Deborah Gyapong has a post on her blog (no comments as yet) – A TAC census. I link to it on account of my earlier project of trying to find out what the “pre-ordinariate” TAC consisted of and what remains.
She lists the situation in Canada, which in late 2009 and early 2010 consisted of about 1,200 souls. She then lists South Africa (28,000 souls) and India (91,600 souls), both of which are not affected, at least in theory, because no ordinariates have been established in either of those countries. She also appeals for informed readers to verify these figures if possible.
Dr William Tighe did some research in 2006 on this subject, and this is his article. There is another relevant article by the same author: The Genesis of Anglicanorum Coetibus. Here is an old article I covered on Christian Campbell’s blog three years ago: Traditional Anglican Communion Statistics. It gave these figures:
| Territory | Attendance | Proportion |
| India | 130,000 | 54% |
| Southern Africa (including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and the Eastern Cape) | 65,000 | 27% |
| Central Africa (including Kenya, Cameroon, Eastern Congo and Tanzania) | 26,000 | 11% |
| UK and Europe | 1,800 | 0.7% |
| Canada | 2,000 | 0.8% |
| USA | 2,500 | 1.0% |
| Central America | 7,000 | 2.3% |
| Australia (including Torres Strait), New Zealand, and Japan | 6,500 | 2.7% |
| 240,800 |
It might seem like crying over spilt milk and that numbers are unimportant. Perhaps they are, but history is vital given our tendency to change history in favour of the winners of this world.
The Blue Flower 
Father Anthony,
In my 13 years within the TTAC there has never been 1800 members within the UK, 300 would be more accurate.
I can well believe you, Fr Ian, and I think it was you who told me that it is down to less than 50 with about 20 priests. I would imagine that nearly all the TTAC clergy are retired and inactive. If Canada was 2000 and about two-thirds went to the Ordinariate and there was a significant split-off to the ACC-APCK alliance, perhaps it might be a matter of two or three hundred at most under Bishop Botterill. The ACA in the USA (not including Latin America) would have been about 2,500. Maybe three-quarters stayed and a quarter went to the Ordinariate. In Australia, my guess is that there is just about nothing left, and clergy and parishes are still going to the Ordinariate once the priests get their nullae ostae. No one hears about Torres Strait these days. The “third world” Churches are unverifiable and obviously Rome didn’t want to touch them with a bargepole. South Africa under Bishop Gill seems to be doing well. The number given for India makes me extremely sceptical.
One good thing about the ACC and other Continuing Churches is that they only ever claimed modest numbers, so much the better for their credibility, and they have never been involved with the Ordinariate movement.
Elsewhere on her blog Mrs Gyapong gives the “last count” of the ACCC as 700 (some kind of census was taken). This was before anyone entered the Ordinariate but after some defections to non-TAC jurisdictions by those who were opposed. Of the 700, about 100 entered the Ordinariate:
This is interesting. I thought more Canadians joined the Ordinariate than stayed in the ACCC. This figure of 700 minus 100, leaving 600, which would be “after tax” (the previous batch of people going to the APCK/ACC). I am surprised so few went to the Ordinariate considering the two of the three bishops and maybe more than half the clergy.
Can anyone confirm or deny this information about Canada?
You can look at Mrs Gyapong’s reports on receptions in 2012:: her parish,40; Victoria,15; Vancouver 11; Kitchener-Waterloo, 10; Oshawa, 8; Edmonton,7; Calgary (ACCC) 5..
I’ve never believed the figures for India. The Subcontinent is known for ever-shifitng allegiances among its substantial Christian minority and any study of Church history there is bound to be very confusing indeed. Even the Roman Church has trouble keeping track of its people who seem to drift back and forth between the Latin rite, a couple of Eastern rites, and several non-Roman eastern churches, as well into and out of various Anglican, “Anglican-like”, and even Protestant bodies. For a long time I’ve tried to make sense of it all, and have failed. I don’t trust anything said either by my own TAC or by ACC with regard to the work there as both jurisdictions seem to be claiming the same churches (at least as far as I can figure) and lawsuits abound. I am quite willing to believe that +Prakash is doing a good job under the circumstances, but the circumstances are such that I tend to consider statistics as less than meaningless. The ecclesiastical situation in the US is bad enough, but in India . . . ? ? ?
I have just found this comment on Fr Smuts’ blog. It seems to be quite off-topic (Lutheran Ordinariates), but interesting on this thread:
By the way, the Indians as they seem to the English:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTVuOEe797M
Over several years, I had conversations with a fellow priest trying to determine the actual number in the ACCC: no census was ever taken: when one was attempted by the then diocesan executive, it failed due to a noteworthy lack of response.
I have one list dated 2010 which shows 24 members of the parish of St. Patrick: but usual attendance at that parish on Sunday, in the fall of 2010, was perhaps 2 or 3: indeed 1 name on the list is dead, 11 names had left the ACCC by that date to establish St. Bride’s, 1 had moved, 2 were very rarely seen, and 5 others had transferred to St. Peter & St. Paul in Burnaby. The parish has now closed.
St Peter & St Paul, Burnaby showed 37 names on a list dated June 10th 2010: after the first division of the flock: of the 37, 4 are dead, 6 have gone to Rome (the higher figure of 11 included some from St Michael’s Matsqui and St. Patrick’s, Pitt Meadows – and perhaps one or two others?), 2 have joined those who had already left for the ACC, 3 have moved, 4 have never attended the parish: it appears that regular Sunday attendance at Mass is now under 12.
This ratio of 3:1 from parish lists to reality on each Sunday at St Peter & St Paul would reflect an average attendance for Canada, if we accept Fr. Chadwick’s assessment of 200 – 300 members) of some 66 – 100 communicants for the ACCC each week: but no-one really knows!.
Of course, the real tragedy is that afflicting those who have simply stopped going to church!
Fr Chadwick’s figure was based on his understanding that 2/3 of the ACCC went to the Ordinariate, but this was not in fact the case, unless the real number of ACCC members in 2010 was only around 150. It is perhaps unfortunate that so many left the ACCC under the misapprehension that all or most of their parish was joining the Ordinariate; this seems to have left a legacy of bitterness.
What seems to be becoming clear is that a high proportion of clergy “went over” but only a low proportion of laity, apart from (now Deacon) Carl Reid and Deborah Gyapong’s parish. I am grateful to be put in the clear by those who know, and of course am open-minded to any information that comes in.