Historic Reunion at Joint Provincial Synod
Anglican Catholic Church and Anglican Church in America Heal a 34‑Year Rift
In a landmark moment, delegates from the Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) and the Anglican Church in America (ACA) met in Charleston, South Carolina at the 2025 Joint Provincial Synod and formally celebrated the reunification of two branches of the Continuing Anglican movement.
The weeklong synod, held from October 13 to 17, drew bishops, clergy, and lay delegates from across both jurisdictions. On the first day of the full synod, October 15, at the first session, the ACA unanimously voted to join the ACC, after which everyone stood to sing the hymn, The Church’s One Foundation. Concurrently, the ACC unanimously voted to amend the canons to accept the dioceses of the ACA as constituent dioceses.
After that session, the wall separating the two churches literally came down, as the removable wall separating the two rooms at the Charleston Area Convention Center in Charleston, SC was folded away during the lunch break and everyone reconvened in one room.
The Anglican Church in America was created in 1991 by Abp. Louis Falk, who was the Archbishop of the Anglican Catholic Church and attempted to form a union with the Anglican Episcopal Church. Due to disagreements about this plan and Abp. Falk’s goals for a new international body, this created a rupture that created two separate church bodies.
The path to this reunion has been under way for over a decade. In 2017, the Atlanta Concordat first brought the ACC and ACA into a communio in sacris agreement, pledging mutual recognition and cooperation.
On April 8, 2025, the ACA House of Bishops voted unanimously to reunite with the ACC, a step ratified shortly thereafter by its Executive Council. But formal reunification required synodical approval from both bodies, canonical adjustments, and structural integration.
At present, the dioceses of the ACA join the ACC as dioceses, with the hope that over the years the overlapping geographical areas will naturally merge. One diocese, the Diocese of Missouri Valley, was a diocese of the ACC before 1991.
There is still a road to travel before the merge becomes final. Just like on a highway, whether there is an orderly zipper merge, or a lot of honking, remains to be seen. But there is a commitment to unity, and the building of the new road ahead.
As Fr. Paul Castellano said on Facebook, “The ACA/ACC 2025 joint, and last, Synod from Charleston, SC. The next Provincial Synod will be a unified Synod of the Diocese of the Holy Cross, ACA, and ACC! No church or denomination is perfect, but this is a glorious and truly hopeful step in Anglican unification. Praise God for His providential care in bringing this to pass.”
While this reunion pertains to the Continuing Anglican movement rather than the Anglican Communion, the symbolism ripples outward. In a time of fragmentation among Anglican bodies in North America, the restored relationship between the ACC and ACA offers a model of what doctrinally compatible strands might achieve through humility, patience, and persistence.
It also underscores a shift among traditionalist Anglicans toward greater consolidation, rather than further subdivision. Some hope that this development may encourage similar reconciliations elsewhere, especially between smaller jurisdictions that share liturgical and theological affinity.
As Bp. William Bower, Ordinary of the Anglican Diocese of the Eastern United States preached in the Mass at the end of the day, “Beloved, we have so much work to do, together. Up to now Continuing Anglicans have been fractured, which led us to being called sometimes America’s best kept secret…which one of the alphabet soup. Now that’s ended. Because now is the time for the church to arise and proclaim the truth in love. Not by our own power, but by the power of the Holy Ghost which is present here and present out in this place. It is time to let God arise and let his enemies be scattered.”
May this union not only heal the wounds of division but deepen the churches in holiness, mission, and love.