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 . . .

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.

Anglican Christians from the Central Valley to participate in historic event.

Bishop John-David Schofield and eight delegates from the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin will be attending the first assembly of the new Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), which meets June 22-25 at St Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas.

Bishop Schofield observed, “The founding of this province opens remarkable opportunities for new forms of ministry, simplicity in structure and a return to the biblical emphasis of outreach by following the patterns and teaching given to us by Jesus.”

The Anglican Church in North America includes over 100,000 members from the United States and Canada. This number already exceeds the membership of 12 of the Anglican Communion’s 38 National Provinces. 232 Delegates representing 700 Anglican parishes from 23 dioceses and 5 dioceses in formation look forward to confirming Pittsburgh Bishop, Robert Duncan as the first Archbishop and Primate of ACNA.

ACNA’s governing documents provide a province in North America for orthodox Anglicans who have been alienated by the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church in the U.S. These older bodies have deviated from the beliefs and Biblical teaching, commonly held by the majority of Christians and especially Anglicans throughout the world.

Three Christian leaders will be guest speakers at the four-day National Assembly. They are:

Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Church, will speak on June 23rd. Warren, a longtime friend of orthodox Anglicans, has been repeatedly recognized as a key spiritual leader in America. Saddleback Church, founded by Warren in 1980, is an innovative evangelical congregation of 22,000 in Lake Forest California.

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. Originally an Episcopalian before joining the Orthodox Church in 1978, Metropolitan Jonah was elected primate of the OCA in November of 2008. 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.

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 will speak to delegates and guests on the morning of June 25th. 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.

More information can be found at ACNA

New Anglican Church poses dilemma

Challenges representation of denomination in U.S., Canada

By Julia Duin (Contact) of The Washington Times| Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Anglican Church in North America will be formally founded next week, challenging the legitimacy of the U.S. Episcopal Church and posing a dilemma for the worldwide Anglican Communion over who represents Anglicanism in the United States and Canada.

When 232 delegates to the ACNA convention at St. Vincent's Cathedral in Bedford, Texas, approve the organization's constitution and canons on Monday, Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan will become archbishop for this "emerging" 39th province of the communion, consisting of several groupings that have left the Episcopal Church over issues related to sexuality and biblical authority.

A ceremony celebrating Bishop Duncan's installation is set for June 24 at Christ Church in the Dallas suburb of Plano, the ACNA's largest parish, with more than 2,000 members. Also among the ACNA's members are 11 Northern Virginia parishes, including the historic The Falls Church and Truro parishes, which left the Episcopal Church to found the Convocation of Anglicans in North America.

At a news conference in December, Bishop Duncan said God is "displacing" the Episcopal Church in favor of the ACNA. The Texas gathering is the conservative alternative to the Episcopal Church's triennial convention next month in Anaheim, Calif.

There is no precedent in the communion for a country to have more than one recognized province, and Episcopalians who back the move have maintained that the U.S. and Canadian churches no longer preach and believe historic Anglicanism.

Read the entire article from the Washington Times

WHEATON, IL: North American Anglican Province Formed As Rival To The Episcopal Church

Provisional Constitution and Nine Canons Approved

By David W. Virtue in Wheaton, Illinois
www.virtueonline.org
12/3/2008

A new Province of the Anglican Church in North America, a rival province to The Episcopal Church USA complete with a provisional constitution and nine canons was birthed today with 700 churches and 100,000 church-going members. A formal ratification of the constitution and canons will take place in a provincial assembly in six months in Bedford, Texas at St. Vincent's cathedral in the diocese of Ft. Worth.

It is historic and unprecedented, said Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan moderator of the Anglican Communion Network. "It is an extraordinary day for us. We have reversed 40 years of Anglican history and years of division among The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada. Today we bring together 11 jurisdictions in Canada and across the US. Today marks 5 years of labor and attempts to come together."

Duncan said the Provisional Constitution is a response to what 7 Primates of the Anglican Communion asked us to do. "They (archbishops) represent the majority of the worlds' who met recently in Jerusalem recently. They asked us to form a provisional province that would be recognized by the bulk of the Anglican world. Today we have done that."

Duncan said the new province was a work in the spirit of unity and mutual submission and was as fine and as great as "I have ever known." The nine canons put in place were unanimously adopted by all the partners of Common cause, he said.

The article continues here on Virtue Online

Bishop Lawrence Reports on the House of Bishops' Meeting, September 17-19, 2008

The following is an excerpt from a report by Bp Mark Lawrence regarding the proceedings at the most recent H.O.B. meeting:

There are so many dubious dimensions to this current proceeding against Bishop Duncan that to continue on this path, trampling upon the plain reading and purpose of the Canon in the process, may well give pause to all and cause many of us to shudder. Consider:

• There is the torturous reading of the Canon in order to render moot the clear reference to the necessity of inhibition prior to deposition. The fact is that Bishop Duncan has not been inhibited. The fact is that the three Senior Bishops of this church have not consented.

• There is the disputed reading of that phrase in the Canon which reads “…a majority of the whole number of Bishops entitled to vote.” The Constitution and Canons interpret that phrase in Article I:3, and in Canon IV itself, under section 15, which defines the very terminology used in the title! Under the ruling by the Presiding Bishop and her Chancellor, it is possible for a smaller number of Bishops to consent to the deposition of a Bishop than the number required to consent to the resignation of a Bishop. It is respectfully submitted that such an interpretation makes no sense, and turns the Canon on its head.

• There are real questions regarding the adequacy of due process in this case—a sacred principle of judicial practice in our society.

• There are significant questions in this matter that may suggest to some minds a conflict of interest.

• Along with these above concerns, there are the pervasive moral and pastoral dimensions which cannot be so easily dismissed as some would like us to believe. The statement last evening regarding the case of All Saints’ Pawleys Island vs. Diocese of South Carolina may have been well intended, but the fact is that the lawsuit has brought financial cost (thereby diminishing the funds available for missions) and spiritual unrest within the Diocese of South Carolina. The suggestion that swift action averted discord and legal proceeding is just not accurate. The description last evening of the situation within the Diocese of San Joaquin, while it may be one person’s recent experience, bears little resemblance to what was my experience serving in that diocese for the last ten years and living there for the first 30 plus years of my life.

• Having served in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Diocese of San Joaquin for almost all of my ordained ministry, I can tell you that the pastoral and theological matters that have precipitated the actions of their conventions will not be resolved by depositions or litigation, especially when the principles of due process and rule of law seem to be high-handedly ignored.

- The Rt Rev Mark Lawrence, Bishop of South Carolina

The full report is posted at the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina's website, HERE.

Anglican Communion Continues to Undergo a Seismic Shift with Pittsburgh Diocese Move

From The Institute of Religion and Democracy

Contact: Jeff Walton (202)682-4131

October 6, 2008

“The real issue here is not parishes or dioceses departing, rather it is that the Episcopal Church was hemorrhaging membership well before the controversial ordination of Gene Robinson. Individuals are realigning with their feet.”

— Faith J. H. McDonnell, Director of the IRD’s Religious Liberty Program

_______________________________________________________

Washington, DC—The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted on Saturday to end its affiliation with the national denomination. The vote carried with support from 119 of the 191 lay delegates and 121 of the 160 clergy delegates. The diocese has aligned itself with another province in the Anglican Communion, the Argentina-based Province of the Southern Cone. The vote taken by the diocesan convention follows the removal of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan on September 18th by the Episcopal House of Bishops over the charge of “abandonment of the communion”.

Pittsburgh follows the Fresno, California-based Diocese of San Joaquin, which voted to secede from the Episcopal Church in December 2007. Two other Dioceses, Fort Worth, Texas and Quincy, Illinois, are scheduled to vote in November on similar resolutions.

IRD Religious Liberty Director Faith J.H. McDonnell commented:

“We at the IRD support the faithful Anglicans in the Diocese of Pittsburgh who have now left The Episcopal Church. Their decisions were made soberly and only after much prayer and agonizing deliberation.

“We also recognize that, in responding to God's call, some faithful Anglicans will remain within The Episcopal Church. Their call is no less one from God, and we support them in their mission of renewing the denomination.

“The real issue here is not parishes or dioceses departing, rather it is that the Episcopal Church was hemorrhaging membership well before the controversial ordination of Gene Robinson. Individuals are realigning with their feet. Many of the most vibrant and evangelistic parishioners are leaving, and the remaining revisionists appear unable to offer a compelling draw to potential new members.

“While Gene Robinson’s consecration heightened the issues within The Episcopal Church, it is in no way the main issue for the churches that are leaving. It provides one example of how The Episcopal Church has drifted away from its Scriptural foundations, but only one. Beyond wanting to be faithful to Scripture, the churches felt that their mission work was impaired by remaining within The Episcopal Church.

“Faithful orthodox Episcopalians owe a debt of gratitude to Global South Anglicans, where the church continues its vibrant growth and ministry. Orthodox Anglicans from many different groups have shown support to the Pittsburgh Diocese, demonstrating a solidarity that could only have been dreamed of a few years ago."

+Schofield Joins in Welcoming +Duncan into Southern Cone

On this day when Bishop Duncan was allegedly deposed by the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church, Bishop John-David Schofield joined in welcoming Bishop Duncan as a Brother into full membership of the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone. Bishop Duncan's own continuing status as a bishop in The Anglican Communion has been secured by the Province of the Southern Cone.

"As was resolved by resolution made at the Provincial Synod in Valparaiso last November 2007, we are happy to welcome Bishop Duncan into the Province of the Southern Cone as a member of our House of Bishops, effective immediately. Neither the Presiding Bishop nor the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church has any further jurisdiction over his ministry. We pray for all Anglicans in Pittsburgh as they consider their own relationship with The Episcopal Church in the coming weeks," said Archbishop Gregory Venables.

Bishop John-David also affirms the statement of the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh regarding the deposition of their Bishop, Robert Duncan, Jr., by the House of Bishops:

“We are profoundly disappointed by this action, and view it as yet another tragic rejection of the historic faith of our diocese and the majority consensus of the Anglican Communion. We continue to believe that the House of Bishops has clearly misapplied and misinterpreted the canons as we stated to the Presiding Bishop in our letter of May 28.

In light of this unfair and improper action to “depose” our bishop, we now assume our responsibility under the canons to be the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. Bishop Duncan will continue to support the work of our diocese under the terms of his administrative employment agreement and within the bounds of his deposition, providing many of the services that he previously performed for the diocese. Our diocesan convention of October 4 will go forward as planned, at which the canonically required re-alignment vote will be taken.

We understand that Bishop Duncan has been received as a member in good standing of the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone. We rejoice at this news.

The Standing Committee asks that the clergy and people of Pittsburgh pray for the Duncans, the diocesan staff and the elected leadership of the diocese in the days ahead. We stand firmly on the promise of Holy Scripture found in Romans 8:28. ‘We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’"

"What interests me is that this well planned ambush of Bishop Duncan by the leadership of The Episcopal Church failed to take into account something pretty important …. Bishop Duncan is now even more respected across the world, remains in office, and just went up another notch as a respected leader in the Anglican Communion," said David Bena, Suffragan Bishop of CANA.

Diocese of Pittsburgh Maintains Course after Purported Deposition

As the diocese prepares for its convention on October 4, the standing committee will serve as ecclesiastical authority.

The House of Bishops purported deposition of Bishop Robert Duncan will not change the agenda for the Oct. 4 Diocesan Convention or change Bishop Duncan’s status as a bishop in good standing within the Anglican Communion.

The action of the House of Bishops, which was taken in a closed meeting on September 18 in Salt Lake City, Utah, contravenes numerous canons of The Episcopal Church. While Bishop Duncan continues to believe that the "deposition" is unlawful, he will not challenge the "deposition" prior to the end of the diocese’s October 4 convention unless forced to do so by the leadership of The Episcopal Church.

On October 4, diocesan convention deputies will consider the second reading of a constitutional change that would realign the diocese with the Province of the Southern Cone. With the passage of that constitutional change, the diocese will be free to welcome Bishop Duncan back as its bishop. In the meantime, under the diocese’s governing documents, the standing committee will serve as the diocese’s ecclesiastical authority.

“This is of course a very painful moment for Pittsburgh Episcopalians. The leadership of The Episcopal Church has inserted itself in a most violent manner into the affairs and governance of our diocese. While we await the decision of the diocesan convention on realignment to a different province of the Anglican Communion, we will stand firm against any further attempts by those outside our boundaries intimidate us,” said the Rev. David Wilson, president of the Standing Committee.

Bishop Duncan’s own continuing status as a bishop in The Anglican Communion has been secured by the Province of the Southern Cone.

“As was resolved by resolution made at the Provincial Synod in Valparaiso last November 2007, we are happy to welcome Bishop Duncan into the Province of the Southern Cone as a member of our House of Bishops, effective immediately. Neither the Presiding Bishop nor the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church has any further jurisdiction over his ministry. We pray for all Anglicans in Pittsburgh as they consider their own relationship with The Episcopal Church in the coming weeks,” said Archbishop Gregory Venables.

- Posted September 18, 2008 -

From the Diocese of Pittsburgh