Anglican Province of Christ the King

The Anglican Province of Christ the King is a body of Anglican churches that was formed in 1977 to ensure the continuation of historic Anglican Christianity in America. The need for the new Province arose because of changes in the fundamental faith and practices of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA). This radical restructuring of the Episcopal Church was completed at the 1976 Episcopal Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At this meeting sweeping changes were adopted that forced an ever-increasing secularization of the church.

In 1977 concerned Episcopal clergy and laity who objected to these radical changes gathered in St. Louis, Missouri. They set forth a statement of faith called the Affirmation of Saint Louis, which expressed their commitment as Episcopalians to orthodox Christianity. In separating from ECUSA, one of the dioceses created was the Diocese (now Province) of Christ the King, which included six western parishes. These parishes elected as their Bishop the Rev. Robert Sherwood Morse, Rector of Saint Peter's Church in Oakland, California. On January 28, 1978, in Denver, Colorado, Father Morse was consecrated Bishop. The Rt. Rev. Albert A. Chambers, retired Episcopal Bishop of Springfield, Illinois, was chief consecrator who acted to preserve the American Episcopate.

New congregations opened across the country and petitioned to join with those six parishes and soon Bishop Morse was responsible for a nation-wide diocese. In 1991, the Diocese of Christ the King voted to divide into three geographical dioceses, and later added a fourth diocese, under a provincial structure creating the Anglican Province of Christ the King. The bishops of the dioceses then elected Bishop Morse as the first Archbishop of the Province.

The Anglican Province of Christ the King (APCK) represents Apostolic Christianity in the Anglican tradition. Our beliefs are stated in the ancient creeds of the church and on the pages of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. We are committed to traditional forms of doctrine and liturgy. The APCK is composed of three dioceses with parishes and missions throughout the United States and Canada.

The APCK has moved from a small diocese of concerned Episcopalians to a confident, growing Anglican Province of over forty congregations working to maintain and promote the historic Christian faith in the Anglican tradition with new churches being built across the country.

For a fuller discussion see Bishop Hansen’s A History of the Diocese of Christ the King and the Anglican Province of Christ the King: Online version here. To purchase from the American Church Union, click here.