"CANA reflects the future of orthodox Anglican unity in our country," said Harper. "They're completely orthodox, but they are also committed to influencing the world around them with the Gospel, while being faithful to Scripture and led by the Holy Spirit. There is already significant fruit in their ministry-an important indicator of success. CANA is very congruent with the vision we feel God has given All Saints for today-we're excited and humbled that we can be part of their mission."

Harper, 52, a retired military officer, told VOL that this exciting development is in keeping with the changes currently underway in the whole Anglican Communion. "God is raising up a banner like he promised in the Scripture when our enemy rushes in like a flood. As a military guy this is a perfectly logically development. It is God's means to rally us to action, he told VOL. In ancient times when a general saw his banner go up, he knew that success was at hand. We see a parallel in what God is doing here."

CANA is an independent, indigenous mission of the Anglican Church of Nigeria headed by Archbishop Peter Akinola. Although under Nigerian ecclesiastical authority, CANA has its own American leadership, funding and structure. Missionary bishops Martyn Minns and David Bena lead it. Their headquarters is in northern Virginia. The missionary movement is growing rapidly. It is already larger than 50 dioceses of the current Episcopal Church. Bishop Bena told VOL that CANA has more than 50 parishes in the U.S. with some 15 more in the pipeline.

"They intend to be a transitional entity and place of refuge for Episcopalians and other Christians seeking to embrace biblical truth and the Anglican tradition in North America," said Harper.

The CANA leadership was among Anglican bishops from ten jurisdictions and mission led organizations that recently pledged to take the first steps toward a "new ecclesiastical structure" in North America. The meeting of this "first ever" Common Cause Council of Bishops took place in Pittsburgh September 25–28. Common Cause, founded in June 2004, represents an unprecedented alliance of several churches and ministries in the Anglican tradition, dedicated to partner together in a renewed missionary effort in North America and beyond, while ensuring an orthodox Anglican Province in North America connected to a faithful global Communion.

The bishops present lead more than 600 Anglican congregations. They formally organized themselves as a college of bishops which will meet every six months. They also laid out a timeline for the path ahead, committed to working together at local and regional levels, agreed to deploy clergy interchangeably and announced their intention to, in consultation "with those Primates and Provinces of the Anglican Communion offering recognition under the timeline adopted," call a "founding constitutional convention for an Anglican union," the beginnings of a new Anglican province in the US.

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