Questions about joining Anglican Communion

Discussion in 'The Commons' started by John Hollis, Aug 3, 2020.

  1. John Hollis

    John Hollis New Member

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    Hi all,

    New poster here. A little background about me -

    * Baptized Episcopal, but raised Presbyterian, married in a Presbyterian church. Family basically shopped for churches when I was growing up and landed on PC. I don't have any particular attachment to PC other than the specific church I grew up in.
    * Attended Lutheran Church during/after college. Learned to enjoy liturgy and desire communion at every service (which unfortunately Presbyterian churches typically don't provide)
    * Generally conservative and not interested in hearing "woke" sermons every week. ELCA not quite the right fit in that respect
    * Would try Catholicism but for several reasons that's a no-go
    * Although I was baptized Episcopal, I know that's not the church I'd like to land at for the same reasons above

    So curious about Anglican Communion. Saw a survey by Pew Research that AC leans conservative. Not looking for political conservative messaging either, just want to stay away from politics entirely when I'm at church and focus on word & sacrament. Will I find this at most Anglican Communion churches? Thank you!
     
  2. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    In the Continum and ACNA you will for the most part.
     
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  3. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    I'll try to keep this simple. There are multiple Anglican communions. The oldest and that with a titular claim to the name is sometimes called the 'Canterbury Communion'. This is the larger body to which provinces such as the Episcopal Church, Church of England, Church of Korea, Church of Uganda, Church of SouthEast India, etc. belong. Membership is determined by the Anglican Consultative Council. Most of its Western Anglo-affiliates have become very progressive and this is filtering into the Spanish speaking churches as well.

    There is then something called the 'Anglican Realignment'. This is primarily constituted by two networks: GAFCON and the Global South. Some provinces have dual membership. Churches such as the Church of Nigeria are members of GAFCON and the Canterbury Communion. Other churches do not, such as the newest church in Brazil and the ACNA, which are not members of the Canterbury Communion but are members of one or both of the realignment networks.

    Then there is the Anglican Continuum. It is composed of several communions; four or so legitimate and sizeable one's and several that are hard to take seriously, such as a group called ACIC which would be lucky to muster 600 members across all of its international projects. These communions can vary in size from 200-2 million. Most of the strength of these groups is international. I am a priest of one of them and can report that over 80% of our constituents do not reside in the Western hemisphere. In the US, there are 400 or so Continuing churches. The ethos of this movement is to continue Anglicanism as it was in the 1960s or possibly before.
     
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  4. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    What is some good sources on the Continum
     
  5. John Hollis

    John Hollis New Member

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    Thanks for the advice all. Shane - especially appreciate the breakdown of the entire denomination.

    bwallac - if the ACNA does veer into "wokeism" what does that look like?
     
  6. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    What do you want to learn about? The history, practice, current state of affairs. . . ?
     
  7. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    All of the above
     
  8. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    YOu will notice critical race theory and other such nonsense going mainstream. Probably will ok gay marriage and such
     
  9. John Hollis

    John Hollis New Member

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    bwallac - thank you again! There's actually a ACNA church not far from me. Planning to check it out. Will keep you all posted on the wokeness factor....hopefully its minimal

    One last question - does the ACNA mass typically include a reading from the OT? I ask because I am most decidedly not a Marcionite
     
  10. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    An ACNA church should not be woke. You will have a NT, Gospel, Psalms, and OT reading ever service. What diocese is the church in?
     
  11. John Hollis

    John Hollis New Member

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    Good to hear on OT. Church is in Rocky Mountain Diocese
     
  12. Rexlion

    Rexlion Well-Known Member

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    After my first Anglican service, the rector shook my hand and invited me to sit down and talk with him sometime. I made an appointment for one day that week, and it was greatly helpful; he answered my many questions and I got a feel for his stance on the key areas that mattered to me. You might find such a meeting beneficial as well.
     
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  13. John Hollis

    John Hollis New Member

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    Appreciate the suggestion! Will definitely do this, sounds like a good approach
     
  14. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    This blog has devolved into a place for Fr. Robert Hart (ACC) to post his sermons but some of the older content is really good: https://anglicancontinuum.blogspot.com/
    There are links to dozens of other Anglican blogs and websites.

    This is my own jurisdiction's page: https://www.orthodoxanglican.us/resources/
    I particularly chose that sub-section because Abp. Gordon has linked to a number of excellent resources.

    Fr. Mirabile of the ACA attempted to compile a church locator across jurisdictions. The only problem is he only included churches which have joined the 'G4' alliance: https://www.anglicanchurchinamerica.org/locations

    The definitive book on the movement is Divided We Stand: A History of the Continuing Anglican Movement by Douglas Bess. Don't read The Dayspring From on High by Bp. Paul Hewitt. That book is over 700 pages and it should have been about 200. It badly needed an editor. Some have claimed it is a history of the Continuing movement and then I know they have never read it. I plowed through all 700+ pages and it is a personal memoir, not a comprehensive history.