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From the Bishop

The following article appears in the Pentecost (June) issue of the Forward in Mission newsletter. It will help acquaint you with the historic meeting to be held at our own Cathedral church later this month.

A new Anglican Province is born

Provincial Assembly to gather
in June at St. Vincent’s Cathedral

Bishops and delegates from 23 existing Anglican dioceses and five dioceses-in-formation in the United States and Canada will gather Monday through Thursday, June 22-25, in Bedford to adopt a Constitution and Canons for a new Anglican Province.* The new Province provides a home for dioceses and parishes that do not subscribe to the revisionist agendas pursued by The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Anglican Church of Canada.

Bishop Duncan

“The purpose of this Province is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his transforming love in the United States, Canada and beyond,” says Bishop Robert Duncan of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Bishop Duncan is the Archbishop-elect of the Province.

schedule highlights At the Assembly, over 700 congregations now belonging to eight major groups of Anglicans will unite to form the Province, to be called the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). It will reunite the six dioceses of the Reformed Episcopal Church, established in 1887, with fellow Anglicans who have made the decision to leave TEC due to the innovations of the last 30 years.

Each diocese’s representation at the Assembly will be based on its average Sunday church attendance. The delegation representing the Diocese of Fort Worth is among the largest, with six clergy and six lay representatives, all of whom were elected according to our diocesan canons in the last two diocesan conventions. The Assembly is unicameral, so the delegates will be seated with Bishop Iker, rather than in a separate body, as is the arrangement at General Convention. A youth delegation (ages 16 to 26) is invited from each diocese as well. We will send five young men and women from our churches to the meeting.

The Assembly will spend many hours in worship over the four-day conference. Thirteen services are planned, beginning with an opening Eucharist at Noon on Monday. The high point of the week is expected to be the Wednesday evening Eucharist at Christ Church, Plano, where Bishop Duncan will be installed as Archbishop of the new Province.

The Assembly will welcome a number of ecumenical visitors and observers, including two keynote speakers. Rick Warren, author of the bestselling book The Purpose-Driven Church and pastor of California’s Saddleback Church, will address the Tuesday-morning plenary session. On Wednesday, the head of the Orthodox Church in North America, Metropolitan Jonah, will address the Assembly. Other ecumenical visitors will include Bishop Kevin Vann of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth. A delegation of clergy and laypeople is expected from the Anglican Province of Nigeria, the first Province to announce its support of ACNA.

What about our membership in the Province of the Southern Cone?

Nearly a year ago, leaders of the Global South churches called on faithful Anglicans in North America to organize themselves into a new Province, with Constitution and Canons, as soon as possible.

At our diocesan convention in November 2008, we accepted the oversight of Archbishop Gregory Venables and the Province of the Southern Cone on a ”temporary, emergency” basis. Because of this association, we remain in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury. However, this compassionate arrangement was intended only as a transitional measure.

The Primates of the Anglican Communion met in February 2009 and gave clear assurances that those churches and dioceses that have withdrawn from TEC continue to be members of the Anglican Communion.

In view of the fact that the new Province may not be officially recognized by the Anglican Communion for several years, proposed Canon I.5.4 of the Anglican Church in North America states,

Dioceses gathered under the jurisdiction and oversight of another Province of the Anglican Communion at the time of the organization of the Anglican Church in North America may continue under the constitution and canons of the parent Province to the extent provided by specific protocols between all of the parties, periodically reviewed.

This allows for a ”dual citizenship” in the Southern Cone and ACNA for a period of time long enough to prevent any interruption in our status as constituent members of the Communion. Bishop Iker will be a member of the ACNA College of Bishops while continuing as a member of the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone.

For further reading or to register to attend the Assembly (registration is open through June 10), look online at www.united-anglicans.org.

To view live coverage of the Assembly beginning Monday, June 22, go to anglicantv.org, or see theacna.org.

*Currently there are 38 Provinces in the Anglican Communion.

The members of our diocesan delegation are:

Clergy:
Dean Ryan Reed, Fr. Thomas Hightower, Fr. Christopher Cantrell,
Fr. Jay Atwood, Fr. Scott Wooten, Fr. Edward Kresowaty

Lay:
Judy Mayo, Walter Virden III, Jo Ann Patton, Dr. Franklin Salazar,
Kay Stromberg, Alann Sampson

Youth:
Fr. Jonathan Duncan, Taylor Schley, Paula Wagnon,
Obinna Jon-Ubabuco, John Donor