Thread by @ArlieColes

I'd like to make a larger, related observation about a particular vulnerability of ACNA that I believe is easily exploitable by bad actors: so many members are first-time Anglicans that they cannot realize when things are amiss. 🧵on "no, that's not normal in Anglicanism":

https://twitter.com/ArlieColes/status/1591118272531156992

To start, here's my semi-ironic Phil 3:4-7 cred appeal: I'm a lay cradle Episcopalian, baptized & confirmed; I have served at the altar since I was 7; I witnessed the TEC/ACNA schism; I know and love cons and libs; I have regularly attended low, high, and broad services;

I have spent faithful years in multiple TEC, ACNA, and Anglican Church of Canada parishes; I am an abiding liturgy and prayer book nerd in adulthood. I have not seen it all, but perhaps close. And I'm concerned that there's no one to tell new Anglicans what's not normal.

I have utterly no personal connection to @ChurchRez so mean neither to pick on them nor suggest problems are isolated to them, but given the public nature of their @ACNAtoo issues, they are fair to take as an example. If I'm an inquirer unfamiliar with Anglicanism, what do I see?

After the info about Sunday services, you might come across this First Step class. It is normal for big churches to offer something like this and can be helpful. But please beware - it's not normal to be pushed into this. You can just come to church.

The implied necessary Steps 2 and 3 of Welcome Group and Small Group are not normal and are imports from wider evangelical culture. It's normal to make friends naturally or with help, not normal to be thrust into an overintimate setting with strangers to "study core values".

Note the stinger about the small groups: "sign-ups are now closed for fall." Assuming this is obligatory to join the church, it's not normal to seasonally block people from joining. Church is there to care for you at any time. Again also, it's okay to just go without joining.

Next on their path is confirmation. It's not normal to tie confirmation to a particular parish like they say here. One confirmation is good for life. In confirmation we make vows to follow Christ and receive strength from the Holy Ghost. It's unrelated to any specific church.

This is really important. Confirmation is NOT tied to a particular church body. The ACNA version of the Book of Common Prayer is quite clear about this. Please see the vows one makes at confirmation - they are very serious, and they are to God, not to any denomination.

Please do not let anybody tell you or compel you, a lay person, to make vows to a bishop, a particular parish, a particular denomination, or a particular province. This is wrong, not normal in Anglicanism, and a perversion of confirmation. Be assured of the Holy Ghost.

Next, ordination. It is not normal in Anglicanism to use the title "pastor" in this way. This is an import from evangelicalism to obfuscate about women. If you go into an Anglican church and ask to see a pastor, please expect to find an ordained cleric, probably a priest.

Similarly, "lay leader" is not a title in Anglicanism. You should expect to find the threefold ordained ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon, and that is all. Laypeople have many jobs in the church, but beware of fake titles that conflate them with clerical responsibilities.

A key area of lay involvement is the vestry, which they do not present in connection with the laity. Please know that in Anglicanism, lay parishioners have a voice by electing vestry members. It is normal to elect them yearly at a parish meeting.

It is not normal for there to be no vestry, or for the vestry to be unelected, or for the vestry to be stacked with clergy or people hand-picked by the rector (priest in charge of the parish) or the bishop. It is normal to see budgets and decisions made by the vestry.

And finally (for now), this brings us to pastoral care. Please know that in Anglicanism, the church is there to serve you at any time because we believe God hears and cares for you in every moment of your distress. If you ask for help, your reasonable expectation is to get it.

If you enter any church and ask for a priest, whoever is around should drop everything to find you one. If you need prayer, you will get it. You do not need to be a member of the church. For God's sake, you do NOT need to be a member of a church to get help in distress. Got it?

This is completely wrongheaded and not normal. To be turned away when you need help is not a pastoral culture you should expect or accept in the Anglican world. But let's say you proceed anyway because you really need prayer or a listening ear...

Clicking through will take you to a form with an instant disclaimer that you will be met with ONCE, and will probably turn you away a second time, off with you. You thought you were going to get "long-term counseling", huh? Please know that this attitude is not normal.

Anglican priests and others know that it is their privilege to care for the hurting. This is their job and their honor. They have dedicated their life to this very thing. If you are made to feel less or like you're wasting time for accessing pastoral care, that is not normal.

More on this intake form (also not normal). All of the below is utterly irrelevant to your eligibility for pastoral care and love. The parish is God's outpost of care and love in the world. The only thing that matters is that you came through the door to seek it.

Now here's the one that really gets me: if you need to make a confession, you're supposed to sum it up in this little text box here. This is a five-alarm fire of Not Normal in the Anglican church or indeed any church that has sacramental confession.

Please know that the content of your confession is 100% confidential. In the church's long history, priests are expected to die, and have done so, rather than breaking the seal of the confessional. If you don't believe me, see the ACNA BCP on the matter:

Who knows who sees this intake form? It is NOT normal to have to divulge the content of a confession weighing deeply on you to anybody. Please know that in normal Anglican churches, even the priest barely hears you. He's there to make sure you know that God heard you.

There is more to say, but I'll stop here for now. If you see any of this ambiguity or confusion in your church, please know that it's not normal, and that Anglicanism has so much more to offer you that you are entitled to. People who lie to you about this are not good actors.

Oh, P.S., please know that @ChurchRez is not a member of the Anglican Communion, nor is any ACNA church - this is rather the point of their existence, that they schismed therefrom. This may/may not be important to you, but beware of intentional dishonesty about history here.

P.P.S., don't sign any membership covenant or contract or any such document. This is a controlling import from evangelical culture. Anglicans don't have those! You can just come, you can just leave, your baptism follows you everywhere for life.

https://twitter.com/ArlieColes/status/1591262849833529344?t=epVCy2bYiT6-mvE8QxCH1g&s=19