The church-as-business model from Protestant church-like fellowships has dominated evangelical groups. ‘Management’ becomes corporate communications and public relations. No one trusts this approach. ACNA needs to go back to older models of church planting that emphasizes preparation for baptism, baptism, and confirmation. Transparency not slickness is the key to the future of the ACNA. Some apostolic succession church’s need to sustain catholicity in light of the progressive destructive impulses in North American society.
My formation as a Christian was through evangelical youth missions while living overseas and in the Episcopal church for my early childhood and young adulthood. I consider myself an Anglican and pray twice daily from the BCP, but there are no Anglican churches in my town, and I no longer feel comfortable in the Episcopal church.
As a result, I find myself in a charismatic nondenominational church with strong Christian community and Biblical teaching.
It is distressing to see this happening in the ACNA, and I wonder if the future of Anglicanism just isn’t in N America or England. I wonder how many people find themselves in my position with love for orthodox Anglicanism but no way to express it— a free range Anglicanism.
Two comments: 1. Bp. Todd is a snake. He is not schooled in Anglican doctrine and still behaves as a free-wheeling vineyard church pastor. He has done incalculable damage to ACNA with his woke positions. He and his diocese have sadly become a funnel into TEC. ACNA needs to either expel or inhibit him. 2. ABp. Wood should make a public confession of his mistreatment of Fr. Calvin Robinson. He should apologize and in humility ask for forgiveness. I have no doubt that such would be forthcoming. But I sincerely doubt that he possesses the necessary humility to even consider such a course of action. These however are necessary prerequisites to the restoration of trust of the ACNA bishops by the laity.
I am watching the reporting in the Bishop Jones controversy. As you say, the first story was succeeded by others. IF (again, IF) Bp. Jones is using the WO controversy as a way to shield his own misconduct in office, shame on him. I think many people, myself included, were inclined to believe Bp. Jones's side of the story because of the mistrust in the ACNA, as you say, Mark. Now, I dunno.
The failure of the House of Bishops to act on its own study report from 2017, finding "insufficient scriptural warrant" for women in orders shows a lack of leadership not confined only to whoever is the Archbishop.
This has had personal implications for me. My husband and I recently moved to a small city in western NC. There are ACNA parishes reasonably close, but in a diocese which has female priests. The REC isn't up here at this time. We are (happily) worshipping in a Continuing parish.
On the issues involved with the Chaplains controversy, episode #933 of Anglicans Unscripted, at the bottom of Anglican.ink, with Kevin Kallsen and Jeff Walton, is well worth listening to. They appear to present even-handed reporting on the situation.
Well put, Mark. I've long felt that many in ACNA wear their Anglicanism as a skin suit, even some of the "founding generation, discarding the tradition when inconvenient. An entrepreneurial Anglicanism seems at odds with itself. The elimination of non-geographical dioceses would help a great deal.
I agree with you until your last sentence. Non-geographical dioceses, like All Saints and Living Word, are necessary to be havens for the orthodox faithful.
I thought about the irony of a Reformed Episcopal Church presbyter lamenting my own "trans-geographical" presence in ACNA, and will step back some from "great deal." My concern with the purely non-geographical dioceses in connection with the OP is that each has a certain "brand" that leads, seemingly inexorably, into the marketing and entrepreneurship akin to C4SO (or the ACNA webpage, for that matter).
I think what you're not explicitly saying, Mark, is that the problems go deeper than a year or four years or the inaction of the CoB in 2017, and so on. The problems are that the entire CoB has not approached each and every meeting prepared by deep prayer and fasting, down to the last man of them; that the bishops' wives and women religious of the ACNA do not accompany them at their meetings to meet separately and hold them up in prayer, as the wives did back in I think the early 2010s; that we laity do not exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit to build up the Church; that the inaction or insufficient leadership from bishops goes back to the days of Bishop James Pike.
The church-as-business model from Protestant church-like fellowships has dominated evangelical groups. ‘Management’ becomes corporate communications and public relations. No one trusts this approach. ACNA needs to go back to older models of church planting that emphasizes preparation for baptism, baptism, and confirmation. Transparency not slickness is the key to the future of the ACNA. Some apostolic succession church’s need to sustain catholicity in light of the progressive destructive impulses in North American society.
My formation as a Christian was through evangelical youth missions while living overseas and in the Episcopal church for my early childhood and young adulthood. I consider myself an Anglican and pray twice daily from the BCP, but there are no Anglican churches in my town, and I no longer feel comfortable in the Episcopal church.
As a result, I find myself in a charismatic nondenominational church with strong Christian community and Biblical teaching.
It is distressing to see this happening in the ACNA, and I wonder if the future of Anglicanism just isn’t in N America or England. I wonder how many people find themselves in my position with love for orthodox Anglicanism but no way to express it— a free range Anglicanism.
Two comments: 1. Bp. Todd is a snake. He is not schooled in Anglican doctrine and still behaves as a free-wheeling vineyard church pastor. He has done incalculable damage to ACNA with his woke positions. He and his diocese have sadly become a funnel into TEC. ACNA needs to either expel or inhibit him. 2. ABp. Wood should make a public confession of his mistreatment of Fr. Calvin Robinson. He should apologize and in humility ask for forgiveness. I have no doubt that such would be forthcoming. But I sincerely doubt that he possesses the necessary humility to even consider such a course of action. These however are necessary prerequisites to the restoration of trust of the ACNA bishops by the laity.
I am watching the reporting in the Bishop Jones controversy. As you say, the first story was succeeded by others. IF (again, IF) Bp. Jones is using the WO controversy as a way to shield his own misconduct in office, shame on him. I think many people, myself included, were inclined to believe Bp. Jones's side of the story because of the mistrust in the ACNA, as you say, Mark. Now, I dunno.
The failure of the House of Bishops to act on its own study report from 2017, finding "insufficient scriptural warrant" for women in orders shows a lack of leadership not confined only to whoever is the Archbishop.
This has had personal implications for me. My husband and I recently moved to a small city in western NC. There are ACNA parishes reasonably close, but in a diocese which has female priests. The REC isn't up here at this time. We are (happily) worshipping in a Continuing parish.
On the issues involved with the Chaplains controversy, episode #933 of Anglicans Unscripted, at the bottom of Anglican.ink, with Kevin Kallsen and Jeff Walton, is well worth listening to. They appear to present even-handed reporting on the situation.
This is so right-on! I agree 100%!
Well put, Mark. I've long felt that many in ACNA wear their Anglicanism as a skin suit, even some of the "founding generation, discarding the tradition when inconvenient. An entrepreneurial Anglicanism seems at odds with itself. The elimination of non-geographical dioceses would help a great deal.
I agree with you until your last sentence. Non-geographical dioceses, like All Saints and Living Word, are necessary to be havens for the orthodox faithful.
I thought about the irony of a Reformed Episcopal Church presbyter lamenting my own "trans-geographical" presence in ACNA, and will step back some from "great deal." My concern with the purely non-geographical dioceses in connection with the OP is that each has a certain "brand" that leads, seemingly inexorably, into the marketing and entrepreneurship akin to C4SO (or the ACNA webpage, for that matter).
Yes, no question there are abuses in that area.
Thank you Mark.
I think what you're not explicitly saying, Mark, is that the problems go deeper than a year or four years or the inaction of the CoB in 2017, and so on. The problems are that the entire CoB has not approached each and every meeting prepared by deep prayer and fasting, down to the last man of them; that the bishops' wives and women religious of the ACNA do not accompany them at their meetings to meet separately and hold them up in prayer, as the wives did back in I think the early 2010s; that we laity do not exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit to build up the Church; that the inaction or insufficient leadership from bishops goes back to the days of Bishop James Pike.