#synod: C of E recognise breakaway American Anglicans

In a two-and-a-half hour in-depth debate the Church of England Synod has decided to recognise the Anglican Church in North America. The original motion wanted the Synod to “express a desire that the Church of England be in communion” with the break-away group. However, following a long deliberation of several amendments (held up by a series of technical glitches with the electronic voting system that saw the tradition division doors used), the motion finally passed reduced this to an awareness of the distress caused by the divisions, but also recognised (and affirmed) the desire of the ACNA to be “part of the Anglican family”.

In introducing the original motion, Lorna Ashworth said that there was no “hidden agenda” and that it was not about “separating from TEC (the US Anglican Church) or about sexuality.” She also argued that the Church of England was in communion with other churches around the world that were not part of the Anglican Communion. In supporting the motion, Rev Norman Russel, Archdeacon of Berkshire said that in a visit to the US he was convinced that “the ACNA are classical Anglicans … they are the kind of Anglicans I want to be.”

Despite fears from others that passing the motion would be an insult to TEC, or would appear to be a lack of support for traditionalists who have remained in TEC, the motion was eventually carried with a significant majority. The implications of this are, as yet, unclear, but this has placed the tensions in North America at the centre of English Anglican politics.

Tagged as: Anglicanism