THE
ANGLICAN Church in North America (ACNA) has bucked the trend of mainline
church decline in the
US
and has added over 150 new congregations, Archbishop Robert Duncan told
delegates to the church's second provincial council .
"Two
years ago we were 706 congregations. The annual parochial and diocesan
reports for 2010," Archbishop Duncan said on 21 June,
"identify 952 congregations as part of the dioceses of the ACNA and
its ministry partners. Statistically this represents a 34 per cent
growth in congregations at the end of the first 18 months of Church
life."
Growth
has been strong across all age groups and demographics, the leader of
the breakaway province of conservative Anglicans in the
US
and
Canada
told the delegates. One statistic Archbishop Duncan found particularly
encouraging was the report on baptisms for 2010.
Over
the past year ACNA parishes recorded "987 baptisms of adults over
the age of 30, 424 baptisms of young people aged 16 to 30, and 1,647
baptisms of children." These numbers excluded baptisms performed in
the Anglican Mission in the
Americas
(AMiA).
"What
is so stunning about this data is that the number of baptisms of those
16 and older is almost equal to the number of children baptized,"
he said. "What this says is that we are reaching adolescents and
adults who have never known Christ, never been part of a church. This is
to reach
North America
with the transforming love of Jesus Christ, one sign among many that
something quite extraordinary is unfolding," Archbishop Duncan
noted.
A
one-to-one ratio of adult to children's baptisms is uncommon among
Anglicans in
North America
. Data released by the Episcopal Church for 2009 recorded 33,778
children’s baptisms and 5,113 adult baptisms.
[Extract from Article in Church of England Newspaper
1st July 2011]
