Chuck Murphy says the AMiA is doing a 'new thing' and ready to go out on its own
Bishop Chuck Murphy has rejected the godly admonition of Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje and he and the members of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) House of Bishops have broken with the Church of Rwanda.
In a letter dated 5 Dec 2011, Bishop Murphy and the AMiA House of Bishops announced that the Lord “is now doing” a “new thing” and that its bishops had decided to reject the discipline and oversight of Anglican Church of Rwanda .
Whether the clergy and congregations of the AMiA will follow their bishops into schism and out of the Anglican Communion is not known at this time. However by this second secession in eleven years along with the adoption of a distinct Roman Catholic ecclesiology and sacramental theology, the AMiA appears to have given up its claim of being Anglican in order to follow its leader, Bishop Murphy. To read more, click here.
Update:To read the Anglican Mission bishops' resignation letter, click here. Note that only Bishop Chuck Murphy has signed the letter. I suspect that Bishop Murphy did not himself draft the letter.
To read a letter from Bishop Murphy to Archbishop Rawje from 12/05/2011, click here.
It is noteworthy that not all of the Anglican Mission bishops have resigned from the Rwandan House of Bishops. Bishops Terrell Glenn and Thaddeus Barnum have not tendered their resignation to the Primate of Rwanda. What we see happening is the split in the Anglican Mission that I anticipate in my article, "It's Time for Anglican Mission Bishop Chuck Murphy to Make a Gracious Exit," if Bishop Murphy refused to resign.
Further Update:
To read the June 2011 correspondence between Archbishop Rawje and Dean Alexis regarding financial accounting and transparency and other concerns, click here.
Related articles:
It’s Time for Anglican Mission Bishop Chuck Murphy to Make a Gracious Exit
Recant or resign, Rwanda tells Chuck Murphy
What Every Church and Every Pastor Considering Affiliation with the Anglican Church in North America Need to Know.
2 comments:
No one familiar with the history of +Murphy and the AMiA has trouble understanding what Chuck is doing. He has always wanted to be free to follow the unique 'vision' of a 'reformed, charismatic, evangelical, Catholic Church'. That required he have ecclesiastical legitimacy through a Province, yet total freedom. Where did it all fall apart?
In 2009 it came to the attention of the Rwanda HOB that for several years the financial statements of the AMiA showed about $300k per annum given to PEAR under the tithing arrangement. The financial reports of the Province of Rwanda showed only $100k per year coming into the PEAR. There was another $400k given to 'the Province' that never arrived in the Provincial Accounts. The 'missing' monies total $1.2million. Abp. Kolini did not provide any answers. The new Archbishop was installed & the Dean of PEAR wrote, formally asking for an accounting since they were at the AMiA Winter Conference. The Dean was referred to H+ Exec Director of the AM. Incredibly, H said the Dean, did not have the authority to ask for that information; only the Archbishop could ask for such an accounting.
The Rwandan HOB was curious about why such information should be hid. They wanted to know why - if all of this money never went into the Provincial bank account -whose bank account WAS it wired to? In May '10 there was a letter asking +Murphy to provide a full accounting at the Rwanda June HOB.
+Murphy now says he brought H. Miller to provide the required accounting and H. was not allowed to attend the meeting. The fact is that the Rwandan Bishops wanted straightforward answers and discussion among bishops. They did not want any ‘non-bishops’ taking over a HOB meeting.
Bishop Murphy’s says that he didn't bring the documentation to the HOB in June because he needed H. there to explain it. So he just left all that exculpatory data in his hotel. Does anyone think that +Murphy and H+ had not spent countless hours discussing how they would explain these financial anomalies? He could have told the HOB whose account the $1.2M had been deposited into. To diffuse the situation the Rwanda HOB graciously said they would be willing to overlook the embarrassing missing funds if Bishop Murphy would agree to provide a better, more transparent means of accounting for the future. He did not agree to that except in the most general and non-committal terms. The HOB passed a resolution that the AMiA Bishops should be called to a general meeting of all Bishops in Sept. ‘11 to discuss more collegial ways of working together. At this point +Murphy stormed out of the meeting. Later he wrote a disrespectful letter to the HOB telling them that they had wasted his time and money and that he would not ask the AM bishops to go to Rwanda.
Those familiar with Murphy and his leadership style and his dogged perseverance trying to attain his goals we cannot be surprised that he makes this move to maintain his independence. What we are surprised and terribly saddened by is to see that he doesn't seem to care that there are clergy and saints in many of the AMiA churches who didn't realize that Murphy's relationship and respect for Rwanda was always a fiction. Many of these priests and people have a deep affection for Rwanda and her clergy who have ministered to them over the years.
It is sad that Chuck Murphy is willing to rip asunder all of these illusions and relationships and let people see that it was always just politics. The Rwandans are also shocked that after risking, and for many losing, very much to support the AMiA that Murphy and most of the other Bishops are throwing them under the bus rather than provide an honest accounting of funds. We should all take a moment, especially AMiA bishops and ask this question… Why did Chuck Murphy feel compelled to rush out and resign so precipitously? It could be that he wanted a fait accompli, to get as many people as possible committed to this course before they had the opportunity to be exposed to ‘the rest of the story’.
Theo,
Murphy saw it coming. He and Donlon introduced romanized Catholic Canons into the Church of Rwanda and and their bishops were now simply enforcing them on him. He was about to be hoisted on his own petard and he didn't want that. American Manifest Destiny and Episcopalian self-will influenced him greatly. The ac/na are really no better.
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