What is The Anglican Connection?
Introduction to Gospel Centered Anglicanism
At a time when many people are in search of meaning, the Anglican Connection Network of gospel-centered churches provides an opportunity for people of all ages to explore the larger issues of life.
The Network is committed to developing churches that offer a fresh and authentic expression of Christianity for the 21st century. Grounded in the Bible and framed by the rich heritage of reformational Anglicanism, its ministries are committed to touching minds and hearts with God’s good news in a clear and relevant way.
Our aim is to have networks of churches working together in developing effective Bible-based ministries so that people who believe can grow in the riches and joy of their faith, and people who do not know what to believe can find answers about life.
The Anglican Connection, an American Gospel Network:
▪ is Bible-centered – affirming the unique authority of the Scriptures, as God’s Word written;
▪ is Gospel-centered – the services of ordination and the Catechism (teaching) commit ministers in the Anglican Connection to ministries that are gospel-centered and pastoral;
▪ affirms The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church as setting out the essential doctrine of the church;
▪ is liturgical – affirming the theological and liturgical principles of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (grounded in Thomas Cranmer’s second Prayer Book of 1552);
▪ is Protestant – affirming that whatever cannot be found in Scripture is not required of anyone as an article of faith, and that while creed and custom are helpful, God’s Word is the final Word in matters of faith, doctrine and morals;
▪ is Reformed – affirming the great biblical insights of Luther, Calvin and Cranmer; and
▪ affirms the Jerusalem Declaration of the Global Anglican Future Conference (June 2008).
Gospel centered Anglicanism has always insisted that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is ‘the word of truth’, and thus has focused on a rational ethos for its ministry, engaging in study and debate, as for example in the work of C.S. Lewis, J.R.W. Stott and J.I. Packer.
The Anglican Connection, an American Gospel Network, invites you to find out more and to participate in ministries that promote God’s good news to a world that has lost its way.
The Anglican Connection is committed to connecting like-minded ministers and congregations in cities and regions across North America in the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray that through the work of God’s Spirit and his Word the gospel will go forth afresh, renewing lives and building churches. We are keen to bring into the life and ministry of churches today the truth of the Scriptures framed by the riches of our reformational heritage. Rather than returning to the past we want the best of the past to speak into our life and gospel ministry today.
John G. Mason – August 2014
Comment
When he had been raised from the dead Jesus commissioned his disciples saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.’
Central to the outworking of this commission is the proclamation that Jesus Christ is the Lord and bringing people of all ages under his lordship. Making disciples and making disciple-making disciples is key. Such work calls for the faithful ministry of God’s Word and a prayerful dependence upon God; it calls for God’s people to grow in the riches of Christ’s love and in obedience of life to him, bearing the fruit of the Spirit (John 14:23-24,15:1-8; Colossians 1:10; 4:2 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Such disciple-making ministry builds God’s new society, where a genuine love for ‘one another’ is exemplified (John 13:35; 1 John 3:21-24). Further, there is also a deep joy that overflows in concern for and witness to ‘the lost’ (Matthew 28:19, Luke 24:44-49; Colossians 4:2-6; 1 Peter 2:11-12, 3:15-17). Such disciples will want to live lives of servant-hood and sacrifice (Matthew 16:24-25; Luke 14:25-27; 1 Peter 2:11-12, 3:15-17).
The mission of The Anglican Connection is to have networks of like-minded ministers and churches in cities and regions where God’s people gather to glorify God, to glory in God, and to serve the wider community and peoples in other lands in the gospel cause.