The Diocese of Western Anglicans is a regional association of missional congregations and church plants who are partnered together for mission and ministry and who network with one another collaboratively in regions, called Deaneries. Regionalizing increases the kind and quality of fellowship and mission partnership, which therefor, enables clergy and those they lead to share resources, receive mutual encouragement and strengthen one another to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus wherever the Lord grants us favor. The Diocese of Western Anglicans is one of the dioceses of the ACNA, which is a church planting movement that brings the good news of Jesus to North America in a distinctly Anglican way. Dioceses in our movement are often described as representing the 3 classical streams of Christian spirituality, which are: Scripture, Sacrament and Spirit. As such, we engage holistically with those who are built up by God’s Word (evangelical), God’s Sacramental Tradition (catholic) and God’s Holy Spirit (pentecostal).

Vision is always defined by what we can see even if only in our imagination, but Mission is defined by Jesus:

The Great Commandment

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home or when you walk along the road, when you lie down or when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

The Great Commission

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Acts 1:8
Romans 16:25-27
John 17:14-19

His immense purpose in which we participate by His Great Commandment and Commission, being led by the Spirit, grants us the privilege of sharing in the life and work of His Kingdom. So, it is good to us and to the Holy Spirit to obey His call to us to make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey all He has commanded.

The Mission of the church does not change but the application of human wills in submission to His will permits infinite variety and tremendous creativity! Teaching people how to love God and people is a life-long learning experiment by the Holy Spirit in the lives of human beings, one generation at a time. This is God’s plan for us. In our time together, we will always be deepening our love life as we incline our hearts toward Him and others. Learning how to ‘go and make disciples of Jesus’ will require us to orient away from maintaining what we have learned how to do, allowing Him to draw us into our utter dependence upon Him while He uses us to reach others with good news. We should expect that we will be moving one step at a time away from Maintenance and ever toward Mission; from greater Mission toward increasing Reproduction (Multiplication). In this, there are three Primary Areas of development:

1. Disciples Making Disciples, who in turn make more Disciples of Jesus

2. Forming Missional Leaders

3. Multiplying Missional Communities

We are approaching work in these three focus areas with an eye toward planting churches on university campuses, urban centers and among ethnic populations, including Hispanic, African-American and Asian communities.

Lay people, no less than clergy, are called to participate in the work of building the Kingdom of God, the Constitution and Canons of our Diocese make plain this narrative and clergy serve as equippers (Ephesians 4:11-13) to empower and strengthen the ministry of the laity.

DIOCESAN VALUES

1. Common Prayer, Worship and Study (Acts 2:42)

2. Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-38) and Commission (Matthew 28:19-20; Deuteronomy 6:4-7) communities and their members

3. Collaborative Leading and Community Building

4. Full Commitment to ‘Glocal’ Mission (Global and Local)

5. Congregation Development through Church Planting and Missional Community Reproduction

DIOCESAN PRACTICES

1. Embrace the 3 Streams (Scripture, sacrament and Spirit) of Christian spirituality

2. Practice the 10-10-10 principle of Biblical tithing

3. Apply Anglican ethos to worship, disciple-making, mission and governance, so that congregation life and ministry is within the mainstream of the Diocese of Western Anglicans

Worship Practices

• We use the ACNA Lectionary and BCP2019 for liturgies and pastoral offices.

• As the standard, we wear Anglican vestments for worship services. Local churches with multiple weekend worship services may adapt liturgical dress to the context.

• We make room for Scripture, Sacraments and Spirit in worship, resisting exclusive focus on one of the 3 streams of Christian spirituality to the detriment of the others.

Governance Practices

• We conform to the Constitution, Canons and bylaws of the ACNA and Diocese of Western Anglicans.

• We conform our practices to the Rectors and Wardens Manual and updated directives as presented by the Bishop and the Diocesan Office.

• We maintain an updated set of bylaws and apply the Western Anglicans template to maintain alignment.

4. Embed imitation and reproduction in Christian community in order to make disciples of Jesus that make disciples of Jesus

5. Apply interdependent models of ministry and servant leadership to emphasize collaboration and empowerment.