As the Anglican Church in North America Provincial Council gathered in Long Beach, Calif., The Rev. Canon David Roseberry, chairman of Anglican 1000, and The Rev. Daniel Adkinson, Anglican 1000 associate director, addressed attendees and shared the latest news about the movement.
Father Roseberry reflected on the day two years ago when at his investiture, Archbishop Robert Duncan issued the call for 1,000 new Anglican congregations and communities of faith during his ministry. “You felt that roar of applause,” said Roseberry. “These were words spoken under the Spirit that came to us in power. There was such a reception that that I just felt moved.”
That one line from Archbishop Duncan’s sermon became a strategic Anglican Church in North America initiative with the vision to plant new works to reach North America with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
“All of us have been nurtured by a church,” said Father Roseberry. “We are the beneficiaries of church planting efforts long ago. Anglican 1000 is an effort to return that favor to the future. Our vision is to plant churches and communities of faith that will bring future generations to the Gospel. It’s worth a lot of our money, effort, and attention.”
“We’ve seen church planters step out in faith to replant biblical Anglicanism here in North America,” said The Rev. Daniel Adkinson. “We get to see the fingerprints of what the Lord is doing here in the U.S. and in Canada as well.”
Adkinson reported that Anglican 1000 is currently counting roughly 130 new works, but said there are even more churches that have not yet been reported to Anglican 1000 or are in the process of being planted.
Adkinson said of reaching the Anglican 1000 goal, “By God’s grace, if He moves, we can. It’s about more than the number. It’s about calling people to conversion and transformation.”
Nuts and Bolts of the Movement
Many don’t realize that Anglican 1000 itself will not plant a church. Rather, Anglican 1000 emerged from the call to plant churches and is a movement of churches, leaders, rectors, bishops, dioceses, networks and others who are embracing that call to plant new communities of faith. Anglican 1000 serves and equips the planters that God is raising up.
A large portion of Anglican 1000’s work revolves around sponsoring events, including an annual summit, and gathering church planters for conferences that will support their work. One unique example is ¡Caminemos Juntos!, which means “walking together” in Spanish. The event is a special Anglican 1000 consultation on Hispanic/Latino Ministry in North America led by the Greenhouse Regional Church Movement.
Exciting New Plants
Adkinson cited several examples of church plants that are taking off including St. Andrew’s City Church, which gathers at the “Music Farm,” a musical venue in Charleston, S.C., and is reaching adults in their 20s and 30s with the Gospel.
Another example is All Saints Dallas, Texas, which began as a small group of people in the Park City area of Dallas who had been going to Christ Church Plano. The group decided it was time to plant a church in their own community. According to Adkinson, “This is not a chapel of convenience, but a new Gospel-centered work.” The founding members wanted to plant a church in their community so that those in their neighborhood – from co-workers to the people they see at the grocery store – could be transformed by the Gospel.
Adkinson also discussed Christ the King Anglican Church in Toronto, Ontario, which was planted under the leadership of The Rev. Ray David Glenn. The congregation is currently being pastored by The Rev. Jonathan Wong, an experienced church planter from Singapore.
According to Adkinson, Anglican 1000 has become a collection of “stories about faithful men and women, who are stepping out and risking a lot to bring the Gospel to their communities.”
Supporting Church Planters
“We’re making heroes of church planters. What we need for 1,000 churches is big miracles,” said Father Roseberry.
Addressing the bishops in attendance, he said, “You do not understand the level of influence you have over a young leader. We need a pipeline of leaders. The field is white with the harvest and we need people.”
When asked how congregations and individuals can support churches, Roseberry answered, “Pray for these leaders out planting churches. Every ounce of courage you have for ministry is called into play when you plant a church. They need to know that we are 100 percent behind them.”
He also urged attendees to sign up for their newsletter, follow Anglican 1000 on Twitter and Facebook, utilize the website resources, send those with a heart for planting churches to their events, and set up a scholarship fund if possible.
“You can become a player in the Anglican movement,” Roseberry said. “We’ve got three years. What are you doing? What kind of a shoulder will you put to this effort to plant churches?”
Click here for Anglican 1000’s map of church plants. If you have questions or know of churches with a name, website, leadership, regular meetings, and episcopal oversight that should be included on the map, email {encode=”staff@anglican1000.org” title=”staff@anglican1000.org”}.
Photo captions: The Rev. Canon David Roseberry, chairman of Anglican 1000, addresses Provincial Council attendees in Long Beach, Calif. The Rev. Daniel Adkinson (right), Anglican 1000 associate director, at the 2011 Anglican 1000 Church Planting Summit.
