The Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, formerly the Missionary Diocese of CANA East, is a diocese of the

Anglican Church in North America The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba ...

(ACNA). It was one of the four missionary dioceses of the

Convocation of Anglicans in North America The Church of Nigeria North American Mission (CONNAM) is a missionary body of the Church of Nigeria (CON). It has been in a ministry partnership with the Anglican Church in North America but no longer affiliated with it beyond mutual membership in ...

, a dual church body of the ACNA and the

Church of Nigeria The Church of Nigeria is the Anglicanism, Anglican Church body, church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest Province (Anglican), province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptised membership (not by attendance), after the Church of Englan ...

. It is officially a full member diocese of ACNA since June 2013. It comprises 43 congregations in 19 American states, with congregations as far as California and Florida but with most concentrated in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions. The diocese is divided into nine archdeaconries:

Central New York Central New York is the central region of New York State, including the following counties and cities: With a population of about 773,606 (2009) and an area of , the region includes the Syracuse metropolitan area. Definitions The New York ...

, the

Chesapeake Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, the Mid-Atlantic, the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

, northeastern New York, the

Ohio Valley The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinoi ...

, the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

. The diocese also sponsors a mission in Haiti that includes nine additional congregations. The diocesan office is located at

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxim ...

. The diocese also includes two affiliated

religious communities Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

: the Franciscan Brothers of Bucksport and the Community of St. Mary (East) in New York.

Theology and churchmanship

ADLW encompasses churches composed principally of

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

Anglican

expatriates An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

, Anglican church plants using pre- 1979 prayer book liturgies, and breakaway Episcopal Church parishes. Its doctrinal distinctives focus on

Reformed theology Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calv ...

, and its churchmanship tends to be low church with use of the

1662 Events January–March * January 4 – Dziaddin Mukarram Shah becomes the new Sultan of Kedah, an independent kingdom on the Malay Peninsula, upon the death of his father, Sultan Muhyiddin Mansur. * January 10 – At the ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

or 2019 editions of the ''Book of Common Prayer''. The Church of Nigeria Prayer Book and the Prayer Book Society's 2008 ''Anglican Prayer Book'' are also authorized for use. The diocese ordains men only to the priesthood and women and men to the

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

History

The Convocation of Anglicans in North America was launched by the Church of Nigeria as a missionary church body in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with

Martyn Minns Martyn Minns (born April 16, 1943) is an English-born American bishop, serving in the Anglican Church of Nigeria. He was the founding missionary bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), under the patronage of the Anglican C ...

as the first missionary bishop, elected in June 2006 and consecrated in

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, by Archbishop

Peter Akinola Peter Jasper Akinola (born 27 January 1944, in Abeokuta) is the former Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria. He is also the former bishop of Abuja and Archbishop of Province III, which covered the northern and central parts of the coun ...

in August 2006. He was installed as Missionary Bishop of CANA in May 2007. The work of CANA led to the decision of the Church of Nigeria, in November 2011, to create three new missionary dioceses, the first of which was the

Missionary Diocese of the Trinity The Anglican Diocese of the Trinity (ADOTT) is a diocese of the Church of Nigeria and formerly of the Anglican Church in North America and a sub-jurisdiction of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). It is the first missionary dioce ...

, launched in 2012. CANA East was started as a diocese-in-formation in 2012 and held its first Synod at one of its church plants, Christ Church Anglican on the Main Line in Wayne,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, on May 2–4, 2013 with

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

native Julian Dobbs as the first bishop. CANA East was unanimously accepted as a new ACNA diocese at the 5th Provincial Council, on 18 June 2013. Good-Shepherd-Church-Catonsville-MD

The ACNA and the

signed an agreement that stated that the three dioceses that have resulted from the

activity in the

, the

Missionary Diocese of CANA East The Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, formerly the Missionary Diocese of CANA East, is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). It was one of the four missionary dioceses of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a dual ...

and the Missionary Diocese of CANA West, could decide their own filiation in any of both churches, on 12 March 2019. This agreement was the result of the election of four suffragan bishops for the

, composed mostly of Nigerian expatriates in the

, by the

, without the consultation of the ACNA College of Bishops. Until then all the three dioceses were members of both churches. The Missionary Diocese of CANA East announced on 21 May 2019 its decision to withdraw membership in the

to become solely a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, with the name of Anglican Diocese of the Living Word. The Diocese announced the appointment of former Episcopal Bishop of Albany,

William H. Love William Howard Love (born August 14, 1957, in Dallas, Texas) is an American prelate. Love was the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, and he served in that role from 2007 until January 31, 2021. Beginning in April 2021, Love has served ...

, as assisting bishop on 3 April 2021. A week later Daniel W. Herzog, also a former bishop of Albany, joined the diocese as a retired bishop. In 2022, Julian Dobbs' pastoral address at the ADLW synod received national media attention, with magazine columnist and blogger

Rod Dreher Raymond Oliver Dreher Jr. (born February 14, 1967), known as Rod Dreher, is an American writer and editor living in Budapest, Hungary. He is a senior editor and blogger at ''The American Conservative'' and author of several books, including ''H ...

referring to Dobbs as "the

based Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, i ...

bishop." In the address, Dobbs denounced

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

(praising the ADLW-affiliated Sisters of St. Mary, which was sued by New York state for refusing to cover abortion in its health insurance plans), praised the United States as "a force that protected human freedoms and Christian liberties," and rejected

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

perspectives on

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

(saying that “ y confusion of the sexes is a distortion of God’s created order.”).

References

External links

Anglican Diocese of the Living Word Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Living Word, Anglican Diocese of the Dioceses of the Anglican Church in North America Anglican dioceses established in the 21st century Anglican realignment dioceses