Rwanda Connection
Why Rwanda?
In response to an ever-deepening crisis of faith and leadership in both The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, the Province of Rwanda courageously intervened in January 2000 by consecrating the Rev. Chuck Murphy and the Rev. Dr. John Rodgers as missionary bishops. Later that year the Anglican Mission was officially launched as a missionary outreach to "the Americas."
Rwandan Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini says he was originally moved to respond to America because of the pain suffered in the horrific genocide in Rwanda that left one million people dead in 100 days. In his view, the US was experiencing a "spiritual genocide."
The Anglican Mission's connection with Rwanda, however, is much more than oversight - it includes shared mission and ministry. Today the Mission enjoys a strong partnership with the Province of Rwanda, fueled by passion to reach the unchurched in North America. Anglican Mission congregations often welcome priests and bishops to preach and teach stateside, while numerous individuals and groups from Anglican Mission churches visit Rwanda.
The story of forgiveness and reconciliation experienced by the people of Rwanda is compelling and presents a powerful witness for our own context. Together we are part of the global Anglican family, with some 70 million members worldwide.
Relevant Links
Read stories of Faith in Action
The complete statement from Archbishop Kolini on the creation of the Anglican Mission
Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda
Mustard Seed Project
Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda
Statement on the Creation of the Anglican Mission
The Most Rev. Emmanuel M. Kolini
The Anglican Mission in the Americas serves as a missionary outreach of the Province of Rwanda, under the authority of the Provincial Synod, The House of Bishops, and the Archbishop of the Province, as stipulated by the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Rwanda.
The Anglican Mission was established in response to what a group of orthodox clergy and leaders from the United States described in 1999 as a severe "crisis of faith and leadership" within the Episcopal Church, USA. Following a series of meetings with concerned Primates in Singapore and Kampala during 1999, and in response to a carefully documented petition for intervention presented by these orthodox leaders from the U.S., the Anglican Mission was created in July of 2000 following passage of a formal resolution in the Rwandan House of Bishops in January of that year calling for the consecration of missionary bishops to be sent to the United States, and to serve in a mission field within that country that presently comprises an estimated 130 million unchurched people.
The Anglican Mission exists to glorify God by sharing and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ in the U.S.A., and by building an alliance of leaders and congregations committed to fulfilling our Lord's Great Commission by gathering, planting, and serving dynamic churches in the Anglican tradition within that country. As endorsed by both the House of Bishops and the Provincial Synod, this missionary outreach presently enjoys an appropriate level of autonomy due to differences in geographical and cultural setting as provided for by the Constitution of the Province of Rwanda.
