CANA Welcomes New Clergy Members

Ordination Ceremony Underscores Continued Growth

HERNDON, Va. (May 29, 2009) – This weekend, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) will ordain several new clergy members at The Falls Church in Falls Church, Va. The service will take place at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 30. The candidates for ordination to both the priesthood and diaconate will be ordained by the Rt. Rev’d Martyn Minns, CANA Missionary Bishop. All of the ordinands have ties to Northern Virginia churches that are also members of the Anglican District of Virginia.

“We are extremely grateful for these faithful servants who have followed God’s call to join the priesthood. It is a great honor to welcome them into the ranks of church leadership. This ordination ceremony is more evidence of CANA’s continued growth and commitment to spreading the Gospel while remaining steadfast to our orthodox Anglican tradition. CANA will continue to focus on starting new churches and raising up new leaders who will take an unwavering stand for biblical truth,” said CANA Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns.

The ordinands include Jonathan R. Minns, son of Bishop Martyn Minns, who recently graduated from Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pa., and will be ordained to the Transitional Diaconate. His sponsoring parish is Truro Church in Fairfax, Va.

In addition, the Rev’d G. Keith Almond of South Riding Anglican Church in South Riding, Va., and the Rev’d Jerry A. Brown of Shepherd’s Heart Anglican Church in Fairfax, Va., will be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood and will continue serving at their respective parishes.

The Rev’d James A. Swynford and the Rev’d Wright N. Wall will also be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood. As part of The Falls Church’s Timothy Program, they will join the staff of the church with the goal of starting new congregations in the Washington, D.C., area.

The Convocation of Anglicans in North America currently consists of more than 75 congregations and 160 clergy in 21 states. CANA was established in 2005 to provide a means by which Anglicans living in the USA who were alienated by the actions and decisions of The Episcopal Church could continue to live out their faith without compromising their core convictions. Created as a missionary initiative of the Church of Nigeria, about a dozen of the congregations are primarily expatriate Nigerians. CANA is a founding member of the Anglican Church in North America, an emerging Anglican province that includes about 700 congregations. link