An interesting article from VOL about the rise of ACNA and decline of the ACoC.
There is a book by Dr. Marney Patterson called Suicide – The Decline and Fall of the Anglican Church of Canada? Even the bastion of Canadian liberalism, the Globe and Mail, has managed to notice what the ACoC has not: Anglican Church facing the threat of extinction.
Read it all here:
The upstart Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is set to surpass the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) in Average Sunday Attendance, if it has not already done so.
New figures obtained by VIRTUEONLINE (www.virtueonline.org) reveal that over the past two years the ACNA has steadily gained in numbers, while the ACoC, which has been on a steady decline since the beginning of the 21st Century, is now rapidly declining even as it attempts to position itself as a major global player in talks on reconciliation in the Anglican Communion.
In 2001, the ACoC claimed an annual Average Sunday Attendance of 162,138. By 2007, the last year official figures could be obtained, the ASA had dropped to 141,827 a drop of 19,311.
The total number of Anglicans on parish rolls in 2007 was 545, 957. The total number of Anglican parishes was 1,676. The true barometer of health is, however, Average Sunday Attendance.
Based on attrition rates in 2007, including loss of membership to the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC), death, moving to other denominations and parish closures, now estimated to be some 300, Average Sunday Attendance, based on annual losses of about 3044, (between 2007 and 2014) the estimated attendance in 2014 in all churches in all provinces would, in fact, be closer to 100,000!
By contrast, the Anglican Church in North America, which officially birthed in St. Vincent’s Cathedral, Bedford, Texas in 2009 under the authority of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, Robert Duncan, reveals a missionary Anglican denomination of some 983 congregations and a membership of 112,504 with an Average Principal Service Attendance (APSA) of 80,471. That compares to 700 known congregations in June of 2009. This is a 40 per cent growth in absolute numbers of congregations. 105 new congregations were reported (in the 2013 congregational/diocesan reports) as anticipated start-ups in 2014.
The figures for last year (2013) do not include some 230 congregations which did not get reports in, therefore these figures are actually higher.
[….]
Newspaper headlines can now be found which read, “The Decline and Fall of the Anglican Church of Canada.”
In 1961, 1.3 million people attended an ACoC church; making the average yearly number of those exiting the ACoC around 20,300 people. If one assumes a constant number of people exiting per year, one ends up with no one left by the year 2025!
The deeper question is why, and the answer is not too difficult to come by. The ACoC is bent on proclaiming a gospel quite different from that of its immediate rival, The Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC), which proclaims itself a missionary diocese out to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, making and baptizing disciples, and spreading the gospel of the kingdom.
Anglican Church in North America seems to be growing, while the Anglican Church of Canada is on the decline. Can we look at the situation in this way? Humans are derived from Adam and Eve. We are all related to one another. In a sense, each of us is a distant cousin to everyone on this earth. We ought to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, even if they are not fellow Christians.
Matthew 7:16-20
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Considering the endorsement of apostasy by many of the so-called bishops in the ACoC, including the primate, it is not surprising to see orthodox Christians turning to ANIC or to the Lutheran Church Canada — NOT the Evangelical Luthern Church as they have willing followed the steps into apostasy. Genuine Christians will indeed know them by their fruits.
While I do not dispute the trend, the article’s numbers are very misleading. The ACNA covers all of North America (population of 358 million) while ACoC covers just Canada (population of 34 million). It’s not much of a surprise to see a US-based church having a larger attendance rate than one just based in Canada.
At a minimum, it would make more sense to compare the ACNA numbers to the ACOC + Episcopal church’s attendance. Ideally, this would also occur during the same time period if numbers were available.
Hello Ed,
You raise a valid point about making comparisons. Another point to consider is timing. By that I mean how long have these organizations (AcoC and TEc) been in existence vs. how long ACNA has been in existence.
I think the basic point here is that while the AcoC and TEc are in long term and serious decline the ACNA is experiencing impressive growth.
Yes, I agree with you.
ACNA has had impressive growth in a short time. Most would agree that the vast majority of this growth was at the expense of the ACoC and Episcopal church so one could expect a close negative correlation between the two. While I don’t think that church growth is necessarily always a sign of adhering closely to the Gospel (think JW’s, Mormons or even some of the faith healers in the US), I would generally think that growth is good if followed with proper discipleship.
I pray that both denominations continue to grow and preach the Gospel as there are faithful believers in both groups. Sadly, most statistics show that overall church attendance (in nearly all denominations) is decreasing with only the “older” people remaining. ACNA has had a good start. Hopefully it does not follow the trend of other newer denominations and stall/decrease in attendance after the 10-15 year mark such as the Vineyard churches.
The trend can’t so breezily be swept aside. It is the speed of the trends for each of these groups as well as the huge difference in ages (a century and a half versus less than a decade) that are significant to me.
………. and factor in the lack of buildings, frozen assets, and court costs throughout ACNA, and it all seems pretty impressive to someone watching from the sidelines.
The issue is not just numbers but the completely non-Christian stance taken by many so-called bishops in both the ACoC and the TEC. Many claim all religions lead to God and that Christ is only A WAY rather than accepting the words of Christ himself, I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE. If that were not true the Eucharist can only be described as a farce.
Yes, there may be amazing growth in ACNA now. Visit ACNA again 40 years from now!
I’m confused. Are you saying that ACNA is being blessed now, but may not be in the future?
I wouldn’t equate being blessed to growth. They may be related but are not necessarily the same thing.
Then why do you think church growth happens? Alternatively, how could a “blessed” church be in decline?
Good question.
A few years ago, I read a book by Philip Jenkins which was very thought-provoking. He talked about how “church death” is very common around the globe. Growth and death, he argues, is less about theology and being blessed. Here is a summary of the book. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/march/24.52.html?paging=off
Another interesting news article talked about a study that said church growth has nothing to do with theology but rather on whether the church makes it a priority. In other words, both liberal, conservative or evangelical churches can grow if they put their energies towards this goal. Here is the link:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2014/jan/18/church-growth-theology-evangelical-lesson-liberals
Lastly, there are several movements among younger generations for small church. Mega-churches were popular 10 years ago but the 20-40 crowd are now often seeking smaller and less formal groups where authentic relationships and deeper discipling can occur. God may be blessing the group but growth is not seen.
I am not saying that growth is bad. I’m just saying that “growth” and “blessed” are not necessarily the same thing.
Well crafted reply.
EdAnglican: Excellent comments!