Australian Diocese's Recognition of the ACNA Premature

By Robin G. Jordan

The Diocese of North West Australia’s synod was premature in recognizing the Anglican Church of North America as a member church of the Anglican Communion, in full communion with that diocese. Does the ACNA really proclaim the “orthodox faith” in word and deed, as maintained by the synod ?

If your standard of orthodoxy is “the doctrine and principles of the Church of England embodied in the Book of Common Prayer together with the Form and Manner of Making Ordaining and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests and Deacons and in the Articles of Religion sometimes called the Thirty-nine Articles” as is the standard of orthodoxy of the Anglican Church of Australia, the answer is “no.”

In its constitution the Anglican Church in North America relegates its affirmation of the Jerusalem Declaration to the preamble where it purely incidental to the narrative of the formation of the denomination and has no binding force upon the consciences of congregation and clergy in the ACNA. The Jerusalem Declaration identifies the acceptance of the authority of these three formularies as “tenets of orthodoxy” underpinning Anglican identity.

In its fundamental declarations in its constitution the Anglican Church in North America equivocates in its acceptance of the authority of the Thirty-Nine Articles as well as recognizes other standards of doctrine beside the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal, in effect diluting their authority as doctrinal standards.

In its subsequent doctrinal statements—its canons, Texts of Common Prayer, and To Be A Christian: An Anglican Catechism, the Anglican Church in North America has shown that it does not accept these formularies as authoritative in matters of faith and practice. They either misrepresent what these formularies teach or disregard their teaching altogether.

Only a small number of congregations and clergy in the Anglican Church in North America fully accept the authority of the Anglican formularies and are faithful to the Protestant Reformed faith. They maintain a precarious existence in the Anglican Church in North America as what they teach conflicts with the official doctrine of that denomination.

While permitting the teaching of Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic beliefs, the Anglican Church in North America does not take such a permissive attitude toward Protestant Reformed beliefs. Under the provisions of its canons clergy who teach the latter beliefs can be inhibited and deposed and congregations subscribing to the same beliefs can be dissolved.

Presumably the standard of orthodoxy of the Diocese of North West Australia is that of the Anglican Church of Australia since it is a diocese of that province. Its recognition of the Anglican Church in North America is incongruous with that standard. Either the Diocese of North West Australia does not uphold the standard of orthodoxy of the province of which it is a diocese or it has not thoroughly investigated the official doctrine of the Anglican Church in North America. If the latter is the case, its recognition of the Anglican Church in North America as a member church of the Anglican Communion is nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to Archbishop Justin Welby’s recent statements about the ACNA.

Anglican provinces and dioceses need to withhold full recognition of the Anglican Church in North America as a member church of the Anglican Church in North America until the ACNA has fully accepted the authority of the Anglican formularies, has adopted and implemented a policy of comprehension that makes room in the denomination for all recognized conservative schools of Anglican thought, and has made other needed changes. Extending this recognition to the Anglican Church in North America when the ACNA has made no movement toward making such changes is both counterproductive and unhelpful.