The American Anglican Council is one of the founding members of the The Anglican Church in North America (AC-NA). The AC-NA officially began December 3, 2008, at the culmination of a three-day meeting of the Common Cause Council, a leadership assembly that included three representatives from each of the nine Common Cause Partners Federation members. The council unanimously adopted a provisional constitution and nine initial canons that governed the church until a Provincial Assembly met June 22 - 25, 2009 in Bedford, Texas. That meeting amended and provided final ratification of the constitution and canons.
ACNA Represents
100,000 Members
700 Parishes
800 Clergy
30 Bishops
Mission Minded - Featured Aspects of the AC-NA’s Constitution
The mission of the province is to present Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit so that people everywhere will come to know Him as Lord.
There are three main governing bodies in the AC-NA:
1. Provincial Assembly - the largest of the three, the Provincial Assembly is comprised of representatives of each of the dioceses/clusters/networks in AC-NA.
2. Provincial Council - smaller than the Assembly, the Provincial Council is made up of lay and clergy representatives along with lead bishops.
3. College of Bishops - all bishops affiliated with the AC-NA.
The work of the province is to equip each member so that they may reconcile the world to Christ, plant new congregations, and make disciples of all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything commanded by Jesus Christ.
The constitution describes the “fundamental agency of mission in the province (as) the local congregation...”
The AC-NA’s constitution states that “all church property, both real and personal, (is) owned by each member congregation.”
The constitution delegates matters of discipline and governance to the purview of other groups, making mission the primary focus for the Provincial Assembly.
To accommodate both viewpoints on womens’ ordination, Article VIII of the constitution limits provincial authority so that each diocese can maintain its own practice regarding this.
All bishops must be male and at least 35 years old.
Founding Members