Province of Christ the King

The Anglican Province of Christ the King (APCK) www.anglicanpck.org is a national ecclesiastical body that cooperates with two other bodies that also use classical Anglican Liturgy and adhere to historic Christian doctrine, The Anglican Catholic Church www.anglicancatholic.org, and The United Episcopal Church of North America united-episcopal.org. Together they oversee about 200 congregations in the United States and abroad. The three jurisdictions use the same seminary, St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College in Berkeley, California www.anglicanpck.org, which has been training clergy for traditional Anglican congregations since 1979. Saint Luke's Anglican Church, the Rev. Jeffrey Smith, is one of the many graduates of its intensive, two-year residential program.

The APCK and its two affiliates formed after the St. Louis Congress of 1977, where a group of Episcopal clergy and laity (mostly in the High Church tradition) made the decision to create a new jurisdiction outside that body, which would enable them to continue their practice of classical Anglicanism without having to make the large compromises that new legislation of the Episcopal Church (passed at its 1976 General Convention in Minneapolis) required of them. Sometimes referred to as "the Continuing Church," these groups followed "the outside strategy" for maintaining their traditional doctrine and practice, as opposed to "the inside strategy" of the group remaining in the Episcopal Church which eventually became known as "Forward in Faith." As a result, they were able to concentrate on starting new missions and developing them to the point that they could get their own buildings and provide a priest with at least some of his support. Their first bishops were consecrated in Denver (January 28, 1978) by the Rt. Rev. Albert A. Chambers (retired Bishop of Springfield) and an active bishop of the Filipino Independent Catholic Church (a member of the Anglican Communion), with a letter of consent from another Anglican bishop in Korea. Other bishops with official standing participated in subsequent consecrations of bishops.

The liturgical standard of APCK and its affiliates is the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer, an edition first authorized by the Protestant Episcopal Church, USA. In its Eucharistic Liturgy it follows closely the original Book of Common Prayer published by the Church of England in 1549, and among the various editions stands out for its literary beauty and clear expressions of historic Christian doctrine. The Continuing Church bodies' other principles are set forth in the Affirmation of St. Louis www.anglicancatholic.org. The APCK has most of its parishes and missions in the western half of the United States, while the others have concentrated their work in the east. The Anglican Catholic Church has some parishes abroad.