Roots of Three-Streams Anglicanism

Readers will have known for at least 4 months that I am an Anglican, specifically a member of the ACNA, and was interested in learning about the ACNA since December of last year. What is the historical background of this denomination, specifically its "three-streams" aspect?

What is a Brief History of the ACNA?

The Anglican Church in North America has been around since 2009, starting with congregations that left either the (very liberal) Episcopal Church-USA and the (roughly equally liberal) Anglican Church of Canada over gay marriage and non-heterosexual ordination. ACNA congregations follow the same episcopal structure as the rest of Anglicanism--archbishops > bishops > priests--and include the 2008 Jerusalem Declaration and the 1571 Thirty-Nine Articles in the 2019 edition of the Book of Common Prayer which is used in all churches.

The ACNA is in fellowship with most of African Anglicanism, which in turn is in fellowship with African Lutheranism, which in turn is in fellowship with the LCMS. However, talks between the ACNA and LCMS over potential fellowship broke down around 2016 in the USA (and potentially after 2019 in Europe) because the LCMS stuck with its decision on women's ordination, while the ACNA left the decision up to each diocese of whether or not to ordain women as deacons and/or priests (never as bishops or archbishops).

What are the Three Streams?

Rev. Les Fairfield describes the 3 streams from an apparently pro-Reformed perspective. He uses different names for each stream that show which perspective he comes from. The first stream is Reformed (Fairfield uses the broader term "Protestant"), stemming from the English Reformation in the 1500s. Emphases include faith based (solely) on the biblical text and one's own understanding of it, personal evangelism, and potentially revivalism. 

The second stream is the Pentecostal/Holiness stream, which emerged around the 1700s with Methodism. Holiness and Pentecostal movements branched off around the 1900s. Both sets of movements claim the same biblical roots as the Reformation. However, the emphases are different--the activity of Holy Spirit in individual believers for ongoing sanctification and exercise of spiritual gifts.

The third stream is the High Church, or Anglo-Catholic, stream, which emerged around the 1800s in the Oxford movement. This stream places a high priority on liturgical worship, using the consistent liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer (Sunday Eucharist, daily prayer for individuals and families in long and short form, etc.). Over time, practice of regular liturgical worship allows the beauty of the Word to be less obstructed.

What are Pros and Cons of Each Stream?

The ACNA has been described similar to a melting pot, with allowance for great breadth in certain areas of theology. The streams' differences contribute to this, plus the denomination's relative novelty (2009). Each person in a group has a natural tendency to think their group has (almost) everything right and that others have things (almost all) wrong. I'll do my best to channel my--and Husbands'--Vulcan side, per our college nicknames, to take a more bird's-eye view on each stream, given our background in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and definite preference for high-church worship. Sources for pros and cons are this link for Reformed, this link for Pentecostal/Holiness, this link and this link for High-Church, and my own conversations with Husband.

Reformed Pros

• Reformation-era hymns are, for the most part, quite good! N. T. Wright views a good hymn selection for a given worship service as having no more than a single hymn or song from a single decade. The older, the better, for me.
• Sola Scriptura - the 66 canonical books of the Old and New Testaments (including prolegoumena and antilegoumena) are the highest authority
• Sola Fide - justification (God's legal pronouncement of "not guilty") by faith in Christ
• Contrasting God's grace with man's depravity/original and actual sin

Reformed Cons (mostly errors of Calvinism)

• Over-emphasis on God's sovereignty, to the point of determinism (e.g., Calvinist theologian and pastor John Piper has said point blank that God plans not only answers to our prayers but the prayers themselves).
• Human reason is placed above Scripture in practice, to make an interpretation (of English text translations) fit into a predetermined logical mold even when historical interpretation of the text would say otherwise. This also involves placing human reason over the earliest traditions of biblical interpretation (church fathers).
• Denial of simul iustus et peccator, i.e., stating that the regenerate person does not have a sin nature any longer, so if a Christian sins, implying that s/he isn't really a Christian and never was one to begin with.
• Sharply divided covenant theology, i.e., claiming that the people before Christ were saved not by grace but by works.
• Limited atonement, i.e., claiming that Christ loved/loves and died for only those who will eventually be saved, instead of loving and dying for all humankind.

At least one person has advocated for "one-stream" (Reformed-only) Anglicanism. I fail to see how this is different from Calvinism.

Pentecostal/Holiness Pros

• Openness to the continuing, diverse working of the Holy Spirit. Many Anglicans are either continuationists (gifts still common) or soft cessationists (gifts rare but still existent).
• Giving the Holy Spirit His due, rather than the under-emphasis that occurs in some traditions

Pentecostal/Holiness Cons

• Incorrect separation of entrance of the Holy Spirit from one's conversion or regeneration (this doctrine is not part of orthodox Christianity or Anglicanism, so it is not taught in the churches)
• Teaching about the Rapture, i.e., pre-millennialism, which isn't the best interpretation of the (apocalyptic/figurative) passages in Revelation
• Incidence of modalism (a Trinitarian heresy)
• Among laypersons especially, over-emphasis on personal interpretation of one's English translation of the Bible. This isn't unique to the Pentecostal tradition, however.

High Church Pros

• Consistency of liturgy that clearly displays doctrines of baptismal regeneration and the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
• Liturgy used his historic, based not only in 1500s-ish ceremonies but also concepts very consistent with the Didache and other documents/practices used in the early church (e.g., each ecumenical creed is completely traceable to Scripture citations)
• Use of the rubrics in the Book of Common Prayer ensures unified presentation of theological elements (e.g., words of administration of the elements of the Eucharist)

High Church Cons

• Adherents can sometimes be persnickety to over-emphasize the stream's importance
• Seen by some (incorrectly) as a gateway to Roman Catholicism despite the stark differences in theology
• Some split (or want to split) from the ACNA for similar reasons cited by the LCMS

What Can 3-Streams Church Life Look Like?

Thus far, I have worshiped with Husband and Child at two ACNA parishes, one visited only once during a road trip and the other our primary congregation of attendance. Here are some features of my blended experience of 3-streams worship and congregational life based on these churches:

• Every worship service uses the same order of service (so Child and I can follow even if we can't hold a Book of Common Prayer due to wiggles), the same vestments for those assisting.
• Songs and hymns chosen depend on the congregational "flavor." Our home congregation uses a small selection of music composed primarily after the 1800s, and the road-trip congregation used a selection of older hymns.
• Lay readers (vested lectors) or deacons are called upon to read all assigned Scripture passages for the day.
• Sanctuaries, as of yet, are generally not built by ACNA congregations but are purchased or borrowed from congregations in other denominations, because the ECUSA confiscated the buildings from seceding congregations that would form the ACNA.
• Congregations are intentionally small (< 200 members) with membership renewed annually, and use of an African church planting model (place a priest, then grow the congregation around him).
• Preaching sticks to the text at hand, with a great awareness of what the biblical authors intended within their historical context.