As ECUSA divide grows, orthodox Anglicans unite
From Agape Press
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker June 30, 2004
The Episcopal Church USA’s current direction, including measures such as the church’s confirmation of openly homosexual Bishop V. Gene Robinson and its approval of so-called same-sex “blessing ceremonies,” has prompted six conservative Anglican groups to form a new coalition.
The alliance announced by the Anglican Communion Network (ACN) includes the Reformed Episcopal Church, the Anglican Mission in America, Forward in Faith North America, the Anglican Province in America, and the American Anglican Council.
ACN moderator and Pittsburgh bishop Robert Duncan says the alliance has committed to providing pastoral oversight for 200,000 Anglicans — a group larger than 15 of the 38 provinces in the Worldwide Anglican Communion. The coalition’s announcement comes as growing numbers of Anglicans continue to leave the Episcopal Church USA over its rejection of biblical teaching on homosexuality.
Duncan says the six groups have come together because they recognize that they are all “missionaries at heart.” He says, “What we’ve done is that we’ve drawn those groups together for two purposes — common cause for the gospel of Jesus Christ and common cause for North American orthodox Anglicanism.”
The ACN’s moderator says the conservative Anglican groups recognized their need to unite, despite longstanding differences. “There are so many people to be reached in this country; it’s time to stop tearing one another down,” Bishop Duncan says. “It’s time for us to speak of one another as brothers and sisters — not as, somehow, competitors.”
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