Takeaways from Provincial Assembly 2024

During the last week of June, representatives from every diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, and many international guests, gathered at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, PA for Provincial Assembly. It was a long, very full week of meetings, worship services, and opportunities to connect with people from across our denomination. I was privileged to participate as a delegate from our diocese, together with Fr. Kent and Ann Anderson, and several other brothers and sisters from the Upper Midwest. Here are a few things that stood out to me from that time.

Before I got there, a few big meetings had already happened, sharing news that was super encouraging – our province is growing, both in attendance, number of congregations, and income, and has exceeded pre-COVID levels on those metrics. Praise God! Currently, across Canada, the United States, and Mexico, there are 29 dioceses with a total of 1,013 ACNA churches, attended by nearly 85 thousand people on an average Sunday. There were about a thousand people at Provincial Assembly itself, and it was really powerful to hear the roomful of Anglicans praying and singing together!

Every morning of the three days of Assembly, we studied the book of 2 Timothy under the delightful guidance of Rennis Ponniah, retired bishop of the Diocese of Singapore. I was so moved by his gentle spirit and love for God as he led us through these passages and shared stories from his ministry. He encouraged us, as Paul does in the letter, to guard the good deposit entrusted to us by the Lord, pursue holiness, and proclaim the gospel. Bishop Rennis was one of many international visitors – there were at least a dozen Archbishops from different Provinces around the world, including Brazil, Rwanda, and Europe. The Anglican Communion is the largest Protestant denomination in the world, and the ACNA is just one small region (Province) of it. 

Sally Breedlove and Rev. Sue Currie, leaders of Selah (an Anglican spiritual direction training certificate), encouraged us to follow Jesus’ example of withdrawing into solitude to pray and connect with God, not as a means of hiding from the world or ministry, but as a recentering for clarity and calling. Rev. John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center, called on the church not to shrink away from hard things, but rather to bring the clarity and truth of the gospel in the midst of cultural confusion and bad ideas.

There were so many breakouts to choose from, and I’m sure many wonderful things coming out of all of them. I chose to go with ones that aligned with my new focus on Missions this year. The Matthew 25 Initiative is our denomination’s justice and mercy-oriented network, and in the session, we heard from a panel of several leaders from across the ACNA who are contending for Shalom in their contexts. It was inspiring to hear their stories of how the Lord guided them to see and serve their neighbors. The Global Missions Initiative recently put together a six-week course on Missions, which I’m excited to explore for Christ Church. I also connected with Isaiah 40, a ministry that provides counseling, healing prayer, coaching, and teaching focused on healing and wholeness.

Archbishop Foley Beach gave an address describing the four areas of his leadership over the last ten years (two terms) in office. It was helpful for me to understand a little bit more what it is that an Archbishop does! These included (1) leading the College of Bishops (that’s what we call the collective of all the bishops in our Province; it’s not a training school!), (2) Provincial matters (like developing our Book of Common Prayer and Catechism), (3) ecumenical engagement and (4) international connections. These are things that will shift into the hands of now-Archbishop Steve Wood. We got to hear the testimonies of Archbishop Steve and his wife Jackie on Friday morning, including how a tragic fire destroyed their church building several years ago, and Archbishop Steve nearly died from COVID. He preached during the closing Eucharist, focusing on the Comfortable Words (which follow the Absolution in our worship liturgy) as conveying the fundamentals of our faith. At the end of that service was the official transfer of spiritual authority, and Bishop Steve Wood began his five-year term as the Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America. You can learn more about ++Steve here.

On an emotional level, I came away from Provincial Assembly encouraged and excited to continue serving this church. I was so pleasantly surprised by the overall warm reception of our bishop and our team, in the midst of the challenges of his trial process. I got to meet some really cool people, including some of my seminary professors and classmates whom I’ve only connected with online, and I hope those relationships bear fruit in the future. I was blessed to be among so many Anglican brothers and sisters from around the world, and to feel part of something bigger than just our congregation or diocese. At the same time, after encountering other expressions of Anglicanism, I am so thankful to be part of our Upper Midwest diocesan family!

I want to encourage you to take advantage of opportunities to get together with our broader Anglican community. Come and see what we’re part of! Our diocese has an annual get-together called Revive on October 25-26, 2024, Friday evening through Saturday late afternoon. We’d love to have a contingent of Christ Church folks take a road trip down for that. It’s totally worth it!