One of the most quoted metaphors in the early days of the ACNA was that we were “flying the plane while building it.” Apt—and dangerous. Circumstances in those first months demanded urgency. We “ready–fired–aimed” the Province into existence, united in our goal: the restoration and renewal of biblical Anglicanism in North America.
Another favorite image came from the maritime world. In those tense days, TEC was likened to the Titanic, already struck by the iceberg of modern secular liberalism. The ship of the church was taking on water and would soon sink. Those who could launch lifeboats or lashed together the flotsam and jetsam into makeshift rafts. Out in open water, people could jump from lifeboat to lifeboat while waiting for rescue from our Global South friends—our ecclesial Carpathian.
It was all very compelling.
And then there was Shakespeare’s line from The Tempest: “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” Anglo-Catholics, charismatics, and evangelicals agreed to be strange bedfellows—if only for the sake of getting off the runway—to mix our metaphors.
Since “bedfellows” isn’t the most appealing picture—who really wants to sleep together anyway?—we borrowed a gentler idea from Psalm 46:4: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. One river, three streams. Many clergy and bishops even claimed to be “all three.”
But the reality was more fragile than the slogans. Compromises were stamped with a large “TBD.” Let’s get along for now so we can get going.
I fully agree with @DHRoseberry’s conclusion in today’s article. https://t.co/8EkxYBMktE pic.twitter.com/SQH9G3VAfQ
— Fr. Ron Offringa (@RonOffringa) August 12, 2025