Posted on 08/08/2006 5:37:22 PM PDT by sionnsar
The Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas has their web site up now.
I found this page of their articles the most interesting. There they list the following among their “tasks”:
Furthering mutual understanding of its member Provinces, Jurisdictions and Ministries with a view to eventual union when and if deemed practical.
Pursuing a communal and charitable relationship with the world-wide Anglican Communion.
Clearly they are seeking more unity beyond being a federation of continuing jurisdictions. And that’s reflected in Article 11. There it’s clear there’s a great deal of intercommunion among federation members, which to date are the AMiA, the REC, and the APA.
+Ray Sutton of the REC is listed as a contact. He’s been prominent in North American orthodox Anglican ecumenical efforts and happens to be the bishop who confirmed me.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. File this one under "strange bedfellows." The APA is largely "high church" Anglo-Catholic. The REC is mainly evangelical "low church." Which, BTW, is the reason behind their decision to abandon the initiative to merge these two groups. A substantial amount of the REC membership opposed that plan - apparantly in favor of this somewhat looser "confederation" idea. Add to these the AMiA, which is an amalgam of various expressions of Anglican worship (including parishes that continue to use ECUSA's '79 BCP), & you have an organization (FACA) that should be interesting to watch.
The union envisioned between the APA & REC has not been abandoned and is still moving forward. Is there some opposition within the ranks? Yes, as there has been since the agreement was first formulated in 2000 and the opposition is on both sides, not just the REC. This was, from the beginning, envisioned as a VERY slow process, intended to be at least a decade long. A Unity Synod has been set for 2008 to continue the process.
The FACA idea was the APA & REC taking the lead to try to get something done regarding unity among traditionalists to show a united front, responding to the call of the Global South Primates of the Anglican Communion, who have asked us to "get together." The AMiA apparently saw some value in this and decided to sign on. Other traditional bodies in the US have looked at this and are considering allying with it.
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