The term “Anglican” is not a registered trademark

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The Anglican Network in Canada church, St. George’s, is planning on a new building in Burlington.

From the Burlington Post:

The city’s planning and building department recommended that a 0.6 hectare piece of employment land at 4691 Palladium Way be rezoned to allow the construction of a place of worship.

The Post has learned it will be an Anglican church.

The site is located just west of Appleby Line, bordering Hwy. 407, in Alton.

Community development committee approved the recommendation.

It will go before council on Sept. 4.

Permission for the rezoning was granted at the September 4th meeting.

Notice that the Burlington Post reported that the new building will be for an Anglican Church. This does not sit well with the Diocese of Niagara, a self-proclaimed inclusive and affirming diocese. A number of its clergy lament that the word Anglican is not a registered trademark, so, much as they would like to, they don’t have exclusive – and I do apologise for my blatant and unfeeling use of the “e” word –  use of it in the Niagara region.

From here:

We want to clarify the new church is being proposed by the Anglican Network in Canada, a group that broke away from the Anglican Church of Canada in 2009 to protest our actions in favour of the full inclusion of homosexual persons and the affirmation of their committed relationships.

The six existing Anglican churches serving Burlington are all part of the Anglican Church of Canada. We are diverse, vibrant faith communities focused on welcoming all and making a positive difference in Burlington.

We know some of our parishioners were confused by the article.

The term “Anglican” is not a registered trademark and its usage is not restricted. Nonetheless, we hope future reporting of this story can make a distinction  between the two groups.

Stephen Hopkins, St. Christopher’s Anglican Church

Stuart Pike, St. Luke’s Anglican Church (Ontario Street)

Derek Anderson, St. Matthew’s Anglican Church

Bahman Kalantari, St. John’s Anglican Church

Jeff and Sue Ann Ward, St. Luke’s Anglican Church (Dundas Street/Bronte Road)

Jean Archbell, St. Elizabeth’s Anglican Church

9 thoughts on “The term “Anglican” is not a registered trademark”

  1. Surely that letter was never written by any ordinary person, but by a lawyer? Who else talks in those terms? Which means — what else can it mean? — that the diocese actually took legal advice to see if they could use the courts to harass their victims further.

    Who are the names at the bottom of the letter?

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  2. I find it “intersting” that these people want there to be a distinction when a reference is made to the ANiC, but than themselves make no such distinction (i.e. “St. Christopher’s Anglican Church”. Perhaps Stephen Hopkins should have made the distinctin “St. Christopher’s Anglican Church of Canada”)

    Frankly, the ACoC will have a difficult time tyring to trademark or copyright the Anglican. Since the 1979 there has been the “Anglican Catholic Church of Canada” which similar to the ANiC was initially formed by “break away” parishes. As the ACoC has had not legal issue with the ACCoC using the work Anglican for over 30 years now it will be difficult for the ACoC to claim to have an issue with anyone else using the word.

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  3. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English Church.

    As an adjective, “Anglican” is used to describe the people, institutions and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts, developed by the Church of England.

    As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion. The word is also used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, though this is sometimes considered as a misuse.

    Here is where the ACoC has to give up calling itself Anglican

    The faith of Anglicans is founded in the Scriptures and the Gospels, the traditions of the Apostolic Church, the historical episcopate, the first seven ecumenical councils and the early Church Fathers. Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as “containing all things necessary for salvation” and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith. Anglicans understand the Apostles’ Creed as the baptismal symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith.

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  6. Eph

    I like Barnes notes commentary on this ” The profession may be fair; but the “conduct” – the fruit – is to determine the nature of the principles. ”
    To paraphrase James: acts, not words.

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