Living within the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) can be quite confusing. Diocese to diocese (even parish to parish within the same metro area) often results in the jarring reality that doctrine differs across the province. This is magnified globally across Anglicanism. It becomes quite wearisome and can edge wary parishioners and clergy alike into pining for a false icon of greener grass across the Tiber, Bosporus, or elsewhere. Doctrine should not differ, yet across church history, the Church needed faithful doctors to distill the pure waters of doctrine and discern it from heresy. Doctored doctrine kills the soul and the body. When doctrine is altered, the solution is not to abandon ship, but to repair it. The Church develops leaks, and the faithful must plug the holes with faithful planks of right teaching and bail the deadly seawater of false teaching. This is not the time to abandon ship, but for faithful doctors to heal the sick in need of the balm of the ancient faith. Now is the time for doctoring doctrine in this better sense – teaching the faith and refuting error. If ACNA desires catholicity in our faith, we must be evangelical in our catechesis.
It may come as a surprise to some, but the ACNA’s governing documents have something to say about doctrine. Irrespective of what is seen on the ground or across social media accounts, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer with Ordinal attached, are received “as a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline,” alongside the “Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1571” as “the Anglican response to certain doctrinal issues controverted at that time.” (Article I, Para. 6-7, ACNA Constitution).
Doctrine, or the right teaching of the universal and once-for-all delivered and revealed faith, is not an academic exercise nor a realm exclusive to the clergy. Doctrine is for the laity, the confirmands, the baptized, and the children of the faith – from the newly reborn in Christ to the babes newly baptized in the Spirit. Doctrine matters. In fact, it is the second duty of the laity:
To engage regularly in the reading and study of Holy Scripture and the Doctrine of the Church as found in Article I of the Constitution of this Church.
– Title I, Canon 10, Section 2, Para. 2, ACNA Canons
Such doctrine is not limited to the biblical teachings on holy matrimony. Contrary to its detractors, ACNA is not exclusively a former Episcopalian club for those who left after Gene Robinson’s consecration as bishop. ACNA brought together the oldest Anglican jurisdiction outside the Episcopal Church (TEC), namely, the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC), the variety of Anglican lifeboats planted by Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, and others, and dioceses, parishes, and individuals fleeing TEC. The union and creation of the ACNA centered on an affirmation embedded in and enshrined in Article I of the ACNA Constitution, the Fundamental Declarations. These seven principles united a diaspora of North American Anglicans under the ancient faith:
1. We confess the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and to be the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.
2. We confess Baptism and the Supper of the Lord to be Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself in the Gospel, and thus to be ministered with unfailing use of His words of institution and of the elements ordained by Him.
3. We confess the godly historic Episcopate as an inherent part of the apostolic faith and practice, and therefore as integral to the fullness and unity of the Body of Christ.
4. We confess as proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture the historic faith of the undivided church as declared in the three Catholic Creeds: the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian.
5. Concerning the seven Councils of the undivided Church, we affirm the teaching of the first four Councils and the Christological clarifications of the fifth, sixth and seventh Councils, in so far as they are agreeable to the Holy Scriptures.
6. We receive The Book of Common Prayer as set forth by the Church of England in 1662, together with the Ordinal attached to the same, as a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline, and, with the Books which preceded it, as the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.
7. We receive the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1571, taken in their literal and grammatical sense, as expressing the Anglican response to certain doctrinal issues controverted at that time, and as expressing fundamental principles of authentic Anglican belief.
– Article I, ACNA Constitution
These Fundamental Declarations conclude with:
In all these things, the Anglican Church in North America is determined by the help of God to hold and maintain, as the Anglican Way has received them, the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ and to transmit the same, unimpaired, to our posterity.
We seek to be and remain in full communion with all Anglican Churches, Dioceses and Provinces that hold and maintain the Historic Faith, Doctrine, Sacraments and Discipline of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
This doctrine is not ambiguous, nor does it evolve. It is “received,” from the God-man, Jesus Christ, by and through His Holy Spirit, as revealed by God. The mission of the ACNA, indeed of the entire One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, is never to innovate but as godly and faithful stewards “to transmit the same, unimpaired, to our posterity.” Therefore, if we wish to remain a part of the Apostolic Church, we must “hold and maintain the Historic Faith, Doctrine, Sacraments and Discipline” of the One Church in its catholicity throughout the ages. Innovations beware.
Regrettably, much of what is left of Christendom lives in a confusing age. We must tether ourselves to Christ our Anchor, lest Christ tell us to anchor ourselves to a millstone and cast us into the sea for leading any of His little ones astray. (Matthew 18:6).
In the spirit of St. Paul, “I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.” (1 Corinthians 4:14, KJV). We live in the “Age of the Influencer,” and ears are tickled from Substack to podcasts, from bestseller books to corporate lingo in the vestry room, from novel zeitgeist spirituality to post-war liberties, each of which attempts to tear us away from our first love. We swim in the waters of a depraved culture, and we gorge on quail instead of thankfully feasting on the bread of heaven. “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 4:15, KJV).
We need more fathers in Christ. Clergy, if you wish to earn your novel title of “Father,” then lead. Remember the canonical requirement:
All Clergy shall take care that all within their cures are instructed in the doctrine, sacraments, and discipline of Christ, as the Lord has commanded and as they are set forth in the Holy Scriptures, in the Book of Common Prayer, and in the Church Catechism.
– Title II, Canon 4, Section 2 – Concerning Christian Formation, ACNA Canons
Laity, forget not your duties, noted previously and quoted from the canons, and become fathers in Christ first within your family and second as catechists within your parish. Help your rector, and by helping you, shall surely bless your congregation.
Those who are in discernment or on the path towards ordination take the faith seriously. Doctrine is not a book to be written nor improved by you, but is the Good Book given to you in your ordination to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest:
Every Bishop shall take care that he admit no person into Holy Orders but such as he knows either by himself, or by sufficient testimony, to have been baptized and confirmed, to be sufficiently instructed in Holy Scripture and in the doctrine, discipline and worship of this Church, as defined by this Province, to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and to be a wholesome example and pattern to the entire flock of Christ.
– Title III, Canon 2, Section 1 – Concerning General Requirements, ACNA Canons
The call of holy orders requires faithfulness to Christ and His teaching. Therefore, “A Presbyter must be able to preach and teach, holding firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, in order to encourage others by sound doctrine and to refute those who oppose it (1 Timothy 3:1-7; 5:17; Titus 1:6-9).” (Title III, Canon 2, Section 3, ACNA Canons). However, how can we expect godly teachers if we do not raise them in godly doctrine? If we desire a truly united ACNA, we must unite ourselves in the common doctrine of the ancient Church. This starts with formation within the family, within the parish, and within the seminary to ensure “No person shall be admitted into Holy Orders who has not been properly trained in Holy Scripture, and the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of this Church.” (Title III, Canon 2, Section 7 – Concerning Theological Training Requirements, ACNA Canons). A failure to catechize a layman is a failure to catechize a future presbyter or bishop, who are tasked to serve as the “guardians and teachers of doctrine.” (Title III, Canon 8, Section 2, ACNA Canons).
Speaking of guarding and teaching the doctrine of the Church, clergy in the ACNA take the following oath:
I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and to contain all things necessary to salvation, and I consequently hold myself bound to conform my life and ministry thereto, and therefore I do solemnly engage to conform to the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of Christ as this Church has received them. …
– Title III, Canon 4, Section 3, ACNA Canons
This oath before Almighty God binds clergy not merely to know but to conform their lives and ministries to Christ’s bride, the Church, to His doctrine. Therefore, ACNA ministers need to educate, teach, and catechize their flocks upon the Documentary Foundations in the back of the 2019 Book of Common Prayer. Catechism classes should not only be for those seeking baptism and confirmation, but should also continue educating parishioners in a 201-level on the catechism and more.
Where a parish uses “common bulletins” instead of a Book of Common Prayer, I urge such parishes to purchase a prayer book for each of their members and then teach them how to use it for personal devotion and to understand Christian theology. Explain the lectionary, demonstrate the daily office, and teach through each of those Documentary Foundations. This section of the 2019 Book of Common Prayer includes the Athanasian Creed, the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, the Jerusalem Declaration, and Prefaces to the 1549 and 1662 editions of the classic prayerbooks. Beginning on page 766, we see the Fundamental Declarations of the Province. I can think of no better place for any clergy or laity to start than getting back to the fundamentals.
