News Around the Mission

May 1, 2012

SPECIAL EDITION: Videos and Message from Bishop Chuck Murphy

We have been discussing the concept of developing a mission society earnestly since May of last year. Our hope and vision for a multi-jurisdictional society has now become a reality. During meetings in London last week with a number of leaders from the Anglican Mission and around the globe, a group of Anglican Communion primates issued a decree for establishing a "society of mission" that will continue the Anglican Mission's legacy of "advancing apostolic works and ministry." Archbishop Henri Isingoma, of the Congo, and Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Archbishop of Kenya and Chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council and Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, joined our founding Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini, Moses Tay and Yong Ping Chung in issuing the decree. All five men will serve on the society's College of Consultors, its overseeing body which was constituted on April 25. I am more than grateful to these five bold and courageous pioneers for their support and desire to serve on the College of Consultors as "guardians and overseers" of the Mission.

The decree is based upon a petition reviewed by the archbishops along with discussions of a constitution and statutes that will order our common life together. As I announced in my last message to you, we will engage in a process of discussing how we will shape the society - putting flesh on bones - by reviewing those documents. The latest developments in London allow us to move up our time frame considerably, and we now expect to complete the process and have a mission society up and running within 40 days. Key stakeholders including the Council of Bishops and Network leaders will study the draft constitution and statutes, after which we plan to host a convocation on June 4 for clergy and lay representatives from Anglican Mission congregations. During the gathering, participants will have the opportunity to review, discuss, amend, improve and ultimately ratify the final constitution and statutes.

I am extremely thankful to Archbishop Isingoma for offering ongoing canonical residence to our bishops and clergy, and I look forward with anticipation to a long-term relationship with him, a desire he expressed in London as well. In the near future, I expect other jurisdictions will also invite clergy to be canonically resident in their provinces, mirroring the Anglican Mission's original model of oversight and connection to the Global South through the provinces of South East Asia and Rwanda. In addition, I am pleased that an agreement has been reached allowing Bishop TJ Johnston and Bishop John Miller to be received temporarily into the Anglican Church of North America and to serve as assisting bishops within two dioceses. These bishops will continue to oversee Anglican Mission congregations with written permission from their bishops, Neil Lebhar and Foley Beach. This decision demonstrates our commitment to being a multi-jurisdictional entity. Bishops Johnston and Miller will also continue their conversations with Bishops Riches and Masters regarding a future connection with the Anglican Church in North America. There is no need for parishes to make any choice about jurisdictional relationships. Congregations will, of course, remain in the Anglican Mission unless they choose to disaffiliate and join with some other group or entity.

As we move through the next 40 days together, I encourage you to pray for the Anglican Mission, thanking God for His remarkable provision and for His Spirit to guide our steps and empower this new and exciting phase of our life and work together. I rejoice that we can now turn toward the call that has driven us from our beginning - evangelism through planting and nurturing churches in North America.

In Christ,

The Rt. Rev Charles H. Murphy, III

Download the text of the Decree for the Establishment of a Society of Mission.

Posted By: Susan Grayson
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