Transition within the AMiA
By Fr. Thomas McKenzie | December 8, 2011
Dear Church of the Redeemer
I hope that you are all having a blessed Advent season. For me, it
has been both more difficult and more meaningful than I expected. I am
grateful for the opportunity to engage in daily worship, pastoral care,
and written reflection with you all. I look forward to a continued holy
Advent as well as the dawning of Christmas.
I’m writing to you all today to inform you that the Anglican Mission
in the Americas (AMiA) has entered into a time of transition. For some
of you who follow these things on the various Anglican websites, this
will not be news to you. For most of you this may or may not be
entirely interesting. I will do my best to explain a complex situation
as briefly and directly as possible.
I must begin with some background. Church of the Redeemer joined
the AMiA back in July of 2004, just as we were beginning as a church.
The AMiA was a mission organization of the Anglican Church of Rwanda.
The Archbishop of Rwanda was Emmanuel Kolini. He gave oversight to the
AMiA. Bishop Chuck Murphy was the American leader of the AMiA and T.J.
Johnston was our bishop.
During my years in the AMiA, it has changed in many ways. It has
never been an organization that loved structure. As someone who is not
entirely comfortable with change, I can tell you that I have not always
enjoyed this element of the AMiA. I have however noticed that,
generally speaking, these changes typically turned out for the better.
A couple of years ago another organization was birthed in the U.S.
This was the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). I was there for
the beginning of this group, as was the rest of the AMiA. The AMiA
currently is a partner of the ACNA but we are not the same group.
Redeemer is relationally connected with the ACNA while we have been
happily part of the AMiA since our founding. My personal hope is that
someday these organizations will be even more closely connected, if not
one in the same.
Over the past few months, the top leadership of the AMiA (by which I
mean Bishop Chuck Murphy in conjunction with the AMiA bishops and the
bishops in Rwanda) have been discussing a change at the top level of the
organization. Bishop Murphy and others have been considering the
possibility of transitioning the AMiA from a Rwandan ministry to an
international ministry under a panel of archbishops. This would mean
the AMiA would be something church lawyers call a “mission society.”
Apparently this discussion unearthed a great deal of tensions at the
bishop level. I have to honestly tell you that I was unaware of these
tensions. These conflicts came to a sudden flashpoint a few days ago.
Several letters were exchanged, charges were made, and poor
communication abounded. Most of this played out on gossipy “Anglican”
blogs and websites. The effect of all this was that most of the bishops
in the Anglican Mission resigned from the House of Bishops of Rwanda.
This includes Chuck Murphy, our former bishop T.J. Johnston, and our
current bishop Todd Hunter.
There is a lot of talk about this on the internet right now. Rather
than repeat all the ins-and-outs, let me recommend the best news story I
have read: http://tinyurl.com/amiarwanda
So what about Church of the Redeemer? I think it is vital that our
leadership not take any quick action. Jumping to conclusions based on
incomplete facts has, in my opinion, been a leading cause of the current
unpleasantness. The facts on the ground are changing very quickly. No
one knows how any of this is going to ultimately shake out. Because all
of this conflict is happening well above us in the hierarchy, I suggest
that we all take on the Advent discipline of waiting and praying.
As of today, Church of the Redeemer is still a member of the
Anglican Mission in the Americas. I am still a priest in good standing
in the Anglican Province of Rwanda. Our bishop is still Todd Hunter.
Any of that might change in the next few months, but that is where we
are right now.
Three retired archbishops, Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda and Moses Tay
and Yong Ping Chung of Singapore have agreed to provide temporary
oversight to the AMiA during this time of transition. I have been told
by our bishop that within the next two weeks we can expect to see the
AMiA once again in relationship with a province of the Anglican
Communion. He has also told us that we can expect to get a full
understanding of the next stage in the life of the AMiA at the Winter
Conference (January 11-14 in Houston). Any of you are welcome to join
our staff at Winter Conference, if you would like.
My recommendation to our Elders is that we take no action until
after Winter Conference. It will be important for us to hear from the
AMiA leadership. After all, God has given us our relationship with the
AMiA for these years. If the AMiA ceases to be a legitimate option for
Redeemer, then we may choose to continue on as a missionary congregation
of Rwanda under a new bishop or we may choose to join the Anglican
Church in North America (ACNA).
I am a person who believes in Divine Providence. In other words, I
believe that God is always at work, even in the midst of our
sinfulness. I do not believe that this break from Rwanda has transpired
in a good and godly way. I believe that bishops on all sides bare
responsibility for this situation. But I also believe that God is in
the redemption business. I have long hoped for an Anglican Province in
this country that we can all be a part of. I have long believed that
each nation should have its own Province, rather than one national
church being in charge of another. While this is not the way I would
have liked to see it happen, it may be that the Lord is bringing this
vision to pass even in the middle of this mess. I truly hope it is.
Ultimately, it will be up to our Elders to decide how Redeemer will
deal with the long term implications of this situation. So please pray
for us. Pray also for Todd our bishop. In the mist of all of this, his
wife is very ill and is having a serious surgery next week. Please
pray for our Archbishop Rwaje, as well as Chuck Murphy and all the other
bishops involved.
I wish I had more information at this moment, but unfortunately I
don’t. I If you feel that you would like to discuss this matter
further, please feel free to contact me and set up a meeting. I will do
my very best to keep you, the congregation, informed as things develop.
Many blessings,
Fr. Thomas McKenzie
Pastor, Church of the Redeemer