The Anglican Mission in The Americas has announced that one of its missionary bishops will be relocating to the northeastern United States in order to help plant a new church and grow a new region for the Anglican Mission.

The Rt. Rev. Thaddeus Barnum and his wife, the Rev. Erilynne Barnum, a deacon in the Anglican Mission, will be moving to Fairfield, Connecticut over the next several months to assume a leadership role with the newly-named Church of the Apostles and establish an office that will encourage the growth of new churches throughout the northeast corridor.

"It is a joy for Erilynne and me to go back to the area of the country we consider home. The Anglican Mission is involved in taking new areas of the country for the Gospel, and we've had a heart for the northeast region for a long time," stated Bishop Barnum from his present office at All Saints Church in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. "Archbishop Kolini (of Rwanda) asked us to consider doing this last fall, and as we are completing seven years of ministry at All Saints, we believe the time is right. Certainly the need is great."

Bishop 'Thad', as he is known to many, will provide leadership to this promising local church plant in Connecticut, even as he continues oversight of churches already under his care and develops new churches in the Northeast, from Washington, D.C. to Maine.

"We knew this would be a new model of leadership for us when we issued the call for the Barnums to join us," observed Keith Guinta, one of the founding members of Fairfield's Church of the Apostles. "This will truly be a team approach, much like the churches of the New Testament. Our members are willing to give up their concept of a traditional 'Rector' for the greater call of proclaiming the Gospel in our area. We're excited for what we know is ahead." In addition to the Barnums, Church of the Apostles' leadership will include an Executive Pastor who will direct day-to-day ministry and operations of the church.

The Anglican Mission in The Americas, a growing missionary outreach of the Anglican Province of Rwanda, has four active bishops for a nationwide network of over 65 congregations. Each active bishop also assumes some senior leadership role in a local church—a role that Bishop Thad Barnum will fill for Church of the Apostles beginning Easter Sunday.

The Rev. Canon Dr. Tim Smith, Executive Officer of the Anglican Mission and a Pawleys Island neighbor of the Barnums, offered that this move has great potential for the Gospel purposes of the Anglican Mission: "Though we're certainly disappointed that Bishop Barnum and Erilynne will be moving from South Carolina, we are fully supportive of this relocation. The Anglican Mission is quite excited about the possibilities that exist for an orthodox, Anglican presence in the Northeast. This is a positive step for the Mission."

The Barnums will continue some contact with Pawleys Island as it will remain the location of ARIEL, A Ministry of Proclamation that Erilynne founded and directs. Begun as Women in Discipleship, the Call to Discipleship now impacts thousands through its conferences and resource materials.

Their new home with Church of the Apostles will find them worshiping on Sundays at McKinley Elementary School in Fairfield with a small but dynamic and growing number of parishioners. "It is essential for our missionary bishops to be just that – missionaries," reflected Bishop Barnum. "Erilynne and I ask for your prayers as we take this step. Pray for the Lord of the Harvest to raise up a strong Anglican witness, uncompromised in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Northeast."

The Anglican Mission in The Americas is a quickly growing missionary movement sponsored by Anglicans in Africa and Asia with the primary goal of reaching out to the 130 million un-churched in the United States.

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