What is the Anglican Church in North America, and Where Does it Fit in the Anglican Communion?

A formal call for the establishment of another Anglican body in North America (as an alternative to The Episcopal Church) rose out of the “Global Anglican Future Conference” (GAFCon) in Jerusalem in June 2008. The representatives at this conference represented about 35 million Anglicans worldwide; it was assembled in response to years’ worth of mounting concerns about the “crisis gripping the Anglican Communion over scriptural authority.” And clearly a catalyst for this meeting was the 2003 consecration of a partnered homosexual bishop for New Hampshire and the ongoing perceived violations of the 2004 Windsor Report. GAFCon called for changes and commitments that would allow Anglicans to “give clear and certain witness to Jesus Christ.”  Jerusalem Declaration

In the succeeding 12 months existing U.S. and Canadian “missionary” dioceses (established by various African Provinces of the Anglican Church), the Reformed Episcopal Church (established in 1873) and other individuals and groups worked to develop an initial ecclesial structure and to draft a constitution and canons for The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). ACNA had its Inaugural Assembly in June 2009, at which time they established their constitution and canons and consecrated their Archbishop, Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh. At that time ACNA united about 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes and 28 dioceses into a single Church. It is a Province-in-Formation as it still needs to be formally recognized as a Province of the Anglican Communion, although a majority of the other Provinces have already individually formally recognized it.

On February 11, 2010 the Synod of the Church of England passed a resolution that recognizes and affirms the desire of those who have formed the ACNA to remain within the Anglican family. Press Release

Since last June, about 100 new parishes have been added to the ACNA roster (some are newly planted churches, some have moved from The Episcopal Church).  http://www.anglicanchurch.net/

This week ACNA held an “Anglican1000” church planting conference. The goal is to plant 1000 new churches in the next five years, something Archbishop Duncan called for at his consecration.  http://www.anglican1000.org/

This could be one of those new churches!