Anglicans, Affirmation, and Action

Thursday February 11, 2010 ~ 4 Comments

Back in August of '09 I shared a bit about the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a new conservative Anglican organization that broke away from the Episcopal Church (The U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion) over controversies related to the authority of Scripture and homosexuality. But this is not just a group of conservative theologians who are trying to maintain orthodox theology, they are also working hard to stay on mission, which has led them to set a lofty goal for such a young fellowship of churches; to plant 1000 churches in the next five years! I have the privilege of speaking at the Anglican 1000 gathering, February 22-23, in Plano, TX.

The big news is that yesterday the General Synod of the Church of England voted to recognize the ACNA. This is not the same thing as the Church of England affirming to be "in communion" with ACNA, but leadership in the ACNA is encouraged.

I love the heart of the Anglican Church in North America. They are passionate about truth and mission, and have set out to change the world through the gospel. They are expecting 300 people at their Anglican 100 launch-- an amazing response for a movement their size.

They came to LifeWay last year and asked me to share some encouragement with them. Here is what I said and they posted on their website yesterday.

Posted on February 11, 2010 at 8:13 AM ~ 4 Comments

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4 Comments

By Bob Cleveland on February 11, 2010 10:06 AM

One of the three most memorable, most exciting worship services ever, in my life, was at Holy Trinity Brompton Cathedral in London. That ended the Anglican stereotype, pronto, for me.

Caused me to wonder, briefly, why the guys left the mother country, in fact.
:)

I made this brief, as the security words are "said scantily".

By Ben Jones on February 11, 2010 12:51 PM

Ed,
I am an Anglican who has chosen to remain in the Episcopal Church. I deeply respect the faithful people who have left to form the ACNA and wish them God's blessings and the power of his Holy Spirit. I have taken the NT book of Jude to heart and believe that I am called to stand firm and contend for the faith. I also believe that the Episcopal Church is part of my mission "territory": The foreign land where God has called me to bear witness to the Gospel.
I am encouraged by your faithfulness to help the Church recapture its missionary DNA. The local congregation is a missionary outpost and its members are not merely "attenders" or "worshipers" or "parishioners" (as Anglicans would say). They are missionaries.

By Bill on February 11, 2010 6:51 PM

I have a good close friend who is an Anglican pastor and church planter. He is my brother from another mother. He has tried to recruit me to plant a church with them. I can't do the collar, but the robe seems pretty cool. It is a huge church planting goal, I hope God blesses their efforts.

By Glenn Hatcher on February 13, 2010 1:44 PM

While living in East Africa we worked in many interdenominational settings from Pentecostals to Baptists to Anglicans. I found the Anglican churches of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania extremely missional in their thinking and practice. I'm excited that the ACNA are looking to plant churches with a missional intentionality. It seems to be a blending of tradition, Scripture and mission. Bravo!

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