An Introduction to the Constitution and Canons - By Bishop Robert Duncan

Posted June 8, 2009

Editor's Note:Bishop Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and moderator of the Common Cause Partnership gives his view on the proposed Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church in North America

How do we renew what was best about the tradition that produced us? How do we not repeat the patterns that subverted our life as a biblical and missionary province? How do we adapt learnings from the vibrant newer branches of the Anglican Communion? How do we restore our role as the bridge among and between the various denominational expressions of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church? How do we have both freedom and accountability? How can we be truly catholic, truly evangelical, truly charismatic and truly conciliar in a 21st century context – both North American and global? These are all questions that shaped the deliberations of the Governance Task Force, and the wider consultations the Governance Task Force undertook, and that resulted in the Constitution and Canons proposed for ratification at the inaugural Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America.

The Constitution and Canons go much further than anyone imagined possible just a year ago. The key figures in this great advance were the Anglican Archbishops of the Global South, in general, and the GAFCON Primates Council, in particular. It was they who challenged us to move beyond the loose federation known as the Common Cause Partnership toward what could be seen as “a recognizable province of the Anglican Communion.” They truly believed that we were capable of a much higher degree of unity for the sake of Gospel (evangelical) truth, with a much greater similarity to general Anglican (catholic) practice. Their unwillingness to simply accept our early effort, in favor of a far more mature expression of provincial life, proved an inestimable gift.
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