Super Synod - from the Dunwoody Reporter

Anglican church leaders to gather in Dunwoody in July

Anglican clergy and leaders from across the country are scheduled gather in Dunwoody in July.

About 150 delegates will take part in the gathering, called a synod, scheduled for July 11 through 15, said Bishop Chandler Jones of St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Dunwoody. During the synod, clergy and church leaders conduct church business.

“A synod is basically the ecclesiastical legislative body of the church,” Jones said, “but it’s also a family reunion. This is really an opportunity for people to come together.”

Most of those attending will come from the eastern United States. But Anglican clergy and lay delegates from as far as Arizona and California are expected to take part because the gathering will include representatives from the Diocese of the Eastern United States, the Diocese of Mid-America and the Diocese of the West, the three dioceses that cover the U.S., Jones said. A delegation from the Philippines also may attend, he said.

“Our meetings are really devoid of any controversy,” the bishop said. “We’re looking at strengthening our ties with Anglicans worldwide.”

The group will meet at the Holiday Inn, Perimeter and at St. Barnabas, Jones said.

The meeting will be held in Dunwoody, Jones said, because St. Barnabas is one of the larger Anglican congregations in the country. Also, Jones was installed as a bishop, the Anglican church’s youngest, last year.

St. Barnabas hosted a similar synod in 2001. One reason for the return this summer, Jones said, is that the church sanctuary and nave have been renovated since that 2001 meeting.

The Dunwoody congregation, founded in 1979, calls itself “a traditional Anglican Church” that bases its services on the1928 Book of Common Prayer. Anglicans split from the larger Episcopal Church in the 1970s because they believed the American version of the denomination had become too liberal and strayed too far from its original teachings, members say.