Orthodox Anglican Church

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Orthodox Anglican Church
Orthodox Anglican Church Crest.jpg
OAC crest
Orientation Anglicanism
Polity Episcopal
Presiding Bishop Thomas Gordon
AssociationsMember of the Orthodox Anglican Communion
RegionNorth America
Origin1963
Separated from Episcopal Church (USA)
Congregations17 churches and missions
Official website www.orthodoxanglican.us OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Orthodox Anglican Church (OAC) is the American branch of the Orthodox Anglican Communion. Because of similarities in churchmanship and doctrine, it is usually considered to be part of the Continuing Anglican movement, although the church's origins predate the start of that movement and it was publicly critical of the Continuing Anglican churches when they were founded during the late 1970s.

Contents

History

The church was founded by Episcopalians who withdrew from the Episcopal Church in 1963. The new jurisdiction was incorporated in the state of North Carolina in March 1964. Its founders intended to establish a conservative and low-church alternative to the Episcopal Church. Episcopal polity with apostolic succession were maintained with the consecration of its first bishop on Passion Sunday in 1964 by bishops of Eastern Orthodox and Old Catholic lineages.

In 1999, Bishop Robert Godfrey and a majority of the church's clergy met in committee and determined to align the church more closely with the Continuing Anglican churches in worship style. A name change was also made. In opposition, lay leaders and standing committee close to the founding bishop and a small minority of the clergy subsequently started a new church and incorporated anew as the Anglican Orthodox Church International (AOCI).

On April 30, 2000, Godfrey retired as Presiding Bishop in favor of his suffragan bishop, Scott Earle McLaughlin.

In 2005, the jurisdiction changed its name from the Episcopal Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America to the Orthodox Anglican Church. [1]

Godfrey and McLaughlin were signatories to the Bartonville Agreement in 1999. In 2007, McLaughlin signed a Covenant of Intercommunion between the OAC and the Old Catholic Church in Slovakia, represented by the Most Revd Augustin Bacinsky. [2] The Old Catholic Church of Slovakia seceded from the Utrecht Union in 2004 because of the Union's approval of women's ordination and same-sex blessings.

On Ash Wednesday 2012, McLaughlin announced his retirement and the nomination of Creighton Jones of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to be his successor. That nomination was confirmed by the General Convention on June 9, 2012. Jones was consecrated as a bishop and enthroned as the presiding bishop and metropolitan archbishop on July 21, 2012, at the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

In 2014, the church celebrated 50 years as a jurisdiction of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and also marked the 50th anniversary of its incorporation in the state of North Carolina (March 6, 2014).

On November 16, 2014, Archbishop Jones announced his retirement and nominated his suffragan, Thomas Gordon, to be his successor. On April 18, 2015 a special general convention of the church was held and delegates from the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico unanimously approved of the nomination. Thomas E. Gordon was enthroned the same day as the sixth Presiding Bishop of the Orthodox Anglican Church and Metropolitan of the Orthodox Anglican Communion.

Parishes

The Orthodox Anglican Church has 17 churches and missions in the United States and Puerto Rico. [3]

Institutions

Saint Andrew's Theological College and Seminary was founded by the Orthodox Anglican Church in 1971.

The Orthodox Anglican Church's offices are in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Presiding Bishop of the American church, Thomas E. Gordon, also serves as Metropolitan of the global Orthodox Anglican Communion.

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Scott McLaughlin (bishop)

Scott Earle McLaughlin was the Presiding Bishop of the Orthodox Anglican Church, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Orthodox Anglican Communion, and the Chancellor of Saint Andrew's Theological College and Seminary. On 1 May 1999 McLaughlin was consecrated as a bishop by Herbert M. Groce, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Anglican Rite Synod in the Americas, assisted by Bishop Larry Shaver of the Anglican Rite Synod in the Americas, and Bishop Robert J. Godfrey of the Orthodox Anglican Communion. His apostolic succession is Anglican, Old Catholic, and Orthodox. McLaughlin served as suffragan bishop until 30 April 2000, when Bishop Godfrey retired. He was then elected Presiding Bishop of the Orthodox Anglican Church and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Orthodox Anglican Communion. He was the fourth archbishop to lead the Orthodox Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Anglican Church. He is married with four children; two sons and two daughters.

T. Creighton Jones was the Presiding Bishop of the Orthodox Anglican Church and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Orthodox Anglican Communion. His apostolic succession is Anglican, Old Catholic, and Orthodox. He was the fifth archbishop to lead the Orthodox Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Anglican Church.

Thomas Gordon (bishop)

Thomas E. Gordon is the sixth Presiding Bishop of the Orthodox Anglican Church and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Orthodox Anglican Communion. On November 16, 2014, Creighton Jones announced his retirement and nominated Gordon, then his suffragan, to be his successor. Gordon became Metropolitan on April 18, 2015.

References

  1. http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/corporations/Filings.aspx?PItemId=4584592 . Retrieved 1 June 2016.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. A Covenant Between The Old Catholic Church In Slovakia and the Orthodox Anglican Church Archived 2007-08-21 at the Wayback Machine April 25, 2007.
  3. "Churches, The Orthodox Anglican Church - North America" . Retrieved 11 November 2019.