In a letter dated October 6, 2010 the Rev. Canon David Roseberry, rector of Christ Church in Plano, TX, announced their intention to join the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh in order to affiliate with the Anglican Church in North America. Christ Church has actively supported the formation of the ACNA and continues to offer leadership and support for Anglican 1000, a key initiative designed to encourage church planting in the ACNA. Since leaving the Episcopal Church in 2006, Christ Church has been canonically affiliated with the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA). When AMiA changed its status within the ACNA from fully integrated, diocesan member to ministry partner, which has less representation in the councils of the Church, Christ Church began to explore how it might stay within the North American provincial structure. The transfer has already received the green light from the Rt. Rev. Chuck Murphy, who currently provides episcopal oversight for Christ Church.
“We are looking forward to partnering more fully with Christ Church Plano in the coming months and years. We are especially delighted that the vestry and clergy of Christ Church consider the Diocese of Pittsburgh to be a fitting home for their mission and ministry in the season ahead,†commented the Most Rev. Robert Duncan, archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America and bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. He added, “Christ Church is a parish of immense talent and vision, and the administrative home of Anglican 1000. Dave Roseberry is one of North America’s great leaders and it will be a joy to welcome him and all the clergy of Christ Church into the leadership cadre of our diocese.â€
Christ Church has had a long association with Archbishop Duncan, hosting his investiture as the archbishop of the newly-formed Anglican province in North America. Roseberry expressed his excitement about moving forward in mission with the Diocese of Pittsburgh and the ACNA: “I give thanks to God for the long-standing relationship that I have…and that Christ Church now has…with the Archbishop, Robert Duncan. With the blessings we have been given here, we also have the joy of sharing as well. Christ Church will be able to transfer its financial pledge to the AMiA directly to the Diocese of Pittsburgh and the ACNA.â€
Roseberry assured parishioners at Christ Church that “Nothing will change. Our mission and our ministry will go on as it has gone on for 25 years now.†At the same time, he cast a vision “to work with other Anglican churches in the Dallas area and build a Diocesan structure in the Dallas metroplex,†while recognizing that this will take a few years to realize. In the interim, however, the vestry and clergy of Christ Church determined that the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh is the best fit for their ongoing mission and ministry.
