Archbishop Steve Wood — A Primate of Prayer

From GAFCON:

“Meet Archbishop Steve Wood, who will be invested this week as Primate of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a province established and celebrated by Gafcon.

In this extended interview, Archbishop Steve shares intimate insights into his daily devotional life, his emotional journey through his near-fatal COVID-19 illness, and his personal experience of leaving The Episcopal Church to join the ACNA.

General Secretary Paul Donison speaks with Archbishop Steve, as he candidly describes his deep fellowship within Gafcon, and his personal experiences of becoming Primate.”

– Listen here – or direct link to Spotify.

Very encouraging – and a reminder of what a belessing the Gafcon movement has been to so many.

Related:

One of Archbishop Foley Beach’s Christmas messages (this one from December 2022).

Archbishop Steve Wood on where the ACNA has been, and where it’s headed

“Before he was elected as the third archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, Steve Wood was one of the earliest COVID-19 patients in the United States, placed on a ventilator for 10 days in March 2020.

Two years earlier, as bishop of the Carolinas and rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Wood watched as his church building was engulfed in a fire.

‘I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences for where I am right now, because God has been so extraordinarily gracious to me through every one of them,’ said Wood. …”

– Religion News Service speaks with ACNA Archbishop Steve Wood.

Photo: ACNA.

Bishop Jack Iker — ‘Lion of Fort Worth’

Bishop Jack Iker at GAFCON 2008 in Jerusalem.

“The Rev. Rt. Jack Iker, also known as the ‘lion of Fort Worth,’ died Oct. 5 at the age of 75. …

Iker became the third bishop to serve the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth on Jan. 1, 1995.  …

On Nov. 13, 2008, after 13 years in the role, Iker left the Episcopal Church. He became the face of the split within the local diocese that made Fort Worth a focal point in the widening national schism among Episcopalians with opposing viewpoints on ordaining women and gay priests and blessing same-sex unions. …”

–  from The Fort Worth Report.

In 2008, Bishop Iker clarified the issues during his address to the Fort Worth diocesan convention:

“‘Contending for the Faith’ is the theme of this year’s Diocesan Convention, and it aptly describes what lies at the heart of the controversy that surrounds us.

Others have argued that it is a matter of contending for property, or contending for the authority of The Episcopal Church over us, or contending for homosexual rights in the church. But these are simply some of the side issues confronting us.

The real issue is the faith. We are taking a stand for the historic faith and practice of the Bible, as we have received them, and against the continuing erosion of that faith by TEC. This Diocese stands for orthodox Christianity. TEC stands for a revisionist and compromised version of what the Church has always taught. …”

See also many previous posts on our website.

A Call to Prayer from the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America

From Archbishop Steve Wood [after the assassination attempt on former President Trump]:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the midst of this time of uncertainty, social tensions, and violence, please join Jacqui and me as we pray for peace in the United States tonight:

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, pg 654).

– Source.

And 1 Timothy 2:1-4:

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – ESV.

Anglican Unscripted Interview with ACNA’s Archbishop Steve Wood

In the latest Anglican Unscripted Interview, Kevin Killeen speaks with Steve Wood, recently elected Archbishop of the Anglican Church of North America.

– Watch here.

ACNA’s New Archbishop: Passionate for Evangelism

“Elected June 22 at a conclave of ACNA bishops, Wood assumes leadership of a small but growing denomination (the ACNA reported 12 percent growth in attendance in 2023).

‘I did not come here with any expectation that this would be a possibility and was as surprised as anyone as the vote unfolded,’ Wood said. The new archbishop, raised in a charismatic and evangelical church, was not among the names publicly rumored ahead of the conclave as a potential successor to Archbishop Foley Beach, who is stepping down after 10 years of leadership. …”

– At The Living Church, Jeff Walton introduces Steve Wood, newly elected Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America. (Link via Anglican Mainstream.)

Photo: ACNA.

See also:

Get to Know Archbishop Steve Wood – ACNA.

Steve Wood elected Archbishop of ACNA

“The College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America has elected its next archbishop, the Rt. Rev. Steve Wood, bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas. The College met in conclave in the crypt of St. Vincent’s Basilica at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania from Thursday, June 20 through Saturday, June 22, 2024.

Bishop Wood will serve as the third archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America which was founded in 2009 and now has over 128,000 members in over 1,000 congregations across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. …”

– News from the ACNA.

Photo: Retiring Archbishop, Foley Beach, congratulates his successor.

GSFA, ACNA, and the Future of Conservative Anglicanism

“The 176 delegates, observers, and invited guests who gathered for the First Assembly of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) on June 11 in the Egyptian desert surely brought a variety of hopes with them.

Some had been working on what is now called the GSFA’s Covenantal Structure for nearly a decade, and were excited to see the body finally convene and elect its leaders. For them, these are crucial steps in building the kind of institution the Anglican Communion hasn’t been in a long time, a body that acts like a global church, standing firm against false teaching and binding its members in mutual submission and common order. …“

– This report, by Mark Michael at The Living Church, is one perspective on what happened at the GSFA Assembly. (We’ll post links to other reports if they come to hand.)

Click here for the full size version of the Assembly group photo, courtesy of GSFA via The American Anglican Council.

Remembering Bishop John Rodgers

“The Rt. Rev. Dr. John H. Rodgers, Jr., much beloved and respected Anglican theologian, seminary dean, bishop, father and grandfather died at UPMC Passavant Hospital, Pittsburgh on November 23, 2022 from natural causes. He was 92 years old. …”

– Dr. Stephen Noll gives thanks for Bishop John Rodgers – one the founders of the Anglican Mission in America.

Last one out, please turn off the lights

“It has been three decades since the Rt. Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison took his first step away from his life as one of the Episcopal Church’s strongest evangelical voices. …

Now the 95-year-old bishop has officially resigned his status as an Episcopal bishop, making his departure official. Two weeks ago, he wrote U.S. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to clarify that he had been received into the Anglican Church in North America – a body recognized as valid by many Anglican bishops in Africa, Asia and the Global South, but not by the Archbishop of Canterbury or leaders in the U.S. Episcopal Church.”

– Story from Terry Mattingly at Get Religion.

Read and be thankful for faithful ministers of the gospel like Bishop Allison.

Image from a fascinating 2013 interview by Anglican TV in which he outlines the tragedy of the Episcopal Church and also tells his own story of Christ’s mercy. Well worth watching, saturated with the gospel.

Bishop Julian Dobbs on when Doctrine goes Bad

“I’ve been this week at the conference of the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word (ACNA), led by Bishop Julian Dobbs.

The bishop gave his annual address on Friday morning, and … Lord have mercy, if only ten percent of bishops and pastors talked like this man, we would be living in a different country. I present to you here the entire text…

Imagine a bishop talking like this! Catholics and Orthodox can scarcely wrap our minds around it. I asked the diocesan communications director to send me the text, which was so extraordinary. Here it is…”

– At The American Conservative, US conservative writer Rod Dreher shares his gratitude at hearing an address by Bishop Julian Dobbs.

Bishop Dobbs has seen what happens when a denomination turns away from the Bible to embrace the surrounding culture.

From his address –

“One of the many reasons why I am so sensitive to wokeness and this pattern of capitulation within the Anglican Church is because I am, and many of you are, refugees from a church that lost her way when she began to succumb to appeals for compassion, tenderness and a capitulation to culture as the justification for dismantling the faith ‘once for all entrusted to the saints’.

I am a refugee from a church that deposed the late Dr. J.I. Packer from the ordained ministry. I am a refugee from a church that put our own assisting Bishop William Love on trial for believing the bible. And I am a refugee from a church which just three days ago reaffirmed its commitment to the murder of unborn babies and said, ‘As Episcopalians, we have a particular obligation to stand against Christians who seek to destroy our multicultural democracy and recast the United States as an idol to the cruel and distorted Christianity they advocate.’

Brothers and sisters, when doctrine goes bad, so to do hearts, minds, churches, nations and eternal destinies. That is why this matters. …”

Read it all. Or, better, watch it all. Most edifying.

SC Supreme Court rules some breakaway churches must return properties to Episcopal Diocese

“The S.C. Supreme Court ruled some of the parishes that broke away from the Episcopal Church more than a decade ago must hand over their properties to the national church and its affiliated South Carolina diocese.

The court’s April 20 ruling orders 14 of 29 parishes that split from the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina to begin the legal process for handing over ownership of the properties to the Episcopal Church. …”

– From The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina.

See also this Pastoral Letter from Bishop Chip Edgar of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina:

“The ruling raises many issues that will have to play out in the coming weeks before any actions are taken, so our first response must be to quiet our hearts before the Lord as we pray for grace to meet the days ahead. Some of our churches are relieved that the court ruled their property does indeed belong to them. Some are grieving deeply, as the courts ruling went the opposite direction.”

This has been a very long running dispute – and not all the websites linked in our archival posts are still active, but the post summaries will give some perspective.

Bishop Chip Edgar began as Bishop of the Diocese last month, succeeding Bishop Mark Lawrence who has been Bishop of the Diocese since 2008.

Update:

Lawyer AS Haley, The Anglican Curmudgeon, has posted what may be his last of many posts on the subject –

South Carolina Supreme Court Divides the Baby

His conclusion:

“There will be one final chapter to this desultory story once the federal courts dispose of the name and trademark claims, probably in ECUSA’s favor.

I shall not return here to comment; I am done with everything that involves the Episcopal Church. Let it reap what it has so assiduously sown.”

New ANiC Bishop Co-Adjutor Elect Announced

“The Anglican Network in Canada is pleased to announce the election at Synod 2021 of the Venerable Daniel Gifford as our Co-Adjutor Bishop.

Archdeacon Dan was elected by our Diocesan Synod on Thursday, November 18, 2021. …

Dan is currently the vicar of St John’s Vancouver Anglican church, serving with David Short who is rector of that parish.”

– From the Anglican Church in North America.

Anglican Bishop Julian Dobbs on Proclaiming the Gospel in Albany, New York

“The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany this month opened the door to the practice of same-sex marriage within the diocese, a departure from what was until recently permitted there. Albany was the last remaining domestic diocese in the Episcopal Church to proscribe the use of same-sex rites that were effectively required following the 2018 General Convention.

In March I reported how some Albany clergy had begun seeking canonical residency within the Anglican Church in North America, the first public movement of clergy in New York’s Capital District since the resignation of Bishop William H. Love earlier that winter. The Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, which already has congregations in upstate New York, received a new congregation near Albany and began making plans for a regional ministry network emphasizing church planting. That has now grown to four churches, plus an additional church received into the neighboring Anglican Diocese in New England.

This week I spoke with Diocese of the Living Word Bishop Julian Dobbs about unfolding ministry opportunities in New York’s Capital Region and how the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) hopes to be a faithful and growing witness to the gospel there. …”

– At Juicy Ecumenism, Jeffrey Walton speaks with Bishop Julian Dobbs.

Related:

Bishop Julian Dobbs interviews Bishop William Love.