Independent Anglican Church Canada Synod

The Independent Anglican Church (Canada Synod) (IACCS) is an Anglican jurisdiction with a presence in Canada and the United States of America. The Most Rev. Peter Wayne Goodrich of Niagara Falls, Ontario is its Primate. There are three suffragan bishops. The church is not affiliated with the Anglican Communion headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is in intercommunion with the Christian Catholic Church of Canada.

History

The IACCS descends from a single parish that, under the leadership of the Rev. William H. Daw, separated from the Anglican Church of Canada in 1934.[1] It later created additional parishes and adopted the present name in the 1980s.

History

This church has merged with a series of other Anglican bodies in the United States over the past half-century. None of these arrangements lasted more than a few years, after each of which the IACCS returned to its earlier status.

In 2006, the Anglican Independent Communion in the Americas, led by the Rt. Rev. John W. Gains of Georgetown, Delaware, merged with the IACCS to become the "Anglican Church, Province of North America, Inc." The union was dissolved in 2008. Bishop Gains and his parish later joined the IACCS as did Bishop Michael Fedechko, formerly Bishop Primus of the Reformed Episcopal Church of Canada, along with his parish in New Liskeard, Ontario.

Doctrinal orientation

The IACCS considers itself to be conservative, having retained the use of the historic Book of Common Prayer, the Book of Common Praise 1938, and Anglican Chant for the Psalms and Canticles. This orientation is also apparent in its requirement that all clergy subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion. The church is committed to the male priesthood and episcopate, although it does approve of women deacons.

Two service books have been published for use by IACCS congregations. The Book of Common Prayer, 1991 Canada, and The Psalter, Psalms and Canticles Pointed and Set to Anglican Chants, were both published in 1991. A companion Holy Week and Other Services book was published by the church in fall 2000. An Anglican Book of Occasional Services was scheduled for publication early in 2012.

The discipline and public worship of the church is described as ranging from Anglo-Catholic to (Low) Evangelical. Most congregations are said to be in between the two.

Institutions

The church prepares candidates for ordination through its own educational facility, St. Matthew’s Cathedral College. Establishment of a new campus of the college has been authorized for Niagara Falls, New York which will offer both on-campus and distance learning.

The Diocesan Library houses approximately 4,000 volumes. This collection features books and information about virtually every religion, having been collected over the past forty years by Archbishop Goodrich. The library is available for students of St. Matthew’s Cathedral College and other students of religion.

Relations with other churches

The IACCS is not in communion with the Continuing Anglican movement or with any other independent Anglicans. It considers itself to be unilaterally in communion with any Anglican jurisdiction that has "a valid Apostolic Succession and maintains the Anglican Tradition of Common Prayer worship".

Unlike some other independent Anglican church jurisdictions, the stated policy of the IACCS is not to encourage members, either clergy or lay, of the Anglican Church of Canada to desert the Anglican Communion. The intention of the IACCS is to be available for those who, for whatever reasons, have already left the Anglican Church of Canada or any other church within the Anglican Communion.

Current status

Under Archbishop Goodrich, new parishes were established in the USA and in several cities in Ontario. The church has parishes in:

Several small religious orders and chaplains are affiliated with the Independent Anglican Church.

References

  1. ↑ J. Gordon Melton, ed. (1991). Encyclopedia of American Religions 1. pp. 98–99.

External links