ACNA now plans 2029 music resources before hymnal

While its September announcement promised to have a hymnal ready by 2029, the new Hymnal Commission this week announced it will have "music resources" in 2029 and a hymnal after that.

HYMNAL COMMISSION CREATES MUSIC RESOURCE TASK FORCE

Nov 20, 2023

The twelve-member Hymnal Commission, which was chartered at the June 2023 Meeting of the College of Bishops, met at St. Mark’s Church in Arlington, Texas, from November 13-15. Our task was to develop a process that would produce a Hymnal for the Anglican Church in North America. We considered the rich musical gifts of our Church, as well as the many diverse contexts and needs of the congregations our work must serve. We desired to produce a Hymnal that would bless and unify our young Province.

Deliberations on how to proceed were thoughtful, prayerful, and eventually inspired.

What emerged was a path forward that surprised us all.

The purpose of a Hymnal is to support congregational worship through song. But a Hymnal alone is not enough. While our Province has several churches of varying sizes with well-established music programs and resources, it also has many small congregations and pioneering missions. Our task is to serve everyone, from the established church with organ and choir to the start-up church plant meeting in a living room. Many church leaders have limited time and resources. They need something that can help them prepare for weekly worship, finding music that is not only appropriate for that particular week’s biblical readings and themes, but also theologically sound, spiritually powerful, and musically excellent.

This realization led to a true paradigm shift.

Rather than beginning with the final product (a finished Hymnal), we discerned a need for a more immediately accessible resource, available in both electronic and print form, following the three-year lectionary of the Church Year (Book of Common Prayer, 2019) and providing a wide range of suitable hymns and songs for each Sunday’s or occasion’s Lectionary readings.

These resources will allow congregations to explore our rich Anglican musical heritage and to discover the best of new and ecumenical music. As churches use the books and online repository, they can provide feedback, as well as suggestions for additional songs. Songwriters and composers can offer their work for consideration. Brothers and sisters who have come to the ACNA from other parts of the Anglican world can share their own musical traditions. And we can revise the collection based on the way the Church actually uses it.

The result of our meeting was to propose re-forming the commission as a Music Resources Task Force, which can undertake this project, with a goal of presenting a final version for approval at the quinquennial Provincial Assembly in 2029.

These materials, in turn, can serve as the foundation for an official Provincial Hymnal.

We propose this approach to creating a Hymnal for two reasons. First, it acknowledges the current realities and needs of our Province, and it allows the whole Province to participate in the process as fully as possible. Second, this approach is deeply Anglican, rooted in our encounter with Holy Scripture in the liturgy. It moves from common prayer to shared song.

As we begin our work, we entreat your prayers. We also invite your suggestions and contributions! If possible, please indicate which specific Sunday lectionary reading(s) or themes the song relates to. Suggestions and feedback can be sent to musicresourcestaskforce@anglicanchurch.net.

To God be the glory!

• The Most Rev. Robert Duncan, D.D., Archbishop Emeritus, Meeting Chair
• The Rt. Rev. Andrew Williams, Bishop in New England, Music Resources Task Force, Chair
• The Rt. Rev. Chip Edgar, Bishop of South Carolina, Liturgy Task Force, Chair
• The Rev. Jonathan Kanary, Ph.D,, Christ Church and Brazos Fellows, Waco, TX, Music Resources Task Force, Vice-Chair
• The Ven. Darrell Critch, M.Mus., D.Min., Archdeacon of Eastern Canada
• The Rev, Rick Milliorn, Principal Musician, St. Clement’s, El Paso, TX
• Mr. Simon Dixon, M.A., Director of Music and Worship, The Falls Church Anglican, Falls Church, VA
• Mrs. Dixie Hall, M.Mus., Principal Musician, St. David’s Church, Post Falls, ID
• Dr. Terry Fullerton, Principal Musician (Retired), St. John’s Vancouver, Vancouver, BC
• Mrs. Kathy Fox Powell, Choirmaster, St. Mark’s Church, Arlington, TX
• Mr. Mark Snow, Canon for Cathedral Music, Christ Church Pro-Cathedral, Plano, TX
• Mr. Chris Walchesky, Director of Music and Choirmaster, St. Philip’s Church, Charleston, SC

ACNA plans new hymnal in 2030

The Episcopal Church hymnals of 1940 and 1982 have been the main hymnals for most U.S. Anglican churches outside TEC. Longtime readers know that I've long been interested in what sort of hymnal these latter Anglicans will come up with. Now there are two (and someday perhaps three):

1. The Book of Common Praise 2017 was the first such hymnal, from the Reformed Episcopal Church (with its unique history and structure within the ACNA). The publisher released a version with a different title (Magnify the Lord) but later withdrew it to make room 
2. This spring, I learned of a second hymnal, Sing Unto the Lord, being organized by the music director of Christ Church Anglican, an ACNA parish in Savannah Georgia. The the hymnal is in production and will be in print in October. I plan to review this later this fall for North American Anglican.
3. As #2 began to send out promotional materials, the ACNA's on-again, off-again efforts to make an official hymnal warmed up with a decision out of the June 2023 House of Bishops meeting. This week the ACNA sent an email blast announcing their new hymnal (below) — also on their website.

I’ll follow up on this more down the road, but what is interesting to me about the latter email are two things. First, the new hymnal is not until 2030. Second, the tone of the email seems to be "don’t buy that bad hymnal while you’re waiting seven years for our new hymnal.”

Needless to say, I'll have more to say on all of these topics later on.

A CCM superstar and two archbishops go into a videoconference

Today’s email blast includes an invitation from the ACNA for discounted registration to Keith and Kirsten Getty’s annual conference on contemporary worship music. I was surprised to learn that the Gettys (denominational affiliation unknown) have become the official CCM (and perhaps hymn) suppliers to the ACNA.

I mean no respect to the Gettys’ obvious songwriting, performing and business abilities. The planned tribute to Anglican theologian and BCP/ESV editor James Innell Packer (1926-2020) is also well-deserved.

However, I’m not just used to a performer being endorsed by a denomination unless there’s a clear denominational affinity/membership involved. If the conference weren’t $150 (with the discount), I might just go to find out what’s a happenin’.

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Join Fellow Anglicans at the Getty Music Worship Conference: Sing! Global 2020, Aug. 30- Sept 2

Each year, Keith and Kristyn Getty – friends of the Province and known for their modern hymns such as “In Christ Alone,” “The Power of the Cross,” and “Speak O Lord” - host the Sing! Worship Conference. This year’s conference will feature a particular focus on the beauty of structured prayer and the Anglican liturgy.  Due to the current pandemic, the conference has been moved to an online format and will take place August 30 – September 2. Registrants will have access to all content for 90 days after the conference.

The Most Rev. Robert Duncan, Archbishop Emeritus of the Anglican Church in North America, will lead a special seminar entitled “Scripture Arranged for Worship: Singing the Book of Common Prayer.” In tribute to his life and ministry, a never-before-seen legacy interview with Dr. J.I. Packer (recorded 2018) covering topics from the importance of personal holiness to modern liturgy will be shown. And, don’t miss the conversation with Keith Getty, Archbishop Foley Beach, and Archbishop Robert Duncan on the formative power of singing the Word.

Keith and Kristyn Getty are doing great work to help deepen worship and train church leaders around the world.  Their organization has worked closely with the Anglican Church in North America and Archbishop Beach in the past to bring quality training on liturgy, music, and artistry to the global family of God’s people.

Because of the special relationship between the Gettys and the Province, members of the Anglican Church in North America can receive a 30% discount on registration for the conference by following this link - http://bit.ly/singacna

To learn more about the Sing! Global online conference, including a list of speakers and schedule, please visit www.gettymusicworshipconference.com. Don't miss this opportunity to grow deeper in your faith and learn from pastors, musicians, and artists from around the world!

What can you expect at Sing! Global 2020? Sermons from trusted expositors on the wonder and power of the Word of God. Practical talks and interviews on how Scripture informs every aspect of corporate and family worship and fuels evangelism and missions. Over 60 breakout sessions on preaching, prayer, congregational singing, liturgy, hymn writing, family devotions, and the doctrine of the Word. Songs led by musicians committed to doctrinal depth and Christ-exalting hymnody. This event will also showcase the unity of the church as we are led in sung worship from six continents! Registration includes access to all content for 90 days so you can catch up and go deeper.

A Conversation with Keith Getty, Archbishop Robert Duncan & Archbishop Foley Beach

The latest ACNA hymnal

I have been writing about the REC’s Book of Common Praise 2017 since I bought my first copy in fall 2017. This is the first American Anglican hymnal of the 21st century, which is an updated Hymnal 1940 with updates from Hymnal 1982, the 2006 Lutheran Service Book and a range of Methodist, Southern and CCM pieces.

There are two important updates.

Two Editions: Book of Common Praise and Magnify the Lord

The publisher of BCP 2017 has re-released the hymnal with a new title and new ISBN as Magnify the Lord. After the first three pages, the remaining 907 pages of each hymnal is identical. Here are the covers and ISBN numbers:

Book of Common Praise 2017 ISBN:  978-0-9993910-1-3

Magnify the Lord (2019) ISBN: 978-1-732448-8-4

The are available from the same publisher (Anglican Liturgy Press) at the same price ($25). According to the publisher, the assumption is that REC parishes will buy Book of Common Praise but all other parishes will prefer (the more neutrally named) Magnify the Lord.

This hymnal is the first new ACNA hymnal  — from the ACNA’s publisher — but noticeably did not have any editorial input from anyone outside the REC dioceses within the ACNA. (By my calculation, the REC accounts for about 7% of the ACNA’s ASA. Apparently some of the remaining ACNA got annoyed at this non-ACNA sponsored hymnal from ACNA dioceses. So a Publisher’s Note in all editions of the hymnal now say

This is not the hymnal of the Anglican Church in North America. However, it has been commended for use in the Anglican Church in North America along with such other hymnals as are in use in the Province.

First Hymnal Review of MTL

Last month, The Hymn published my 500-word review of the new hymnal: as far as I (and the publisher) know, this is the first independent review of this new hymnal. Although I submitted my review last May, when I saw my first copy of MTL, I rushed to update the review to talk about the new title not the old.

For copyright reasons, I won’t post the entire review (but am glad to email it to anyone who requests it).

What if a church wanted an updated selection of hymns but with traditional (pre-1980s) language? That is the goal of Magnify the Lord (originallyBook of Common Praise 2017) edited by Chris Hoyt, music director of the Reformed Episcopal Church cathedral in Dallas.

Although nominally an update to the REC’s hymnal [Book of Common Praise] from 1885, 1907 and 1943, the first goal of the hymnal was “to preserve the best of The Hymnal (1940).” That hymnal is still in widespread use by REC and other Anglican churches that rejected Hymnal 1982 with its more inclusive language. Thus the MTL hymns retain the older wording, with H40 providing 318 of the 639 hymn-tune pairings in MTL. 

The other half will be new to H40 readers.

I then noted the additions from Hymnal 1982, Southern Harmony, The Sacred Harp, Charles Wesley and CCM stars Stuart Townend/Keith Getty.

My conclusion

Overall, Magnify the Lord offers a 21st century interpretation of English, American and contemporary hymns for tradition-minded parishes.

According to the publisher, the first adoption of the BCP 2017 outside of the REC was made in 2018 Christ Church, Waco, a Diocese of Ft. Worth parish of the ACNA. The rector decided this hymnal was the best fit to their local style, which combines a high church (modern language) liturgy with more of a blended repertoire of music — including a lot of Wesley, Baptist hymns and Townend/Getty.

References

• Chris Hoyt, ed., The Book of Common Praise 2017, Newport Beach, Calif.: Anglican House Media Ministries, 2017.
• Chris Hoyt, ed., Magnify the Lord, Newport Beach, Calif.: Anglican Liturgy Press, 2019.
• J. W. West, “Magnify the Lord,” book review, The Hymn,  71, 1 (Winter 2020): 41.

Evangelical worship at ACNA Synod

Over the weekend, I spoke to several people who attended the ACNA’s Provincial Synod. (It would be a national synod but the ACNA includes both the US and Canada). From a musical standpoint, the general opinion was that first service was the most blended, the last was almost as blended, and the middle two services were all praise band all the time.

The service took place at Christ Church Cathedral Plano (née Christ Church Plano), the largest ACNA parish, which provided the sanctuary, instruments and musicians.

Liturgy

A major focus of the service (and conference) was celebrating the ACNA’s new 2019 Book of Common Prayer, intended to replace the 1979 Book of Common Prayer that ACNA clergy used originally in The Episcopal Church and in the first years of the ACNA. The first printing of the prayer book was provided to all who registered for the conference.

According to the 24-page worship booklet (which I scanned), the service began with the liturgy task force (led by retired Abp. Bob Duncan) presenting the new prayer book.

The service then continued with the “Renewed Ancient Text,” the ACNA’s modified version of the 1979 Rite II service. This is the most commonly used Eucharist in the ACNA, which should not be a surprise given that most clergy (and parishes) were using it when they left the ACNA.

Music

From the worship booklet, I wrote down the set list of all the music:

• Call to Worship [i.e. prelude]: “Jesus Shall Reign” on piano, setting by Ted Cornell
• Processional: “Come, Christians, Join to Sing,” commissioned for the occasion by CCP: words by CH Bateman (1813-1889), setting by John Wasson [b. 1956]
• Songs of Praise: 
• “Living Hope,” words and music by Phil Wickham and Brian Johnson, © 2017
• “Who You Say I Am,” © 2017 Hillsong Music
• Offertory Anthem: “The Church’s One Foundation,” words by S.J. Stone, tune by S.S. Wesley, setting by Dan Forrest [b. 1978], with verses 1,4 sung by the choir & congregation
• Sanctus [no Benedictus]: © 2005 by Christ Church Plano
• Communion Music:
• Agnus Dei (Requiem): words public domain, music by Mark Hayes [b. 1953]
• “Just as I Am,” [opening verse by Charlotte Elliott, 1789-1871], ©2009, words and music by William Bradbury, Charlotte Elliott, Travis Cottrell, Sue C. Smith and David Moffitt
• “Take My Life and Let it Be” with chorus/bridge by Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio [c. 2003]
• Closing Hymn: “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee,” words by Henry van Dyke (1852-1933), music Ode to Joy by Beethoven, harmonized by Johnnie Carl (1947-2004)
• Postlude: “Toccata” from Symphonie No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42 by Charles-Marie Widor

So overall the music combined modern adaptations of traditional hymns with 21st century praise music, concluding with a single organ postlude.

Is the Psalter the most lasting impact of Book of Common Prayer 2019?

As expected, earlier this month the ACNA College of Bishops approved the final version of its 2019 liturgy. The printed copies of what used to be called “Texts for Common Prayer” will be distributed in June at the ACNA’s biennial synod, this year at Christ Church Plano.

Its new name will be Book of Common Prayer 2019, marking 30 years since ECUSA’s Book of Common Prayer 1979 that so influenced the language and form of the ACNA’s efforts.

The New Prayer Book

As noted earlier, the new liturgy

• Keeps almost all the language of the 1979 Rite II liturgies for Holy Communion, Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer services, while dropping Rite I.
• For Sunday, uses a lightly modified version of the three-year lectionary instituted after Vatican II and used in the 1979 prayer book, rather than the historic 1-year lectionary of 1549-1928
• For Daily Office, reinstitutes a 1-year lectionary that more closely follows that of 1549-1892 than the American 1928
• Is most dramatically changed from 1979 in its ordinal

The committee had more ambitious goals, but kept the Rite II language at the request of many ACNA pastors who had worshipped (and led worship) with Rite II before and since leaving TEC. 

It also shared many of the assumptions of the 1979, including wide latitude for selecting canticles in Daily Office, and two Holy Communion liturgies. However, unlike the Daily Office variants, each HC has only one form of prayers of the people — rather than multiple POP variants in 1979 BCP or the 2000 Common Worship from the Church of England. It’s not clear whether the (prolific liturgist) late Peter Toon would call this a Book of Common Prayer or term it an “Alternative Service Book”. The English do not call their updated liturgy a BCP, but it’s about practical legislative reasons (rather than theological ones) after to the fiasco of its failed 1928 BCP revision. 

I personally lament the decision of the 2019 liturgy to follow the 1979 in two aspects of Morning and Evening Prayer: omitting “miserable offenders” from the General Confession, and dropping the 1662 “Conditions of Men” prayer that structures petitions for those in need using a theologically humble approach. Both seemed important aspects of the penitence of the 1928 and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

The Psalter

While the ACNA liturgy might influence other GAFCON provinces, it’s not clear how much influence it will have on other Anglicans left (i.e. TEC) and right (i.e. Continuing Anglicans) in the U.S., let alone other denominations.

However, of broader relevance is the updated Coverdale Psalter. It didn’t get a lot of visibility (or meaningful feedback) because it wasn’t complete until the very end. However, from my limited use, it seems to largely succeed on its goals of retaining the poetry and cadence of the Coverdale while (mostly gently) sanding off the rough edges of archaic vocabulary. When Nashotah House eventually makes its chanted version, presumably it can leverage the pointing from the 1549-1928 Coverdale sung psalters.

I have the full 258 page PDF on my laptop and iPad and try to use it for Daily Office at least a couple of times a week. I am curious to see how much use it gets outside the ACNA.

Official Announcement

Here is the complete text of the official announcement

The Book of Common Prayer 2019
After six years of the use of draft liturgies, submission of extensive comments from across the Church, and significant revisions and refinements, we have approved the Book of Common Prayer (2019)! The last wave of liturgies in their final form was approved this week for our new Prayer Book, which will be available at Provincial Assembly this June in Plano, Texas. One of the documents approved was the Preface, which includes this helpful introduction to worship in the prayer book tradition: 

At the beginning of the 21st century, global reassessment of the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 as “the standard for doctrine, discipline and worship” shapes the present volume, now presented on the bedrock of its predecessors. Among the timeless treasures offered in this Prayer Book is the Coverdale Psalter of 1535 (employed with every Prayer Book from the mid-16th to the mid-20th centuries), renewed for contemporary use through efforts that included the labors of 20th century Anglicans T.S. Eliot and C.S. Lewis, and brought to final form here. The Book of Common Prayer (2019) is indisputably true to Cranmer’s originating vision of a form of prayers and praises that is thoroughly Biblical, catholic in the manner of the early centuries, highly participatory in delivery, peculiarly Anglican and English in its roots, culturally adaptive and missional in a most remarkable way, utterly accessible to the people, and whose repetitions are intended to form the faithful catechetically and to give them doxological voice. 

Rites that were finalized at this meeting include: 

  * The Ordinal
  * Consecration and Dedication of a Place of Worship
  * Institution of a Rector
  * Occasional Prayers
  * The Psalter
  * Calendar of the Christian Year
  * Sunday, Holy Day, and Commemoration Lectionary
  * Propers for Various Occasions
  * Calendar of Holy Days and Commemorations
  * Daily Office Lectionary

The BCP texts as now finally approved will be put online at AnglicanChurch.net by mid-February under a new Book of Common Prayer tab.

At the conclusion of the liturgical approval process, we stood in unison to praise God and to thank Archbishop Duncan and the Liturgy Task Force for their sacrificial work on this historic resource.

ACNA co-sponsors CCM-bluegrass Xmas concert tour

From the ACNA email blast this afternoon:

Getty Music Presents Sing!

Celebrate the Season at

Sing! An Irish Christmas

Enjoy an evening of inspirational carols and hymns with Keith and Kristyn Getty — and their band of top Irish & American instrumentalists fusing Celtic, bluegrass, Americana, classical and modern sounds into an evening of singing and celebration.

Dear Friend,

For the seventh year in a row, modern hymn-writers Keith and Kristyn Getty are returning with Sing! An Irish Christmas. As someone who appreciates great songs of the Christian faith, we hope you'll join us for the annual gathering of historic carols and congregational singing.

Sing! An Irish Christmas continues the great legacy of singing beloved holiday hymns.

Featuring classic Christmas carols as well as popular modern hymns and carols from the Gettys, the Sing! An Irish Christmas tour will make stops in renowned concert venues like Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in DC - where it has had the distinction of being the only Christian concert to play during the Christmas season.

Special discounts for ACNA pastors & congregations are available by emailing info@gettymusic.com

Guest artists for select concerts include:

Archbishop Foley Beach, Joni Eareckson Tada, Tim Keller, David Platt, Paul Tripp, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss, Matt Redman, Sierra Hull, John Patitucci, Trip Lee, Phil Keaggy + many more! 

Check local concert listing at 

www.gettymusic.com/christmas for more details!

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The ACNA website explains the “guest artist” remark:

From Archbishop Beach: “I am grateful for the partnership we have with the Gettys! I and many in the Anglican Church in North America continue to be enriched by their ministry. As we prepare for the coming Christmas season, this tour is an opportunity to hear and sing some of the great hymns of the Faith. I’ll be participating in the concert in Atlanta on November 28th. If you or your church are looking for a fellowship opportunity this Advent, this is an excellent one to consider!”

Keith and Kristyn Getty are doing 16 concerts from Nov. 28 to Dec. 21, including two Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Lutheran and two (California) non-denominational churches. Tickets appear to range from $15 to $130 (at Carnegie Hall). The promotion video suggests the music is a mix of secular and sacred Christmas carols, Getty praise hymns and other music, all performed in a Celtic-bluegrass-Irish/American folk style.

Since the Getty website doesn’t name the “special guests” or mention the ACNA, it is not clear the ACNA role other than the Abp.’s guest appearance on Nov. 28. However, the Getty website does talk about the partnership with several pages:

• New Wineskins — some free hymns distributed by the Gettys
• Foley Beach’s talk on “Liturgy and Beauty: The Liturgy of the Anglican Church” at the Getty’s annual Sing! conference earlier this year

I’m vaguely curious as to what a Christmas-CCM-folk-bluegrass concert looks like, but I can’t make any of the dates. Instead, I’ll be celebrating Advent at a local Lessons & Carols service, and of course listening to webcast of the 100th Kings College Cambridge service

Holy Orders and the Future of the ACNA

Today the ACNA released a statement from the special College of Bishops meeting this week to consider the future of Women’s Ordination in the ACNA. The bishops met to follow up on the Holy Orders Task Force report that was completed in January and released in May.

Abp Foley Beach said the statement was “unanimously adopted”; the key paragraph says:

…we acknowledge that there are differing principles of ecclesiology and hermeneutics that are acceptable within Anglicanism that may lead to divergent conclusions regarding women's ordination to the priesthood. However, we also acknowledge that this practice is a recent innovation to Apostolic Tradition and Catholic Order. We agree that there is insufficient scriptural warrant to accept women's ordination to the priesthood as standard practice throughout the Province. However, we continue to acknowledge that individual dioceses have constitutional authority to ordain women to the priesthood.

As with the original report, there was no news coverage and surprisingly little commentary on this decision to keep the status quo (at least for now).

A critic from the Continuing Anglican movement wrote:

Clearly, one cannot tell, despite their name, if they are a church or a confederation of churches. In reality, it is confusing even to many on the inside; actually they are both in certain ways.

The tragedy of their decision regarding Women's Ordination is that they are following on the same road, in the same direction as the Episcopal "Church" from which they claimed independence only eight years ago.…

A conservative REC priest layman saw it as a permanent endorsement of “dual integrities”:

Although disappointed with their decision, I do have to give them credit on one thing – they did not kick the can down the road, but went ahead and made their decision.  Whatever one feels about WO, it’s better to know where we stand now than later.

However, I do not think the bishops realize, or at least are not admitting in this statement they realize, what danger ACNA is in.  Archbishop Beach’s statement that the bishops are “more unified than ever” seems wishful to me.  Maybe the bishops are very unified but many of the rest of us in ACNA are not. But I will have to put that subject aside for another post or two.

And perhaps the bishops are not all that unified.  I do not have privy information nor should I speculate.  But a close reading of the statement may reveal divisions.  

In the most detailed commentary, today’s Anglican TV webcast by Kevin Kallsen and George Conger spent almost a half hour of their 39 minute broadcast on the COB decision and the earlier report. They stated that there were clearly enough anti-WO votes in the House of Bishops for a moratorium (which many expected).

The two noted that the Internet — both their own comments page and Facebook — were burning up with comments; however, I consider this somewhat disingenuous as Conger posted a link to the Anglican Ink press release to two ACNA and one Continuing Anglican discussion groups.

An anti-WO comment on Anglican Ink said:

Essentially, ACNA is TEC with the clock rolled back to about 1980. With the exception that ACNA has now institutionalized multiple episcopal jurisdictions in all places- since that is the only way this works. There will be a WO and a non-WO jurisdiction overlapping everywhere for the foreseeable future, and the resulting "impaired" communion within the church. Essentially, 2 churches that have a common hierarchy and home office. If you ask "who is the bishop?" you will get 2 answers.

The general reaction of the pro-WO posters on Facebook was relief that there was no change. A longtime WO supporter wrote in support of dual integrities and thus the status quo:

WO is unique within Anglicanism as it is a doctrine under reception. This means that any province may ordain women priests and bishops and none must. This basic attitude within the Anglican Communion is the model the ACNA was founded upon and which our Constitution and Canons reflect, and which the College of Bishops just affirmed. Many believe the biblical witness is clearly in support of their side, so we agree to disagree and carry on.

Kallsen and Conger were more positive than most on the decision, thinking a brilliant political (and perhaps ecclesiastical) decision — and showing stronger leadership and unity than (for example) the Church of England or GAFCON. Conger — an official in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida — predicted that if the ACNA ended WO, then many of these women would join TEC which would be a PR nightmare.

Kallsen and Conger read the statement as deferring a decision for now. Others (as with the REC priest) see it as confirming that dual integrities will never be revoked. Some on the anti-WO side, drawing parallels to TEC, predict that the dual integrities will continue until enough dioceses elected pro-WO bishops to change the policy and allow female bishops.

I don’t know how it will turn out, but it’s hard to see how two different integrities will still be in a single jurisdiction a generation from now: it’s an unstable compromise that nobody will accept in the long run rather than a permanent solution.

It seems like a more stable solution would be dual integrities, dual provinces — perhaps sharing custody of their liturgy and seminaries, and both members of GAFCON. Each province would be true to its core beliefs — presumably including female bishops for the C4SO province. Over time we could see whether these are both orthodox provinces that differ only over women’s ordination, or whether they fundamentally have two incompatible theologies.

Update Sept. 12: While news coverage is limited, there were three newer reports posted:

On Sept. 9, Anglican Ink posted an open letter from Bp. Todd Hunter (of C4SO) — the leading advocate of women’s ordination in the College of Bishops — that implies that the outcome was a victory for his cause:

Thankfully, the outcome of the conclave permits C4SO to continue our practice of ordaining women of character and integrity as priests and deacons, enabling them to serve in whatever way their spiritual gifts, calling and temperament call for. We continue to conduct this practice in humility toward those who disagree with us, and we do so with a laser focus on mission and being ambassadors of God’s kingdom—male and female alike. I am proud to serve alongside our women. They have shown extraordinary patience and grace during a particularly difficult period of waiting to receive the outcome of this conclave.

On Sept. 12, Pittsburgh Bp. Jim Hobby — successor to retired Abp. Robert Duncan who created the “dual integrities” — published a letter that emphasizes more conciliatory nature of the decision and less the victory of his side.

On Sept. 10, journalist David Virtue of Virtue Online called it a “Solomonic Decision” in a commentary that read in part:

In a decision that will not please everybody, but one that goes against the grain of progressive Anglican provinces like The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of England, the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Australia and AOTEAROA; the Anglican Church in North America vetoed women bishops and women priests, but left open the door to those dioceses that still wish to ordain women.

He then listed the status of women’s ordination in the global Anglican Communion, as well as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church,. He concluded by quoting former ECUSA priest  (and onetime philosophy professor) Alice Linsley arguing against women’s ordination.

ACNA Announces Baptism Services

The ACNA and its Liturgy and Common Worship Task Force this week announced
(via Twitter)  the addition of four new services to its Texts for Common Prayer:

• Holy Baptism
• Confirmation
• Baptism with Confirmation, Reception and Reaffirmation
• Renewal of Baptismal Vows

The task force proposals were approved by the House of Bishops at their June meeting in Vancouver. (However, they were actually posted back in July and the change log shows that there have been no changes since then).

These new services are added to the trial use versions of the main services — morning prayer, evening prayer and communion — released in Fall 2013. (Due to defects in the 1979 prayer book ordinal, that was drafted first and is already officially approved).

The Task Force hopes finish drafts of all texts by 2017, and then combine those with feedback to produce a final version.

Mending Episcopal Schism Among American Anglicans

Anglo-Catholic worship was so much easier when I was a kid. Anglican worship meant the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, so you would shop around for a place that had at least some high church worship.  But the theological innovations of the 1970s fractured Anglo-Catholics, perhaps permanently — first in 1977 with the Continuing churches formed out of the Congress of St. Louis and then the ACNA launched in this century.

ICCA made impressive progress in addressing this fracture, with the broad representation of US Anglo-Catholics across a wide range of jurisdictions. We had the Schism I (Continuing Anglicans aka Continuum), Schism II (ACNA), pre-Schism (Reformed Episcopal Church) and non-Schism (a very small number of TEC clergy). Of course, there were also at least five African bishops and one retired English bishop (Michael Nazir-Ali).

There is schism both within and between these schisms. The 19th and 20th century secessionists (i.e. REC and Schism I) don’t ordain women to any order (including deacon) and most use the 1928 or 1662 BCP.

In the final sermon Friday, REC Bp. Ray Sutton joked that they agreed on almost everything and got along on almost nothing. The Continuum is badly fractured: according to Wikipedia estimates the big four (ACA, ACC, APA, APCK) only account for 2/3 of Schism I. This ongoing fragmentation has made a running joke of the claim to be the true apostolic church: several referred to “alphabet soup” and the need to mend these division — at least within the Continuum.

Meanwhile, the chasm between Schism I and II is even more daunting. Yes, the Anglo-Catholic parishes and dioceses joined ACNA with one diocese (now several) actively if not aggressively ordaining women. ACNA’s unresolved resolution of WO was the elephant in the room. There are three possible outcomes — the current stalemate continues, the factions get a divorce or (least likely) the male clergy view wins out — and only the latter two would satisfy Schism I.

On the one hand, there seems to be jealousy among some Schism I clergy — who have toiled in relative obscurity since correctly diagnosing the ECUSA malaise almost 40 years ago — at the visibility and favorable press that ACNA has won. Having a national unified denomination certainly helps, as did ACNA’s successful efforts by Bp. Bill Atwood to build ties of communion and fellowship with the GAFCON overseas churches.

On the other hand, the Schism I clergy and laity have been proven correct. The path that TEC was on in 1978 was leading exactly as they predicted, and (in retrospect) there wasn’t much to be gained by waiting — in fact, leaving before the Dennis Canon was actually a better strategy. (This is not to deny the numerous errors in executing the Schism I strategy).

Personal Ties Among the Episcopate(s)

While at ICCA, it was clear that many of the Continuum and ACNA clergy had never met: I found myself introducing Anglo-Catholic clergy (particularly within California) who would have been close colleagues if not for the current jurisdictional mess.

The greatest opportunity came with the episcopate, i.e. the bishop from the various jurisdictions. According to the program, the 23 North American Anglican bishops almost exactly balanced between ACNA (10) plus ex-TEC (2) and Continuing (7) plus REC (4):

• ACA (Anglican Church in America) 1: Stephen Strawn
• ACC (Anglican Catholic Church) 2: Mark Haverland, Stephen Scarlett
• ACCC (Anglican Catholic Church in Canada) 1: Shane Janzen
• APA (Anglican Province of America) 1: Chandler (Chad) Jones
• DHC (Diocese of the Holy Cross) 1: Paul Hewett
• UECNA (United Episcopal Church of North America) 1: Peter Robinson
• ACNA (Anglican Church in North America) 10: Keith Andrews (Western Anglicans), Bill Atwood (International), Foley Beach (South), Bob Duncan (Pittsburgh), Bill Ilgenfritz (Missionary Diocese of All Saints), Rich Lipka (Missionary Diocese of All Saints), Clark Lowenfield  (Western Gulf Coast), Eric Menees (San Joaquin), Alberto Morales (Quincy); Stephen Leung (Anglican Network in Canada)
• REC (Reformed Episcopal Church) 4: Royal Grote, Winfield Mott, Sam Seamans, Ray Sutton
• TEC: Keith Ackerman (retired) 2; William Wantland (retired)

The other 10 bishops participating were as follows:

• PNCC (Polish National Catholic Church) 1: Paul Sobiechowski
• UK 3: John Fenwick (Free Church of England), John Hind (CoE, retired), Michael Nazir-Ali (CoE, retired)
• Global South 6: Michael Hafidh (Tanzania), Fanuel Magangani (Malawi), Brighton Malasa (Malawi), James Min Dein (Myanmar), Valentine Mokiwa (Tanzania), Stephen Than Myint Oo (Myanmar)

Co-host Bp. Keith Ackerman toiled tirelessly to get these bishops to get to know each other, through informal and formal meetings, celebrating together and serving on the drafting committee together. I counted 23 purple shirts at a quick informal gathering that Ackerman called on Tuesday morning (not include Beach).

Their number dwindled as the week went on. At the opening evensong Monday night I counted 16 bishops processing and three purple shirts in the pews. At the closing Holy Communion Friday, the numbers had dropped to 11+2 (Nazir-Ali only processed as the Tuesday morning celebrant) with many of the Continuum bishops having already left.

Some of the non-Anglo-Catholic bishops made only brief appearance. ACNA primate Foley Beach showed up to preach at Tuesday’s first communion service and then left for the airport. His predecessor Bob Duncan — of Anglo-Catholic liturgy but evangelical view of Holy Orders — stayed much longer, leaving on Thursday. While their respective sermons emphasized common aspirations and challenges of orthodox-minded Anglicans post-2003, the Schism I bishops (understandably) saw little prospect of being in communion with them.

Skunk in the Room

Some of the bishops were more used to getting along than others. Ackerman, Ilgenfritz, Lipka and Menees, Morales and Wantland from the ACNA, Sutton from the REC, and Hewett and Jones from the Continuum are all members of the FiFNA Council (i.e. governing body). Bp. Jones in particular seemed to go out of his way to be conciliar in his address to the Congress, while Bp. Sutton seemed to have the most experience working with both camps.

However, the ACNA clergy and laity couldn’t stop talking about Wednesday night’s sermon by Abp. Haverland, head of the Anglican Catholic Church. (I happened to miss this evensong because we were wrapping up our church planting session and I never made it over there in time).

The sermon (posted at Philorthodox and Anglican Continuum) began with the assertion that the path of the Schism I parishes was more theologically sound and consistent than the Schism II.  This is not particularly surprising, and in fact the ACNA defense of their delay in leaving ECUSA has emphasized the pastoral and conciliar value of their choices of the past 30+ years, not their theological purity.

However, the part that everyone was talking about the next morning was the following, particularly one key paragraph (emphasis added):

I congratulate the ACNA for leaving the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada.  Every one of you who made that change did a good thing and one, I hope, that you do not regret.  But that departure can only be a good first step.  For ACNA is really not a Church but a coalition of dioceses. The coalition is for some purposes only, and the communion of the dioceses is impaired and imperfect.  The ACNA has retained the central flaw of the recent Lambeth Communion because it permits member dioceses to ordain women to the three-fold ministry, and therefore implicitly claims that the central Tradition is not decisive and may be set aside.  ACNA is not a return to orthodox Anglicanism, but only a return to the impaired state of the Lambeth Communion that began in 1975 and 1976. 

Of course, the issue of women’s ordination has not yet been resolved in the ACNA. And the newest head of the ACNA last year defended the right of member dioceses to continue such ordination rather than wait for a resolution:

First, let me say that I think a voluntary moratorium [on ordination] would actually not ease the tension. I think it would pour gasoline in the fire. Part of that is, in our constitution and canons, we have left the issue of women’s ordination for each diocese to decide. A lot of people came into the ACNA in good faith that their perspective – including those who ordain women—would be protected and guarded. And, people who believe in ordaining women hold their position by conscience and can Biblically argue it, although I disagree with them. This issue is a very important thing to them, and so I think it would create a lot of tension.

Confirmation from the Grave

In large part, this tension within and between Anglican groups was precisely anticipated by Rev. Peter Toon in December 2008, only four months before his untimely death. He wrote a a brief summary of the two groups, published at Virtue Online:

Continuing Anglicans in America: what's the difference between "The Continuing Anglican Church" of 1977 and "The Anglican Church in America" of 2008
by Dr. Peter Toon

Here I want to compare and contrast in a very preliminary way, the two major secessions from The Episcopal Church [TEC] of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Seceders of the 1970s
The seceders from TEC of the late 1970s intended to create an expression of the Anglican Way as "The Continuing Anglican Church" which
…
Recent Seceders
To call the seceders from TEC over the last decade and specifically over the last year or two as Continuing Anglicans will be a shock and an offense to some people. However "The Anglican Church in America" came into existence on Dec 3, 2008, because of schism and secession. Within this Church are four former dioceses of TEC and many congregations which are either former TEC parishes or splits from TEC parishes. Obviously there are some participants who had not been involved in secession, the Reformed Episcopal Church for example, but the majority of the claimed 100,000 members were formerly of the TEC.
…
Conclusion
Regrettably there is very little dialogue and cooperation between the two expressions of Continuing Anglicanism in the U.S.A.

And one of his observations about the ACNA shows that the issue cited by Abp. Haverland and Abp. Beach was as true at its founding as it is today:

[The ACNA] Uses "Province" in a wholly innovatory way, causing it to mean "a hybrid of differing groups working in a specific, geographical territory in a semi-competitive way but cooperating in major matters."

I think “a coalition of dioceses” is a succinct way to summarize Toon’s point. Since the founding of the ACNA, the various dioceses seem united in their rejection of the TEC while differing over matters that divided the TEC from many in the Global South almost 40 years ago.

Looking Forward

The bishops of the ICCA seemed able to worship together, (in most cases) celebrate and take communion together, and continue the dialog that has been managed by the FiFNA leaders since the TEC’s first ordination of women in the 1970s. The Ft. Worth gathering didn’t resolve their differences, but it did introduce hundreds of clergy and laity across the aisle to people they wouldn’t have otherwise met.

As layman who has attended orthodox TEC, ACNA and Continuing parishes for the past 25 years, the differences between these groups seem exaggerated. Yes, since 2006 it is implausible for a parish (or individual Anglican) to claim to be Biblically orthodox while remaining in the TEC. But within the broad swoop of Christianity — let alone Western or global religious belief — these two groups of non-TEC Anglicans are more similar than different.

As demonstrated by the ICCA, they share the desire to retain an continuous link to the historic undivided Christian church, with beliefs and practices consistent with the Christians of the 1st millennium (if not the Nicene era). Their differences are far less than those held together by the Broad Church of the CoE for most of the past 450 years, or within the original Anglo-Catholic revival of the 19th century. So why can’t we all get along?

Anglo-Catholics gathering in Ft. Worth

Next week’s International Catholic Congress of Anglicans bills itself as the first such Anglo-Catholic gathering since the 1920s. Sponsored by Forward in Faith, the (ACNA) Diocese of Ft. Worth, the Reformed Episcopal Church and others, the speakers include Bp. Keith Ackerman, Bp. Ray Sutton (REC), Bp. Mark Harverland (ACC), and Bp. Michael Nazir-Ali, the retired Bishop of Rochester (England) who in 2002 was runner-up for Archbishop of Canterbury.

More than 250 Anglo-Catholic clergy (and a few laity) will gather in Ft. Worth at the downtown Hilton and and for services a few blocks away at St. Andrew’s Episcopal (of the DoFW). The program runs from 5pm Monday until noon Friday, and includes preaching, communion and keynote addresses by a wide range of Continuing Anglican (ACC, APA, DoHC, PNC) and ACNA bishops (including the current and founding ACNA primate). It also includes bishops from Burma, England, Malawi and Tanzania.

The breakout sessions include

• Sacred and secular views of marriage
• Media strategies (with Anglican journalist David Virtue)
• Theological education
• Anglicans for Life
• Church music (with contemporary church composer Chris Hoyt)

I am particularly excited about the two sessions on Anglo-Catholic church planting: an organizational meeting I’m helping organize on Monday night, and a presentation by Fr. Chris Culpepper (of Christ the Redeemer Ft. Worth) and Fr. Lee Nelson (of Christ Church Waco) on why Anglo-Catholics should be more in active church planting.

I‘ll be there all week, looking to meet others interested in traditional Anglo-Catholic hymnody (and planting new churches to continue the faith):

J. West
anglicanmusic <()> gmail
http://anglicanmusic.blogspot.com
@AnglicanM

California Christian Catechesis

The San Diego deanery (aka San Diego Anglicans) of the ACNA diocese of Western Anglican is running a Lenten class for lay leaders on six Saturday mornings.

The classes are learning to teach the catechism approved (for trial use) by ACNA bishops in January 2014. Modestly titled To Be a Christian —available for free download at the ACNA and sale at Amazon and BN.com — the new catechism is a longer and far more detailed explication of the faith than in previous editions of the US Book of Common Prayer. (More on this another time).

The short course is led Rev. Brian Hughes, assistant rector of Holy Spirit Anglican (located at Bethel’s San Diego campus). It includes a series of guest preachers:

• February 21 – Introduction to the Catechumenate and the Catechism. Instructor: Fr. Brian Hughes of Holy Spirit Anglican Church, San Diego
• February 28 – Part I: Beginning in Christ (Q 1-18), What is the Gospel? Instructor: Fr. Cameron Lemons of St. Paul’s City Church, Lake Elsinore
• March 7 – Part II: Believing in Christ (Q 19-80), the Creeds. Instructor: Fr. Brian Hughes of Holy Spirit Anglican Church, San Diego
• March 14 – Part II: Believing in Christ (Q 81-148), How to Study the Bible. Instructor: Fr. Jamal Scarlett of St. Paul’s City Church, Lake Elsinore
• March 21 – Part III: Being Christ’s (Q 149-255), A Rule of Life. Instructor: Fr. Larry Bausch of Holy Trinity Anglican Parish, Ocean Beach
• March 28 – Part IV: Behaving Christianly (Q 256-345), Accountability Structures. Instructor: Fr. Russell Martin of Christ the King Church, San Diego

The sessions run from 9-12 at Christ the King’s Scripps Ranch office. Father Hughes has already uploaded the first two videos to his YouTube channel and has created a YouTube playlist.

For more information, contact Fr. Hughes.

California's newest Bishop

On Sunday night, Archbishop Foley Beach and others from the Anglican Church in North America consecrated its newest bishop in Newport Beach, California. The Rt. Rev. M. Keith Andrews (M. Div, D. Min) was consecrated the second bishop for the Diocese of Western Anglicans.

The Service

Rt. Rev. Keith Andrews

The service was held at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, one of 175 parishes of the ECO Presbyterian movement that broke away from the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA). (Unlike the ACNA parishes, they got to keep their buildings). It was the same place where the diocese’s first bishop, Rt. Rev. Bill Thompson, was consecrated on October 31, 2009.

As recorded by Anglican TV, the service was clocked at 194 minutes from start to finish (excluding music before and after the service).

By my estimate there were about 600-700 people in the pews — of those 60+ deacons and priests — with another 60 attending in the altar party, including a 6-piece praise band and a 17-member choir that looked lost in the spacious choir benches. As with the most recent diocesan convention, the service emphasized praise music over hymns or other traditional liturgy.

The service combined the Ordinal — published in 2011 and approved by the ACNA bishops in 2013 — with the ACNA “trial use” Communion service that was launched in time for Advent 2013. The event was organized by Rev. Richard Crocker and Rev. Cathie Young — respectively the rector and associate rector of nearby St. James’ Anglican.

The Election

The diocese’ first bishop, Rt. Rev. Thompson was elected in June 2009 and resigned effective June 30, 2014. Bp. Thompson announced his resignation in August 2013 after two falls and a concussion. (In Feb. 2014, he revealed that he had since been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and the diocese’s Executive Committee would assist in the governance.)

In late 2013, the Executive Committee appointed a 12-member nominating committee to find qualified candidates. The March 2014 diocesan newsletter explained the process:

According to our Canons, the Bishop must be drawn from male Rectors in the Diocese who have at least five years’ experience, are at least 35 year old, and are not divorced and remarried. This gave us a potential pool of twenty candidates. They were each contacted, and seven agreed to put their name forward.
…
On February 8th, the four candidates still in the discernment process were announced to the full diocesan House of Delegates at its annual meeting. The candidates still in the process are:

Fr. Keith Andrews, Living Faith, Tempe, AZ
Fr. Russell Martin, Christ the King, San Diego, CA
Fr. Larry Bausch, Holy Trinity, San Diego, CA
Fr. Jose Poch, St. David’s, Burbank, CA

On March 22, the committee nominated Andrews and Martin, dropping Bausch (the most Anglo-Catholic candidate) and Poche (who was also a candidate in 2009).

In May 2014, the diocesan House of Delegates voted to nominate Andrews in hopes that the ACNA College of Bishops would elect the 2nd bishop at their June meeting. Instead, Rev. Andrews was elected bishop at their October meeting.

Bp. Thompson was directly elected by the diocese, and the 2014 requirement for ACNA approval was somewhat controversial. This shift in policy caused confusion during the ceremony, in which the text of the program was not what was spoken during the presentation of the bishop-elect (emphasis added):

The Diocesan President says
I certify that the Reverend Doctor M. Keith Andrews was duly elected nominated Bishop of the Diocese of the Western Anglicans by the clergy and lay members of the House of Delegates of the Diocese on May 10, 2014, as attested to by the minutes of the House of Delegates.

The Dean of Provincial Affairs says
I certify that the Reverend Doctor M. Keith Andrews was duly confirmed elected as Bishop of the Diocese of the Western Anglicans by the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America on October 10,2014, as attested to by the minutes of the College.

The Consecration
I counted 12 bishops in the altar party (not including the archbishop and the bishop-elect). Note all the bishops listed in the program were present — and I didn’t recognize a couple — but here they are:

Back row: unidentified, Bp. Eric Menees, unidentified, Bp. Clark Lowenfield, Bp. Gregory Bowers. Front row: Bp. William Murdoch, Bp. John Guernsey, Bp. Bill Thompson, Bp. Todd Hunter, Bp. Frank Lyons, unidentified

The new Bishop was examined by Abp. Foley and 11 other bishops. (The bishop not participating in the examination was Bp. Gregory Bowers, representing the Los Angeles-area Jubilee Convocation that is discussing fellowship with ACNA).

At the end of the consecration, the archbishop and the other bishops engaged in the traditional laying on of hands (which the unitiated
resembled a rugby scrum without the pushing and shoving).

The consecration was followed by the presentation of four episcopal symbols from four deaneries of the diocese: Rocky Mountain (a crozier), Arizona (a ring), San Diego (a pectoral cross) and Los Angeles (his cope and mitre).

After this — and before the offertory — the congregation heard greetings from Andrews’ ecumenical partners in Arizona and the local assemblyman (with a state proclamation). A longer talk came from a priest of the North American Lutheran Church (the ELCA-splinter group) and a representative from the Diocese of Singapore.

The New Bishop

Bp. Andrews gave a brief five minute talk, thanking those responsible. While the event did only indirectly touched on his qualifications and experience, I did have a chance to hear him speak in April 2014 as one of the two final candidates.

Here some excerpts of his resume from that presentation (which I have scanned and posted to Google). His work experience:

• Senior Pastor, Living Faith Anglican Church, Tempe, AZ (2005-Present)
• Anglican Mission in the Americas Canon Missioner and Network Leader (2005-2012)
• Vicar (1985-1998) and Rector (2005), St. James Episcopal Church, Tempe, AZ
• Associate Rector, Christ Church of the Ascension, Paradise Valley, AZ (1983-1985)
• Assistant Rector, All Saints, Carmel, CA (1981-1983)

His education:

• D. Min, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2003
• M. Div., Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 1981
• M.A., Arizona State University, 1976
• B.A., Arizona State University, 1975

His dissertation, entitled “A local church paradigm that fosters renewal in mission through church multiplication,” is listed in the Fuller library as a case study of his St. James experience.

What stood out from his presentation (and what I know of the other three semi-finalists) was his successful track record in planting churches. Obviously this is a crucial imperative for the diocese and ACNA more broadly.

The Diocese

What is less clear is the bishop’s plans for the diocese (and also the constraints of the existing clergy and laity). I was told that any candidate from outside Southern California (i.e., Andrews) would be expected to relocate to Southern California (which has the greatest concentration of parishes).

When first consecrated, Bp. Thompson remained rector of All Saints (Long Beach, Calif.) but then relinquished that role in July 2012 (at the age of 66) to become a full-time bishop.

The office of bishop and the diocese have remained at All Saints since Bp. Thompson stepped down. The diocese HQ seems to have been in a holding pattern (under its interim bishop), with few updates to the website; the bimonthly newsletter hasn’t been published in 10 months.

So will the diocese remain in Long Beach? Will Bp. Andrews have another home parish? What other changes are coming? When the ECUSA formed a new diocese in San Diego in the 1970s, the first bishop used his home parish as the cathedral; the second and subsequent bishops used the largest parish in the city center as their cathedral.

The diocese of 35 parishes is hoping to convert its four deaneries to new dioceses. To do that will require significant growth in membership, parishes and pledging — something that all California Anglicans hope that the new bishop can pull off.

Update: The official ACNA press release (reprinted at Virtue Online) lists 10 of the 11 bishops (beyond Abp. Beach) involved in the consecration:

• Rt. Rev. John A.M. Guernsey, Bishop of Diocese of Mid-Atlantic
• Rt. Rev. Todd Hunter, Bishop of Diocese of Churches for Sake of Others
• Rt. Rev. Clark Lowenfield, Bishop of Diocese of Western Gulf Coast
• Rt. Rev. Frank Lyons, Assisting Bishop of Anglican Diocese of South
• Rt. Rev. Eric Menees, Bishop of Diocese of San Joaquin
• Rt. Rev. John Miller, III, Assistant Bishop of Diocese of Atlantic
• Rt. Rev. William Murdock, Bishop of Anglican Diocese of New England
• Rt. Rev. William Thompson, Retired Bishop of Diocese of Western Anglicans
• Rt. Rev. Mark Zimmerman, Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Southwest
• Rt. Rev. Derek Jones, Bishop of Armed Forces and Chaplaincy

Charismatic Episcopal Worship

The ACNA bishops just have finished their annual confab. The website, Twitter stream, Facebook page and email blasts have been telling us that this invitation-only(?) meeting is a big deal.

One thing that's clear is how the bishops (as a group) feel about traditional Anglican worship and hymnody. The official communiqué (on the website and emailed to every ACNA email list) proudly stated:

Throughout the week, we were blessed by having David Clifton, Minister of Worship Arts at the Church of the Apostles, Knoxville, Tennessee, leading our music. He wove historic and contemporary music in a gentle and powerful way that enriched our time together.

Indeed, Clifton’s left hand on his Gibson guitar is the only sign from the ACNA’s Facebook page that there was music at the gathering, and Clifton is posed with a different guitar in his church profile. (To his credit, Clifton was trained as a chorister before joining a few bands and signing a recording contract).

Thus, for most of the bishops — like many ACNA parishes — it appears that the place of “historic” music is to be subordinated to the trendy, contemporary, flavor-of-the-month. Apparently this was also true when Archbishop Beach was first consecrated as a bishop.

I complained to an Anglo-Catholic friend that the Anglican Church of North America seems to be more of the Evangelical Church of North America. His view is that the (liturgical) tension is not between Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical, but with the Charismatic influence.

In his view, the Charismatic is what emphasizes the emotive over the reverent. It certainly seems to explain why so many people want to wave their hands in the sky when we are praying to our Father in the manner proscribed by his son. As an Anglo-Catholic, this seems like it should be the most reverent moment of the service — not the most exuberant.

The Evangelical Church in North America

The Anglican Church in North America has always been an interesting compromise. Today at the diocesan convention of the Western Anglicans, keynote speaker (and ACNA primate) Robert Duncan described ACNA as “three streams, two integrities and one church.”

During his subsequent answers to written questions, Bp. Duncan described the two integrities (two views on women’s ordination) and the three streams

• “First of all, evangelical. We hold ourselves accountable to the word of God.”
• “The second stream, the Catholic stream, holds itself accountable to tradition.”
• The third stream was once called the “liberal” (sometimes now Charismatic). It was defined by a willingness to be free within the power of the Holy Spirit — but more recently has meant free to do anything.

Since the founding of the Church of England in the Tudor era, the tension of the Anglican Church has been most visibly between the evangelical and Anglo-Catholic wings of the church. The Oxford movement of the early 19th century was the most successful effort of the past half-millenium to restore the influence of Anglo-Catholics within the CoE. The two sides share power in the CoE, although the Evangelicals appear to be dominant (while many of the liberals left the CoE to become Methodists).

Abp. Duncan’s address — and the worship of the entire diocesan convention — make it clear that the ACNA is an Evangelical church with little room for Anglo-Catholics. In theology, ACNA may position itself in the historic (Reformed) Christian tradition, but in terms of worship style it’s distinctly modern.

At all four services, the 7-piece praise band (with drummer) performed a series of 21st century CCM tunes. A few were familiar to the congregation members, and many (although not all) appear to be worshipping to praise music at their home parishes. Two of the services had one token hymn each.

Rehearsal by Diocese of Western Anglicans praise band, October 12

I’ve been in all three California dioceses — San Joaquin, Western Anglicans and the proto-diocese of San Francisco Bay. The first two are conservative theologically (at least on WO), but it’s clear liturgically that both (like the Bay Area) are largely following the contemporary worship fad, marginalizing worship (and music) that would have been the only worship style one would have seen in an ECUSA church 30 years ago. Our form of worship may be (Rite II) liturgical, but in terms of music we in ACNA are all Pentecostals.

The archbishop commands us to be “in the world but not of the world.” But conforming our worship style to contemporary culture — Pop Goes Religion as Terry Mattingly put it — seems to imply that we must join the culture to reach it.

Yes, every generation adds its music to the canon. But throwing away centuries of tradition — all of the prior canon — in favor of the past five years is a hubris only a Baby Boomer could attempt (even if the nominal reason is appealing to millennials).

In the meantime, we Anglo-Catholics will go gray and die while waiting for another Oxford-style revival (much as the Baroque revival in the 1960s and 1970s brought back Bach and other music that had been largely forgotten in this century). Or we can join and support the Schism I churches, which — despite their many faults — are the one Anglican institution in this country that will pass along our historic liturgy in the state that they received it.

ACNA needs repentance even more than TEC

Note update based on October 2013 revised ACNA liturgy.

For Lent 2, the RCL reading was Luke 13:1-9, where Jesus says “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” and then tells the parable of the fig tree. Our pastor used it to preach a blunt sermon about repentance.

Unfortunately, this was the Sunday he decided to use the “Contemporized Version: Trail Edition December 2012” of the new ACNA liturgy. I’ll save the arguments about the overall pros and cons for another time.

What was stunning — stunningly awful — was how we responded to his altar call for repentance in this new (“trial use”) corporate worship.

The Confession and Absolution of Sins
Celebrant: We pray to you also for the forgiveness of sins.
Celebrant and People:Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father;
in your compassion forgive us our sins,
known and unknown, things done and left and undone;
and so uphold us by your Spirit
that we ay live and serve you in newness of life,
to the honor and glory of your Name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I was not the only person to point out to our pastor that this was a notably brief and thin confession. (Even his wife said so). But, more importantly, if you look closely, it’s not a confession at all. It’s like a little boy who says “please forgive me” without first saying that “I was wrong.”

Compare this to the 1662 BCP:

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men;
We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness,
Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed,
By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty,
Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation againſt us.
We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings;
The remembrance of them is grievous unto us; The burden of them is intolerable.
Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father;
For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past;
And grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life,
To the honor and glory of thy Name; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The words are the same as I recited since childhood from the 1928 (US) Book of Common Prayer, and was also preserved in Rite I (at least as the approved variant) in Rite I of the 1979 prayer book. (Except for the “Amen” and medieval spelling, the same words are also found in Cranmer’s 1549 BCP).

Most surprisingly, the proposed ACNA liturgy is even less substantial than the watered down Rite II (Confession Lite) in the 1979 prayer book:

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.

At least the Rite II worshipers say “we confesses that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed,” unlike what the ACNA liturgists are proposing we say.

In the Church of England’s 2000 book of alternative services, Common Worship, there are four different communion services. Order One resembles our US Rite II, whether in contemporary wording (p. 169) or traditional (p. 209). Order Two (traditional, p. 237) parallels the 1662 BCP, while the contemporary (p. 257) shows that Cranmer’s confession can be expressed in 21st century language:

Almighty God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
maker of all things, judge of all people,
we acknowledge and lament our many sins
and the wickedness we have committed time after time, by thought, word and deed against your divine majesty. We have provoked your righteous anger
and your indignation against us.
We earnestly repent,
and are deeply sorry for these our wrongdoings;
the memory of them weighs us down,
the burden of them is too great for us to bear.
Have mercy upon us,
have mercy upon us, most merciful Father.
For your Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
forgive us all that is past;
and grant that from this time forward
we may always serve and please you in newness of life, to the honor and glory of your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

This is essentially the same language (I haven’t compared it word for word) that Peter Toon and the Prayer Book Society used in An Anglican Prayer Book, their 2008 update of the 1662 BCP for AMiA.

As Toon noted, the trends has been away from a Book of Common Prayer to a series of books of alternative services, with local option to choose among the many variants. As such, a thin gruel for confession seems inevitable for ACNA: but there’s no reason it should be less than our TEC brethren — or that it should drop the centuries-old theology as expressed in contemporary language.

Ever since I came back to the church in my 30s, the confession has been the most powerful moment of the service, when we “acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness.” It was only later, as I studied Lutheran and Reformed theology, that I realized that this personal confession of sinfulness was (at least for some traditions) the essence of the Protestant faith.

I know that mega-church pastors don’t want to use the “s” word. But ACNA, even its evangelical wing? It’s time for the ACNA Liturgy Task Force to repent of its efforts to water down the millennia-old worship and theology that is part of our shared Christian heritage.

Update: The Texts for Common Prayer (released October 2013) correct this problem with a more theologically sound confession and even the “s” word:

The Deacon or other person appointed says the following
All who truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and seek to be reconciled with your neighbors, and intend to lead the new life, following the commandments of God, and walking in his holy ways: draw near with faith and make your humble confession to Almighty God.

Silence

The Deacon and People kneel as able and pray
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
maker and judge of us all:
We acknowledge and repent of our many sins and offenses, which we have committed by thought, word, and deed,
against your divine majesty,
provoking most justly your righteous anger against us.
We are deeply sorry for these transgressions.
The burden of them is more than we can bear.
Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father;
for your Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
forgive us all that is past;
and grant that we may evermore serve and please you in newness of to the honor and glory of your Name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This correction renders moot (makes obsolete) the earlier criticisms of the draft ACNA liturgy.