While the tendency is to see this as a conservatives (ACNA) vs.
liberals (Episcopal Church US) drama, there are three back stories which may be even more important in the long-run.The first is that this province is set-up more as a network of affiliate congregations -- networks in which geography plays less of a role. True, there is a hierarchy and bishops but it doesn't function in a strict hierarchical fashion. Control is more decentralized than in the Episcopal Church US. This will make the organization more flexible and responsive.
We can also expect this model to ultimately work its way back into the other more established Anglican bodies. It is a foot in the door for a new structure.
Secondly, the ACNA formally reconnects disenfranchised Anglican bodies. The most notable is the Reformed Episcopal Church, which left the Episcopal Church 137 years ago (!) in a dispute over the growing level of high church ritual. In addition to the REC, the new ACNA brings together some of the other "continuing Anglican" groups that left the Episcopal Church more recently.
Thirdly, there is an incredible new surge of church planting and evangelistic outreach among Anglicans in North America. Some of the growth in the new ACNA is the result of a reshuffling of the saints but this new configuration has re-energized Anglican outreach in the US and Canada. There is a new vision and a new enthusiasm. The Anglican log jam has broken free.
The ACNA isn't going to be the perfect church body and there are wounds that need to heal. This new group certainly isn't the silver bullet for reaching a post-Christian culture. And they haven't done anything about all the frilly clergy outfits. But from the perspective of an Anglican outsider looking in, I can see more hope than at any time in the last 25 years.
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