THE NEW Anglican province in North America proposed by a coali\u00c2\u00adtion of conservative Anglican groups in the United States and Canada published its draft constitu\u00c2\u00adtion and canons in Wheaton, Illi\u00c2\u00adnois, last week (News, 28 November).<\/p>\n
The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), formed by the Common Cause Partnership, says it has 700 congregations and about 100,000 members. It \u201cwill seek to represent orthodox North Amer\u00c2\u00adicans in the councils of the Anglican Communion\u201d\u009d. It will have an Arch\u00c2\u00adbishop \u201d\u201d initially the Rt Revd Bob Duncan, former Bishop of Pitts\u00c2\u00adburgh, and the Moderator of Com\u00c2\u00admon Cause.<\/p>\n
At a press conference on Wednes\u00c2\u00adday of last week in Wheaton, Bishop Duncan told the gathering: \u201cThe Lord is displacing the Episco\u00c2\u00adpal Church.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
In the new provincial structure, congregations and clergy are related together \u201cin a diocese, cluster, or network, whether regional or affinity-based, united by a bishop\u201d\u009d. 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: \u201cA duly ordained male presbyter of at least 35 years of age.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n