Charismatic Episcopal Church Founder Dies at 71
Archbishop Austin Randolph Adler, founder of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, died Friday from complications of a second stroke he sustained last Sunday. He was 71.
Adler, who retired in 2007, preached in 70 countries during his career, according to his son, Ken Tanner.
“He brought peace between Christians in East Africa long separated by intractable tribal conflicts,” Tanner said. “Dad had many gifts, but the most important was an ability to connect with anyone, anywhere. He had an undeniable charisma and energy.”
Tanner said Adler impacted tens of thousands for Jesus.
“He believed that this world was the arena of salvation and that a kingdom was already present that would one day find consummation on every square inch of a renewed earth, Tanner said. “He was also a tireless witness of a God that loves the world.”
Adler was consecrated on June 26, 1992. He served as the patriarch of the I.C.C.E.C., primate of the United States, and Archbishop of San Clemente.
Beginning in the early 1990s, Adler was also one of the pioneers of the Convergence Movement, a movement among evangelical and charismatic churches in the United States and elsewhere to blend charismatic worship with liturgies from the Book of Common Prayer and other liturgical sources.
“Archbishop Adler opened the way for thousands to embrace the Convergence Movement and the Ancient faith,” said Archbishop Russell McClanahan, the presiding bishop/patriarch of the Evangelical Episcopal Communion. {eoa}
