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About the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC)
Since the Anglican Network in Canada launched its ecclesial (Church) structure in November 2007 under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, it has received three bishops (the Rt Rev Donald Harvey, the Rt Rev Malcolm Harding and the Rt Rev Ronald Ferris) and 29 parishes with an average Sunday attendance of 3500. These parishes have elected to seek episcopal oversight from Bishop Harvey and ANiC because they are determined to stay biblically faithful and true to historic Anglican doctrine and teaching and within mainstream Anglicanism.
About the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone
Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate (or leader) of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, has responded to the needs of biblically faithful Canadian Anglicans for spiritual protection and care on an emergency and interim basis – pending a resolution to the crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Venables is highly esteemed as an orthodox leader in the global Anglican Communion. He leads the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone which is one of 38 Provinces that make up the global Anglican Communion. It encompasses much of South America and includes Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Argentina.
By accepting the Primatial oversight of Archbishop Venables, these Canadian Anglicans, who are in the mainstream of global Anglicanism, were able to re-establish full communion status with the global Church by being aligned with a Province which is in “full communion with the Church of England throughout the world” – unlike the Anglican Church of Canada, which is currently in a broken relationship with many of the largest Anglican Provinces.
About the Anglican Church in North America – the proposed new orthodox Anglican Province for both Canada and the United States
On June 22-25, 2009, bishops, clergy and lay delegates from across the United States and Canada will meet Bedford, Texas in the inaugural provincial assembly of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). When these delegates adopt the constitution and canons (Church bi-laws), ACNA will be launched. The Anglican Network in Canada is one of 28 dioceses in the ACNA.
ACNA unites an estimated 700 orthodox Anglican congregations, representing roughly 100,000 people, in an organization that members believe will be recognized eventually by many of the world’s Anglican leaders as the 39th Province in the global Anglican Communion.
The Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) was one of the many North American Anglican groups which joined together to form ACNA in response to a request by a number of Primates (global Anglican leaders). ACNA is working to heal many years of division within Anglicanism by uniting Anglicans committed to Scripture and traditional Anglican beliefs.
ACNA will hold its first Church-wide assembly in June 2009 in Bedford, Texas, where the constitution and canons will be ratified by all those who choose to be part of the Anglican Church in North America.
About Anglicanism in Canada and around the world
While orthodox Anglicans are in a minority in Canada, they are in the majority worldwide. ANiC parishes stand firmly in the mainstream of global and historic Anglican teaching and orthodoxy. Our beliefs are shared by at least two-thirds of the 77 million Anglicans worldwide.
Since 2003, the Primates of the Anglican Communion have repeatedly asked the Anglican Church of Canada to return to biblically faithful Anglican practice and teaching and to its own founding principles – summarized in the Solemn Declaration of 1893. They have also called upon the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) to provide adequate episcopal oversight to dissenting parishes while the Communion addresses the resulting division, but to no avail. This forced a number of parishes in Canada to seek protection and Communion connection through ANiC.
Many international leaders have acknowledged their support and fellowship with ANiC. This was evidenced by the inclusion of ANiC representatives at the milestone Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem in June 2008.
We stand for historic Christian and Anglican teaching and want to faithfully preserve what has been entrusted to us by our forebears so we can pass it on, intact and unaltered, to future generations. We are determined to stay true to the established and historic tenets of Anglican Christianity and stay in full communion with the global Anglican Church.
About the crisis in the Anglican Church of Canada
Because the Anglican Church of Canada has departed from the faith of, and is “walking apart” from, the global Anglican Communion, parishes have felt compelled to align with ANiC and the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in order to uphold the trusts and founding principles upon which the churches were established and built.
By choosing to join ANiC, parishes, parishioners and clergy receive the care and protection of a biblically faithful Anglican bishop, Bishop Donald Harvey, and the orthodox Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in order to realign with orthodox Communion-committed Anglicans worldwide.
Why Canadian parishes, clergy and parishioners are realigning under the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone
A number of Canadian Anglicans and parishes have chosen to join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in order:
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To be faithful to historic Christian and global Anglican teaching. |
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To have the freedom to “further the mission of Christ in the Anglican tradition” |
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To be recognized as in “full communion with the Church of England throughout the world” per the Solemn Declaration 1893 - the founding statement of the ACoC. |
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To keep the faith of our spiritual forebears who built the parishes on established Christian convictions and historic Anglican practices. |
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Because they value their Anglican heritage and want to stay true to global and historic Anglican teaching and orthodoxy |
This is fundamentally about staying true to historic Christian teaching that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that there is only one way to God through faith in Jesus Christ. The issue of the Bible’s teaching on sexual practice is merely the tip of the iceberg. The realignment of ANiC parishes with an orthodox Anglican Province was an act of conscience.
> Vancouver litigation
> See Background and global context
> See Communion-wide support for ANiC
> See Prayer preparation for parishes
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