Anglican Mission in the Americas
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| Part of a series on the Anglican realignment |
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Christianity |
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Peter Akinola |
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| Anglican Realignment Associations | |
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American Anglican Council |
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Anglican Province of America |
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The Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA; formerly Anglican Mission in America) is a Christian missionary organization active in the United States. Established in 2000, it aims to be an alternative jurisdiction to the Episcopal Church in the USA, the long-established denomination for Anglican Communion members in the United States.
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[edit] Formation
The AMiA was formed by Episcopalians and Anglicans who see the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) as apostate. AMiA members have criticized numerous actions, documents, policies and doctrines of the ECUSA as being in conflict with Holy Scripture. The ECUSA's acceptance of homosexuality was certainly an example of conflict between AMiA and ECUSA, Gene Robinson's ordination was merely the final catalyst for many American Episcopal churches' turns to AMiA and similar Episcopalian break-away groups.
The first flames of the AMiA came in 1996 when eleven families, composed of both Episcopalian and Presbyterian laypeople in Little Rock, Arkansas, became increasingly disillusioned with their respective churches and their perceived lack of Biblical adherence, especially to the Great Commission. Upon the local Episcopalian bishop's rejection of their plans to create a new church, the fifteen were granted the oversight of the Church of the Province of Rwanda, St. Andrews Church ( http://www.saintandrews-lr.org/) thus became one of the first in the West to be under oversight of the Global South beginning a chain of international cooperation among Anglicans which culminated in August of 2000 in Amsterdam, when the AMiA was officially established.
[edit] Status
The status of the AMiA within the Anglican Communion is disputed. AMiA is a member of the Common Cause Partnership, an organization dedicated to uniting various Anglican jurisdictions to form a new conservative province of the Anglican Communion in North America.
The AMiA is technically a missionary organization to the USA under the authority of the Episcopal Church of the Province of Rwanda and the Anglican Church of the Province of South East Asia, both of which are member churches of the Anglican Communion. The AMiA's priests and bishops are ordained by (and obtain, members believe, the benefits of Apostolic Succession through) the Archbishops of Rwanda and Southeast Asia. As the website of the AMiA states,
The Anglican Mission provides a way for congregations and clergy to be fully Anglican—connected to the worldwide Anglican Communion through the leadership in Rwanda and South East Asia—while, at the same time, being free of the crises of faith, leadership and mission in the Episcopal Church USA.
Most AMiA clergy are former Episcopal priests who seek to promote traditional Anglicanism through establishing new parishes in the United States. The Rwandan and Southeast Asian provinces of which AMiA is part have consecrated American bishops for the United States, meaning that the usual pattern of missionary work in which the personnel of one nation are sent overseas is not required for AMiA's work.
The AMiA is similar to the Continuing Anglican Movement with the obvious differences that: 1) it is an extension of member provinces of the Anglican Communion, whereas most of the Continuing Churches disavow the Anglican Communion, 2) it has women clergy (but has recently stated that it will no longer ordain women as clergy), and 3) many of its parishes continue to use the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of ECUSA which Continuing Anglicans consider to be defective. The AMIA is working on an updated version of the 1662, 1928 and 1962 (Canadian) Book of Common Prayer for consideration by its churches in North America. Peter Toon has led this effort http://www.anglicanmarketplace.com/ and http://pbsusa.org/. The goal is to provide an updated version of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer for use by North American churches.
Another, larger organization of this type -- often compared with the AMiA -- is the Anglican Communion Network (ACN). It is made up of dioceses and parishes which, unlike AMiA, have remained within the Episcopal Church in the USA. The Anglican Communion Network is in partnership with the AMIA through the Common Cause Partnership http://www.united-anglicans.org/
While the AMiA believes itself to be part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, George Carey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury (and as such, head of the Anglican Communion) at the time of the formation of the AMiA, stated otherwise in a personal opinion. The Archbishop's comments from his final address to the Anglican Consultative Council in 2002 make clear his own view that clergy who join the AMiA are leaving the Communion. [1] While many in the AMiA would take a strong issue with the above statements holding that they are very much apart of the world wide Anglican Communion through oversight by the Rwanda Church.
I have been clear in my condemnation of the schism created by AMiA and the actions of those Primates and other bishops who consecrated the six bishops. Sadly, I see little sign of willingness on the part of some bishops in the Communion to play their part in discouraging teaching or action that leads some conscientious clergy to conclude that they have no option other than to leave us for AMiA.
The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has taken the same line on the standing of the AMiA, by refusing to include any AMiA bishop or representative in the 2008 Lambeth Conference. This action along with others has led many in the Global South to be troubled by the upcoming Lambeth Conference and some have decided not to attend.
[edit] Ordination of Women
After several years of consideration, the AMiA decided against ordaining women to the priesthood. This decision, however, is not applied ex post facto. At least two female priests who left the Episcopal Church for AMiA retain AMiA recognition of their ordinations. Additionally, the AMiA fully recognizes the ordination of female deacons.
[edit] See also
- Anglican views of homosexuality
- Anglican Coalition in Canada
- Anglican Communion Network
- Continuing Anglican Movement
- Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a similar body established by the Church of Nigeria
