Pastor’s Letter to the Congregation: Summer 2025

Beloved in Christ,
Over the last few years, and increasingly over the last six months or so, the bishops of the ACC and the ACA have been preoccupied with work for a united Church of all genuine continuing Anglicans. We are now able, with gratitude to God, able to announce publicly some major fruits of this work.
On April 8, 2025, the ACA House of Bishops voted unanimously to immediately begin a process to reunite with The Anglican Catholic Church and sent a Memorandum to that effect to the TAC Primate and the College of Bishops. It was also immediately communicated to Archbishop Haverland. The Executive Council of the ACA unanimously voted its support of the Memorandum. All of this also reflected the clear mind of the ACA, with adoption of the motion to join with the ACC as soon as possible passed by acclamation of the ACA at the Joint Synods in Orlando. Those who were there will remember that the delegates immediately responded to the passage of that motion with a standing ovation. The ACA House of Bishop’s Memorandum was finally shared with the whole College of Bishops of the TAC at the TAC Synod in Columbus, GA on May 21. On June 3, 2025, the official written response of the TAC College
(dated June 1 st) was sent to the ACA College of Bishops, granting a peaceful release of the ACA (the TAC’s USA Province) according to the provisions of the TAC Constitution. On June 3 the House of Bishops of the ACA unanimously voted to publish a press release about this (a Word formatted copy of which is also being sent with this letter), and call for a special Synod of the ACA, to be held as a Joint Synod with the ACC’s upcoming regular Synod in Charleston, SC on October 13-17, 2025. The hope
is that all discussions and arrangements regarding boundaries and the integration of the ACA dioceses will be worked out amicably and that the acts and plans for action necessary will be done beforehand, so that the dioceses of the ACA can effectively move into the ACC at those synods, moving the G3 to a G2.
What will this mean for the Diocese of the Midwest? What will it mean for the diocese of the Missouri Valley, besides the rather obvious change that it will be part of the ACC? More details and much more discussion and plans for action by the dioceses and our individual parishes, will be forthcoming. For the Diocese of the Missouri Valley this will occupy significant elements in the diocesan synod coming in just a few weeks, including the election of delegates to the Synod in October and authorization of some enabling canons (provisional modifications to our diocesan canons) to make the movement into union as smooth as possible.

Please keep all those who are involved in this process in your prayers. All throughout this process evil spirits of division and dissension have been active, trying to prevent our union. All sorts of lies, half-truths, and distortions have been, and are being spread. The fallen angels are intent on preventing God’s work from going forward. They will lose. And your prayers make a huge difference. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). We cooperate with God’s good will for the proclamation of Jesus to all people, calling all people into His joy, and making ourselves available as active instruments of His peace. We lift one another up and expect God’s blessings to unfold among and in us. God is good beyond words, and He is calling us to Himself, to share His life with us! May we together grasp hold of the hem of His garment (Zech. 8:23; Matt. 9:20-22), our Great High Priest, our Good Shepherd, our King. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard that went down to the edge of his garments. It is as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore” (Psalm 133).

• Patrick