Anglican RealignmentEdit
Anglican Realignment refers to a sustained movement within global Anglicanism where conservative dioceses, parishes, and clergy sought to maintain doctrinal integrity and mission in the face of what they view as liberal drift in some western provinces, most prominently the Episcopal Church in the United States. Beginning in the late 1990s and accelerating in the first decade of the 21st century, participants pursued new jurisdictions, collegial relationships, and, in some cases, formal alignments with more theologically conservative provinces in Africa, Asia, and the Global South. The result has been a reorganization of relationships within the Anglican Communion and the emergence of parallel structures such as the Anglican Church in North America and various missionary networks associated with conservative provinces. Central to the realignment is a commitment to biblical authority, episcopal oversight, and a desire to preserve what participants see as a coherent Anglican/evangelical catholic identity across cultural distance.
Across the movement, the impulse has been to safeguard doctrinal tradition, liturgical continuity, and the integrity of church governance in a rapidly changing cultural environment. Proponents argue that faithfulness to historic Anglican formularies, the authority of Scripture, and the moral teachings of the church require bold steps to maintain cohesion and to resist what they perceive as capitulation to secular norms on sexuality, gender, and authority. Critics on the other side of the debate have described these developments as a schism-in-waiting or as a withdrawal from ecumenical responsibility, but supporters emphasize local autonomy and mission effectiveness in contexts where they believe traditional beliefs are still most clearly confessed and lived.
Background
The roots of Anglican Realignment lie in long-running tensions within the Episcopal Church and in broader debates within the Anglican Communion about biblical authority, human sexuality, gender roles, and the nature of ordained ministry. The consecration of Gene Robinson as a bishop in 2003, in particular, intensified disagreements over whether the church could maintain unity while liberalizing its interpretation of what the Bible permits regarding sexuality. In response, conservative clergy and lay leaders argued that the Anglican tradition could not, in good conscience, endorse or bless same-sex relationships and processes they saw as departing from historic teaching.
From this, networks and associations began to form that connected conservative Anglicans in North America with episcopal and evangelical colleagues in Nigeria, Kenya and other African provinces, as well as in Asia and the Pacific. The global gathering known as GAFCON helped crystallize a shared agenda and offered a platform for cooperation among like-minded jurisdictions. In the United States, several parishes and dioceses pursued ecclesial realignment, seeking to preserve local church life while aligning with other provinces and with new structures outside the historic personality of the TEC. The move was reinforced by parallel developments in the rest of the Communion, where conservative provinces sought to protect doctrinal continuity and pluralistic mission in their own regions.
Key components of the realignment include the formation of new or reconstituted companions to existing provinces, the creation of mission-focused networks such as the Anglican Mission in the Americas and, ultimately, the establishment of the Anglican Church in North America as a recognized locus of Anglican life in North America for many participants. The Cumberland-tinged question of property and governance has loomed large as well, with congregations and dioceses weighing the legal and canonical consequences of separating from a parent structure and claiming continuity of mission with the new bodies. See, for example, disputes around church property in various dioceses and parishes, which have featured in public discourse and court proceedings in the United States.
The movement and networks
Global coordination: The GAFCON movement emerged as a coordinating voice for conservatives within the Anglican Communion and provided a framework for shared mission, theology, and governance across borders. It has helped to bind together provinces in Africa, Asia, and beyond that reject liberalizing trends in some western churches.
North American realignment: The United States saw a cluster of parishes and dioceses seek to remain aligned with historic Anglican teaching by joining with or forming parallel structures under conservative oversight. Central to this effort was the Anglican Church in North America, founded to provide a home for those who believed that the traditional Anglican–evangelical catholic synthesis could be preserved in North America apart from the Episcopal Church. The ACNA began operating in 2009 and established a formal provincial structure in the subsequent years, drawing on parishes, schools, and dioceses that had realigned.
Mission networks: Institutions such as the Anglican Mission in the Americas developed as missionary networks to support and shepherd parishes seeking to align with non-TEC provinces. These networks emphasized church planting, pastoral oversight, and doctrinal clarity within a global south–centered Anglican imagination.
The global south emphasis: Provinces such as the Church of Nigeria, Kenya, and others in Africa and Asia have been central to providing pastoral oversight and ecclesial legitimacy for realigned communities in North America. The alliance is often described in terms of shared commitment to evangelism, biblical authority, and the traditional Anglican liturgical and doctrinal repertoire.
The Anglican Church in North America
ACNA represents a concrete embodiment of the North American aspect of Anglican Realignment. Its formation reflected both the desire to preserve Anglican liturgical and theological heritage and a practical response to governance disputes within the TEC. ACNA has sought recognition and, where possible, affiliation from conservative provinces abroad. It has pursued its own seminaries, diocesan structures, and missionary programs, while maintaining relationships with traditional Anglican formularies and with partner provinces across the Communion's Global South. The ACNA’s emergence has prompted ongoing dialogue about how Anglican identity is defined in a jurisdiction that straddles a cultural and political landscape marked by ongoing debates over sexuality, authority, and mission.
Legal and property issues
One of the most contentious practical consequences of Anglican Realignment has been the question of church property and governance. When congregations leave a parent body, questions arise about who retains ownership of church buildings, endowments, and other assets. In many cases, the original congregations have argued that they cannot in good conscience remain under a church they believe has departed from core doctrine, while the parent provinces have asserted ownership or control of property and corporate assets. Courts and canonical processes in multiple states have weighed these issues, often balancing civil law with religious liberty and church order. The outcome in individual cases has varied, and the disputes have shaped how the realignment is perceived by observers inside and outside the Anglican world.
Controversies and debates
Legitimacy and ecclial unity: Supporters of realignment argue that preserving doctrinal integrity and mission requires organized separation when a church body moves away from historic Anglican teaching. Critics contend that fracturing over doctrinal disputes and governance risks harming the broader Anglican Communion’s unity and witness.
Doctrinal grounds vs jurisdictional pragmatism: The debate often centers on whether the realignment is primarily about theological fidelity or a strategic reconfiguration of jurisdictional allegiance. Proponents emphasize biblical authority and the practical need to evangelize in a secular era; opponents stress the importance of staying in communion and pursuing reform from within.
Gender and sexuality ethics: The most visible fault line concerns how Anglican churches interpret biblical teaching on sexuality and the ordering of ministry. The realignment groups tend to resist changes such as same-sex blessings and, in some contexts, the ordination of women to the episcopate. These positions are defended as upholding a consistent, historically grounded Anglican witness, even as critics argue they exclude or marginalize people who disagree.
Woke criticisms and cultural critique: In debates around Anglican Realignment, supporters often contend that critiques arising from broader social-justice conversations miss the core issue of doctrinal authority and spiritual renewal. They argue that concerns about cultural change are not about rejection of fairness but about defending a coherent belief system and the capacity to evangelize in a changing world. Critics, from another perch, may describe realignment as privileging a conservative social agenda over local mercy and unity; supporters reply that the emphasis on doctrine and mission is what sustains the church’s witness over time.