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March 5, 2007
Three Reliable Anglican Churches & their fidelity to Affirmation of St. Louis
How frustrating it must be for Anglicans looking for a dependable church that is true to orthodoxy in respect to Scripture, tradition and the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Since reasoning seems to have gone berserk from what we have witnessed thus far). For thirty years, we have seen the mainstream church become warped by political correctness, making an unholy alliance with the trends of the society and leaving everything up in the air. The ordination/consecration of women, the shift in theology and worship from theo-centric to an anthropomorphic school of thought, the liberal stance of human life at all its stages (birth even through last moments of life on earth - abortion, pro-choice, euthanasia) and this giving rise to formation of alternative churches that are 'orthodoxy minus homosexuality' while being flamboyant with other liberal stances. And now to add to the confusion, the involvement of the Global South or the Southern cone, etc. Currently, the eyes are on the consequences of the Tanzania Summit.
Liberalism is "in" whether one likes it or not. Things are bound to be this way and their champions have already joined the bandwagon of political correctness, thereby promoting everything that goes against the Christian principle. Some even claim that they have found the Lost Tomb of Jesus and float a theological consideration that would make the sacrifice of the martyrs of Christianity all for nothing. This is not just a societal opinion alone. Included in this liberal quest are some clergy who question the divinity of Christ Himself?
Back to what we have been discussing. There have been several attempts to form federations or alliances of so called traditional Anglicanism, co-mingling of compromises like woman priesthood, prayer book, etc.
What is needed is to go back to the seventies, when God fearing Episcopalians came together at St. Louis and promulgated the basic tenets of Anglican orthodoxy - The Affirmation of Louis and gave birth to Continuing Church movements. Their raison d'etre was to continue in the faith once delivered unto the saints. This could have been a wonderful opportunity for Anglicanism in America, to come together and nurture orthodoxy and fight every heresy. Unfortunately the fragmentation of the continuing churches has resulted in the now continuing Anglican Alphabet soup. Today some have gone to the extent of compromising the very principles upon which the Continuing Church Movement was founded, in an effort to promote unity.
Are there any churches that still hold firm to these Anglican orthodox tenets of Christianity? You may be surprised, whether there are some who recognize it or not and that is part of the Anglican history in the United States. There are three church bodies that are very strong and have been serving the continuing churches in their own right, without ever compromising the principles of the affirmation of St. Louis over three decades, maintaining its integrity and not joining any groups that would jeopardize this integrity. There is the Anglican Catholic Church, The Anglican Province of Christ the King and The United Episcopal Church of North America. What do these three have in common? They all stem from the same line of succession and adhere to the Congress of St. Louis, including the Holy Catholic Church-Anglican Rite, a splinter group of the ACC. Their bishops were consecrated by the very same Most Rev. Albert Chambers.
In 1976, the General Convention of the ECUSA voted to approve the ordination of women to the priesthood and to the episcopate and also provisionally adopted a new and doctrinally controversial Book of Common Prayer, later called the 1979 version. During the following year, 1977, several thousand dissenting clergy and laypersons responded to those actions by meeting in St. Louis, Missouri under the auspices of the Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen and adopted a theological statement, the Affirmation of St. Louis. The Affirmation expressed a determination "to continue in the Catholic Faith, Apostolic Order, Orthodox Worship and Evangelical Witness of the traditional Anglican Church, doing all things necessary for the continuance of the same".
Out of this meeting came a new church with the provisional name of Anglican Church in North America (Episcopal). The first bishop of the church, the Rt. Rev. Charles D. D. Doren, was consecrated by a retired bishop of ECUSA, the Rt. Rev. Albert Chambers, along with a bishop of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church as co-consecrator. Although expected to be the third bishop participating in Doren's consecration, the Rt. Rev. Mark Pae of the Anglican Church of Korea sent a letter of consent instead. Consecrations of bishops normally involve three existing bishops as a guarantee of the candidate's worthiness, but there are many cases in church history of a single consecrator, and these are not considered invalid consecrations for lack of the customary three.
During the process of ratifying the new church's Constitution, disputes developed which split its several dioceses into two American churches and one separate Canadian church. These are the Anglican Catholic Church, the Diocese of Christ the King (later renamed the Anglican Province of Christ the King), and the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada. Several years after this, Bishop Doren and others founded the United Episcopal Church of North America in opposition to the alleged inhospitality of the other jurisdictions towards Low Churchmen. (Wikipedia)
The first Bishop to be consecrated was Bishop Dale Doren (Founder of UECNA). Then followed the consecration of Bishop Mote (Anglican Catholic Church), Bishop Morse (Anglican Province of Christ the King) and Bishop Waterson (who went over to Rome). One thing is certain with each of these three branches: they have been custodians of Anglican orthodoxy in terms of Scripture, tradition and liturgy. We hope that these three will be able to come together offering the Anglicans in USA a stable home for worship.
Currently talks are underway recognizing the mutual intercommunion between Anglican Catholic Church and United Episcopal Church of North America. Both United Episcopal Church of North America and the Holy Catholic Church (Anglican Rite) are already in communion. These churches have withstood the test of time in defense of orthodoxy through thick and thin, continuing in the faith once delivered unto the saints. If you do not have one of these jurisdictions (ACC, APCK, HCC, UECNA) in your area and would like to begin a presence, or if you are looking for a solid base of Anglicanism, call on them: there is still hope within the United States.
Posted by frleo at March 5, 2007 10:48 AM
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