification.
History
Globally, regionally and locally, Anglicanism is in the process of reformation following increasing accommodation and incorporation of non-Biblical, non-Anglican practices and teaching within some “western” provinces – especially the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada. In recent years, distressed Biblically-faithful individuals, parishes and dioceses have disaffiliated from the established ecclesial structures and sought – and receive – episcopal oversight from other Provinces in the Communion.
The Common Cause Partnership – A federation of some fifteen North American organizations – was launched in 2005 and, by September 2007, the bishops that served the members of that partnership gathered to begin shaping a unified and orthodox Anglican church in North America. The June 2008 Global Anglican Future conference (GAFCon) provided added momentum to this work and , following significant formational work by the Common Cause Partners, these GAFCon Primates recognized the resulting ecclesial structure – the Anglican Church in North America – as authentically Anglican and have commended formal recognition of ACNA to the other Primates in the Anglican Communion.
Unique among the members of ACNA, the Reformed Episcopal Church was founded in 1873. It has remained faithful to the unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ for its 135 year history and is now reuniting with others who share the same commitment to the inerrant Word of God.
In bringing together so many faithful Anglicans and Anglican Churches, the ACNA has demonstrated its commitment to unity within the bounds of truth.
See Our Genesis, for more information on the history of the Anglican Church in North America.
For more information see: www.anglicanchurch.net
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