The Anglican Church in North America currently is made up of 700 dissident Anglican churches, ranging from tiny Southern congregations that meet at Holiday Inns to larger congregations like St. Vincent's in Bedford.

"The challenge before them is obviously two-fold," says the Rev. Bill Sachs, an Episcopal priest and author of the forthcoming book, "Homosexuality and the Crisis of Anglicanism." "How do you meld all of these groups that have prized their particular identity? And the larger challenge is how do you transform a spirit of protest into a positive message that might even attract newcomers?"

Denominational realignment has dogged the Episcopal Church since it broke from the Church of England after the Revolutionary War. But never has such a large chunk of the church broken off in protest. Its intent is to form a polyglot communion with like-minded dioceses spanning from Rwanda to Argentina.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) • ACNA Inaugural Assembly June 2009

1. Already left wrote: Wow, this reporter can’t even get dates correct. VGR was made bishop in 2003 not 1993. June 25, 1:28 pm | [comment link]

2. Jeremy Bonner wrote: I wonder how the OCA will feel about being described as an “Anglican offshoot.” June 25, 2:03 pm | [comment link]

3. IsaacThorpe wrote: Somebody needs a refresher course in fact checking… June 25, 2:06 pm | [comment link]

4. The_Archer_of_the_Forest wrote: a polyglot communion That term has to be worth a few pages in somebody’s book. June 25, 2:25 pm | [comment link]

5. RalphM wrote: Please - facts just get in the way of the story we want to tell… June 25, 2:49 pm | [comment link]

6. Ken Peck wrote: 2. Jeremy Bonner wrote: I wonder how the OCA will feel about being described as an “Anglican offshoot.” Amazed. It’s largely an offshoot of the Russian Orthodox Church in America during the cold war, recognized as Orthodox by the Ecumenical Patriarch and other Orthodox Churches as throughly Orthodox. But, then perhaps the CSM would describe the Roman Church as an offshoot of the Church of England. June 25, 3:53 pm | [comment link]

7. Paula wrote: Aside from these glitches of fact (especially OCA), I thought this was a reasonably good story. June 26, 1:40 am | [comment link]

Registered members must log in to comment.