Anglican Mission in America
Encyclopedia
The Anglican Mission in the Americas or The Anglican Mission (AM); formerly Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) is a Christian
missionary
organization active in the United States and Canada which emphasizes church planting
. It was established as a missionary outreach of the Anglican Church of the Province of Rwanda
in 2000.
The Anglican Mission is divided into three organizations: the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA), the Anglican Coalition in Canada
(ACiC) and the Anglican Coalition in America (ACiA). Its Mission Center is located in Pawleys Island, South Carolina
. The AM is led by Bishop Chuck Murphy.
The AM was formed in response to the theological liberalism
of the Episcopal Church in the United States (TEC) and the Anglican Church of Canada
(ACC), the North American branches of the Anglican Communion
. Anglican Mission members have criticized numerous actions, policies and doctrines of ECUSA as being in conflict with the traditional Christian understanding of the Bible
.
provinces. The continued controversy in the Anglican Communion led Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda and Moses Tay of South East Asia
to consecrate Chuck Murphy and John Rodgers as bishops at St. Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore, on January 29, 2000. The Anglican Mission was officially established later in August in Amsterdam
, Netherlands
. The intervention of foreign Anglican primates into the provinces of the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada was and continues to be highly controversial within the Anglican Communion.
The Episcopal Church's acceptance of clergy in homosexual
relationships is one highly publicized example of conflict between AMiA and TEC. In 2003, the election and ordination of Gene Robinson
as the Episcopal Church's first openly gay, non-celibate bishop caused many conservative Episcopal churches to turn to the AMiA and similar Anglican break-away groups. In January 2006, the Anglican Coalition in Canada came under the AMiA's oversight. The following year the Mission was restructured as the Anglican Mission in the Americas. This new structure included within it the AMiA, ACiC, and the ACiA.
The Anglican Mission was a founding member of the Common Cause Partnership and of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The Anglican Mission's relationship with the Anglican Church in North America was defined by protocol
between the AM, the Province of Rwanda, and the ACNA. According to the protocol, the AM was under the authority of the ACNA's constitution and canons except where those documents conflict with the AM's charter. On May 18, 2010, however, it was announced that the AM would seek "ministry partner" status with the ACNA and remain fully a part of the Province of Rwanda.
of Rwanda and other participating Anglican Primates and Rwandan bishops. Clergy are not sent from Rwanda but are drawn from North America, often former TEC and ACC priests.
The Anglican Mission includes three organizations within its umbrella
: the Anglican Mission in America, the Anglican Coalition of Canada and the Anglican Coalition in America. The division into three groups allows the AM to operate in both Canada and the U.S., and it accommodates two different positions on the ordination of women
. The AMiA only ordains women as deacons while both the ACiC and the ACiA open the priesthood to women.
The structure of the Anglican Mission is defined in its charter. The Anglican Mission is led by a Primatial Vicar
who is the presiding ecclesiastical authority. The vicar is appointed by the Province of Rwanda and represents the Mission as a member of the Provincial Council's executive committee. The Council of Missionary Bishops assists the vicar in ecclesiastical leadership. When episcopal vacancies occur, the House of Bishops
of the Province of Rwanda appoints replacements from among candidates nominated by the council. Missionary bishops oversee the leaders of the missionary networks—congregations grouped together by geography and "affinity". Unlike most other Anglican bodies, the AM does not have diocese
s. As bishops in the Province of Rwanda, missionary bishops also sit in the Province of Rwanda's House of Bishops. The Board of Directors, with the Primatial Vicar as chairman, is charged with conducting the Mission's secular business. The Executive Director manages daily administrative affairs and heads the staff of the Mission Center.
, who was Archbishop of Canterbury
(head of the Anglican Communion) at the time of the formation of AMiA, the Anglican Mission is not a constituent member of the Anglican Communion at present. Archbishop Carey's comments from his final address to the Anglican Consultative Council
in 2002 were:
Many in the AM would take a strong issue with the above statements, holding that they are very much a part of the Anglican Communion through the oversight of the Church of the Province of Rwanda. Nonetheless, they are not formally in communion with the Church of England
, nor are they recognized as being in communion with the worldwide Anglican Communion by any of its four instruments of communion. The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams
, has taken the same line on the standing of the AM by refusing to invite any Anglican Mission bishop or representative to the 2008 Lambeth Conference.
with several obvious differences:
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
organization active in the United States and Canada which emphasizes church planting
Church planting
Church planting is a process that results in a new Christian church being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, new worship centre or fresh expression is created that is integrated into an already established congregation...
. It was established as a missionary outreach of the Anglican Church of the Province of Rwanda
Church of the Province of Rwanda
The Church of the Province of Rwanda is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering 9 sees in East Africa. The current primate of the province is Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje, consecrated Dec. 12, 2010.-Official names:...
in 2000.
The Anglican Mission is divided into three organizations: the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA), the Anglican Coalition in Canada
Anglican Coalition in Canada
The Anglican Coalition in Canada is a Canadian Anglican group that is part of the Anglican Mission in the Americas.It is under the jurisdiction of Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda. Many of the 17 congregations used to be in the Diocese of New Westminster; Others are located in Vancouver...
(ACiC) and the Anglican Coalition in America (ACiA). Its Mission Center is located in Pawleys Island, South Carolina
Pawleys Island, South Carolina
Pawleys Island is a town in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States, and the Atlantic coast barrier island on which the town sits. The population was 138 at the 2000 census...
. The AM is led by Bishop Chuck Murphy.
The AM was formed in response to the theological liberalism
Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
of the Episcopal Church in the United States (TEC) and the Anglican Church of Canada
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
(ACC), the North American branches of the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
. Anglican Mission members have criticized numerous actions, policies and doctrines of ECUSA as being in conflict with the traditional Christian understanding of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
History
The origin of the Anglican Mission was the First Promise Movement. In 1997, 30 priests, led by Chuck Murphy, released a document called The First Promise which "declared the authority of the Episcopal Church to be 'fundamentally impaired' because they no longer upheld the 'truth of the gospel'". The following year, St. Andrews Church of Little Rock, Arkansas, became one of the first in North America to come under the oversight of the Global SouthGlobal South (Anglican)
The Anglican Global South is a grouping of twenty of the thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion. The provinces identified with the Global South grouping represent most, but not all, of the Third World countries within the Communion and are mostly conservative on matters of sexual ethics,...
provinces. The continued controversy in the Anglican Communion led Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda and Moses Tay of South East Asia
Church of the Province of South East Asia
The Church of the Province of South East Asia, a member church of the Anglican Communion, was created in 1996, comprising the four dioceses of Kuching, Sabah, Singapore and West Malaysia...
to consecrate Chuck Murphy and John Rodgers as bishops at St. Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore, on January 29, 2000. The Anglican Mission was officially established later in August in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The intervention of foreign Anglican primates into the provinces of the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada was and continues to be highly controversial within the Anglican Communion.
The Episcopal Church's acceptance of clergy in homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
relationships is one highly publicized example of conflict between AMiA and TEC. In 2003, the election and ordination of Gene Robinson
Gene Robinson
Vicki Gene Robinson is the ninth bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Robinson was elected bishop in 2003 and entered office in March 2004...
as the Episcopal Church's first openly gay, non-celibate bishop caused many conservative Episcopal churches to turn to the AMiA and similar Anglican break-away groups. In January 2006, the Anglican Coalition in Canada came under the AMiA's oversight. The following year the Mission was restructured as the Anglican Mission in the Americas. This new structure included within it the AMiA, ACiC, and the ACiA.
The Anglican Mission was a founding member of the Common Cause Partnership and of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The Anglican Mission's relationship with the Anglican Church in North America was defined by protocol
Protocol (politics)
Protocol can mean any logbook or other artifact of a political meeting between persons from different nations, such as the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. The most notorious example of a forged logbook is "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"....
between the AM, the Province of Rwanda, and the ACNA. According to the protocol, the AM was under the authority of the ACNA's constitution and canons except where those documents conflict with the AM's charter. On May 18, 2010, however, it was announced that the AM would seek "ministry partner" status with the ACNA and remain fully a part of the Province of Rwanda.
Structure
The Anglican Mission is under the authority of the Church of the Province of Rwanda, a member church of the Anglican Communion. Its clergy are ordained under the oversight of the ArchbishopArchbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Rwanda and other participating Anglican Primates and Rwandan bishops. Clergy are not sent from Rwanda but are drawn from North America, often former TEC and ACC priests.
The Anglican Mission includes three organizations within its umbrella
Umbrella organization
An umbrella organization is an association of institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or pool resources. In business, political, or other environments, one group, the umbrella organization, provides resources and often an identity to the smaller organizations...
: the Anglican Mission in America, the Anglican Coalition of Canada and the Anglican Coalition in America. The division into three groups allows the AM to operate in both Canada and the U.S., and it accommodates two different positions on the ordination of women
Ordination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
. The AMiA only ordains women as deacons while both the ACiC and the ACiA open the priesthood to women.
The structure of the Anglican Mission is defined in its charter. The Anglican Mission is led by a Primatial Vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
who is the presiding ecclesiastical authority. The vicar is appointed by the Province of Rwanda and represents the Mission as a member of the Provincial Council's executive committee. The Council of Missionary Bishops assists the vicar in ecclesiastical leadership. When episcopal vacancies occur, the House of Bishops
House of Bishops
The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of some Anglican churches and the second house in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.-Composition of Houses of Bishops:...
of the Province of Rwanda appoints replacements from among candidates nominated by the council. Missionary bishops oversee the leaders of the missionary networks—congregations grouped together by geography and "affinity". Unlike most other Anglican bodies, the AM does not have diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s. As bishops in the Province of Rwanda, missionary bishops also sit in the Province of Rwanda's House of Bishops. The Board of Directors, with the Primatial Vicar as chairman, is charged with conducting the Mission's secular business. The Executive Director manages daily administrative affairs and heads the staff of the Mission Center.
Status with regard to the Anglican Communion
While the AM believes itself to be part of the worldwide Anglican Communion and has been recognized by many Anglican primates, including George CareyGeorge Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton PC, FKC is a former Archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1991 to 2002. He was the first modern holder of the office not to have attended Oxford or Cambridge University...
, who was Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
(head of the Anglican Communion) at the time of the formation of AMiA, the Anglican Mission is not a constituent member of the Anglican Communion at present. Archbishop Carey's comments from his final address to the Anglican Consultative Council
Anglican Consultative Council
The Anglican Consultative Council or ACC is one of the four "Instruments of Communion" of the Anglican Communion. It was created by a resolution of the 1968 Lambeth Conference...
in 2002 were:
Many in the AM would take a strong issue with the above statements, holding that they are very much a part of the Anglican Communion through the oversight of the Church of the Province of Rwanda. Nonetheless, they are not formally in communion with the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, nor are they recognized as being in communion with the worldwide Anglican Communion by any of its four instruments of communion. The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams
Rowan Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...
, has taken the same line on the standing of the AM by refusing to invite any Anglican Mission bishop or representative to the 2008 Lambeth Conference.
Related movements
The Anglican Mission has some similarities to the Continuing Anglican MovementContinuing Anglican Movement
The term Continuing Anglican movement refers to a number of churches in various countries that have been formed outside of the Anglican Communion. These churches generally believe that "traditional" forms of Anglican faith and worship have been unacceptably revised or abandoned within some...
with several obvious differences:
- it claims to be a part of the Anglican Communion as a missionary arm of the Anglican Province of Rwanda, which is a full member Province of the Anglican Communion, whereas most of the Continuing Churches disavow the Anglican Communion
- parts of the organization ordain women to the priesthood while others only to the diaconate
- some of its congregations continue to use the 1979 Book of Common PrayerBook of Common PrayerThe Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
of TEC which Continuing Anglicans consider to be defective. The AM has produced an updated version of the 1662, 1928 and 1962 (Canadian) Books of Common Prayer for consideration by its churches in North America. Peter ToonPeter ToonPeter Toon was a priest and theologian, and an international advocate of traditional Anglicanism.-Early life and education:Toon was born to Thomas Arthur and Hilda Toon in Yorkshire, England in 1939...
has led this effort.
See also
- Anglican Communion NetworkAnglican Communion NetworkThe Anglican Communion Network is a theologically conservative network of dioceses and parishes working toward Anglican realignment.-Goals and structure:...
- Anglican views of homosexualityAnglican views of homosexualitySince the 1990s, the Anglican Communion has struggled with controversy regarding homosexuality in the church. In 1998, the 13th Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops passed a resolution stating that homosexual acts are "incompatible with Scripture". In 2002, the Diocese of New Westminster, in the...
- Convergence MovementConvergence MovementThe Convergence Movement refers to a move among evangelical and charismatic churches in the United States to blend charismatic worship with liturgies from the Book of Common Prayer and other liturgical sources. The Movement was inspired by the spiritual pilgrimages of modern Evangelical writers...
- Convocation of Anglicans in North AmericaConvocation of Anglicans in North AmericaThe Convocation of Anglicans in North America is an Anglican body in the United States primarily comprising Anglican and Episcopal churches that have disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church in the United States of America . CANA was initially a missionary initiative of the Anglican Church of Nigeria...
, a similar body established by the Church of NigeriaChurch of NigeriaThe Church of Nigeria is the Anglican church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptized membership, after the Church of England. It gives its current membership as "over 18 million", out of a total Nigerian population of 140 million.Since 2002...