A successful Anglo-Catholic church plant in rural West Virginia is not something that I would have foreseen, but God is full of surprises. In a denomination in which most new church starts are in major metropolitan areas or college towns, Fitzwater saw God at work in an area that some of us overlook, and knew that historic Anglicanism offered helpful tools for connecting people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Indeed, there has been significant Anglican church planting activity across West Virginia.

First planted in 2017, Ascension has grown, acquired its own church building, and in 2023 reported 121 church members, most of whom are new to Anglican Christianity. They've even partnered in helping launch a congregation 80 miles away in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. Perhaps this is further evidence that churches are at their most evangelistically active within the first five years of being planted.

The Missionary Diocese of All Saints was formed by Anglo-Catholic congregations connected through the Forward in Faith movement, an early co-founder of the ACNA. It is among the smaller dioceses and comprises mostly small congregations in need of clergy. The diocese also ministers in areas in which no other ACNA congregations exist. In late 2020, I was surprised to discover one such parish while visiting family on California's Central Coast. The sacramental theology they hold prompted them to meet in-person and share Holy Communion with me at a time when many other congregations were meeting remotely, or not at all. How grateful I am for that worship service! It is a reminder that even our smallest congregations provide much-needed ministry in the communities they are called to serve.

Like more than a few clergy serving in the ACNA, Bishop Darryl served as a pastor in a Pentecostal denomination. He is experienced ministering within a "spirit-filled" context, understanding that the catholicity of the Church places limits on an individual expressiveness that sometimes runs churches off the rails. Darryl also brought a strong interest in the lives, writings, and doctrines of the early church fathers (patristics). You can find his biweekly Appalachian Anglican podcast that "brings the distinct flavor of the mountains and hollers of the Appalachian region to the global Anglican chorus" here. I'm still amused that ACNA facilitated a Pentecostal pastor studying at a historically Wesleyan seminary and entering into Anglo-Catholicism. Considering John and Charles Wesley's own High Church background, maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

Charismatic renewal, I have previously suggested, is one "glue" that is holding the ACNA together across different forms of churchmanship. While I am not charismatic, I see evidence all around me of people encountering the person of the Holy Spirit and their lives changed. It sounds almost like a trope to say so at this point, but the Holy Spirit does move in unexpected ways, drawing new people to the Gospel and the truth of Holy Scripture, revealing God's heart for his people.

Maybe Anglo-Catholic tradition in West Virginia is just the latest in many examples of the Holy Spirit at work.

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