From Bishop Charles Murphy:
Last week the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) met in provincial assembly, and delegates formally ratified both the Constitution and Canons. In a service on Wednesday night, Archbishop Robert Duncan was installed as the province's first archbishop and primate. It is important for us in the Anglican Mission to understand fully what this means for us.
The Anglican Mission has played a significant role in establishing the province, and I am including below a list of bullet points that outline the various ways we have contributed to making this new entity a reality. As a founding member of both the Common Cause Partnership and the emerging province, we will continue to fully participate in ACNA. As we have consistently explained, however, we remain a missionary outreach of the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda under the authority of Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini. This allows us to enjoy dual citizenship, a similar relationship to that of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).
ACNA's Constitutions and Canons were designed to be "generous and flexible" in order to enable membership by two countries and several jurisdictions, demonstrating flexibility for the various jurisdictions. Lead bishops, the Common Cause Leadership Council and the Governance Task Force unanimously supported a "both/and" membership for the Anglican Mission, and this design is embedded in the Canons (Canon 5, Section 4).
As a member of ACNA's Executive Committee and Governance Task Force, I attended a meeting in April with GAFCON Primates including archbishops with US jurisdictions. Those leaders in attendance agreed that each member jurisdiction would develop individual protocols outlining specifics for each group worked out between the overseas jurisdictions and the ACNA leadership.
Some of the key points of the Anglican Mission's Protocol are:
1. The Canons of the Anglican Church in North America apply to the Anglican Mission in the Americas, except in those matters addressed by the Anglican Mission's "Canonical Charter of Ministry," and therefore articles such as Article 10, Section 5 of the Constitution of the Anglican Church in North America [addressing the process for electing and approving new bishops] are not applicable to the Anglican Mission.
2. The Bishops of the Anglican Mission in the Americas are elected and consecrated in the Anglican Church of Rwanda. The names of the newly consecrated bishops are brought to the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America to be welcomed and seated.
3. The Bishops and Clergy of the Anglican Mission in the Americas are under the license and discipline of the Anglican Church of Rwanda.
4. The Archbishop of Rwanda, on behalf of the Province, exercises principal responsibility for the Anglican Mission in the Americas through his Primatial Vicar. [The Anglican Mission Charter states that the Anglican Mission remains as a missionary outreach of the Province of Rwanda, and in addition, the Mission is embedded in the Constitution and Canons of the Province of Rwanda.]
To read the Anglican Mission's Protocol in its entirety, click here. (Download PDF)
Clearly the Anglican Mission retains its identity and distinctives while remaining fully a part of ACNA. We will continue focusing on our vision and mission of evangelism through church planting. I am convinced that our best days are before us, and I look forward with great anticipation to what the Lord has in store for us as we move forward on mission for His glory.
The Rt. Rev. Charles H. Murphy III, Anglican Mission Chairman
If you have any questions regarding the Anglican Mission's relationship with Rwanda and ACNA, please email us.
Background and History:
The Anglican Mission and the Anglican Church of North America
1. In 2004, Bishop Murphy was one of six signatories to a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury (along with then Bishop Duncan and four others) informing him of their commitment to "making common cause" with other Anglicans in North America.
2. Bishop Murphy, along with Canon Mike Murphy, helped draft the Constitution and Canons of the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas in 2006. These documents were slightly revised to become the Articles of Incorporation of the Common Cause Partnership (CCP) which were adopted in September 2007 and represented the first step toward a new ecclesiastical structure in North America.
3. The Anglican Mission is a founding member of the Common Cause Partnership and has had three representatives (bishop, clergy and lay) on the Common Cause Leadership Council.
4. Bishop Murphy is a founding member of the CCP's Lead Bishops Round Table.
5. The Anglican Mission had a significant number of representatives at the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON in June 2008).
6. Bishop Murphy and the Rev. Kevin Donlon of the Anglican Mission have served on the CCP Governance Task Force that developed the Constitution and Canons of the new province.
7. The Anglican Mission has given financially to support ACNA.
8. Bishop Murphy serves on the Executive Committee of ACNA.
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