The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and representatives of other global Anglican faithful joined in a solemn service marked by prayers and thanksgiving to God rejoicing with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) in the investiture of Archbishop Steve Wood as the third Primate of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
Korede Akintunde in a press statement from the headquarters of the Church of Nigeria in Abuja released today noted that the historic service, similar to a commissioning or Presentation, held on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (just outside of Charleston) and was graced by faithful Anglicans across the globe which included the high delegation of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion and its mission in North America lead by The Most Rev’d Dr. Blessing Enyindah, the Dean of the Church of Nigeria.
The ACNA was established by Gafcon as a province in 2009, and has enjoyed the godly leaderships by Archbishops Bob Duncan, Archbishop Foley Beach, and now Archbishop Steve Wood.
The service was graced with Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) Chairman and Primate of the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda Archbishop Laurent Mbanda anointing the new archbishop with oil.
Recall that the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America elected the Rt. Rev. Steve Wood, bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas, as its next archbishop during a conclave held in the crypt of St. Vincent’s Basilica at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from Thursday, June 20 to Saturday, June 22, 2024.
Archbishop Wood will serve as the third archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America which was founded in 2009 and now has over 128,000 members in over 1,000 congregations across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
The gathering and Gafcon prayed for God’s blessings upon him as he leads this Province in proclaiming Christ faithfully.
Delivering his speech, the Chairman of the Gafcon Primates’ Council, The Most Rev’d Laurent Mbanda noted the great visionaries of the movement in proclaiming the true gospel of Christ through the Gafcon as made this possible. He observed that ACNA is one of the major results of the great movement and urged all members of ACNA to support the new Archbishop to make more and more impact in the global Gafcon mission movement.
“This is a global GAFCON family standing with you today,” Mbanda added. The Rwandan Primate pointed to ACNA, whose formation was authorized by GAFCON in 2008, as “continuing the alignment of the movement to stand for the gospel and to stand firm.”
Archbishop Steve shared his thankfulness for the, “sense of confidence that Gafcon leadership brought to the North American church,” especially at a time when orthodox Anglicans were, “struggling with a church that seemed to be embarrassed about Jesus.”
For Archbishop Steve, the friendships and partnerships that have grown between the ACNA and Gafcon dioceses have been, “life giving and generative, and have produced life all across the community,” for, “every Gafcon province has been blessed by their participation in Gafcon.”
“A ‘believe-anything-you-want’ faith is being rejected by many as trivial,” Wood preached in the service’s sermon, calling upon church members to hold fast to sound doctrine, commit themselves to prayer, and to pursue a holy life.
“We are sanctified for the benefit of others – mission,” Wood insisted, characterizing the Church as “meant to be a lifesaving station.”
This rich fellowship was expressed by the participation in the service by Gafcon primates and leaders from around the world as well as the Church of Nigeria’s former primate, Archbishop Peter Akinola who was the brain behind the Gafcon movement and formation of ACNA.
Some of the notable Anglican Attendees are:
Mrs. Kehinde Ajoni, Registrar, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Most Rev. Peter Akinola, Retired Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
Honorable Odein Ajumogobia, Chancellor, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Most Rev. Blessing Enyindah, Dean of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Yassir Eric, Communio Messianica
The Rt. Rev. Andy Lines, Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Network in Europe
The Rt. Rev. Amos Magezi, Representative of the Primate of the Church of Uganda
The Most Rev. Dr. Azad Marshall, Moderator Bishop of the Church of Pakistan
The Most Rev. Dr. Laurent Mbanda, Chairman of GAFCON and Primate of the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda
The Most Rev. Dr. Siegfried Ngubane, Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa
The Most Rev. Kanishka Raffel, Archbishop of Sydney, Anglican Church of Australia
The Most Rev. Sammy Shehata, Primate of the Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Augustine Unuigbe, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Most Rev. Miguel Uchoa, Primate of the Anglican Church in Brazil
The Most Rev. Hector “Tito” Zavala, Primate of the Iglesia Anglicana de Chile
Ecumenical guests from the North American Lutheran Church (NALC), the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), the Charleston Baptist Association and the newly-launched Global Methodist Church (GMC) were also present.
Archbishop Ndukuba in his warm congratulatory message to the new ACNA Archbishop assured him that, the Church of Nigeria as one of the provinces that is in communion with ACNA, will work together with his leadership to strengthen the work of mission and also pray along with others for God’s continuous guide and strength.
Primate Ndukuba prays for God’s wisdom, grace, and discernment to cover his leadership as the Primate of ACNA and looks forward to working with him in the years ahead.
The ACNA, which ministers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Cuba, has a significant presence in and around with membership of 128,114 and an attendance of 84,794 spread across 1,013 congregations.
By Korede Akintunde, Church of Nigeria Communication Officer.
