Source:  AAC International Update

The following article by Bishop Bill Atwood first appeared in the June 25, 2013 edition of the AAC’s International Update. Sign up for this free email here. 

Last week, the ACNA Provincial Council and the College of Bishops met at Nashotah House Seminary in Wisconsin. Someone (not an Anglican) asked, “What do you do at church meetings for a week?” While I can’t speak for every group’s practices, after years in ministry and visits to almost a hundred countries (including almost all of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion), I’ve learned a few things. Comparing, for example, the Provinces of the Communion that are growing dramatically with the ones that are shrinking into oblivion shows very different priorities. Here are some examples:

 In Growing Provinces

•      There is a commitment to Jesus as Lord

•      There is emphasis on Biblical authority

•      There is an emphasis on mission

•      Church Planting is emphasized

•      Missionaries are sent

•      Growth is measured and celebrated

•      There is an emphasis on mission

•      Eternity is emphasized

•      Stewardship generates income

•      Money is spent strategically for growth

•      Unity of faith is sought

 In Dying Provinces

•      There are commitments to many things

•      The Bible’s authority is limited

•      There is an emphasis on preservation

•      Churches are closed and merged

•      Few if any missionaries are sent

•      Decline is reinterpreted as “pruning”

•      There is an emphasis on maintenance

•      Temporal issues are emphasized

•      Loyalty or rule is relied on to generate income

•      Money is spent for maintenance

•      Uniform behavior is emphasized

At the close of the ACNA meeting someone asked me what the most encouraging thing was about our time together. I said that it was the awareness that as far as I am able to tell that every single leader at the Council is committed to Jesus Christ and to the authority of the Scriptures. In addition, all the Bishops are committed to proclaiming and defending the faith, and they all are open to the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. It is very gratifying that who we are and what we do is becoming more and more like the provinces that supported giving birth to the ACNA.

We also did conflict well. Archbishop Duncan spoke in his address that there are four stages of life together: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. As issues of life together were addressed, the conversation was sometimes passionate, but overwhelmingly it was godly. It is clear to me that the best days of the ACNA are ahead and not behind. More specifics can be found in the Communiqué from the College of Bishops here.