Primate Francisco Moreno Members 100,000 | Territory Mexico | |
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Website Anglican Church of Mexico Official Website | ||
The Anglican Church of Mexico (Spanish: La Iglesia Anglicana de México), originally known as Church of Jesus, is the Anglican province in Mexico, and includes five dioceses. The primate is Francisco Moreno, Presiding Bishop and Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Northern Mexico. The shield of the denomination uses the colors representing Mexico as well as those of the Episcopal Church (US) recognizing its historical connection with the US church.
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History
The Anglican Church of Mexico can trace its roots to the Mexican War for independence in 1810, but it was the Reform War that led to the foundation of the Church. Religious reforms in 1857 secured freedom of religion, separating the Roman Catholic Church from government and politics. In 1860, the newly formed Church of Jesus contacted the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, seeking leadership, guidance, and support. In 1879, the first bishop, Henry C. Riley, was consecrated. In 1958, the fourth missionary bishop of Mexico was the first of the Church's bishops to be consecrated on Mexican soil. The Church became an autonomous Province of the Anglican Communion in 1995.
Membership
Today, there are 52 Anglican parishes in Mexico, 36 missions, and 12 other affiliated institutions.
Structure
The polity of the Anglican Church of Mexico is episcopal, as is true of all other Anglican churches. The church maintains a system of geographical parishes organized into dioceses. There are 5 of these, each headed by a bishop:
Each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each headed by a senior priest. The archdeaconries are further subdivided into parishes, headed by a parish priest.
Worship and liturgy
The Anglican Church of Mexico embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. A local variant of the Book of Common Prayer is used.
Social issues
The Anglican Church of Mexico allows women to be ordained as deacons and priests. Additionally, some bishops of the Anglican Church of Mexico have expressed openness and support for women bishops and even homosexual clergy. In 2007, Archbishop Carlos Touché-Porter became a co-patron of Inclusive Church advocating for '"a liberal, open church which is inclusive of all,' regardless of race, gender or sexuality". He also advocated for the ordination of gay clergy. Archbishop Touché-Porter's diocese, the Diocese of Mexico, "permits clergy in same-sex relationships to serve in the ministry." In 2008, Bishop Sergio Carranza supported the ordination of LGBT clergy. However, Presiding Bishop Francisco Moreno has opposed same-sex unions as the official stance of his church. Nevertheless, St. Mark's Anglican Church in Guadalajara, Jalisco is one of the churches publicly affirming and supportive of LGBTQ rights. At least one congregation has already supported blessing same-gender couples.
In 2016, the General Synod of the church published a pronouncement declaring itself to be against all forms of violence and discrimination against migrants, victims of violence, or the LGBTI community. Discussing the proposal to legalize same-gender marriages legislatively, a clergyman representing the Anglican church shared that "sexual diversity is a natural gift" and that he celebrates equal rights. A priest responsible for communication encouraged the Congress to pass civil same-sex marriage.
Doctrine and practice
The center of the Anglican Church of Mexico's teaching is the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, includes:
The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. These three sources uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work of Richard Hooker, a sixteenth-century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason.
Ecumenical relations
Unlike many other Anglican churches, the Anglican Church of Mexico is not a member of the ecumenical World Council of Churches. The denomination maintains ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox churches.
The Anglican Church of Mexico considers itself to be a part of the Global Center seeking to reconcile the divide between conservative and liberal provinces in the Anglican Communion while respecting diversity of opinion and practice.