Three New Anglican Movements Challenge Church of England’s Hegemony

Feb 26, 2021 by

by David Virtue, Virtueonline:

In recent weeks, three new bodies have emerged within the Anglican Communion. Two of the movements are orthodox, one is progressive and, taken together, they could undermine the Church of England’s hegemony, even as demographics, declining church attendance and COVID tear the Mother Church apart.

ANGLICAN CONVOCATION IN EUROPE

Recently, a new Anglican convocation in Europe was commissioned under GAFCON Bishop Andy Lines. It is called the Anglican Convocation in Europe (ACE), which is authorized, authenticated and under the authority of GAFCON as part of the Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE).

The Anglican Convocation in Europe (ACE) exists to provide a home for historic, orthodox, biblical, confessional Anglicans in Europe – regardless of churchmanship – expressing gospel generosity within the bounds of the Jerusalem Declaration.

The Anglican Mission in England (AMiE), a fellow member convocation of ANiE, will partner with this new convocation. “The AMiE is delighted to be one of the Founding Convocations of the Anglican Network in Europe,” a note at their website said. AMiE was initially recognized by GAFCON in its communique after the Nairobi conference in 2013 and affirmed in the Letter to the Churches that emerged from its 2018 conference in Jerusalem. The goal is to see the existence of 25 AMiE churches by 2025, and 250 by 2050.

With this move the wagons are beginning to circle the Church of England. The first step was taken by GAFCON when Bishop Lines was consecrated as a missionary bishop to the UK and Europe by the GAFCON Primates in June of 2017. Bishop Lines later ordained nine men to serve the AMIE in England.

It’s a wake-up call for Anglicans, David Baker, a commentator, wrote at that time. “Nine new church ministers is scarcely comparable with the thousands of already-ordained Church of England ministers in the established church. Nonetheless, it is a sad indictment of mainstream Anglicanism that these men either wouldn’t — or couldn’t — be ordained in the CofE. They are undoubtedly conservative on the issues of women’s ministry and sexual morality — but no more so than many Anglicans, Baptists, Pentecostals, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians of course. Their views are well within the mainstream.”

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