THE C A J


In any assessment of the Anglican Way of Christianity in modern America, an
honored place must be given to the CAJ – that is the Continuing Anglican
Jurisdictions, which have been with us for 25 years.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates of the Anglican Communion give
the impression that the only Anglicans in the USA are those within the
Episcopal Church (ECUSA) and in the new-on-the-map Anglican Mission in
America (AMiA). Likewise many clergy and laity in the ECUSA seem to think
that the only real Anglicans in the USA are in the ECUSA or the AMiA. And
some of the conservative clergy and laity of the ECUSA and AMiA seem to
think that the only real Anglicans outside their ranks are in the Reformed
Episcopal Church and small jurisdictions allied to this small church.

The Continuing Anglican movement is to be distinguished from the Reformed
Episcopal Church (a small denomination that began in the 19th century in a
move out of the Protestant Episcopal Church). The origins of the CAJ are in
the mid-1970s when there was a secession of mostly anglo-catholic clergy and
laity from the ECUSA because of perceived heresy and error in the ECUSA.
The seceders, or the continuers, did not agree with the ordination of women
and wished to retain the classic Book of Common Prayer (edition of 1928).
They wished to continue the Anglican worship, doctrine and discipline as
they had received it. And they began both as one movement and one
church/jurisdiction. Many of them made great sacrifices and suffered
greatly for their secession and search for purity of worship and order.

Regrettably the one jurisdiction [CAJ] of 1976 quickly became several and
the tendency to divide has remained so that there are now about 30
jurisdictions, mostly very small. In this tendency to divide and subdivide
the CAJ has been deeply influenced by the centrifugal forces of American
culture. The three largest jurisdictions are the Province of Christ the
King, the Anglican Church in America, and the Anglican Catholic Church. In
all there are in the CAJ of 2001 probably about 50,000 members with about
100 bishops. The churchmanship is mostly anglo-catholic but there are a few
evangelicals and high-church evangelicals. There is virtually no evidence of
the charismatic movement in the CAJ and the usual prayer book is the 1928
BCP.

The CAJ have been busy overseas and there are continuing Anglican
jurisdictions in Canada, Australia, South Africa, Great Britain, India and
other places. And there is an international organization called the
“Trraditional Anglican Communion.”

With the ferment caused by the arrival on the scene of the AMiA I believe
that the time is ripe to think of gathering together the various forms of
biblically –based Anglicanism and Episcopalianism in the USA and seeking to
unite them in a new comprehensive Province which is catholic, evangelical,
charismatic and truly Christian. I see at the end of preliminary
discussions between the AMiA and the CAJ the calling of a national Congress
of all the interested parties in order to take the necessary decisions to
become an orthodox coalition of Anglican jurisdictions and to form a
province. To such a Congress, Forward in Faith North America and other such
groups would surely be welcome to send representatives.

What I am describing as a Congress is modeled on the famous Congresses in
the 18th century that led to the formation of the USA and is therefore
something very different from the Congress called for June 2002 in Dallas,
Texas by the group whose secretary is the Rev’d Mr Richard Kew. The latter
group seems not to have taken the existence of the CAJ very seriously and
further its Congress is not intended to make decisions about coalition and
unity towards the creation of a Province. The Dallas event seems to be
intended as a special sort of “renewal conference.” It appears that each
Congress is needed and may in the providence of God feed into each other.

The Rev’d Dr. Peter Toon July 9 2001