Through a Glass Darkly: The Anglican Church in North America in 2014 and Beyond

By Robin G. Jordan

I was looking at the rosters of the members of the Archbishop’s Cabinet and the various committees and taskforces, which are making decisions affecting the life and ministry of the Anglican Church in North America. The rosters like a number of things on the ACNA website need updating. They were posted in 2012 and do not reflect any changes made in the past year. 

What is noteworthy about the rosters is the number of people who serve on more than one committee or taskforce and the number of people who are members of the Archbishop’s Cabinet and/or one or more committees or taskforces and who were involved in the Common Cause Partnership. These folks might be described as the ACNA’s “old boys” or “old guard.”

What is notably absent from these rosters are the names of the ACNA’s newer bishops. The one exception is the bishop who replaced Don Harvey as the lead bishop of the Anglican Network in Canada.

I am not anticipating any significant change in the direction of the Anglican Church in North America until the “old boys” or “old guard” has died or has otherwise left the stage. Even then I suspect that they will continue to exercise an influence upon the ACNA.

The question is whether the younger bishops will be able to extricate the Anglican Church in North America from the quagmire into which these older leaders are leading the ACNA. The problems they leave behind them are going to be massive. Will the younger bishops be willing, much less able, to shake off the influence of Anglo-Catholicism and “three streams” theology and give the Bible and the Anglican formularies a central and defining place in the life and ministry of the ACNA? To reform the organizational structure of the ACNA and give the laity a greater role in decision-making at all levels? To make other much needed changes? 

When the younger bishops take over the helm of the ACNA from the older leaders, they themselves are likely to be older. They are also less likely to have as much energy as they have now and more likely to be inclined to keep things as they are—to maintain the status quo.

The older leaders may be counting on such a development. If that is the case, they can be expected to hang onto the reins of power as long as they can. They can also be expected to drag the Anglican Church in North America into the grave with them. This is what is happening in the Continuing Anglican Churches.

I do not expect to see any real change in the Anglican Church in North America unless the ACNA experiences a major shakeup in its leadership.  Or a dynamic new Anglican province is launched in North America, one that fully accepts the authority of the Bible and the Anglican formularies and conforms to their teaching and which outstrips the ACNA in engaging and reaching lost people and enfolding them into new churches. 

The Anglican Church in North America would greatly benefit from this form of competition. It would force the ACNA leadership to re-evaluate and rethink what they are doing. It would show whether the ACNA leadership is capable of taking these kinds of steps when they are needed. 

Photo: professionalrestorers.org