A group of conservative Anglicans planning to form a separate orthodox Anglican body in the United States ratified a "common cause" document on Tuesday.
The Anglican Communion Network, consisting of those discontent with The Episcopal Church or those who have split from the denomination, approved a statement that would no longer require its members to operate within the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church.
Noting that many individual parishes and leaders in the Anglican Communion Network are no longer part of The Episcopal Church, delegates voted to add to the federating Articles of the Common Cause Partners the following statement: “Nothing in the charter or bylaws shall be interpreted as requiring submission to the constitution of The Episcopal Church by affiliates of this Network who are not themselves members of The Episcopal Church.”
The vote was made at the network's Annual Council in Bedford, Texas, where over 80 conservative Anglican representatives expressed little hope that The Episcopal Church – U.S. branch of Anglicanism – would "turn around" from its departure from Christian orthodoxy and traditional Anglicanism.
With belief that The Episcopal Church abandoned the vision of "a Church that is truly evangelical, truly catholic, and truly pentecostal," as Duncan stated, the conservative group agreed in their Common Cause theological statement that "to be an Anglican, then, is not to embrace a distinct version of Christianity, but a distinct way of being a 'Mere Christian,' at the same time evangelical, apostolic, catholic, reformed, and Spirit-filled."
Further identifying seven elements as "characteristic of the Anglican Way," the Anglican Communion Network also approved the theological statement: "We believe and confess Christ to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one comes to the Father but by Him."
The Rev. Canon Warren Tanghe, who presented the document to the Annual Council, called it "classic Christianity."
The Anglican Communion Network is in the works of forming an Anglican body in the United States, separate from The Episcopal Church.
