ACNA Archbishop is Optimistic in the face of National Decline
by David W Virtue, DD, Virtueonline:
The archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, (ACNA) The Most Rev. Foley Beach, says that the first ten years has seen his denomination grow 1,000 congregations.
“This is an incredible achievement. We started in faith, and almost ten short years later, we see enormous growth in so many of our churches. Some are very small and struggling. Many are large and growing. But all of them are part of this extraordinary movement of God,” He told his followers in a letter.
By contrast, The Episcopal Church is shriveling, with an ASA of 577,000 and is declining year over year.
“When I look at our Province and see that we are only ten years old, I am filled with joy and thanksgiving… and I see the power of the hand and power of God that has both guided and protected us.”
The archbishop described it as an “Ebenezer” moment, allowing the ministers of the province to grow through prayer and support.
“We believe in church planting! I don’t know of any movement that has seen such an explosion of church planting. We have learned so much over the past ten years…and we are developing this knowledge into practical training for a new generation of churches, ones that we are praying to see in our second decade.”
Beach said that one new ACNA church was being started every ten days. “I find this truth to be more than amazing. We had an initial base of congregations that established the ACNA ten years ago. Since then we have had huge church planting efforts to increase our capacity. It is working! The Always Forward Movement is leading with support, training, and encouragement for local congregations and dioceses. And now we have a steady ‘birth rate’ year by year.”
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