Douglas K. Anning, Esq., of Kansas City is the Episcopal Church’s new acting chief legal officer, a member of the Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s staff. He began his duties July 5.
Bishop Curry and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, nominated Anning and the church’s Executive Council appointed him.
“Doug Anning is an answer to prayer,” Bishop Curry said. “He brings all of the skill and wisdom of an attorney of wide experience and great stature. But more than that, he brings the heart of a servant, and a spirit that truly seeks to follow and live the way of Jesus. It is a real joy to announce his election and to welcome his arrival.”
“We’ve long needed a chief legal officer who could manage the comprehensive, long-term legal requirements of the churchwide governance structure and keep Executive Council, our governing board, informed,” said the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies. “Doug Anning is a smart, faithful, experienced lawyer and lifelong Episcopalian, and I can’t think of anyone better to fill this essential, exciting new role. I am delighted to have the chance to work with him.”
General Convention created the position in 2015 as part of its response to proposals from the Task Force for Reimagining the Episcopal Church.
“Today’s society calls for responsible conduct as well as theological and spiritual integrity from our religious institutions,” Anning said. “I have long held a deep love and reverence for both the Episcopal Church and the law, and I look forward to combining these passions with the wisdom and dedication of Presiding Bishop Curry and President Jennings and other leaders of the church as we work together to move into our future.”
Anning is vice chair of the Nonprofit and Tax-Exempt Organizations Practice Group for Polsinelli PC in Kansas City and a lifelong communicant at St. Michael and All Angels in Mission, Kansas.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
