As inherent parts of this sacred deposit, and therefore as essential to the restoration of unity among the divided branches of Christendom, we account the following, to wit:

1. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the revealed Word of God.

2. The Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian Faith.

3. The two Sacraments,--Baptism and the Supper of the Lord,--ministered with unfailing use of Christ's words of institution and of the elements ordained by Him.

4. The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the unity of His Church.

In today's cultures which have forgotten the shared assumptions of Christian language, the power of these statements may be missed. For example, the phrase "the revealed Word of God," is not just a title. To the authors it meant that the Bible holds the place of ultimate authority in matters of faith and practice.

To say that the Nicene Creed is a "sufficient statement of the Christian Faith," does not mean to say that the Creed plumbs the depths of the theological riches of the faith or that it reveals the fullness of what Christians believe, rather it lists those things which cannot be denied without forfeiting salvation.

In "liberal" Provinces like The Episcopal Church (TEC) and Anglican Church of Canada (and others like Brazil, Wales, Scotland, Mexico, and more!) if they were not already part of Anglican institutional life, no responsible Anglican body would enter into a new relationship of Communion with them. This is not to say that they have gotten everything wrong. Getting everything wrong would require far more energy and commitment than the leaders in these provinces have been willing expend so far. Suffice it to say, however, that none of the elements of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral are unstained by the unbiblical practices and beliefs of the liberal agenda. They kind of get grandfathered into being included in ongoing Communion life even though they are hacking away at the ark of faith using giant theological chain saws to separate themselves from saving faith. The Good News, however, is that in each of those Provinces, there are "7,000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal." Those faithful will never embrace the Cross-less faith that offers cheap affirmation rather than redemption.

As critical elements of the faith have been rejected, those false teachings are like a hole below the waterline of a ship. Most of the hull may be intact, but if there is a hole that lies below the waterline, the entire vessel is under assault. The sinking liberal ships give rise to the inevitable emergence of Biblically faithful churches. The increasing pull of their heretical practice pulls farther and farther away from the ship of faith, and ultimately to perdition. At some point, those whose allegiance is to the historic faith find that their bonds with orthodoxy are stronger than institutional ones and there is a separation from the institution of which they were a part. That is what happened in the US and in Canada, and it is likely to happen other places as well where similar dynamics exist. But there is more...

C. S. Lewis said in the Chronicles of Narnia, "Aslan is on the prowl." By that he meant that the Lion Aslan (the Christ figure) was on the move to manifest the Kingdom of God, overwhelming sin, evil, and rebellion. In that same way, the Holy Spirit is moving all over the world in a great simultaneous call that thousands and thousands are answering.

Not long ago, I spoke with a Christian from Germany. He was blissfully unaware of Anglicanism but he was active in a new church plant. It was filled with new converts among the twenty to thirty somethings. I asked him to tell me about the church. He described several distinctive characteristics.

1. The people in the church fully accept the Word of God as authoritative.

2. They are open to the present work of the Holy Spirit and His gifts.

3. They have a desire to connect with historic worship (citing liturgical prayers and music like the Monastery at Taize as well as new things).

4. They seek Apostolic order.

5. They had a revelation that Baptism and Communion are "supernatural acts" and are more than memorials that serve as testimonies.

What is fascinating is that a few weeks later, I spoke with a Christian from Cambodia. I asked him to describe his church. He cited essentially the same principles. From Argentina, despite rampant inflation and horrific corruption, I heard from a convert how new Christians are coming to life with the same heartbeat. All over the world, in thousands of places, the Holy Spirit is "spontaneously" calling people to new life with this pattern.

In addition to the faithful in the Church who refuse to surrender the Faith, there are thousands of new fellowships emerging which all reflect this Holy Spirit DNA. It is remarkable that it is so coincidental with Historic Anglicanism. Where the institutional church is departing from its roots, then new work is breaking out. It is a winsome face for the Body of Christ and disenchanted and disheartened people are finding hope. What may have been true in generations past that the momentum of Christendom was enough to gather sufficient people to fuel the future of the institution, now, there is a demand for more life. Not superficial showmanship, but substantive, challenging, discipleship that takes faith so seriously, it is not shaken by the violent assaults of Boko Haram and ISIS, or the terrible persecution of intolerance that seeks to eliminate Christian faith. No external assault can overwhelm what Christ is doing in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

To those "liberal" Anglican Provinces who seek to demand a fruitful future because they are "franchise owners" in their region, the Lord is very clearly saying, "Fooey." He is no more inclined to remain linked with the faithless now than He was when Israel needed to be dragged to Babylon in order to be disciplined into faithfulness.

Certainly not every Christian in those liberally leaning cultures which are abandoning their Christian roots at breakneck speed will wind up in an Anglican Church tomorrow. But the ones who do not join re-aligning Anglican congregations will enter churches that look more like a living Anglican Church than a vapid institutional one that only has the musty remnants of Anglican aroma. We are not only part of a globally growing, spiritually powerful Anglicanism, we are living in a time where the Lord is shaping a great deal of new life in a way that looks a lot like healthy Anglicanism.

"Liberal" Provinces, can you not see the signs? The earliest sign of new life in the Spring is the budding almond. Blooming even in the midst of snow, this early promise assures us that Winter is not forever, but Spring will surely come. And what comes, like Aslan's footprints melting the snow and ice into Spring, looks a great deal like what it means to be one of these new congregations. It also looks amazingly Anglican. He that hath an ear, let him hear.

Bishop Bill Atwood is Bishop of the ACNA International Diocese and an American Anglican Council contributing author