An innocent's guide to things Anglican in the US

Jonathan has done an excellent story in the Daily Telegraph, a follow to the other Jonathan's offering in the Sunday. I mentioned this story to my newsdesk this week, who groaned. "Schism mark 27? No thank you. Can't you give us more on the Bishop of Southwark?" One problem I believe is that people might be confused by who is who, which covenant is which, what separates the AAC from the ACC (quite a lot), Nigeria from the US. (Ok, well maybe people are not confused about that last one.) In any case, the latest schism with all its ramifications can be followed with links on Thinking Anglicans. The response from Inclusive Church is up there too. Tom Wright has issued a gentle rebuke to his colleague at Rochester in an article for Fulcrum in which he wishes that the strength of feeling in the covenant could have been matched by the strength of thinking.

What this latest story does perhaps reflect is that the obsession with TEC is something of a diversion. Schism, if it happens, will happen here first, in the CofE. Even so, I don't believe it will be a full-blooded schism, although it might well be full-bloodied. But this could be one unexpected consequence of the opposition to women priests that led to the Act of Synod. A precedent of alternative oversight has been set which it will be difficult for the Archbishop of Canterbury to ignore. Another thing that cannot be ignored is that the evangelical constituency is large and getting bigger all the time. It has grown beyond what the liberals of the last century ever imagined it could. Analysis by Peter Brierley of his English Church Census shows that in the Church of England, evangelical churches make up 26 per cent of the total, actual worshippers make up 34 per cent and of the largest churches with a membership of more than 350, 83 per cent are evangelical.

Anyway, if you are not confused by the whole scene, I certainly am. So I asked a friend to compile an "idiot's guide" to the conservative scene in the US for me. He politely sent back what he called an "innocent's guide". So here it is.

The innocent's guide to US orthodox Anglicans.

The Episcopal Church – TEC.  This was formerly known as ECUSA, the Episcopal Church of the United States of America. The name change this year was because it has members and dioceses in 18 nations in the Americas, and even a jurisdiction in Europe which overlaps with the Church of England Diocese of Europe.  Some see wider ambitions in the name change.

The Anglican Communion Network. This is a coalition of eight dioceses within TEC, whose bishops and conventions have rejected the direction that ECUSA is taking, and claim to be the ones who are faithful to the title deeds of ECUSA. They have appealed to the Primates of the Anglican Communion for alternative oversight to that of TEC. They have not left TEC because if they do they fear law suits for their property.

Overseas Jurisdictions.  Parishes outside these eight dioceses have appealed to archbishops and bishops in Africa and Latin America to give them oversight. They have left ECUSA, and in many cases their property, salaries and pension arrangements. They receive oversight from overseas. They form a convocation linked with the ACN. They have no bishop in America.

The Anglican Mission in America.  This began in around 2000. Subsequently Charles Murphy and John Rodgers were consecrated bishop in Singapore by the Archbishop of South East Asia, Moses Tay, and the Archbishop of Rwanda, Emmanuel Kolini. They sit in the House of Bishops of the Church of Rwanda.  They oversee churches which have decided they cannot in conscience be identified with ECUSA. These churches have left their buildings. The priests have left their salaries and their pension arrangements behind.  "They express joy at being free of the church arguments over homosexuality in order to get on with the task of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ," says my source. About 100 churches belong to the Mission. They hold an annual conference in January, attended by a number of Anglican Primates.

Convocation of Anglicans in North America.  This is under the jurisdiction of Peter Akinola's Church of Nigeria which consecrated Bishop Martyn Minns to be a bishop in America for them.  Their initial constituency is congregations of Nigerian Anglicans in North America. But other large churches outside the Anglican Communion Network dioceses are voting on whether to join them. (Truro, The Fall’s Church, All Saints' in the Diocese of Virginia). ACNS has offered further insights: 'In response to a number of queries, and following consultation with The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion has issued the following statement:"The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) is, to  my knowledge, a "mission" of the Church of Nigeria. It is not a branch of the Anglican Communion as such but an organsation which relates to a single province of the Anglican Communion. CANA has not petitioned the Anglican Consultative Council for any official status within the Communion's structures, nor has the Archbishop of Canterbury indicated any support for its establishment." '

All these four groups have formed a movement called Common Cause, to work together on issues which they hold in common.

The Common Cause movement also includes some older continuing Anglican churches such as The Reformed Episcopal Church, formed in the 1870s, which are Anglican Churches not currently in formal communion with Canterbury.

All the above are churches which have bishops and a formal ecclesiastical structure.  There are also movements which embrace people who belong in one or other of these structures.

These are Forward in Faith, and the AAC.  These act as advocacy and activist groups advising and supporting parishes and persons who are seeking to be biblically orthodox. They are not formal ecclesiastical structures.

Best blog sites representing the debates around these groups are on the Classical Anglican site. They include Lord Carey's son Andrew, and Kendall Harmon's widely-read TitusOneNine. Another must read for this constituency is Greg Griffith's exhaustive StandFirm, always with interesting comments. And then there is the distinctively personal but well-informed blog of Peter Ould, whose vidcast on Katharine Schori, below, will give you a good idea of how things stand between her and the US conservatives at present. Anglican Mainstream also documents events worldwide, including the US. And AAC also has a terrific blog.

If anyone can send me a similar guide to the other side, I'll post that too. And the same goes for the conservative and liberal scenes in the UK.

Meanwhile, here's the Peter Ould video in case you fancy watching it now.

And just for balance, this is her own address after her election at GenCon06.

Comments

[D. C.]

On the liberal / "reexaminer" side, here are some favorites from my own blogroll:

* Fr. Jake Stops the World - http://frjakestopstheworld.blogspot.com

* Preludium - http://anglicanfuture.blogspot.com

* Entangled States - http://www.entangledstates.org/

[Karen B.]

Ruth, this is a great idea. I see a few errors right off the bat, however:

1) Anglican Communion Network is officially comprised of 10 dioceses:
Albany
Central Florida
Dallas
Fort Worth (Texas)
Pittsburgh
Quincy (Illinois)
Rio Grande
San Joaquin (Fresno, California)
South Carolina
Springfield (Illinois)

of these 10 dioceses, 7 have applied to the Archbishop of Canterbrury for some kind of alternate oversight (Albany and Rio Grande never applied. Dallas at one point was included in the request, but withdrew their request, as best I understand it.)

The Network also consists of hundreds of parishes who are not in one of the above 10 dioceses, who join via one of the "convocations." (either geographic, eg. New England, Southeast, etc.; or the non-geographical Forward in Faith convocation)

2) AMiA: You cite it being founded in 1992. I believe it was founded in 2000 or 2001. I'll have to look up the exact dates.

I may find more corrections as I read through the rest closely. Will post more comments as needed.

[Simon Sarmiento]

For a guide to "US orthodox Anglicans", it seems a bit weird that your friend has listed two English people.

[Kendall Harmon]

Ruth the AMIA did not start in 1992 it began in 2000

http://www.theamia.org/amia/index.cfm?ID=FC74816E-B15F-4E69-BFBE8961A34015FD

[Eric Swensson]

Really good writing, Ruth. Have to thank you for the link ot the video. You rock, Mr Ould, you rockest most high.

[Karen B.]

Ruth, I appreciate you offering a sermon from PB Katharine Jefferts Schori to balance Peter Ould's video. That may not, however be the best example for your readers to explain why many of us in the Episcopal Church are so concerned about her theology.

Here's a set of must reading links to explain what prompted Peter Ould's video:
(I'm generally using links from Kendall Harmon's Titusonenine blog because I have them handy. You can click through to the original sources from there as desired.)

1) KJS Time Magazine interview June 2006
http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net/?p=14131

2) KJS National Public Radio Interview (audio link and transcript) October 2006
http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net/?p=15977

3) KJS Interview with Stephen Crittenden (ABC) July 2006
http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net/?p=16176

4) Matt Kennedy's article on Stand Firm analyzing her theology.
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/the_presiding_bishops_top_five/

[CH]

Dear Mrs. Gledhill,

Please don't forget the Continuing Anglican churches (who received scant mention in the article above). There are enough among us who are embarrassments to us all but you will also find those of us cradle Episcopalians who, like myself, wound up in untenable situations with regards to the Episcopal church.

In discussions with other laity in other groups I find among our common threads to be a desire for reunification, with each other and with the world-wide Anglican Communion.

Are we the more diminished because our various situations led us to man the lifeboats instead of swimming the Tiber or Bosporus?

Sincerely,
CH

(rg writes: send me some links and I'll put them in)

[Woody Norman]

Ruth,

Regarding your description of the AMiA there are a couple of situations I would submit for your research. (1) Bishops Murphy and Rodgers were consecrated in the year 2000; and (2) the AMiA has a pedigree, organizationally speaking. There was the "FIRST PROMISE" effort begun by Murphy a few years prior to the consecrations.

See links for:
"Concerned Clergy and Laity of the Episcopal Church: A lay movement of concerned and faithful to renew and reform the Church."
http://www.episcopalian.org/CCLEC/index.htm

http://www.episcopalian.org/CCLEC/firstpromise.htm

[Loys F. Johnson]

Ms. Gledhill,
The web address of the Anglican Mission in America is:
http://www.anglicanmissioninamerica.org/
The link in your article will take you to the American Medical Informatics Association.

Here are two internet sites that contain listings of orthodox Anglican parishes in the United States:
http://www.greaterdanburyanglicans.org/AMiAChurches/AMiAChurches.html?ShowAll
http://www.angelfire.com/sc3/kaysplace/-finding.html

I enjoy reading your commentaries in Timesonline.
Shalom,
Loys F. Johnson
Executive Pastor
Church of the Good Shepherd (AMiA)
Davidson, North Carolina
U.S.A.

[Jill]

Nothing to do with any of the above comments, but Ruth - who would be a religion writer trying to get important news items published? When the newsdesk thinks that a story about a bishop bouncing off the odd lamppost is news, (how many of us haven't, I ask) but the breaking up of the Church of England isn't? And I thought the times was a serious newspaper!

Anyhow, brava to you. I'm just annoyed I cannot watch the video because I haven't got broadband!

[JPM]

Dr. Goebbels would be very proud of Mr. Ould.

[Peter O]

Hmmmmmm......

JPM posts his comment about Goebbels and around the same time a comment on my blog appears under that pseudonym. Who could it be, who could it be?????

Answers on a postcard to:

Mexico full of Mexicans Department
peter-ould.net

[Shaun]

Ruth,
Your article refers to one detail which has always puzzled me. If I moved jobs I could transfer my occupational pension fund to my new employer or freeze it for payment when it fell due, and I assume the same is true for clergy on the CofE hybrid Church Commissioners / diocesan contribution pension fund arrangements.
Is there some general difference in US pension law that has forced departing TEC clergy to loose their accumulated pension entitlements?

rg wrties: what a good question, does anyone know the answer?

[erasmusrotterdamus]

The funny and tragic thing about the first video is that, although its author may have important points from a historical perspective, "orthodox" Anglicans leading the charge in the USA seem to be almost entirely indifferent to historical theology and the Church Fathers - indeed, one wonders what, if any, understanding they have of historical theology, as the various mission statements, etc., give no indication of deep study or understanding. The purported cure will likely be worse than the current disease.

[jf mckenna]

At the core of everything is the stark reality of Christians giving their encouragement to people whose actions are causing immense emtional and physical pain to their partners and themselves and then refusing to allow any mention of this on their blogs or websites. Stalinism lives again.

[Archie Biggs]

There are problems with the links to AMiA, it depends on which link you hit. The one connected to the line American Mission in America is connected to www.amia.org which is incorrect. The other two "shortcuts" in the same paragraph DO link to the correct website (these shortcuts are connected with the text"which have decided" and "churches"!).
here is a problem with links to AMiA

[Simon Sarmiento]

"They have left ECUSA, and in many cases their property, salaries and
pension arrangements. "

ECUSA clergy pensions are protected just like any others, the only thing that clergy departing ECUSA leave behind is the ability to contribute in the future; same as if Ruth leaves The Times she can't put the new (eg Mail's) employer contributions into the Times pension scheme.

[ROBERT]

LETS TRY TO BE TADITIONAL AND ORTHODOX WITHOUT HURTING ANYONE.

[Andrea]

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