This article first appeared in the September 18, 2009 edition of the American Anglican Council's weekly email update. If you would like to receive this free email, click here.

By The Rev. Phil Ashey, J.D.

The mission of the American Anglican Council has included from our very inception the renewal of Anglicanism in North America, and a commitment to build "A Society of Great Commission Churches." While some would say that the battle for renewal of orthodox Anglicanism in The Episcopal Church is largely over, the battle for the renewal of orthodox, Biblical, confessional Christianity in the Anglican Communion has only just begun. It is in this context that we continue to rejoice in the beginning of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in North America (FCA-NA).

What is the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans?

On the 29th of June, 2008, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), issued the Jerusalem Declaration and announced the establishment of "a fellowship of confessing Anglicans for the benefit of the Church and the furtherance of its mission."

a) It is a global fellowship of people united in the communion of the one Spirit and committed to work and pray together in the common mission of Christ.
b) It is a 'confessing fellowship' in that its members confess the faith of Christ crucified, stand firm for the gospel in the global and Anglican context, and affirm a contemporary rule, the Jerusalem Declaration, to guide the movement for the future.
c) It is a global fellowship of Anglicans, including provinces, dioceses, churches, missionary jurisdictions, parachurch organizations and individual Anglican Christians whose goal is to help reform, heal and revitalise the Anglican Communion and expand its mission to the world.

Since GAFCON, we have seen regional organizations of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans form in the U.K. and South Africa. Over 1,000 people attended the launch of the FCA in London in July, and the South African FCA was launched earlier this month.

The Secretary for the GAFCON Primate's Council and FCA director, Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen, has asked the AAC to organize the FCA in North America.

Leaving no Anglican

The announcement of the launch of the FCA-NA last weekend during the SEWAAC meeting at Nashotah House was greeted with applause. And why not? The American Anglican Council has applied for recognition of FCA-NA as a "Ministry Partner" of the Anglican Church in North America (AC-NA) under its Canons. People applauded because they recognized that FCA-NA meets a need to "leave no Anglican behind."

We know there are many individual Anglicans who would like to be moré closely affiliated with the AC-NA and its promise to renew orthodox Anglicanism in North America. According to the Constitution and Canons of the AC-NA, membership comes through joining a local AC-NA congregation. But here is a problem: what about those individuals in the great diaspora across North America who are isolated and far removed from an AC-NA church or church plant? If no reasonable opportunity exists to join a local AC-NA congregation, how can they become connected?

If approved as a Ministry Partner by the AC-NA, the FCA-NA will enable such individuals, otherwise isolated and scattered, an opportunity to be connected as ministry partners of the AC-NA, if they so desire and until they can become full members by establishing or planting a local AC-NA church.

The FCA will help the AC-NA plant churches across North America:

When people join FCA-NA at http://www.fca.net, the information they submit includes their location. One of the primary goals of FCA-NA will be to encourage connection and networking among FCA-NA members within a geographical area. When there is enough interest, inspiration, and motivation for planting a new and local AC-NA church, FCA will work with the leadership of the AC-NA to raise up from the community a church planter and/or church planting team, connect them to church planting resources, and perhaps in some cases work to identify an AC-NA church planter to move in and help build the church. We believe this will be a significant contribution to the AC-NA's goal of planting 1,000 new churches-especially in areas that are not contiguous to existing AC-NA dioceses.

What about those who wish to join FCA-NA but not the AC-NA:

Any person who agrees with and signs The Jerusalem Declaration is welcome!

As members of the FCA-NA connect and network with each other within a geographical area, we recognize that each person will choose the church with whom they wish to affiliate and worship. Some will choose to remain in TEC. Some will choose to work for the establishment of a new AC-NA congregation. Others will choose another alternative.

Strategies will differ according to local circumstances, but a common declaration of faith lies at the heart of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. The Jerusalem Declaration and the commitment to the renewal of orthodox, biblical, Christ-centered, confessional and missional Anglicanism are what bind members of the FCA-NA together.

The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans is not synonymous with the Anglican Church in North America. The FCA is a voluntary membership association dedicated to the renewal of confessional Anglicanism worldwide. The Anglican Church in North America is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction - a Church and, God-willing and 2/3 of the Primates and Provinces consenting, the 39th Province of the Anglican Communion. As we share the same goals for the renewal of Anglicanism, we hope to work together as partners in mission and ministry.

We invite every orthodox Anglican in North America to join the FCA-NA. Why? Because it gives you a connection to GAFCON and the millions of fellow confessing Anglicans across the world And because it connects you to a fresh wind of Holy Spirit renewal within the Anglican Communion!

Are there significant theological differences between FCA and the AC-NA?

Some object to differences they see between the Jerusalem Declaration and the Fundamental Declarations in Article I of the AC-NA Constitution. The same GAFCON Primates who authored the Jerusalem Declaration also called for the formation of Constitution and Canons for a new orthodox province in North America. They have given their unequivocal blessing to the AC-NA and its Constitution and Canons. They do not see differences between the Jerusalem Declaration and the Fundamental Declarations as preventing partnership in mission. And the AC-NA bishops (then "Common Cause Partners") signed the Jerusalem Declaration at their December 2008 meeting at Wheaton. Surely there is sufficient agreement on the Gospel message to be able to proclaim it in peaceable fellowship with each other.

"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:3-6

May it be so, as we partner together in Kingdom mission and ministry, committed to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of all, and for the renewal of Anglicanism!

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Phil Ashey, COO and Chaplain, American Anglican Council