Founder Joseph M. Harte | Website Official homepage | |
Founded 1966 (1966) (as Episcopalians for Life) Location Sewickley, Pennsylvania Key people Georgette Forney, Vicky Hedelius Affiliations Anglican Church in North America | ||
Anglicans for Life (AFL) is a pro-life ministry of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and internationally associated with some members of the Anglican Communion. AFL educates and provides pastoral resources on the right to life position on the issues of abortion, assisted suicide, elderly care, cloning and embryonic stem cell research. AFL also educates and provides pastoral resources on abstinence and adoption. The current President is Georgette Forney. The organization has volunteer Life Leaders in more than 100 parishes in the United States, Canada, Kenya and Uganda. AFL also has the support of the American Anglican Council and of several "life-affirming churches" of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Anglicans for Life Canada is affiliated to the Anglican Network in Canada, a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, being officially launched at 7 May 2014 in a seminar held at St. Peter and St. Paul Anglican Church, in Ottawa. The first director is Vicky Hedelius.
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History
The Episcopal Church was historically anti-abortion. In 1958, it still held that "Abortion and infanticide are to be condemned." In 1966 Joseph M. Harte, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona founded Episcopalians for Life. In 1967, the 62nd General Convention of the Episcopal Church started to support a new abortion law that would allow it in the cases of physical or mental health of the mother, rape, incest and fetal deformity. In 1973 the United States Supreme Court ruled to make abortion legal (Roe vs. Wade). Pro-life Episcopalians nationwide formed chapters in dioceses across the country as this new law came into effect.
In 1982, the 66th General Convention condemned abortion as a means of gender selection and non-serious abnormalities. On December 6, 1983, the National Organization of Episcopalians for Life Research and Education Foundation (N.O.E.L.) was officially incorporated. The first official board of directors met in February 1984 to elect Harte as Chairman Emeritus and John W. Howe, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, as President.
From 1983 to 1996 NOEL operated from Fairfax, Virginia. It published newsletters and educational resources to present their pro-life concerns. NOEL’s ministry reached nationwide, ministering to women in unplanned pregnancies, educating Episcopalians about abortion, and working to influence the church by introducing pro-life resolutions at General Conventions. In 1988, the 69th General Convention of the Episcopal Church adopted a resolution that stated: "All human life is sacred. Hence it is sacred from its inception until death." The statement went on to call for church programs to assist women with problem pregnancies and to emphasize the seriousness of the abortion decision.
In 1994, the Episcopal Church was the first church member of the Anglican Communion to fully support legal abortion at the 71st General Convention, expressing its "unequivocal opposition to any... action... that [would] abridge the right of a woman to reach an informed decision about the termination of her pregnancy, or that would limit the access of a woman to a safe means of acting upon her decision."
In 1996 the NOEL headquarters moved from Virginia to Sewickley, Pennsylvania. In 1998 the board appointed Georgette Forney as the fifth President of NOEL, a position formerly named "Executive Secretary" and "Executive Director".
In 2003 D. Lorne Coyle was elected as the new chairman. The board changed the name of the organization from N.O.E.L. to "NOEL". In February 2007, NOEL was once again renamed Anglicans for Life and became a partner with the Anglican Communion Network.
Anglicans for Life became the pro-life ministry of the Anglican Church in North America upon the latter's creation in June 2009. The AFL's Sanctity of Life Declaration was adopted and made part of its founding canons. It says: "We believe God, and not man, is the creator of human life. Therefore, from conception to natural death we will protect and respect the sanctity of every human life. Furthermore, we recognize that the unjustified taking of life is sinful, but God gives absolution to those who ask for His forgiveness.
Campaigns
In conjunction with Priests for Life, Anglicans for Life launched the Silent No More campaign in 2003 in an effort to further educate the general public about abortion and other pro-life issues. Silent No More is a ministry started by post-abortive women and men with the intention of reaching out to other post-abortive people. The Campaign allowed AFL to network and partner with other pro-life organizations in the United States. In 2010, AFL launched the "Anglican Angel Ministry" to raise awareness about the need to help pregnant women and to provide a parish-based support system for single mothers. The Silent No More campaign has 80 Regional Coordinators worldwide, in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, France, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain, Australia and Uganda.