Good Shepherd Anglican Church

Who we are

The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) unites some 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes in 28

dioceses, into a single Church. It is a Province-in-formation in the global Anglican Communion,

initiated by the request of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCon) in June 2008 and formally

recognized by the GAFCon Primates – leaders of Anglican Churches representing 70 per cent of the

active Anglicans globally – on 16 April 2009 after a thorough examination of ACNA’s leadership,

organizational structure, proposed constitution and proposed canons.

What we stand for

Members of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) are in the mainstream, both globally and

historically, of Christianity – the biblically-faithful way of following Jesus and being part of the “One

Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”. As Anglicans, this orthodoxy is defined by and centered on our

church’s classic formularies – the Book of Common Prayer, including the Ordinal, and the Thirty-nine

Articles – which all point back to the authority of the Holy Bible and articulate foundational principles

of the Anglican tradition throughout the world. We wholeheartedly embrace the Jerusalem

Declaration, the founding declaration of the global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, and the

Theological Statement of the Common Cause Partnership – the precursor to the ACNA.

Leadership

Primate – Bishop Robert Duncan (Bishop of Pittsburgh) is to be installed as Archbishop of ACNA on 24

June 2009 during the ACNA inaugural provincial assembly. The liturgy will take place at Christ Church

Plano, Texas.

College of Bishops – The bishops of ACNA form the College of Bishops which will meet periodically to

lead in matters of faith and unity.

ACNA Provincial Council – This council is comprised of one bishop, one member of the clergy and two

lay persons from each recognized diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, the Provincial

Council is the governing body of the church with authority to set the church’s program and budget.

ACNA Assembly – Each diocese is represented by its bishop or bishops, at least two members of the

clergy and two lay persons. Additional clergy and lay persons are added for each full one thousand of

average Sunday attendance of the diocese beyond the first one thousand. The purpose of the

assembly is to strengthen the mission of the church and to ratify and amend the Constitution and

Canons of the ACNA.

Chief Operating Officer – Mr Brad B Root

Membership

Membership is currently estimated at 100,000 based on average Sunday attendance of 69,197 (as of

spring 2009) – including more than 800 clergy. ACNA is committed to members’ personal growth

through discipleship, as well as to church growth through evangelism and church planting. With active

church planting initiatives in the 28 dioceses, congregations are being added monthly to ACNA’s

current 700+ parishes. Currently, ACNA’s membership equals or exceeds that of 12 of the Anglican

Communion’s 38 provinces.

Governance

The proposed Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church in North America will be brought to the

inaugural Provincial Assembly, 22-25 June 2009 for ratification.

History

Globally, regionally and locally, Anglicanism is in the process of reformation following increasing

accommodation and incorporation of non-Biblical, non-Anglican practices and teaching within some

“western” provinces – especially the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of

Canada. In recent years, distressed Biblically-faithful individuals, parishes and dioceses have

disaffiliated from the established ecclesial structures and sought – and receive – episcopal oversight

from other Provinces in the Communion.

The Common Cause Partnership – A federation of some fifteen North American organizations – was

launched in 2005 and, by September 2007, the bishops that served the members of that partnership

gathered to begin shaping a unified and orthodox Anglican church in North America. The June 2008

Global Anglican Future conference (GAFCon) provided added momentum to this work and , following

significant formational work by the Common Cause Partners, these GAFCon Primates recognized the

resulting ecclesial structure – the Anglican Church in North America – as authentically Anglican and

have commended formal recognition of ACNA to the other Primates in the Anglican Communion.

Unique among the members of ACNA, the Reformed Episcopal Church was founded in 1873. It has

remained faithful to the unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ for its 135 year history and is now reuniting

with others who share the same commitment to the inerrant Word of God.

In bringing together so many faithful Anglicans and Anglican Churches, the ACNA has demonstrated its

commitment to unity within the bounds of truth.

See Our Genesis, for more information on the history of the Anglican Church in North America.

For more information see: http://www.acnaassembly.org/index2.php

A Unifying Network of Anglican Churches and Leaders