Moving Forward Together: The Next Step – Part 6

The ACNA Canons: Enactment, Amendment, and Repeal of Canons

By Robin G. Jordan

Due to the subject matter I have decided to deal with Title IV of the canons of the Anglican Church in North America in a separate article series. Title IV relates to ecclesiastical discipline. Back in 2010 I published a series of articles titled “Authority, Mission, and the Anglican Church in North America. The fifth article in this series examined ecclesiastical discipline in the Anglican Church in North America. It was an extremely lengthy article covering the strengths, weaknesses, and problems of the disciplinary canons of the Anglican Church in North America, and how these canons may affect clergy in the ACNA. Its length may have discouraged Anglicans Ablaze readers from reading it. I am dividing the article into a series of articles and publishing this article series under the title “Ecclesiastical Discipline in the Anglican Church in North America.” In addition to this article series, I am going to publish an article series on the application for recognition as an ACNA diocese and its accompanying guidelines and the ACNA model diocesan constitution and canons.

The last title of the ACNA canons is Title V relating to the enactment, amendment, and repeal of the canons.

Under the provisions of Canon V.1.1 the enactment of a new canon or the amendment or repeal of an existing canon requires approval by majority vote of the Provincial Council and subsequent ratification of the enactment, amendment or repeal by majority vote of the Provincial Assembly. It is not clear from the provisions of Canon V.1.1 what constitutes a “majority vote of the Provincial Council” or a “majority vote of the Provincial Assembly.” It is noteworthy that the ACNA canons do not establish what constitutes a quorum of the Provincial Council and the Provincial Assembly in order for these bodies to conduct business. This is unusual as what constitutes a quorum of a Provincial Synod or its equivalent is a common provision in the canons of provinces of the Anglican Communion.

Canon V.1.2 stipulates:

Whenever a canon which repeals another canon, or part thereof, shall itself be repealed, such previous canon or part thereof shall not thereby be revived or re-enacted without express provision to that effect.

Canon V.1.3 prescribes the form of amendment.

The following form shall be used in all cases of enactment or amendment of existing canons:

“Title ___, Canon ___, Section___ is hereby [enacted] [amended] to read as follows: [Here insert the new reading].”

It goes on to stipulate: “In the event of the insertion of a new canon, or of a new section or clause in a canon, the numbering of the canons or divisions of a canon which follow shall be changed accordingly.”

Canon V.1.4 prescribes the form of repeal:

The following form shall be used in all cases for the repeal of a canon:

“Title ___, Canon ___, Section___ [or Canon ___ in its entirety] is hereby repealed.”

It further stipulates: “In the event of the repeal of a canon, or of a section or clause in a canon, the numbering of the canons or divisions of a canon which follow shall be changed accordingly.”

Canon V.1.5 relates to effective dates:

Any amendment to these canons, or repeal thereof, shall not become effective until ninety (90) days following ratification by the Provincial Assembly. In the case of the adoption of the initial set of canons by the inaugural Assembly, such canons shall become effective immediately upon their ratification by majority vote of the Assembly.

With the exception of Title IV, which will be examined in a separate article series, this article completes my examination of the ACNA canons and how they may affect the proposed PEARUSA sub-jurisdiction.

No couple should rush into a marriage. They should first get to know each other, especially where their would-be marriage partner stands in matters of faith. How many Protestants have married Roman Catholics, initially agreeing to the raising of their children as Roman Catholics, a canonical requirement of the Roman Catholic Church if they are married in a Roman Catholic church, only to later regret this agreement? This is the kind of situation that faces conservative Reformed-evangelical congregations and clergy in PERUSA. If PEARUSA enters into what has been described as a “marriage” with the ACNA, all children of this “marriage,” new congregations that they plant and new clergy they present for ordination must conform to the requirements of the ACNA constitution and canons. They must subscribe without reservation to the doctrine of the ACNA, which, as the articles in this series have shown, is Anglo-Catholic. The conservative Reformed-evangelical congregations and clergy themselves will not be able to retain their convictions. They too must unreservedly subscribe to this doctrine.

Doctrine is just one of a number of problem areas in the Anglican Church in North America. As my upcoming article series “Ecclesiastical Discipline in the Anglican Church in North America” will show, the ACNA disciplinary canons is a particularly serious problem area in the ACNA.