Resurrection Anglican in Austin Moves Affiliation to the Episcopal Church
The congregation voted overwhelmingly to leave the more conservative ACNA because of differing views about ordaining women and homosexual persons to the ministry.
Resurrection Anglican Church South Austin plans to leave the more conservative Anglican Church of North America to affiliate with the Episcopal Church. It is the second church in the last year to do so.
According to a post on the church’s website by the church rector Shawn McCain Tirres, the parish voted in favor of the change by more than 80%.
Tirres said the church’s decision deepens its commitment to “be the kind of place that could welcome everyone in our neighborhood to encounter the love of God.”
Resurrection Anglican Church South Austin, also referred to as Rez Austin, was part of a non-geographic diocese called the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others (C4SO) led by Bishop Todd Hunter.
Though it is leaving the ACNA, Rez Austin wrote of the ACNA, “[W]e appreciate the support and relationships we have enjoyed with so many sisters and brothers in Christ over the years and hope those friendships continue. We are especially grateful for our colleagues in C4SO and our beloved bishop, Todd Hunter.”
Last October, The Table Church in Indianapolis voted to leave the same diocese in the ACNA to join the more liberal Episcopal Church. The rector specifically cited ACNA restrictions on women’s ordination as a reason for pursuing the change. A twitter post in September 2022 indicated the church’s agreement with left-leaning Karen Oliveto and Melissa Florer Bixler.
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In its decision process, Rez Austin apparently left for similar reasons as The Table Church. It conducted a “thorough examination of its own convictions around a variety of concerns, including [ACNA’s] prohibitions against women in the episcopate and the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ in the church,” the Episcopal Church Diocese of Texas in Houston told Episcopal News Service.
“As distance grew between many of the clergy and people of Resurrection on the doctrine and discipline of ACNA, Resurrection approached the Diocese of Texas to explore a discernment process to affiliate with The Episcopal Church,” it added.
The ACNA is a young denomination, formed in 2009 in Bedford, Texas, over disputes among Anglicans and Episcopalians regarding the ordination of women and homosexual clergy. It has about 130,000 members across about 980 congregations.
While the mainline Episcopal Church’s membership has been declining over the last 30 years, it still dwarfs the ACNA in size with its 1.678 million members. According to statistician and pastor Ryan Burge, its membership is down 36% from 1990 to 2020.
The Episcopal Church General Convention voted in 2009 to adopt a resolution declaring that homosexual persons who had been baptized were eligible for “any ordained ministry,” including becoming bishops. That followed its consecration of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003.
Main photo: The Rev. Shawn McCain Tirres from July 23, 2023 / Video screengrab
