While Canterbury is a separate organization with its own board of directors, God has entrusted our diocese with this tremendous resource - and an equally tremendous responsibility for its future. Diocesan support has been critical to Canterbury's survival.

A constitutional dispute faced the College of Bishops and Provincial Council as the week began. The bishops, who are charged with "propagating and defending the Faith and Order of the Church," and with "being in service as a visible sign and expression of the Unity of the Church," * devoted the entire day on Tuesday to addressing a serious conflict that had been developing for months regarding the roles of the Archbishop and the Provincial Tribunal in disciplinary matters.

GRACE EPISCOPAL ALEXANDRIA

Grace is in more dire shape. It has gone from zero reported average Sunday attendance in 2020 to 151 in 2021. And while its budget would seem, at first glance, to be relatively steady, it has declined by more than 30 percent since 2011 when adjusted for inflation. Pledging units have dropped from approximately 375 to 167 since 2014, and signs indicate continuing sharp decline.

"The bottom line in 2022 is that membership and the total number of our congregations showed modest increases, while attendance has rebounded encouragingly and pastoral ministry has bounced back significantly," ACNA Canon for Communications Andrew Gross told ACNA Provincial Council on Friday, June 23 at Christ Church Cathedral in Plano, Texas. Gross noted that attendance remained down from a pre-COVID high of 84,310 in 2018.