Anglican Church in North America Elects New Archbishop

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Foley Beach of the Diocese of the South is elected the new Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America.

LATROBE, PA (JUNE 21, 2014)——The College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America elected today the Rt. Rev. Dr. Foley Beach of the Diocese of the South.  Bishop Foley Beach will succeed the Most Rev. Robert Duncan, the first archbishop for the Anglican Church in North America.

“The election occurred Sunday afternoon at the conclusion of the College of Bishops three-day conclave where they met in the crypt of the basilica at Saint Vincent Archabbey,” said the Rev. Andrew Gross, Communications Director for the Anglican Church in North America.  The new archbishop will serve a five-year term and is eligible for re-election.

“I am delighted by this election and how the College of Bishops, after much deliberation and prayer, came to a unanimous decision,” said Archbishop Robert Duncan.  “This is a happy day for the Anglican Church in North America, a happy day for the Anglican Communion, and a happy day for the Christian Church.” 

Though the current archbishop is stepping down from his role as archbishop of the North American province, he will continue in his role as bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. 

Archbishop-elect Beach served as the Rector and Pastor of Holy Cross Anglican Church in Loganville, GA, from its founding in February 2004, until December, 2013. On October 9, 2010, he was consecrated in Atlanta, Georgia as the first Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the South in the Anglican Church in North America.

Dr. Beach is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, the School of Theology at the University of the South, and Georgia State University. He has served in ministry with Young Life, the Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Church.

His passion is to share the Word of God in such a way as to help others discover the incredible living Jesus. Married for more than 30 years, he and his wife, Allison, have two grown children and make their home in the Metro-Atlanta area. 

The new archbishop will officially take office at the conclusion of the Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America which begins on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA, with a formal investiture to follow in the coming months. 

The Anglican Church in North America is recognized as a province by the Primates of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, which is composed of over 50 million Anglicans. 

The Anglican Church in North America consists of 112,000 Anglicans in nearly 1,000 congregations across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.