Fulfilling the Great Commission in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi
The Church in the Gulf Atlantic Diocese is a constituent member of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a participant in the worldwide Anglican Communion, a Fellowship within the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. Our congregations and ministries serve in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.
Our mission is to proclaim the transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ in every facet of our faith and life. Together, we are:
- supporting and encouraging the regular worship of God in Word and Sacrament;
- creating opportunities for the ongoing study of God's Holy Word;
- drawing God's people together in loving communities of fellowship;
- showing forth the love of God in our care for the poor, the imprisoned, the hungry and the sick; and
- fulfilling the Great Commission.
Our Mission Strategy
Raising up Leaders
We identify, train, and deploy missional leaders to be continuously passing on the faith as well as the baton of leadership.Strengthening Churches
We resource our existing parishes and ministries as they minister in their unique contexts. We invest in our clergy and lay people so that they can build healthy communities of faith and reach others in love.Planting Congregations
We encourage all believers to go beyond their own walls. As a Diocese, we embrace communities, love them where they are, and show Jesus' light.Reaching the Next Gen
We keep before us at all times the necessity of reaching those who do not yet belong to Jesus, with a special focus on our children and teens.Our Beliefs & “the Anglican Way”
“Anglican” in our name means that we are descended from the Protestant Reformation in the unique way that it transpired in England before, during, and after the sixteenth century.
We believe God calls all believers to be unified in his name. We are grieved at the brokenness among believers and denominations and exhort all of us to examine where we have strayed from Scripture and compromised our beliefs, repenting and seeking unity and a return to faith consistent with Jesus’ teaching and the historic faith of the Church. What we believe is outlined in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer, the 2020 Anglican catechism, and the Thirty-Nine Articles. We affirm the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) Statement and Jerusalem Declaration issued 29 June 2008. These provide the foundation of the global Anglican tradition. We identify the following seven elements as characteristic of the Anglican Way:
- We believe the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and to be the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.
- We believe Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are Sacraments, ordained by Christ Himself in the Gospel.
- We believe the historic office of a bishop is a part of the faith and practice passed down by the apostles, and therefore is integral to the fullness and unity of the Body of Christ.
- We believe the use of the three catholic (or universal) Creeds: the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian, are scriptural and provide a unified vision for the Church.
- There have been seven councils of the undivided Church, held in an attempt to reach an orthodox consensus and restore peace among believers. Anglicans affirm the teaching of the first four councils and the Christological clarifications of the fifth, sixth and seventh councils, in so far as they are agreeable to Scripture.
- We receive the 2019 Book of Common Prayer from the ACNA, as the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.
- We receive the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1571, as expressing the Anglican response to certain doctrinal issues controverted at that time, and as expressing fundamental principles of authentic Anglican belief.
For more information on these seven elements, visit the Anglican Church in North America's website here. In all these things, the Anglican Church in North America is determined by the help of God to hold and maintain, as the Anglican Way has received them, the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ and to communicate them in His name.
Structure & Governance
The Bishop of a diocese is their representative to the wider Church, and the Church's representative to the people of the diocese. He is the chief pastor and doctrinal authority, and as successor of the Apostles, he has been entrusted with the stewardship of the mission and ministry of the diocese. To this end, he enlists the help of regional deans and his staff.