Ancient British Church in North America


The Ancient British Church in North America is a western rite denomination founded by Jonathan Vartan Zotique and based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Although it identifies with Catholic and Orthodox traditions, it is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church or Eastern Orthodox Church.

History

Jonathan Vartan Zotique was ordained as a bishop in the Old Catholic Church by its primate, Boniface Grosvold, on 12 September 1976, taking the ecclesiastical name Mar Zitikos. He founded the Ancient British Church in North America, with its headquarters in Toronto, to reach out to communities not being served by Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox communions. The church adopted the Autocephalous Glastonbury Rite in Diaspora. Mar Zitikos died on 3 June 1998.

Organization

The church ordains both women and men as priests and has a single monastic order. The clergy are self-supporting worker clerics. Church polity is episcopal with a presiding bishop who governs in consultation with the church's synod.