Anglican Province of America: New Anglican church opens in Summit Cove

After months of construction, a congregation has a home.

It all started on Sept. 29, 2011, in the Summit Cove home of Rev. John Longcamp. Eleven people gathered there for the first meeting of St. Dunstan's Anglican Church — a congregation that, after months of getting together in private homes, finally has a home of its own.

St. Dunstan's officially opened its doors last month in a new space, in the Soda Creek Neighborhood Center in Summit Cove. The small rental unit — tucked next to a cafe, a flower shop and a wine store — can seat about 25, and is a joy to members who can now practice their faith inside a new church, inside Summit County.

The Anglican religion is a Christian denomination with historical connections to the Church of England. Before, the closest Anglican churches were in Denver, Longcamp said. Read more.

Related:
Epistle June 2012

This article does not identify the denomination with which St. Dunstan’s Anglican Church is affiliated, a problem that I have frequently encountered in articles related to new and existing Anglican churches. The Rev. Longcamp’s own statement is unhelpful if not misleading. He said, or the Summit Daily News journalist reports him as saying, “The Anglican religion is a Christian denomination with historical connections to the Church of England. Before, the closest Anglican churches were in Denver.”

The term “Anglican” in North America is applied broadly to a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices. A “denomination” is “a religious organization whose congregations are united in their adherence to its beliefs and practices.”

In Canada and the United States are found a number of denominations that identify themselves as “Anglican.” They have disparate and often conflicting beliefs and practices. The Rev. Longcamp’s statement infers the existence of a single unitary Anglican Church in North America, which is far from the case.

Upon investigation I confirmed that most of the Anglican churches in Denver are affiliated with the Anglican Mission in the Americas. The Rev. Longcamp’s church is affiliated with the Anglican Province of America. The only APA congregation in Denver is a new church plant, the Denver Anglican Fellowship. A Google search failed to produce any results for the Denver Anglican Fellowship: It has no presence on Internet. The Anglican Catholic Church also has a congregation in Denver—St. Mary’s Anglican Church. The congregation does have a website.

The Anglican identity of the AMiA has come under fire in recent months due to its break with the Anglican Church of Rwanda. The APA, like the ACC, affirms the Anglo-Catholic Affirmation of St. Louis, which is closer to unreformed Roman Catholicism than historic Anglicanism on a number of key issues. Most of its clergy supplement the retrograde 1928 Book of Common Prayer with the American Missal, as do most of the clergy of the ACC.

I have posted a link to the APA Presiding Bishop’s June 2012 newsletter to congregations and clergy in the APA. Note Presiding Bishop Grundorf’s comments on relations between the APA and the Anglican Church of America and APA-ACA relations with the Anglican Church in North America.