The American Anglican Council (AAC) has welcomed the decision last weekend by nine churches in the Diocese of Virginia to disaffiliate from the US Episcopal Church.

The nine churches will now affiliate with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) - the US missionary district of the Anglican Church of Nigeria under the leadership of Archbishop Peter Akinola.

The President and CEO of the AAC, the Rev Canon David C. Anderson, said: "CANA is growing rapidly, and the AAC joins the Virginia churches in our gratitude to the Church of Nigeria and its archbishop, the Most Rev Peter Akinola, for providing much-needed oversight and support during this difficult time in the United States."

The nine breakaway churches cover a combined membership of nearly 8,000 and include the historic churches Truro Church in Fairfax and Falls Church in Falls Church.

The AAC said that the US Episcopal Church had continually rejected biblical orthodoxy over the past four decades, and said that the speed of its moral and theological decline had increased since General Convention 2006, when the convention "failed to adequately respond to the Windsor Report and worldwide Primates' requests".

"The top leadership of the Episcopal Church is rapidly leading the Episcopal Church away from being a Christian church, and we strongly support churches that choose to leave in order to remain faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word," Canon Anderson said.

"These Virginia churches represent a significant segment of the Episcopal Church, and they will serve as a beacon for other churches nationwide who face the same decision regarding their relationship with the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion."

The nice churches voting to disaffiliate in Virginia last weekend voted overwhelmingly to keep their property but are likely to face opposition, however, after previous threats from the Bishop of Virginia, the Rt Rev Peter Lee.

Canon Anderson warned, however, that litigation against the Virginia churches would be a "grave misuse of church money".

"The Virginia churches have been gracious and charitable in their dealings with the diocese, for which we praise them. We pray that they and Bishop Lee will be able to find a way to amicably settle the church property issues without further hostility," he said.

"While the Episcopal Church continues to live in denial of the split that their revisionist theology has caused in the Church, they are losing individual members and whole churches on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, a strong presence of orthodox Anglicanism is being built in the Americas and is growing daily.

"The AAC commends those who continue to take a stand for the biblical faith and urges others to take note of the Virginia churches' courageous stand for the sake of generations to come."