THE NEW Anglican province in North America proposed by a coaliÂtion of conservative Anglican groups in the United States and Canada published its draft constituÂtion and canons in Wheaton, IlliÂnois, last week (News, 28 November).
The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), formed by the Common Cause Partnership, says it has 700 congregations and about 100,000 members. It “will seek to represent orthodox North AmerÂicans in the councils of the Anglican Communion”. It will have an ArchÂbishop ”” initially the Rt Revd Bob Duncan, former Bishop of PittsÂburgh, and the Moderator of ComÂmon Cause.
At a press conference on WednesÂday of last week in Wheaton, Bishop Duncan told the gathering: “The Lord is displacing the EpiscoÂpal Church.”
In the new provincial structure, congregations and clergy are related together “in a diocese, cluster, or network, whether regional or affinity-based, united by a bishop”. These are defined in the canons as consisting of a minimum of 12 congregations with an Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) of at least 50 each, and a collective ASA of at least 1000. They choose which bishop they want to be under: “A duly ordained male presbyter of at least 35 years of age.”