[The] Reverend Robert Duncan served as the Bishop of Pittsburgh for two decades before being elected the first Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America 10 years ago. He served until 2014 when he attempted to retire. Instead, he says he soon learned the church was looking to update its venerable Book of Common Prayer, an important and tangible link between the American church and its English forebear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere came to be the assessment that the 1662 (book) was the standard for both doctrine and worship within Anglicanism,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo the 2019 book is actually a fresh assessment of 1662; an attempt to be completely continuous on what it is that Anglicans have always believed and how they\u2019ve always prayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
But no sooner had Duncan accomplished that formidable job, than the church had a new assignment for him. The newly elevated St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral parish in Tallahassee, Florida found itself without a dean. The congregation\u2019s longtime leader, Father Eric Dudley, had resigned this past summer amidst allegations of alcohol abuse and an improper relationship. Robert Duncan was sent into the breach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the half-dozen most significant congregations in the entire Anglican Church in North America,\u201d he insisted. \u201cIn the midst of a difficult moment, the bishop of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese Neil Lebhar and the archbishop, my successor Foley Beach, both called me and said, \u2018You need to go to St. Peter\u2019s.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n