Provincial Affiliation with the Anglican Church in North America
Containing over 70 million members in 38 national and regional churches (provinces), the Anglican Communion is the world’s third largest Christian community. Retired Bishop Colin Buchanan defines a province in the Anglican context as a “cluster of dioceses, with an organic (usually constitutional) relationship which forms a province. The minimum is typically four dioceses to constitute a province, thereby conforming visibly to the requirement that, when there is a vacancy in a bishop’s post, there will still be three bishops available to consecrate a new bishop for the vacancy.”1 With rare exceptions all dioceses belong to a province. Prior to its separation in 2012, the Diocese of South Carolina was affiliated with the province called The Episcopal Church (TEC).
In 2014, the Global South Primates Steering Committee announced the establishment of a Primatial Oversight Council. This council provides pastoral and primatial oversight to dissenting individuals, parishes, and dioceses in order to provide a meaningful connection to the wider Anglican Communion. The steering committee extended an offer for provisional primatial oversight to our diocese, which we accepted. At the diocesan convention later that year a Task Force for Provincial Affiliation was established by vote of a resolution. Bishop Lawrence appointed one clergy and one lay person from each of the six deaneries to serve. The task force began meeting to “design and initiate a process whose goal will be to enable the Diocese and this Convention, along with their parishes, to discern among the options available for provincial affiliation, and in Convention, decide our means of affiliation.”2
For the next several months the task force considered all options, one of which was to remain unaffiliated. While provincial oversight from the Global South Steering Committee is a solid temporary arrangement, to remain disconnected from a province is not a desirable state for a diocese. Lack of affiliation has disadvantages in terms of ecclesiastical fellowship and limits both our ability to shape the larger communion and provide a normal process for episcopal succession. Ultimately, the task force determined that remaining unaffiliated was not a realistic option.
The task force looked at all of the Anglican bodies in North America. With one exception they are too small to be a meaningful partner for a diocese our size and most do not have a connection to the larger Anglican Communion. That exception is the province called the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
Founded in 2009 with the support of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON), which represents the majority of the world’s Anglicans, the ACNA has a theological foundation, a vision, and an Anglican structure that are in alignment with those of the Diocese of South Carolina. ACNA’s scale suits the size of our diocese in its composition of over 120,000 members, in nearly 1,000 churches, in 32 dioceses in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Why haven’t we already joined the ACNA?
From the outset it was clear that any affiliation decision would be a significant change with many implications. Because of our separation from TEC and the conflict that followed, the task force with the Bishop felt that making a decision of this magnitude hastily would not be prudent, akin to contemplating marriage shortly after a divorce. And while it was best to remain un-attached initially, because of the litigation, we are now much further along in that process. Finally, though we have much in common with the ACNA, and have known most of the leadership since its inception, we needed to spend time understanding more about them.
Following the 2015 diocesan convention, Bishop Lawrence and other diocesan leaders met at St. Christopher Camp & Conference Center with Archbishop Foley Beach and leaders of the ACNA. We learned about the organizational structure of the ACNA, their constitution and canons, and engaged in open conversations about issues such as women’s ordination and overlapping dioceses. We left the day-long meeting with a clearer understanding of who they are and how they operate and saw many good reasons for joining with the ACNA.
Benefits
By partnering with a larger institution with more people, we believe we will have greater leverage when it comes to programs like health care and other benefits. The ACNA has an office of clergy care, headed up by our 2016 convention guest preacher, Bishop Thad Barnum, whose whole purpose is to care for the well-being of clergy. And the Anglican Relief and Development Fund, an extremely effective organization whose mission is to empower Anglicans in the developing world, is the official relief and development arm of the ACNA.
Another benefit relates to connection. Our current and retired bishops will all be part of the ACNA’s College of Bishops, a group Bishop Lawrence calls “a godly gathering.” The ACNA’s annual conventions, called Synods (in contrast to TEC’s General Conventions), are effective and Gospel-focused.
We separated from TEC, in part, over differing theological understandings. Therefore, the most effective way to ensure that the ACNA is, and remains, the Anglican expression we desire is by working from the inside. Because GAFCON and the Global South recognize the ACNA, our best opportunity to have an influence in the wider Anglican Communion is also from within this province.
Having a formal affiliation with a province also gives us an identity beyond ourselves. Our Anglican ecclesiology teaches that we are part of a global fellowship with spiritual connectedness and mutual accountability. Thus, being in a province provides greater significance for our ordinations, confirmations and receptions. Additionally we will have increased opportunities for Bishop and clergy searches and the process of clergy placement and member transfer will ease.
The ACNA emphasizes a Kingdom perspective and effectively deals with race relations and emerging ethnic cultures. With a large number of younger clergy, it is focused on reaching future generations. And, the ACNA also has a track record in church planting. These emphases remind us that though we have by necessity had a more diocesan mindset of late, affiliation will challenge us to move forward into a greater Kingdom focus.
Our Gifts to Share
The Diocese of South Carolina has much to offer the ACNA. Because of the maturity and density of our diocese we have many deeply-rooted assets to share, such as:
• Vital youth ministry programs
• A promising Anglican Leadership Institute
• A successful Mere Anglicanism conference
• Unique grand parenting ministries
• Profound men’s and women’s ministries
• Life-changing renewal ministries
• St. Christopher Camp & Conference Center with its natural beauty and array of educational and spirit-filled ministries
Put another way, the Diocese of South Carolina has a very strong ecclesiology that complements the very strong missiology of the Anglican Church in North America.
How will we get there?
As mentioned previously, the task force was assigned with creating a process for the diocese to discern and ultimately vote on our Anglican affiliation. Therefore, for the next several months deanery meetings will be held where clergy and lay people will meet to discuss our affiliation. Following the deanery meetings, the Bishop and Standing Committee will consider calling a special convention in the fall. Because affiliation with any province requires changing our diocese’s constitution (which necessitates votes at two conventions), we would finalize our affiliation at our regular 2017 convention.
It is time to take our rightful place in the larger Anglican Communion. We have much to offer and so much to gain by being not only in fellowship with the ACNA, but also in a relationship of mutual accountability. We are Making Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age, and affiliation with the ACNA is a good choice for us, for them and for Anglicanism in North America.
1. Buchanan, Colin. Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism. Lanham MD: Scarecrow Press, 2006. Vide “Province”, p. 373.
2. Diocesan Convention Resolution R-2. “Discernment of Provincial Affiliation.” March 14, 2014.
