The point of religious voluntarism was that people could respond to the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit to carry out Christian mission and service without being formally established by the church hierarchy. They looked for validation and recognition not from the bishops, but from other believers. At the start of CMS no bishops would ordain people to serve with CMS so CMS began with pastors from Germany.

"In an era where a pro-traditional marriage stance can close your business, drain your savings, and bury you in social media hate, every one of these churches in this last group takes an absolutist stance against gay marriage and the ordination of gay clergy. The currents of social change are flowing downstream and with them, a number of Christian churches, which perhaps coincidentally are also shrinking in size.

It was a real encouragement to hear the leader of the Anglican Communion give such an unequivocal call to evangelism based on a clear commitment to and personal experience of the Christ of the Scriptures. It is also commendable that the call is for all Christians to be involved in the work of evangelism, not just a few clergy or those who seem particularly gifted.

"We wanted to build a transcendent space," said the Rev. John Yates III, his breath hanging beneath the arching steel bones of the sanctuary. To his left, a construction worker rode an accordion lift to finish the details of a window that reached toward the 60-foot ceiling.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church formed about a decade ago, splitting off from the national Episcopal church alongside scores of other groups.