ACNA News- Anglican Relief and Development Fund in Action
- Archbishop Duncan: Our Experience, Our Proclamation, and Our Mission
- Leaders Gather for Executive Committee, Archbishop’s Cabinet, ARDF Meetings
- Anglican Church Stands by Catholics in Pursuit of Freedom of Conscience
- Grace Anglican Church, Lubbock, TX, on a “Mission from God”
MDAS News
CAM2CAM interview of Dr. Finnell, Executive Director of Anglican Health Ministries (AHM), with Kevin Kallsen of AnglicanTV. In this brief interview, Dr. Finnell describes the mission and vision of AHM along with some of our upcoming ministry activities. AHM is a ministry of the Missionary Diocese of All Saints. Please help us get the word out by cross posting this video widely.
The inaugural Synod of the Missionary Diocese of All Saints was held on April 27-28 in Ocean City, Maryland. Clergy and Laity from Oregon to Florida and New York to Arizona gathered in worship, fellowship and the endeavors of the Synod. In addition, we were blessed with the presence of a number of guests, including Bishop Paul Hewett of the Diocese of the Holy Cross and Bishop Alexander Barroso of the Iglesia Anglicana Carismatica in Venezuela.
Wednesday evening, Bishop Ilgenfritz celebrated Holy Eucharist to begin the Synod and our Suffragan Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Richard Lipka, delivered the homily focusing on our call to mission.
Following the Eucharist Bishop Ilgenfritz gave his opening address, which can be read in full here. He reported to us that we currently have thirty-one congregations and several more that are in the process of application for reception in the Diocese; and, he reminded us that as One People we have One Mission and One Message.
During his address Bishop Ilgenfritz appointed a number of officers to assist in the work 
of the diocese. Mr. William Smith of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Berlin MD was appointed Chancellor of the Diocese; Mrs. Christine Hutchison of Christ Our Redeemer, Lynchburg, VA was appointed as the diocesan Treasurer; Mrs. Loisjean Ilgenfritz of St. Mary’s, Charleroi, PA was appointed as the Bookkeeper; and, Fr. Larry Hill of Holy Trinity was appointed as Canon to the Ordinary.
The Synod then proceeded to the business of approving the proposed Constitution and Canons. During the discussion, some questions and suggestions arose, but most importantly we were blessed with a spirit of unity. With only a couple minor changes in wording the proposed Constitution and Canons were adopted unanimously by the Synod.
On the second day of the Synod we proceeded to the election of members of the Bishop’s Council (Standing Committee), the Provincial Assembly, the Provincial Council and the Ecclesiastical Court of Trial. Again we were blessed with clergy and laity willing to sacrifice time and personal expense in order to assist in the mission and ministry of the diocese. The list of those elected can be seen here.
We give thanks to God for all those who worked so hard preparing for our Inaugural Synod, including the Women of Trinity who prepared the welcome gift bags, Susan Lipka who did the art work and prepared the folders for each member of the Synod, and Nancy Drazga who led the music for the services of the Synod and Retreat.
There are two women in particular to whom we need to give special thanks, Karen Graulich and Gloria Dzambo. Both of them worked many many hours in preparing materials, taking care of registration and coordinating with the hotel. Thank you so very very much.
To God be the glory!
The Rev. Deacon Kenneth Dimmitt passed from this life into eternal light at this afternoon. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.
Funeral arrangements are still pending.
Deacon Ken was born at home in Wapello County, Iowa on January 8, 1931 and raised on a working farm. He graduated from Agency High School and attended Iowa Success Business College. He was subsequently drafted into the U. S. Army, where he served two years active duty and six years in the reserves. He farmed for one year and attended Iowa State College, extension course, for vocational agriculture and worked at John Deere Ottumwa Works in office services.
Deacon Ken moved to California in 1959 and worked at Lockheed Aircraft until June of 1986, as a Liaison Engineer. He has the equivalent of a Bachelors Degree in Engineering. He retired and went to work for Boeing Aircraft in Seattle for a total of 6-1/2 years.
Deacon Ken was ordained to the deaconate in January 2000, in Seattle and attended St. Michaels Seminary.
He met and married Linda Grable in 1962. Linda is a retired Medical Transcriber and they have two grown children and two precious grandchildren. He has served as a deacon since 2000. They moved to Texas in 2006 and joined Holy Trinity, Hurst, where Ken served for the last 5 years. Linda has played the keyboard, cello, and has sung in the choir at Holy Trinity and is active in the Intercessory Prayer Ministry.
Please remember the Dimmitt family in your prayers.
One of the great mission scholars of modern times, Dr. Peter Wagner, said, “the best way to do evangelism is to plant new churches.” It not only opens another door into the family of Christ, it also creates possibilities for those who might find it difficult to be received into the long established circles of fellowship and friendship in an existing church.
The Anglican Church in North America has given a high priority to establishing new works throughout the U.S. and Canada. The goal is to establish 1000 new churches within a five year period to help the many unbelievers and un-churched with the Good News of our Savior Jesus Christ. The Missionary Diocese of All Saints has several new works in the early stages of development as part of this effort.
If you are in the Delaware, Maryland or Virginia region and maybe interested in helping plant a new church in your community, we encourage you to contact the office of Bishop Richard Lipka: 410-641-4882 or cecdelmarva@mac.com.
The first Synod of the Missionary Diocese of All Saints will take place in Ocean City, Maryland at the Dunes Manor Hotel. The Synod will begin on Wednesday evening, April 27, 2011 
with the Holy Eucharist at 6:30 PM and conclude on Thursday, April 28, 2011 at Noon, unless an afternoon session proves necessary.
The main business of the synod will be the the approval and adoption of our Constitution and Canons and the selection of the Bishop’s Council (Standing Committee).
Immediately following the Synod, the MDAS Clergy and Wives Retreat will take place, beginning on Thursday afternoon, April 28, 2011 at 4:00 PM and continuing through Noon on Saturday, April 30, 2011. The theme for this year’s Retreat is “Doing the Mission of Christ in the 21st Century. This will be an excellent opportunity for all of us to unite in worship, teaching and fellowship.
Twenty years ago on Advent Sunday, December 2, 1990 a few Episcopalians led by Father Vernon Grosvenor founded St. Stephens Anglican Church in Athens, Texas. Meeting first at the Cain Center they soon acquired from the Church of the Nazarene a building on Rocky Ridge Road where they worshipped until they built and occupied their current facilities on East College Street. Their numbers grew quickly from seven to over fifty.
They affiliated themselves with the Anglican Church in America (ACA), a small group of similar parishes in what was known as the Anglican Continuum. Concerns over ordination practices and departures from traditional beliefs in the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the Anglican Communion, united these parishes in a common doctrinal orthodoxy. Following the 2003 consecration of a bishop living in a committed same-gender partnership and other significant doctrinal changes, well over 100,000 Anglicans left the Episcopal Church. Individuals, parishes and four major Dioceses, including the nearby Diocese of Ft. Worth, left and ultimately formed the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) as a separate province for orthodox Anglicans in the United States and Canada.
On July 5, 2009 St. Stephen’s voted to leave the ACA for several reasons and became an independent parish. Father Jerry Pardue, a Nashotah House Seminary graduate, continued as the Rector of the parish. Anglicanism is hierarchical and a parish, although not preferred, can survive as an independent organization but a priest must have a Bishop. After much prayer and discernment Father Pardue sought membership and was received by the Missionary Society of St. John the Evangelist (MSJ) coming under the care and supervision of the Rt. Rev. Frederick Fick, Father-General of the order.
The parish remained independent continuing to discern where the Holy Spirit might lead it. After much investigation, discussion and prayer the members of the congregation unanimously decided to follow their Rector into full membership in the society. MSJ is a convocation of the Missionary Diocese of All Saints with the Rt. Rev. William Ilgenfritz, Diocesan Bishop. The diocese is in the Anglican Church in North America. St. Stephen’s was in communion with a few hundred when first joined to the ACA, then in communion with no one as an independent, is now in communion with over 100,000 fellow Anglicans in 750 plus congregations. In fact they are now in communion with millions as the ACNA is affirmed by the majority of the world wide Anglican Communion.
Sunday, December 5, Bishop Fick came to St. Stephen’s to accept the parish into the MSJ at a Pontifical High Mass at 10 am assisted by Father Bob Tomlinson, Dean of the Texas chapter. At 4 pm the parish presented its annual Lessons and Carols for Advent for the many friends of St. Stephen’s who worship at other churches in the morning to celebrate the new affiliation.
Bishop William Ilgenfritz of the Missionary Diocese of All Saints (MDAS and Bishop Alexander Barroso of the Iglesia Anglicana Carismatica (IAC) of Venezuela signed a concordat of full intercommunion and mutual recognition as sister dioceses in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday, November 5, while meeting clergy of the Anglican Diocese of Christ the Redeemer to discuss the reception of that group into the MDAS.
Bishop Barossa leads a new diocese of six congregations in Venezuela, including the Cathedral Iglesia Bethabara in the city of Cabimas, which has an average Sunday attendance of over two thousand people. The other five congregations started within the last two years, have attendance ranging from fifty to two hundred believers.
The Missionary Diocese of All Saints will now seek support from Archbishop Duncan and other members of the College of Bishops in the Anglican Church in North America to move beyond the geographic confines of North America. We will work diligently and pray earnestly for the inclusion of the IAC as the Latin American Convocation of the Missionary Diocese.
On November 12 the MDAS received a former diocese of the Communion of Christ the Redeemer as the fourth Convocation of the diocese.
We welcome The Rt. Rev. Kenneth Myers, The Rt. Rev. Rick Painter and the clergy and laity of the following congregations of the Convocation of Christ the Redeemer:
- Christ the King, Phoenix, Arizona
- Church of the Holy Redeemer, Tucson, Arizona
- Holy Trinity Formation Group, Plant City, Florida
- St. Francis, Roswell, New Mexico
- Christ Church, Sherman, Texas
- St. Andrew’s, Hermleigh, Texas
- St. Clement, Muleshoe, Texas
- King of Kings, Katy, Texas
- Christ the Redeemer, Kennewick, Washington
- Iglesia Santisima Trinidad, Guerrero, Mexico
In this report I have used the term “Convocation” to describe groupings within the MDAS. I believe this term best describes the structure of the Missionary Diocese. Unlike most dioceses of the Anglican Church in North America, the MDAS has admitted three whole former dioceses. As dioceses each of them came with existing bishops who had strong positive relationships with the clergy and congregations committed to their episcopal oversight. The MDAS honors and supports those relationships.
Therefore, the MDAS is now comprise of four Convocations whose bishops derive their authority from the Bishop Ordinary of the MDAS.
The Founding Convocation, as the name implies, was the first. This Convocation dates to the Consecration of the Bishop Ordinary on August 22, 2009. The “Flagship Congregation” of the MDAS is St. Nicholas Anglican Church in Kissimmee, Florida under the leadership of Father Geoffrey Boland. The Founding Convocation now claims eight congregations, two new church plants, one congregation currently in discernment, two prison ministries and an Anglican Chaplaincy at Eastern Illinois University.
The Rt. Rev. Richard W. Lipka serves as Suffragan Bishop of the MDAS and Bishop of the Delmarva Convocation. This Convocation is comprised of seven congregations. The Missionary Diocese, the Delmarva Convocation, Forward in Faith North America and the ACNA College of Bishops are indeed blessed by the many contributions and hard work of Bishop Rich. The Suffragan and the Ordinary meet in person on a monthly basis for prayer, mutual support, problem solving and planning for the MDAS. Bishop Lipka’s considerable experience saves us much time and effort since we are not constantly “reinventing the wheel.”
At the Forward in Faith North America Annual Assembly in June of 2010, the Missionary Society of St. John (MSJ) under the leadership of the Rt. Rev. Frederick G. Fick became our third Convocation. The MSJ Convocation has five congregations and six non-parochial ministries including our Office of Foreign Missions for ministry in Africa, a prison ministry, a hospice ministry and a shelter for victims of domestic violence.
As of this date the MDAS has thirty congregations, two church plants, one parish in discernment and nine non-parochial ministries.
The Missionary Diocese of All Saints is constituted and embraces the “three streams” of Anglicanism. We are a Diocese in which hands can be raised in praise; drums, guitars and keyboards can provide worshipful music: the rosary can be prayed and Benediction and Adoration a regular part of our piety (the 39 Articles not withstanding). Some of our congregations use the 1979 Book of Common Prayer while others are convinced that their fingers would be burned if they even touched a copy. We are a fully Catholic Diocese, but our worship styles vary. We exist for those who wish to remain faithful to the Anglican Way within the Anglican Church in North America.
The Missionary Diocese of All Saints believes that the Church is wherever two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ Name. At the same time we embrace our responsibility to make new disciples who make new disciples. For us, evangelism and church growth are not optional.
As a Diocese we will gather in Ocean City, Maryland this coming April for our Constitutional Synod and annual clergy and wives retreat. The Canons of the Anglican Church in North America require a minimum of twelve congregations each with an ASA of at least fifty and an aggregate ASA of one thousand for recognition as a Diocese. While our combined ASA is one thousand two hundred and seventy-nine, we have only eight congregations that meet the ACNA requirement of fifty ASA. The decision to apply for a change in our designation as a Diocese-in-Formation to a Diocese will depend largely on our growth between now and next June when the ACNA College of Bishops meet. The question will be brought before our Constitutional Synod this spring.
The Constitutional Synod will in addition to adopting a Constitution and Canons elect a Bishop’s Council (Standing Committee), approve a budget and appoint a Treasurer and Chancellor.
The relationship between Forward in Faith North America and the Missionary Diocese of All Saints is greatly misunderstood and will require clear and unambiguous clarification. An article recently published by David Virtue concludes with the following: “Forward in Faith North America is a jurisdiction within the Anglican church in North America (ACNA), and has oversight of the non-geographical Missionary Diocese of All Saints (MDAS).” There are two errors in this one sentence. First, Forward in Faith North America is not a jurisdiction. And Second, FIFNA does not have oversight of the MDAS. The relationship between FIFNA and the MDAS can be likened to that between a parent and child. The child is grown, is financially independent and provides financial support for the parent. The parent and child embrace the same values, but they are individuals with the right of self-determination. To put it another way the relationship between the MDAS and FIFNA mirrors that of the “FIFNA Dioceses” and other “Continuing Jurisdictions.”
Thank you all for your prayers and support as we move forward in faith.
The Rt. Rev. William H. Ilgenfritz
Bishop Ordianry, Missionary Diocese of All Saints
Senior Vice President, Forward in Faith North America
Bishop William Ilgenfritz of the Missionary Society of All Saints (MDAS) and Bishop Alexander Barroso of the Iglesia Anglicana Carismatica (IAC) of Venezuela signed a concordat of full intercommunion and mutual recognition as sister dioceses in Phoenix, AZ, on Friday, November 5, while meeting clergy of the Anglican Diocese of Christ the Redeemer to discuss the reception of that group into MDAS,
Bishop Ilgenfritz and Bishop Barroso signed the document of intercommunion, then embraced to the applause of the gathered bishops, priests and deacons. Bishop Barroso leads a new diocese of six congregations in Venezuela, including the cathedral Iglesia Bethabara in the city of Cabimas, which has a Sunday attendance of over 2000 people. The other five congregations, all started within the last two years, have attendance ranging from 50 to 200 believers. The only other Anglican presence in Venezuela is a handful of liberal TEC missions, with a total ASA of under 400 people. Bishop Barroso was consecrated to the episcopate three years ago by Bishops of the Anglican Diocese of Christ the Redeemer, including Bishop Rich Lipka, now suffragan of MDAS. The website for the Venezuelan church is http://www.iglesia-anglicana.org.ve/IAC/Bienvenidos.html. A short (12 minute) video of the worship at the Cathedral in Cabimas can be seen at http://vimeo.com/14443250.
Fr. Francis & Hutu Priests from Rwanda
Has the Lord planted a seed in your heart called “AFRICA?” There is a need for two short term missionary teachers to work in Africa late this year, early next year for approximately 4-5 weeks. Fr Francis is going to retire from teaching in Africa. There is a need for two new teachers to work on short term mission trips to East Africa – Tanzania and Kenya. These teachers would work in rural areas teaching ministry education to clergy, postulants and church leaders. This is an exciting opportunity to serve in mission country in Africa and do work that leaves a lasting legacy. Fr Francis served as a missionary teacher while working at a full time job, pastoring a parish, and doing other priestly work. It would be valuable if these new teachers accompanied Fr Francis on the 2010-2011 teaching trip.
Why do this? The Anglican Church is growing significantly in Africa. Often, African bishops appoint and sometimes ordain pastors and evangelists who have no formal ministry education and even minimal secular education, to pastor congregations because leaders are needed. Education later is promised. Paul did it this way. He appointed leaders and then trained them later by letter. He depended on the Holy Spirit and the early Scriptures. Roland Allen wrote about this practice in his book: Missionary Methods: St Paul’s or Ours. This is not to minimize the importance of education – in reality it emphasizes education even more. Paul’s letters offer teaching to the ones he left behind. OFM provides ministry education to those whose heart is right and who love and serve God’s people.
What is taught: Beliefs, Practices and Teachings of the Christian Church; Ethos of Ordained Ministry; Introduction to the Sacraments; Fundamentals of Sacred Scripture; Introduction to Preaching; Pastoral Theology; Introduction to Liturgy; and other topics, too.
A boat without a rudder on Lake Victoria floats aimlessly as the winds and currents direct. An uneducated pastor is the same. A church without an educated pastor is vulnerable to many false teachings and sometimes makes mistakes that hurt the people. African dioceses often list their statistics in this fashion: 45 clergy, 40 parishes, 85 churches. Many parishes and churches are led by uneducated good people, both ordained and lay leaders, who have worked hard for years. They are eager for education and training. They need you and your education. Will you respond?
If you have some desire to serve or sense a call to serve, please contact the Father General of the Mission Society of St John, Rt Rev Frederick Fick, www.msjanglican.org, msjanglican@yahoo.com, 586-264-6044. The Missionary Society of St John is a member of the Missionary Diocese of All Saints.