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ACC Statement on Church Unity Recently, Archbishop Mark Haverland of the Anglican Catholic Church issued a statement on Unity among traditional Anglican jurisdictions, and calling on the bishops of the Anglican Province of Christ the King and the United Episcopal Church, North America, to join him in working toward this important goal. We are reproducing that Statement here, along with responses by The Most Rev. Stephen Reber of the UECNA and of Archbishop Provence for the APCK. STATEMENT FROM THE MOST REV. MARK D. HAVERLAND OF THE ANGLICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH CONCERNING CHURCH UNITY For the past twelve years, the Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) has had an official policy of seeking unity among Continuing Anglicans in general, but of seeking it first with the Anglican Province of Christ the King (APCK) and the United Episcopal Church of North America (UEC), which are the other two Churches that share our beginnings in the Congress of Saint Louis (1977), in the Affirmation of Saint Louis, and in the "Chambers Succession" of consecrations of bishops in Denver (1978). In part, this beginning point rested on a judgment of principle, namely that the unfulfilled hopes of 1977-1978 should be realized as soon as possible. In part, this judgment rested in the practical expectation that Churches with so much in common might find it easier to unite than would bodies with less in common. In any case, it seems to us now desirable to state firmly and clearly the following
points: 2. The ACC believes that anything which divides these three bodies from each
other is regrettable and should be stopped or overcome; 3. The ACC believes that anything that undermines the internal unity and stability
of any of these three bodies harms us all and harms the cause of unity among Catholic
and Orthodox Anglicans. In particular we believe that one cannot serve the cause
of unity by undermining or dividing any of the foundational Churches of the Continuing
Church movement; 4. And, finally, the ACC believes that we cannot be in a state of full communio in sacris with any ecclesial body which is a member of the Lambeth Communion or which is in communion with any body that has such membership. I now call upon the bishops of the UEC and the APCK to join me in affirming these points. I pledge to assist them in sustaining their own unity and stability. And I pledge to work with them, quietly and patiently, in order to build full organic unity amongst ourselves. The Most Reverend Mark Haverland, Ph.D. STATEMENT FROM ARCHBISHOP REBER OF THE UNITED EPISCOPAL CHURCH ENDORSING ARCHBISHOP HAVERLAND'S STATEMENT CONCERNING CHURCH UNITY We concur with Archbishop Mark Haverland's statement and hope that this would
be a great moment for all of our three churches to respond together to the exigencies
of Anglicanism in the United States. The Most Reverend Stephen C. Reber RESPONSE FROM THE ANGLICAN PROVINCE OF CHRIST THE KING TO THE ACC STATEMENT ON CHURCH UNITY As one of the original jurisdictions stemming from the Chambers Consecrations and the Affirmation of St. Louis, the Anglican Province of Christ the King fully agrees with and supports the statement regarding unity issued by The Most Rev. Mark Haverland of the Anglican Catholic Church. The APCK, the ACC and the UECNA represent the three main branches coming from the root of the Chambers Succession. We share a responsibility to the trust that Bishop Chambers placed in us to be a beacon for unity among traditional Anglicans in the United States. The Anglican Province of Christ the King will do all that we can to foster that unity. The Most Rev. James E. Provence |