ACNA Provincial Council Adopts Changes to Constitution and Canons

By Robin G. Jordan

One development in the Anglican Church in North America that has received very little attention are the changes in the ACNA governing documents that the Provincial Council adopted this past June. These changes will be submitted to the Provincial Assembly for ratification at its meeting in Ridgecrest, North Carolina, on June 7-9, 2012. The changes to the ACNA governing documents may be found here.

According to its website, the ACNA now has 45 bishops in its College of Bishops. Its Provincial Council, its supposed governing body, has 84 members. 21 of these 84 Council members are bishops. 21 of the Council members are other clergy. Only 42 of the Council members are laity. The ACNA's Archbishop's Cabinet, for which the ACNA governing documents make no provision, met in Tallahassee, Florida earlier this week, as did the Executive Committee and the board of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund. Reportedly 40 ACNA bishops were present for these meetings. This suggests that the Archbishop's Cabinet, the Executive Committee, and the ARDF board are largely made up of bishops. The Archbishop's Cabinet have set the agenda of the Provincial Assembly this coming June, which it will have submitted to the Executive Committee for its endorsement.

The ACNA operates like a political party. The party bosses from around the country gather to establish the agenda for the national convention. This includes any changes in the party governing documents to be presented to the national convention. The delegates to the national convention cannot make any alterations to these changes. They can only vote for or against them. All the real decisions are made by the party bosses. The purpose of the national convention is basically to rally the party faithful in support of what the party bosses have already decided. This is not responsible, synodical church government. It is something else.