Who is “in” the Network?
A few weeks ago, I led a Lenten retreat at a Virginia church. I stayed with a family very well versed in things both theologically and politically Anglican (no small feat in these confused days). In the course of our conversation, I began saying, “Bishop John Guernsey, one of our Network bishops....” My host interrupted me and said, “But he’s a Uganda bishop!” The answer is of course that Bishop Guernsey is both. But the exchange made me realize just how much confusion our current situation has generated.
That being the case, it seemed to me that some comment on who exactly is “in” the Network is required. By our latest figures, the Anglican Communion Network has 828 affiliated parishes.
To arrive at that number, we are counting the parishes of the nine affiliated Network dioceses of Albany, Central Florida, Dallas, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy, San Joaquin, Springfield, and South Carolina. (Rio Grande took a number of steps towards affiliation, but had not finalized its status when its bishop resigned to join the Roman Catholic Church.) We do not count the parishes in each of those dioceses who have asked to be removed from the Network’s database. For instance, that means that we don’t include the five parishes in the diocese of San Joaquin that have clearly thrown their lot in with The Episcopal Church.
To speak very frankly, we don’t expect all of these dioceses to maintain their Network affiliation indefinitely. However, we are not in the business of kicking people out. Affiliated parishes and dioceses can change their status as they wish, and we honor their decisions.
We are also counting the 105 parishes under the pastoral care of the Anglican provinces of Kenya, Uganda and the Southern Cone. These parishes, and the bishops that oversee them, look to the Network to provide their connection to Common Cause, as well as to other orthodox Anglicans, whatever their jurisdiction. With them, the Network’s system of convocations continues to operate. There are currently 136 parishes primarily connected to Network convocations. The vast majority of these remain within The Episcopal Church.
A smaller group of Network parishes have also decided to come under the jurisdictional authority of our Common Cause Partners. These include the Convocation of Anglicans in North America or the Reformed Episcopal Church. We are happy for these parishes to maintain their relationship with us.
Of course, at the end of the day, it doesn’t much matter how many parishes we count as affiliates. It does matter a great deal how we work together to build a biblical, missionary and united Anglicanism here in North America. That’s our mission, and, we hope, the mission of all those who have joined with us since we began more than four years ago.
Yours in Jesus,
The Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton
Chief Operating Officer
Anglican Communion Network