page_title: Christianity in the 21st century
section_title: Anglican Communion
hierarchical_section_title: Christianity in the 21st century / Protestantism / Anglican Communion
caption_attribution_description: Though this church may appear at first glance to be a few centuries old, the building was, in fact, built in 2015 to house the Holy Trinity Anglican Church at the northeastern edge of Downtown Raleigh. Constructed in the Colonial style, the church carries on the architectural legacy of Renaissance and Georgian-era England that was carried to the new world by colonists in the 18th Century. It is a charming and lovely addition to downtown Raleigh, and fits in nicely with the verdant tree-lined streets and historic homes in its surroundings.
context_page_description: Christianity in the 21st century is characterized by the pursuit of Church unity and the continued resistance to persecution, and secularization.
context_section_description: One month prior to the Lambeth Conference, the ten-yearly gathering of Anglican Communion bishops, a seven-day conference of conservative Anglican bishops and leaders held in Jerusalem from 22 to 29 June 2008 to address the growing controversy of the divisions in the Anglican Communion, the rise of secularism, as well as concerns with HIV/AIDS and poverty. As a result of the conference, the Jerusalem Declaration was issued and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans was created. The conference participants also called for the creation of the Anglican Church in North America (ANCA), as an alternative to the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada, and declared that recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury is not necessary to Anglican identity. Follow-up conferences have been held every five years since 2008.
  The conventions of four dioceses of the Episcopal Church voted in 2007 and 2008 to leave that church and to join the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America. Twelve other jurisdictions, serving an estimated 100,000  persons at that time, formed the ACNA on December 3–4, 2008. The ACNA is seeking official recognition as a province within the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Church of Nigeria declared itself in communion with the new church in March 2009 and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans  recognized it as well. In June 2009, the Anglican Church of Uganda also declared itself in full communion with ACNA, and the Anglican Church of Sudan followed suit in December 2011.
  Two of the major events which contributed to the Anglican realignment were the 2002 decision of the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada to authorise a rite of blessing for same-sex unions, and the nomination of two openly gay priests in 2003 to become bishops.  Jeffrey John, an openly gay priest with a long-time partner, was appointed to be the next Bishop of Reading in the Church of England and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church ratified the election of Gene Robinson, an openly gay non-celibate man, as Bishop of New Hampshire. Jeffrey John ultimately declined the appointment due to pressure.
caption: Holy Trinity Anglican Church, an ANCA church built in 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina
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