For those not following the story, here are some pertinent issues. First, Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) is about 11 years old. Second, AMiA has about 150 churches or so. Third, AMiA split from the parent American body, The Episcopal Church (TEC). Fourth, although AMiA claims the 1662 BCP and Thirty-nine Articles as formularies, they use the 1979 BCP. Fifth, AMiA supports women's ordination. Sixth, they are charismatically-inclined. Seventh, AMiA's majority of Bishop "resigned" from the Rwandan Anglican Bishops and Churches. This has caused consternation and difficulty for some of the American Churches. Eighth, it remains very unclear why this resignation occurred. Ninth, at present, AMiA looks like MiA without the Anglican part, without a Provincial connection and appears as a more of a liturgized version of a charismatic church. Here's an odd, undistinctive, and unhelpful letter from MiA bishops that offers little.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=15587
AMiA's Council of Bishops Issues Letter on Their FutureFebruary 16, 2012
Dear Friends,
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In the weeks since Winter Conference, we have continued conversations about the Anglican Mission's future and are grateful for many of you who have responded positively, offering your valuable insight and perceptions.
Your questions and recommendations have contributed significantly to our ability to better serve you and work toward greater clarity as we move forward together.
Last week, we gathered in a special meeting of the Council with a deep desire to seek Jesus' heart for the Anglican Mission.
As we concluded our meeting, we were convinced that the Lord had truly met with us and had given us clear direction, enabling us to consider things in a new way with fresh insight.
We concluded our meeting united and confident that the Lord was showing us an exciting and challenging way forward.
In order to more fully embrace our call of service to Christ's Church, we have determined to form a Mission Society that is authentically Anglican and focused on North America.
We remain committed to boldly and creatively reaching out to those who are disconnected from Christ and His Church through church planting (Luke 15).
Like other mission societies that have historically supported the broader Church by planting churches on its behalf, we also feel called to express our ministry through such a model. (See attached documents.)
This decision marks the first step in a process to develop the mission society as we continue to seek the Lord's guidance with your input.
With this end in mind, we will be reviewing all of our structures and roles in order to discern the specific shape of the mission society as we engage our process.
We are committed to the following:
* evangelism and discipleship through planting churches that plant churches;
* the expression of three streams: the Sacred (sacramental and liturgical) the Scripture (evangelical), and the Spirit (charismatic);
* orthodox theology (adherence to the 39 Articles of Religion and historic formularies of the Church);
* Anglican polity;
* fostering an entrepreneurial culture;
* pursuing both temporary (short-term solutions) and enduring relationships with an Anglican jurisdiction.
This vision is consistent with our clear call to be "a mission, nothing more and nothing less." Our focus on planting churches as an outreach for an existing judicatory within the one holy catholic and apostolic church continues our established pattern.
As we continue our conversations and discernment with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), we will keep you fully informed.
We want you to know that our goal is to provide our parishes with strategies and support which will allow us all to move forward together.
During this process, we are committed to open dialogue and are proceeding diligently, but carefully and prayerfully.
We ask for your prayers for wisdom and discernment as we intercede daily for your mission and ministry.
In Christ,
Anglican Mission Council of Bishops
Anglican Mission in the Americas http://theamia.org
Heart of North America Network, AMiA http://honanetwork.com
Ph. 330.990.9475
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=15587
AMiA's Council of Bishops Issues Letter on Their FutureFebruary 16, 2012
Dear Friends,
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Your questions and recommendations have contributed significantly to our ability to better serve you and work toward greater clarity as we move forward together.
Last week, we gathered in a special meeting of the Council with a deep desire to seek Jesus' heart for the Anglican Mission.
As we concluded our meeting, we were convinced that the Lord had truly met with us and had given us clear direction, enabling us to consider things in a new way with fresh insight.
We concluded our meeting united and confident that the Lord was showing us an exciting and challenging way forward.
In order to more fully embrace our call of service to Christ's Church, we have determined to form a Mission Society that is authentically Anglican and focused on North America.
We remain committed to boldly and creatively reaching out to those who are disconnected from Christ and His Church through church planting (Luke 15).
Like other mission societies that have historically supported the broader Church by planting churches on its behalf, we also feel called to express our ministry through such a model. (See attached documents.)
This decision marks the first step in a process to develop the mission society as we continue to seek the Lord's guidance with your input.
With this end in mind, we will be reviewing all of our structures and roles in order to discern the specific shape of the mission society as we engage our process.
We are committed to the following:
* evangelism and discipleship through planting churches that plant churches;
* the expression of three streams: the Sacred (sacramental and liturgical) the Scripture (evangelical), and the Spirit (charismatic);
* orthodox theology (adherence to the 39 Articles of Religion and historic formularies of the Church);
* Anglican polity;
* fostering an entrepreneurial culture;
* pursuing both temporary (short-term solutions) and enduring relationships with an Anglican jurisdiction.
This vision is consistent with our clear call to be "a mission, nothing more and nothing less." Our focus on planting churches as an outreach for an existing judicatory within the one holy catholic and apostolic church continues our established pattern.
As we continue our conversations and discernment with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), we will keep you fully informed.
We want you to know that our goal is to provide our parishes with strategies and support which will allow us all to move forward together.
During this process, we are committed to open dialogue and are proceeding diligently, but carefully and prayerfully.
We ask for your prayers for wisdom and discernment as we intercede daily for your mission and ministry.
In Christ,
Anglican Mission Council of Bishops
Anglican Mission in the Americas http://theamia.org
Heart of North America Network, AMiA http://honanetwork.com
Ph. 330.990.9475
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