Murphy and Rodgers Launch Traditionalist Anglican Mission in America
Episcopal News Service. August 22, 2000 [2000-117]
(ENS) Two American priests say they have been authorized to form an "Anglican Mission in America" under the auspices of the Provinces of Rwanda and South East Asia, whose archbishops irregularly consecrated them as "missionary bishops" to the American church in January.
Charles H. Murphy III and John H. Rodgers met with Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda) and Yong Ping Chung (South East Asia) during the recent "Amsterdam 2000" international evangelistic conference. Rodgers reported that they had been told to "go ahead full steam" with planting churches "in any part of the USA, no limits." He cited actions by the 2000 General Convention on homosexuality as the impetus for the two primates' new mandate.
Also attending the Amsterdam meeting were Bishops John Rucyahana (Rwanda), Robert Duncan (Pittsburgh), Edward MacBurney (retired, Quincy), and Harry Griffith, executive officer of First Promise. Archbishop Harry Goodhew (Sydney) met privately with Rodgers and Murphy but was not part of the larger gathering.
In a letter, Rodgers indicated that the two American traditionalist organizations with which he and Murphy have been associated, First Promise and the Association of Anglican Congregations on Mission (AACOM), will merge into "one movement" overseen by the archbishops of South East Asia and Rwanda. AACOM will become "Missionary Congregations of South East Asia" under Rodgers' leadership, and First Promise will be known as "Missionary Congregations of Rwanda" under Murphy.
Rodgers said the two have been given permission to receive previously consecrated American bishops, and "as I understand it," to consecrate new bishops, following the next Primates' meeting at Kanuga, North Carolina, in March, 2001. MacBurney's name has been mentioned as a possible third missionary bishop, although there was no indication of whether he would be joining the church of Rwanda or South East Asia.
"We also have a plan to add new Provinces to our sponsoring Provinces," Rodgers reported in the letter to AACOM. Sources indicate that one of those may be the Province of the Church of Nigeria. The traditionalist group Reform Ireland has officially recognized the AMA as "the authentic expression of Anglicanism within the United States."
The move came just weeks after a letter was sent to Kolini, in which Bishops Clifton Daniel III of East Carolina and Frank Neff Powell of Southwestern Virginia asked Kolini to discipline Murphy for performing episcopal acts in both dioceses without invitation or permission from them. "This is a direct assault on the polity and integrity of The Episcopal Church...and of the Anglican Communion," the July 14 letter stated. "Such action denies the consistent historical stance of the Lambeth Conferences regarding the integrity of provincial and diocesan boundaries."
The two American bishops also challenged the legality of Murphy's consecration. "[A]ccording to the Constitution of the Province of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda...Charles Murphy is not a bishop," the letter stated. "[T]here is no provision in the Constitution of your Province for bishops to minister or reside outside Rwanda, nor for the election or consecration of any kind of bishop other than a diocesan."
Shortly after the release of that letter, the Rwandan House of Bishops reportedly "clarified and regularized" Murphy's consecration, formally incorporating him as part of that body. A welcoming letter to Murphy from six of Rwanda's nine bishops, sent earlier in the year, was also released. Reports indicate that Rodgers' recognition by the bishops of South East Asia is pending.
The Rwandan bishops said that they and the Province of South East Asia are "not in communion" with Anglican provinces that do not endorse the 1997 Kuala Lumpur statement on sexuality, including ECUSA. Therefore, they maintain that sending Murphy to the U.S. to do "missionary work" does not contradict Lambeth resolutions on diocesan boundaries.
To date, Kolini has not responded to the American bishops' letter, said Powell, adding that "the actions of Archbishop Kolini represent further attempts to weaken the fabric of the Anglican Communion."
Both Rodgers and Murphy predicted an exodus of traditionalist congregations from ECUSA to the newly formed AMA. "There are about 17 or so congregations under Bishop Murphy and myself," Rodgers wrote to his AACOM congregations, "with many more on the way...I expect there will be between 50 to 80 congregations under our care by March 2001." Rodgers did not indicate where the dissident congregations were located, but First Promise's Harry Griffith was quoted in the Church Times as saying that AMA-affiliated churches would not be planted in "friendly dioceses" without working with a local ECUSA bishop.
While united in their criticism of the 2000 General Convention's actions on sexuality and women's ordination, American traditionalists remain deeply divided on whether the AMA "strategy" is the correct one.
Citing historical precedent, the Prayer Book Society's Dr. Peter Toon and Dr. Louis Tarsitano called for a "national convention" of dissident American Episcopalians to form an alternative Anglican province and then seek recognition from the archbishop of Canterbury. They warned of the "lessons" taught by the frequent splintering of so-called Continuing Anglican churches, which number approximately 50 U.S.-based groups at this time.