Founded in 2009, that denomination has turned back the clock a bit but not as much as hoped. It retains nearly every doctrinal aberration except the embrace of the various sexual attractions and gender identities which have captured the parent. It is conservativish but not close to what it was hoped to be or what the Episcopal church was sixty or seventy years ago. More than this, the ACNA is small. With churches that span some 49 states as well as in Canada and Mexico, it barely counts 128,000 members across more than 1,000 congregations. While it has a few big congregations, the majority are small as it is small. Now it appears that there are other challenges to this little group. Confronting allegations by clergy and parishioners against two of its top leaders, its own integrity lies in question. Their archbishop is accused of sexual misconduct and another bishop allegedly abused his power by allowing men with troubled histories into his diocese of 19 congregations. The small gets smaller.
Five years ago an ACNA bishop plead guilty to ecclesiastical charges of “sexual immorality” and “conduct giving just cause for scandal” for his use of pornography and was removed. One year ago another was defrocked for sending more than 11,000 text messages to a married woman- among other things. Also last year a current and former rector of a prominent congregation near Washington, DC, were punished for their mishandling of sexual allegations by a youth minister there. Less than 25 years old as a denomination and it has already acquired a dizzying track record of leaders in moral lapses. The small gets smaller.
At some point I had harbored hopes for this fledgling attempt to breathe new life into the dead shell of the Episcopal Church on the shores of the US. Other conservative bodies were quick to open talks in the hopes that a more solid friendship and relationship might evolve. Now I am sad to say that perhaps we should be distancing ourselves from this church body instead. Am I being too harsh? Perhaps but it is clear that either this communion lacks the will or desire to rise above and is content to live in another kind of muck -- a different muck but still in need of cleansing. I wish it were not the case but it is.
A decade or so ago, the LCMS was playing theological spin-the-bottle games with the ACNA, as well as other pastrix-ordaining, episcopal church bodies like the EECMY.and NALC.
ReplyDeleteFour years ago LCMS President Harrison participated in full vestments in a consecration service for the new bishop of Mission Diocese of Finland, an LCMS church partner. The service included the Lord’s Supper along side church leaders not in fellowship with the LCMS.
Doctrinally, it would appear this church would be one a Christian must avoid. And with the declining membership, it seems the pews have continued to empty. As a natural purging within the body of Christ, it is often the only solution, where the word of God no longer matters, and a cultural Gospel is preached. When a church is neither faithful, nor obedient, it becomes unfruitful. Members prompted by the Holy Spirit usually leave, while others who want cultural reaffirmation more than spiritual sustenance will stay. As for sexual sins, this crosses all denominations, because Satan is effective in tempting men in particular to sexual addiction. Sexual thoughts and desires, and the weakness of the flesh are serious spiritual vulnerabilities, in many respects, for most men, including Christian men. It is a battle fought within the mind most of their lives. Although the internet and movies make it easier to view and wander into habitual pornography, even without digital devices, Satan finds a way to tempt men. Unfortunately, many men have made shipwreck of their lives, relationships, marriages, and reputations. This is why the word of God says to guard our hearts and minds, lest men be drawn into temptation’s lair. One may not lose their salvation in Christ, who paid for our sins, but there remains the heavy burden of guilt and a loss of fellowship with the Lord for a time. People who have fallen prey to sexual sin need our prayers, not our judgment, because the grace of God remains something all need, whatever besetting sin takes one off the narrow path. Soli Deo Gloria
ReplyDeleteSome news articles from November:
ReplyDeleteNovember 3, 2025, ACNA Press Release,
“Announces Temporary Leave of Absence” (https://anglicanchurch.net/press-release-archbishop-announces-temporary-leave-of-absence/)
November 8, 2025, Living Church article, “ACNA Archbishop Faces Second Sexual Misconduct Complaint” (https://livingchurch.org/news/acna-archbishop-faces-second-sexual-misconduct-complaint/)
November 20, 2025, Living Church article, “Wood Inhibited [leave of absense] ; Sutton Steps Down [resigns from position]” (https://livingchurch.org/news/news-anglican-communion/wood-inhibited-sutton-steps-down/)
November 21, 2025, Diocese of the Carolinas article, “Understanding the allegations involving Archbishop Steve Wood” (https://adoc.church/understanding-the-allegations-involving-archbishop-steve-wood/)
In recent years the ACNA and similar Anglican bodies have entered into communion with LCMS partners bodies overseas. Many of these partner-bodies have positioned themselves in contradiction to the sexual-liberalism of such bodies as the Church of Sweden or ELCA, and have taken a leading role in the development of confessional Lutheranism overseas, but the dangerous irony nonetheless remains that these same bodies undermine that anti-liberal cause and the Lutheran confessions by their fellowship with congregations of rival confessions which engage in or overlook WO.
ReplyDeleteIt is entirely legitimate to call into question the effect these alliances will have upon the Lutheran church in twenty or so years, as an increasing number of African bodies begin to follow the NALC and ACNA in “setting the clock back” on liberal gender issues and homosexuality while adopting WO and other theologically liberal positions.