The ACNA Fundamental Declarations begin with a preamble. It prefaces the present by rooting the Declarations firmly in the past. These roots are not dead roots, but are firmly digging deep into the spring of life. This spring bubbles eternally and enlivens the tree that draws up its life-giving waters, so the Church grows until her branches extend upward in praise to her Maker, all the while giving room for the birds of the air to come and make their nest.
The preface of the ACNA Fundamental Declarations states:
As the Anglican Church in North America (the Province), being a part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Christ, we believe and confess Jesus Christ to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one comes to the Father but by Him. Therefore, we identify the following seven elements as characteristic of the Anglican Way, and essential for membership:
The preface begins by anchoring ACNA as belonging to “the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Christ.” This is crucial, as it pledges ACNA as committed to the catholic faith found in the Creeds. Such a claim requires not mere lip service but actually holding and teaching the faith found throughout the history of the Church. This sentiment is echoed in the earlier 2008 Jerusalem Declaration, where it anchors itself upon the three Creeds of the Western Church as “the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” (Para. 3, Jerusalem Declaration)
Because ACNA belongs to the Church Christ instituted and breathed His Spirit into, the Province proclaims, “we believe and confess Jesus Christ to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one comes to the Father but by Him.” This paraphrase from our Lord’s discourse in John 14 challenges the eroding doctrine of many churches that have neglected Christ and exchanged Him for a false “christ” that is merely “a way” among many. Such a perversion of the Gospel must be rejected as it gives a false impression to unsuspecting non-believers and harms the faith of the faithful in Christ alone.
Lest we forget, this sentiment is drawn from the longer 2008 Jerusalem Statement, where it boldly proclaims:
The first fact is the acceptance and promotion within the provinces of the Anglican Communion of a different ‘gospel’ (cf. Galatians 1:6-8) which is contrary to the apostolic gospel. This false gospel undermines the authority of God’s Word written and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the author of salvation from sin, death and judgement. Many of its proponents claim that all religions offer equal access to God and that Jesus is only a way, not the way, the truth and the life. It promotes a variety of sexual preferences and immoral behaviour as a universal human right. It claims God’s blessing for same-sex unions over against the biblical teaching on holy matrimony. In 2003 this false gospel led to the consecration of a bishop living in a homosexual relationship.
The Fundamental Declarations’ preface now pivots, concluding with “the following seven elements as characteristic of the Anglican Way, and essential for membership.” These next seven statements, which I endeavor to meditate upon, are not observations in the ACNA as “streams” to be crossed, mixed, or discarded at a whim’s notice. Instead, faithful within the ACNA receive these declarations as characteristically Anglican. The Fundamental Declarations are not a mix and match nor a buffet to pick and discard as one chooses. They are how the clergy and laity understand the distinguishing traits, qualities, or properties of Anglicanism. Before one objects from within ACNA, remember the last clause in this statement, namely, ACNA views these Fundamental Declarations as “essential for membership.”
One may define Anglicanism differently, but one cannot faithfully remain a member of ACNA if they object to what the Province holds in Article I of its Constitution as “essential for membership.”
Let’s dive in, shall we?
