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American Anglican Council Applauds Virginia Churches' Faithfulness
By Canon David C. Anderson
12/20/2006
The American Anglican Council (AAC) fervently applauds the faithfulness of the nine Diocese of Virginia churches that announced Sunday, December 17, 2006, their plans to disaffiliate from The Episcopal Church (TEC) and affiliate with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), the U.S. missionary district of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. The nine churches, with a combined membership of nearly 8,000 and average Sunday attendance of just over 4,300, join four other Diocese of Virginia churches that have disaffiliated from TEC over the past year.
"CANA is growing rapidly, and the AAC joins the Virginia churches in our gratitude to the Church of Nigeria and its archbishop, the Most. Rev. Peter Akinola, for providing much-needed oversight and support during this difficult time in the United States," said the Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, AAC President and CEO.
TEC has continually rejected biblical orthodoxy over the past four decades, and the speed of its moral and theological decline has increased since General Convention 2006, when the convention failed to adequately respond to the Windsor Report and worldwide Primates' requests.
"The top leadership of the Episcopal Church is rapidly leading TEC away from being a Christian church, and we strongly support churches that choose to leave in order to remain faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word," Canon Anderson said. "These Virginia churches represent a significant segment of TEC, and they will serve as a beacon for other churches nation-wide who face the same decision regarding their relationship with TEC and the Anglican Communion."
The climate of the national church has become increasingly hostile toward the orthodox since General Convention, and bishops such as that of Virginia, the Rt. Rev. Peter Lee, have leveled threats against those who choose to disaffiliate while hoping to retain their property. All nine churches voting to disaffiliate in Virginia last weekend overwhelmingly voted to keep their property.
"As in California, litigation against the Virginia churches would be a grave misuse of church money," Canon Anderson said. "The Virginia churches have been gracious and charitable in their dealings with the diocese, for which we praise them. We pray that they and Bishop Lee will be able to find a way to amicably settle the church property issues without further hostility."
Continuing, Canon Anderson added: "While TEC continues to live in denial of the split that their revisionist theology has caused in the church, they are losing individual members and whole churches on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, a strong presence of orthodox Anglicanism is being built in the Americas and is growing daily. The AAC commends those who continue to take a stand for the biblical faith and urges others to take note of the Virginia churches' courageous stand for the sake of generations to come."
---The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson is president of the American Anglican Council
