Editor’s Note: The Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll, now a board member of Anglican Compass, also served from 2015 to 2020 as the Convener of the GAFCON Task Force on Women in the Episcopate. In 2017, this Task Force issued a recommendation for a moratorium on the consecration of women bishops. In this article, we share Dr. Noll’s 2019 essay…
Archbishop Steve Wood: The Pastor Primate
We ask Steve Wood his pastoral experience will inform his leadership as Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America.
A Spirit of Unity: Reflections on the Provincial Assembly
The 2024 ACNA Provincial Assembly just wrapped up in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. As the Assembly only happens every five years, this was my first. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Here at Anglican Compass, we emphasize navigating our tradition with clarity and charity. But I’m well aware that many online Anglican conversations often lack in…
Provincial Assembly: A Rookie Anglican Guide
The Provincial Assembly is a gathering of Anglicans from across the province. Its purpose is to conduct business under the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures, encourage one another in gospel mission, enjoy fellowship, and celebrate the Eucharist. In the Anglican Church of North America, the Provincial Assembly meets at least once every five years, at…
The Bishops’ Conclave: A Rookie Anglican Guide
What is a conclave? Put simply, a conclave is a private meeting of bishops gathered to select a new archbishop or for other important business. The conclave’s Biblical prototype is the apostles’ gathering, on the first Easter evening, behind a locked door. Theologically, a conclave puts emphasis on Christ as the key. Etymology of the…
The British Monarch as Governor of the Church: A Rookie Anglican Guide
For the seventy years of her reign, Queen Elizabeth II served as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Now that Charles III has ascended to the throne, he takes the same role, and like Elizabeth promises to “maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine worship, discipline,…
Episcopal Polity: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Authority isn’t a bad word Protestants, especially Western Protestants from democratic countries, who look at the Anglican Church from the outside will find a method of leadership that is quite foreign and perhaps distasteful. If we have been set free by Christ, they may think, why should we let some man in a pointy hat…
The Rector: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Over the years, I have experienced numerous periods of growth and development as the Rector and Senior Pastor of Christ Church. I have made mistakes along the way; I’ve also had some blessed moments. Many of both. And, fortunately, for all but a few years, I have had a great relationship with our vestry. We have developed a…
Why Bishops?
The Anglicans were one of the few reformational churches that retained Bishops as biblical and historical. Most of the other groups, in our humble opinion, threw the Bishops out with the bathwater. We feel like that was a mistake. Here’s why. First, because of history. In Paul’s Epistles we find that there were presbyters (elders)…
