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News : TONAWANDA, NY: Anglican church assumes central role in new diocese
Posted by David Virtue on 2011/8/16 15:00:00 (646 reads)

TONAWANDA, NY: Anglican church assumes central role in new diocese

By Jay Tokasz
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/tonawanda/article521170.ece
August 13, 2011

[Rev. Arthur Ward] When members of St. Bartholomew's Church in the Town of Tonawanda decided in 2008 to leave the Episcopal Church, they didn't know for sure where they fit in the larger structure of Anglicanism.

Less than three years later, the parish has become a pivotal congregation within the Anglican Church in North America, a rival to the Episcopal Church that grew from a rift between theological conservatives and liberal Episcopalians over Bible interpretation and the ordination of a gay bishop.

This week, the congregation served as host for a conference of the International Diocese, the new diocese to which it belongs as part of the Anglican Church in North America.

Friday, Bishop Bill Atwood dedicated St. Bartholomew as the diocese's pro-cathedral, giving the church special significance as the site of the bishop's chair.

Atwood cited the church's role as a stabilizing force in organizing the new diocese, which includes congregations in Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, as well as New York State.

"The people here are magnificent," Atwood said. "It's a resource place with great people."

Unlike most dioceses in the Anglican Church, the International Diocese is not regional.

"It's not geographical by definition, but it's based on a shared mission value," said Atwood.

Congregations within the International Diocese have strong connections overseas, which they expect to maintain and enhance.

When the congregation left the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York, for example, the Rev. Arthur W. Ward Jr., its longtime rector, was able to remain an active priest by transferring to the Diocese of Argentina.

The Argentina diocese is part of the province of the Southern Cone in the Worldwide Anglican Communion - a province that was sympathetic to churches in the United States that disagreed with the 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop.

Provinces in Africa also provided temporary ecclesiastical homes for American priests and congregations that disputed the consecration.

Those provinces "offered us more than a lifeboat," said Atwood. "They offered us life."

Western churches, he added, can learn from the impact that those Anglican churches have had on the cultures of their countries, he added.

For more than 50 years, the St. Bartholomew congregation had worshipped in a sanctuary at 1064 Brighton Road, becoming the largest single parish in the Episcopal Diocese.

After the split with the diocese, members left their church behind and purchased a former synagogue at 2368 Eggert Road.

The move "energized the parish," Ward said. "We got stronger as a result, not weaker."

The Episcopal Diocese attempted to establish a new parish in the Brighton Road site. But when that failed, the diocesan offices were moved there from their longtime location on Delaware Avenue.

"It's ironic," Ward said, "but it's nice that our old place was a blessing to the diocese that they were able to make it their headquarters."

END

Anglican 1000 Replanting Biblical Anglicanism in North America

Anglican Church in North America

Anglican 1000 Replanting Biblical Anglicanism in North America

“We get to see the fingerprints of what the Lord is doing here in the U.S. and in Canada.”

As the Anglican Church in North America Provincial Council gathered in Long Beach, Calif., The Rev. Canon David Roseberry, chairman of Anglican 1000, and The Rev. Daniel Adkinson, Anglican 1000 associate director, addressed attendees and shared the latest news about the movement.

Father Roseberry reflected on the day two years ago when at his investiture, Archbishop Robert Duncan issued the call for 1,000 new Anglican congregations and communities of faith during his ministry. “You felt that roar of applause,” said Roseberry. “These were words spoken under the Spirit that came to us in power. There was such a reception that that I just felt moved.”

That one line from Archbishop Duncan’s sermon became a strategic Anglican Church in North America initiative with the vision to plant new works to reach North America with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

“All of us have been nurtured by a church,” said Father Roseberry. “We are the beneficiaries of church planting efforts long ago. Anglican 1000 is an effort to return that favor to the future. Our vision is to plant churches and communities of faith that will bring future generations to the Gospel. It’s worth a lot of our money, effort, and attention.”

“We’ve seen church planters step out in faith to replant biblical Anglicanism here in North America,” said The Rev. Daniel Adkinson. “We get to see the fingerprints of what the Lord is doing here in the U.S. and in Canada as well.”

Adkinson reported that Anglican 1000 is currently counting roughly 130 new works, but said there are even more churches that have not yet been reported to Anglican 1000 or are in the process of being planted.

Adkinson said of reaching the Anglican 1000 goal, “By God’s grace, if He moves, we can. It’s about more than the number. It’s about calling people to conversion and transformation.”

(follow this link http://www.anglicanchurch.net/?/main/page/264  for the complete article)   

Archbishop’s State of the Church Address: Provincial Council 2011 (excerpts)

Two years ago we were 706 congregations.  The annual parochial and diocesan reports for 2010 – the first year for which we have a system of statistical reporting in place (another provincial milestone) – identify 952 congregations as part of the dioceses of the Anglican Church in North America and its ministry partners.  Statistically this represents a 34 percent growth in congregations at the end of the first 18 months of Church life.

We focus on the centrality of local congregations as the “chief agency” of our mission in the Anglican Church in North America.[Article IV of the Constitution]  If we are to “reach North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ” the principal way we will do this is through the local congregation. We say that every Anglican Church congregation is “accountable to the Holy Scriptures, accountable to the Tradition, and accountable for the transformation of society.” 


We understand that congregations are where disciples are formed and that it is through congregations that surrounding environments are changed.  We have a clarity about all of this – about the absolute centrality of congregations – that allows us to focus as a Province. Bishops, archbishops, dioceses, structures, programs all exist in order to make the local congregation strong. 

PHOTOS of the Installation of Bishop Roger Ames

CLICK the TITLE to go to: Photos of Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes (ACNA) | Facebook

Moving into a NEW DIOCESE!

All Saints is moving into a new diocese within the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). As the Diocese of the Holy Spirit moves toward closure in June, as expected, its parishes and priests are seeking new dioceses for their home jurisdiction. This diocese was a transition diocese for the parishes that were received into the Church of Uganda as the Anglican Reformation began in the U.S. All Saints has explored building a relationship with the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes (ADGL). As our Rector contacted the bishop of the ADGL, Rt. Rev. Roger Ames, we found a very warm welcome and an invitation to join their diocese. Our Vestry agreed to accept this invitation. Our bishop, the Rt. Rev. John Guernsey, was pleased to transfer All Saints and Fr. David to our new diocese. Plans for Bishop Ames to be Installed as the bishop of the ADGL are set for Saturday, April 29th. Bishop Ames invited our Rector to participate in the Installation. Fr. David accepted the invitation with great joy and expectation for all that this new relationship offers our parish. Growing the Church with New Life is the emerging theme of parish life and ministries for 2011. This new diocesan relationship holds great promise for our living into this venture. It is with deepest thankfulness that we move from our diocesan relationship with Bishop John Guernsey who has offered our parish and our Rector exemplary Christian love and wisdom through the years we have shared together.
A link with the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes can be found here: http://anglicandiocesegrlakes.org/index.shtml

Lenten Focus: Worship and becoming spiritually alive!

   For the first five Sundays in Lent we will be using the 1928 Prayer Book for our Services of Holy Communion. This temporary change is to help us observe our Anglican heritage with the Service that is most commonly accepted throughout our Anglican Church in North America. We will return to our regular Service Booklets on Palm Sunday.      

   We will be using the Sharing Times after the Service to reflect upon Worship, traditions including those of the early church, Services of Holy Communion, and we’ll study what Holy Scripture tells us about worshiping God.

    During our times of Worship, Biblical Preaching throughout Lent will be focused upon becoming spiritually alive. The sermon series is as follows:

  March 20     2 Lent        Being Born of the Spirit     John 3:1-17

  March 27     3 Lent        GOD IS SPIRIT   John 4: 5-42

  April  3         4 Lent        Really Seeing Spiritually what is Real 

                                                           John 9:1-41

 April  10      5 Lent        Spiritually Alive!     John 11:1-45 

 April  17   Palm Sunday   Our Spiritual Journey with Jesus    

                                                         Matthew 26:36—27:66

  April 21    Maundy Thursday   Chapel at 7 PM    

                                         Holy Eucharist and the Last Supper   

  April 22    Good Friday  Tenebrae Service at 7:30 PM 

    Joint Service at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Webster

  April 24    Easter Day     Emergence of New Life     John 20:1-18

  May  1     1 Easter         Morning Prayer 1928 Prayer Book

                                                    Tom Stone-Lay Preacher

  May  8     2 Easter       Known in the Breaking of the Bread   

                                                           Luke 24:13-35

JOIN US as we share in observing a Holy Lent that is spiritually encouraging!

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE
6:30 pm at Holy Cross Anglican Church

Join us for the Imposition of Ashes,

a brief homily shared by Fr. Ambuske and Fr. Harnish,

Holy Communion of the Presanctified Sacrament

Let us begin the observance of a Holy Lent together

615 Bay Rd, Webster, NY 

for map please go to the following web address:

http://www.acahome.org/dne/hcross/index.htm