ACNA'09: Anglican Church in North America officially constituted

June 22, 2009

BEDFORD, TX: Delegates to the inaugural Provincial Assembly gathered in Bedford, Texas, ratified the constitution of the Anglican Church in North America today, officially constituting the Church. The constitution is posted to the Assembly website.

Following ratification at 4:23 pm Central Time, Archbishop-designate Robert Duncan said, “We have done the work, dear brothers and sisters. The Anglican Church in North America has been constituted.”

Prior to consideration of the constitution, Bishop Duncan reported on the work of the College of Bishop this past week. The bishops completed the election of eight bishops for several dioceses and officially elected Bishop Duncan as the Archbishop-designate of the Anglican Network in Canada.

Nine provinces in the Anglican Communion have official representatives at this Inaugural Provincial Assembly: West Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya (Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi), Southern Cone (including Archbishop Gregory Venables), Jerusalem & the Middle East, Myanmar, South East Asia and Rwanda. For a list of bishops-designate, see the Assembly website.

In addition, a number of ecumenical guests are at the Assembly, including: Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church, Bishop Walter Grundorf of the Anglican Province of America, the Rev Dr Samuel Nafzger of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, and Bishop Kevin Vann, Roman Catholic Bishop of Fort Worth. For a list of delegations and ecumenical guests, see the Assembly website.

The Anglican Church in North America unites some 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes into a single church. Jurisdictions which have joined together to form the 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation of the Anglican Church in North America are: the dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy and San Joaquin; the Anglican Mission in the Americas; the Convocation of Anglicans in North America; the Anglican Network in Canada; the Anglican Coalition in Canada; the Reformed Episcopal Church; and the missionary initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, and South America’s Southern Cone. Additionally, the American Anglican Council and Forward in Faith North America are founding organizations.

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