Structure
According to the constitution, the member entities of the Anglican Church in North America are groups of congregations, each group called a diocese, cluster or network. Dioceses can be organized regionally, whereas clusters and networks are groupings led by a bishop and based on some affinity. A member entity has the authority to leave the province if it so chooses.
The Provincial Assembly, meeting at least every five years, is a representative body with delegates from each diocese, cluster, and network. Each jurisdiction is represented by its bishop, two clergy delegates, and two lay delegates. In addition, jurisdictions are entitled to one additional clergy and lay delegates for every 1,000 constituents, calculated by average Sunday attendance. The assembly's duties include electing the Provincial Council from among the members of the assembly and ratifying all constitutional amendments and canons adopted by the Provincial Council. Measures not adopted by the Provincial Assembly are returned to the Provincial Council for revision.
The Provincial Council, meeting at least annually, is the governing body of the province. Every jurisdiction is represented on the council by a bishop, a clergy member, and two lay persons; and the council may also appoint up to six other persons as members. The Provincial Council elects 12 of its members, 6 clergy and 6 lay members, to the executive committee of which the archbishop is chairman. The executive committee acts as the board of directors of the Church.
All bishops in active ministry are members of the College of Bishops. The college elects the archbishop, the presiding officer of the Church, who convenes the Provincial Assembly, the Provincial Council, and the College of Bishops. The college also has authority to approve diocesan elections of bishops, or in some cases actually elect bishops. There are 35 active bishops sitting in the college. The archbishop has a cabinet composed of leading bishops within the church which functions as a council of advice. The Provincial Tribunal is an ecclesiastical court empowered to rule on constitutional and canonical disputes.
Local congregations hold their own property and the province disavows any claim on the property of local congregations. Existing property-holding arrangements within the founding member entities are not affected by their relation to the province. The province also disavows any authority to control the member entities' policies regarding the question of the ordination of women as deacons or priests.
The constitution and canons specify that other non member groups (such as a seminary, monastic order or ministry organization, or a diocese, congregation or other entity) may be considered for association as ministry partners. Ministry partners may have representation in provincial and sub-provincial bodies as determined by the archbishop or bishop with jurisdiction. Ministry partners may withdraw from affiliation or have their affiliation ended with or without cause. ACNA affiliated ministries include Anglican Global Mission Partners (a missionary organization), Anglican Relief and Development Fund, and Anglican1000 (a church planting initiative).
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“I’m a Sunday School teacher, and I’ve always known that the structure of law is founded on the Christian ethic that you shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself—a very high and perfect standard. We all know the fallibility of man, and the contentions in society, as described by Reinhold Niebuhr and many others, don’t permit us to achieve perfection.”
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