Continuing Anglican
From Conservapedia
The Continuing Anglican movement refers to a group of churches which broke away from churches within the Anglican Communion, particularly from the Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA) and the Anglican Church in Canada and the U.K.
Continuing Anglican churches maintain Anglican/Episcopal beliefs, liturgy, and practices, and are generally more conservative on matters of theology than the ECUSA. However because they are separate churches from the main Anglican bodies in their respective countries, Continuing churches are not recognized as being "in full communion" with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The movement began during the late 1970s, largely over two issues:
- The 1976 decision by the Episcopal Church to begin approving the ordination of women to the priesthood
- The 1979 adoption of a new Book of Common Prayer, which greatly toned down the language regarding human sin from the earlier 1928 version, and introduced a choice of two rites (one in modern language) instead of a single rite.
In 1977 a statement of beliefs called the Affirmation of St. Louis was issued by the dissenting churches and clergy, who agreed to form a new church, the Anglican Church in North America (Episcopal). However, this church quickly split into three separate bodies over other doctrinal matters. The Continuing Anglican movement has been notably fractious, with other issues such as the debate between "high church" and "low church" worship styles coming into play. There are currently over 20 such church bodies, and each of them remains small. Some have affiliated to form the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas[1] and the Common Cause Partnership.[2]
Continuing Anglican churches in the U.S. usually use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the 1940 hymnal, and the King James Version of the Bible, in preference over their modern counterparts used by the ECUSA. Thus, these churches seek to continue the practices, worship, and beliefs of the Episcopal Church prior to the drastic changes that rocked the church after the 1960s; hence the name "Continuing Anglican".
The Reformed Episcopal Church cannot be included as "Continuing Anglican", as it separated in 1873[3], but they share many of the same values.
In the 1990's and 2000's, additional Anglican groups have formed, over the issue of the primacy of scripture as reflected in the treatment of homosexual persons. These offshoots also are conservative elements, but may not regard themselves as "Continuing Anglicans".
