Anglican Province of America
| Anglican Province of America | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Classification | Anglican |
| Orientation | Anglican/Anglo-Catholic |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Associations | Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas. Intercommunion with Reformed Episcopal Church, Church of Nigeria and Anglican Church in America. |
| Region | United States of America |
| Founder | Walter Grundorf |
| Origin | 1995 |
| Separated from | Anglican Church in America |
| Branched from | American Episcopal Church |
| Congregations | 60 |
| Members | 6,000 |
The Anglican Province of America (APA) is a Continuing Anglican church in the United States. The church was founded by former members of the Episcopal Church in the USA in order to follow what they consider to be a more truly Christian and Anglican tradition. It comprises 3 dioceses: Diocese of the Eastern United States (DEUS), Diocese of Mid-America (DMA), and the Diocese of the West (DMA). The combined dioceses total 60 congregations, with an estimated 6,000 members.
In the 1960s, the Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA) increasingly involved itself with the Civil Rights Movement. Some in the church began to question areas of ECUSA's involvement which seemed to them to be supporting radical causes. At the same time, revisions made in Roman Catholic liturgies caused many within the ECUSA leadership to champion an updating of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.
Opposition to these actions led to the founding of the American Episcopal Church (AEC) in March 1968. At a meeting held in Mobile, Alabama, it was agreed that a new body was needed in order to preserve traditional Anglicanism.
In 1974, the Episcopal Bishop of Kentucky, David B. Reed, suggested talks between representatives of the Episcopal Church and the American Episcopal Church. The talks were, however, postponed and they did not resume until 1978 following the Congress of St. Louis (see below) at which the Continuing Anglican movement was founded.
The 1976 General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States approved the ordination of women to the priesthood and the first reading of legislation to adopt a new Prayer Book. Traditionalists within the Episcopal Church made plans for the Congress of St. Louis. The Congress brought together nearly 2000 Episcopalians and members of the Anglican Church of Canada and succeeded in launching the Continuing Anglican movement—but without representatives from the American Episcopal Church.
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