Expect to see more “Anglican” churches around in North America in 2009. The new Anglican Church in North America has a missionary mindset. But also, some of the parishes already in the new church will want to change their names to make their identity more clear.
Many of those will be Reformed Episcopal parishes. Our bishops are gently encouraging us to change our parish names to “Anglican” in part because the E-word leads to confusion. Bishop Grote visited my parish yesterday and said as much. I wish I remembered the delicate way he put difficulties with the E-word. :)
And that has been my personal experience. When I say I go to a Reformed Episcopal Church, people are polite and all. But it’s clear they think it’s Episcopalian. So I have a choice to let it lie or right away give an explanation of what we are not. Not a pleasant choice. It’s hard to be winsome given that.
It seems my parish agrees with our bishops’ wisdom though we are proud of our Reformed Episcopal identity. We haven’t decided yet, but I expect we will change our name (or at least our sign) from “Reformed Episcopal” to “Anglican.” We won’t be alone.
5 comments:
It will only get worse. The revisionists know exactly how to drive the orthodox out - simply continue the pro-homosexual activism in the news. The only difficulty is how to keep it in the news. In order to do this, they have to one-up themselves. Expect high profile homosexual marriages like they had in London before Lambeth. B033 will be repealed and will result in opening the floodgate of homosexual bishops.
Have a blessed Christmas!
From my perspective, the REC was much more Anglican than the new ACNA is capable of being any time in the future. Anglican is as Anglican does and complete obedience to one of the classical orthodox Anglican prayer books is a requirement. A group still fixated on the TEO book of 1979 and unwilling to give up Minn's "Two Integrities" doesn't come close to making it. It would be nice if it were otherwise. Maybe in the future it will be.
Newbie, I suspect that St Vincent's will also change it's sign in the near future. It would be great to have the "E" word off our sign before the first Provincial Assembly meets here at the end of June. Of course, we would not technically be able to put ACNA on our sign until after both the June meeting and our 2009 Diocesan Convention, when we would officially accede to the final, official ACNA constitution. Still, I cannot wait until that "Episcopal" sign in front of the cathedral at present is gone. Being in the Southern Cone today, however, I have already had the pleasure of being able to introduce myself as an ANGLICAN priest rather than an Episcopal one. I no longer have to spend ten minutes explaining that didn't mean what it sounded like it meant!
As one whose primary ministry is as a hospice chaplain and thereby ministers to people from all sorts of church backgrounds and a few with none at all, I'm frequently asked what kind of minister I am. My typical response for several years now has been to say that I'm an Anglican priest. When pressed further I'll clarify and when I need to be specific I'll say tell them that I'm a Reformed Episcopalian.
Many people don't know what "Anglican" means and it's tough to explain without using the descriptor "Episcopalian." That's made easier by living in Lowcountry South Carolina where the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina has stood for orthodoxy at times where is wasn't that easy!
Being one of the few white REC clergy in the Charleston area can make for some interesting moments as well. Among those who have been aware of the REC -- it has been a presence in the area for more than 130 years, but almost exclusively in the Black community -- I've been asked from time to time how it can be that I'm a minister in the REC. My usual response is to tell them that I was in good standing the last time I saw my bishop, but that one never knows what's happened since then!
Or start a new Anglican Communion:
http://www.liturgy.co.nz/blog/true-anglican-communion/246
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