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The American Anglican Council (AAC) is a network of individuals, parishes, specialized ministries and Episcopal bishops who affirm Biblical authority and Anglican orthodoxy within the Episcopal Church. In response to the Lord's grace, we have committed ourselves to proclaiming the Good News to every person and working to reform and renew our Church. Where We Came From The AAC grew out of two meetings that have come to be known as the Briarwood Consultations. They began with people who already had some acquaintance with each other, who then called together people with broader representation across the church. The object was not to bring our clever ideas and formulate effective strategies, but rather to hear from God some edification, exhortation or comfort –- perhaps a new way forward. Briarwood I Twenty-five people gathered at the Briarwood Conference Center north of Dallas, Texas in December of 1995. Among us were five bishops, five lay persons, five scholars (including a former and a future seminary dean), five heads of national ministries and five rectors of large churches. All of us had been involved in one way or another in renewal or reform in the Episcopal Church, and while we could all point to various accomplishments along the way, we were all concerned that the Church's elected leadership continued to move further and further away from the historic biblical Christian faith, as if locked in a downward spiraling dance of death with the postmodern Western culture. It seemed an unavoidable conclusion that God was not blessing us in our efforts to call the Episcopal Church back to affirming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of Holy Scripture as traditionally understood. We covenanted together to fast and pray and then to meet for three days, asking God to show us if we were all somehow missing his plan and purpose for us and for our Church -- to correct us and show us a way forward. As we committed ourselves to listening rather than strategizing, we soon found ourselves in an attitude of profound repentance. In retrospect, it is clear that God did give us both stern rebuke and life-giving hope. We saw that we had allowed our concern for "our beloved Church" to eclipse our duty to fulfill its mission. We had been drawn into a struggle within the organization that involved such matters as power, control, discipline, and governance; and we had become distracted from the life of the organism, the body of Christ, that involves proclaiming the Gospel and making disciples of Jesus. We heard the Holy Spirit reminding us that it is the Father's task to prune the vine, and it is ours to bear fruit. We also realized that our collective despondency over the state of the Church was somewhat unjustified. We were reminded that the 2.4 million member Episcopal Church does not exist in a vacuum but is the American Province of the Anglican Communion -- some 80 million members worldwide. If we looked myopically at the Church in this country, it might appear that "the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint" (Is. 1:5). However, if we looked at the health and vitality in much of the Anglican Communion, we had much reason to hope for healing and restoration in the Episcopal Church, if we were obedient to the vision God would give us. At the same time, we heard of God's call to gather all those bishops, parishes, ministries, and individuals who agree on the basics of the faith into a community of faith that is both visible and tangible -- not just for the purpose of fighting theological battles within the Episcopal Church, but for the purpose of fulfilling our Church's mission: sharing God's revealed truth with the unbelieving culture of 21st Century America and making disciples for Jesus Christ, and doing it as unashamed Episcopalians. As a basis for rallying those who agree on the basics of the faith, we adopted a statement of faith drafted some years ago by The Very Rev. Dr. John Rogers Jr., former dean of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. It is entitled "A Place to Stand: A Call to Mission." We selected it not because it is the definitive statement of Anglican Christianity, but because it cogently sets forth essentials of the faith on which Anglican Christians in America could agree, and it comments on some contemporary issues that are challenges to that faith. Finally, we realized from the outset that the twenty of us were in no way representative of all the facets of orthodoxy within the Episcopal Church. We agreed to meet again within six months, with each of us inviting three other people, with the expressed intention that every definable orthodox constituency be represented. We then sent a letter to every rector and senior warden in the country, explaining where we had been and what we had heard, and asking for feedback and participation in gathering the Church's faithful to pursue its mission together in concert with Anglicans around the world. The response was an astonishing outpouring of letters of support and unsolicited donations. Briarwood II In June of 1996, we reconvened in Techny, Illinois, with a total of seventy-five participants. These included nine bishops and either directors or board members of more that twenty ministries within the Episcopal Church. Our first task was to share the vision as received by the original twenty and to submit it for critique and modification by the additional fifty-five in the hope that consensus would be reached. Our second task would be to define the way of moving forward with various aspects of the vision. Each participant was assigned to one of six working groups: Statement of Faith, Organization, Parish Life and Mission, Fulfilling the Great Commission, Ministry and Leadership Development, and Witness Within the Episcopal Church. We found that, far from being a monolithic or even homogenous faction of the Church, we were actually a group with a great deal of diversity to hold in tension, as Anglicans sometimes pride ourselves in doing. For example, the group working on the statement of faith quickly concluded that it is neither possible nor desirable to construct a litmus test for "orthodox" Anglican belief. Rather, they agreed upon a statement that could serve as a standard around which to gather Episcopalians who are committed to an understanding of the faith that is historical, biblical and catholic. While we held divergent views on many subjects, we found ourselves quickly converging on the creedal doctrines that are essential to salvation. Perhaps the defining moment in which we recognized that the Holy Spirit had come among us to bring healing and reconciliation was on the last morning, when the four women priests who were present came together to the microphone and pledged solidarity with the three bishops of the Episcopal Synod of America (those who reject the notion that women can be priests) who were also present. In the closing moments of the consultation, one long time contributor to many ministry and mission organizations proclaimed that this is a moment for radical cooperation among all those organizations and their supporters and their boards. We believe that God is bringing us into a unity that we could not have forged for ourselves, and we can do no less than commit to working together, sharing mailing lists and pooling resources to pursue the Great Commission as Episcopalians in America. The attendees at Briarwood II elected a Board of Trustees for the American Anglican Council. We incorporated on August 19, 1996 as a 501c(3) non-profit organization in the District of Columbia. Why We are Here Community We understand that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is propagated not through preaching and teaching alone. Rather, it is as we live out God’s revealed truth in a community of faith that we demonstrate the Kingdom of God in the midst of our secular society. As they receive the good works that we do together in Jesus' name and they see how we live together in His fellowship aspiring to holiness, our neighbors perceive that we have something for which their souls are longing and inquire about this God that we worship. While divisions among Christians over theology have been tragic, the cultural diversity among local Christian communities of faith is to be celebrated. It makes it possible for people of every description to see the Kingdom of God demonstrated in their midst in a way to which they can relate and respond. The characteristics that Anglicans/Episcopalians have in common will make us an effective witness to the population of 21st Century, Information Age America. Witness However, we can only present an effective Anglican demonstration of the Christian faith if our community is united in the faith that we affirm. In the Episcopal Church and within many Episcopal dioceses, such divergent and even mutually exclusive faith claims are currently being made as to render our witness not only void but repugnant to the observing society. Many feel thwarted in their local mission. Over the past few decades, many private associations of Episcopalians have been formed to foster various aspects of ministry and to fill the void in the Church's pursuit of the Great Commission. Most of these ministries have focused on a particular need such as prayer, Bible study, foreign mission, evangelism or personal renewal. More recently, organizations have formed for the purpose of reforming the Church and defending the historic faith to meet the challenge of some who would revise the faith to fit contemporary thinking. The AAC is the gathering together of these bishops, parishes and specialized ministries into a visible, tangible community of faith that can present to secular society a coherent demonstration of God's Kingdom in an expression that is faithful to Anglican tradition. While terms such as "orthodox," "catholic," "creedal," "traditional," or "Anglican" can be endlessly debated, it is in living them out together that we will demonstrate who we are and what we stand for as unashamed Episcopalians. Relationship We are a network of bishops, clergy and laity with a common commitment to fulfilling the church's mission. We are building relationships that will make ways for clergy to equip laity to mobilize in implementation of the orthodox teachings of bishops. The American Anglican Council will also forge relationships between AAC parishes and Anglicans around the globe who affirm the Lambeth Quadrilateral, which affirms the essentials of the Christian faith as Holy Scripture, the Nicene Creed, the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion, and the Historic Episcopate (BCP p. 887). This will be accomplished through our affiliation with the Ekklesia Society. We will celebrate the common faith and tradition we share by promoting correspondence and personal visits with bishops and evangelists from other provinces. In places where proclaiming the Christian faith puts one's life and family at risk, Anglicans have had to make hard and careful choices that lend great authority to their teaching. AAC parishes will also benefit from the relationships they will form among each other. Mutual affirmation, mutual determination to fulfill the Church's mission, and mutual accountability will encourage parishes across the country to look expectantly for God to move through His people, sending us forth into the world to accomplish the work He has given us to do. Together, we will invite non-believers from our secular culture into relationship with Jesus Christ and with his body on earth, the church. ---------- The bishops, clergy and laity of the American Anglican Council are convinced that God has revealed a way forward, just at the moment when many faithful Episcopalians have come to the end of their capacity to hope. We have seen almost daily confirmations that this is indeed a movement of the Holy Spirit and an awe-inspiring call to lead our Church into the forefront of the proclamation of Christ's Kingdom to 21st Century America. After so long a time seemingly becalmed on a stagnant sea, the wind is suddenly up, and we must hoist our sails quickly to be on our way. Come and help us. Call or write today. American
Anglican Council (1996)
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