What Bishop Jones Did Not Tell the AMiA Clergy and Mission Partners He Wrote

Bishop Philip Jones wrote the following letter to AMiA clergy and mission partners:

Dear Clergy and friends of our Networks,

Advent greetings in the name of our coming Savior

In our recent phone call last Thursday I believe and hope we had a good discussion of some significant issues within our Anglican family, our relationship with Rwanda, and with each other. +Chuck is headed to London today to meet with ++Kolini, ++Tay and ++Young who are providing oversight.

In the meantime each of you are canonically resident as a voluntary submission to the Archbishop of Rwanda and your churches, according to Canon Donlan, are affiliated with the AMiA which, despite what some blogs etc may be saying, is a legally formed US corporation that is very much still in existence. Functionally, you are still under my authority, if you so choose, during this interim period. This is all a process and there really is no reason to change status or make any firm choices immediately. The AMiA will, by God's grace, find a provincial home while staying under the authority of the retired archbishops mentioned above. Ultimately, but not immediately, you as clergy will make a decision to either stay canonically in Rwanda, or join the AMiA with its voluntary submission in another jurisdiction while under the oversight of a college of consulters such as ++Kolini, ++Tay and ++Young, or join another provincial jurisdiction. All this will be a process over time and we value your input about this, and there will be mechanisms for that. There is no reason now to make any firm declarations. Some of you have and even those may change over time as further movement is made with the AMiA

The provincial home decision is a process that I hope and believe will include your input over including Winter Conference as a meeting time to discuss our options. This is all the more reason to plan on attending Winter Conference in a month in Houston. Each of you will decide how best to inform your churches about the present status. Please see the link to our Dec 9th communication for talking points. http://tinyurl.com/AMIACurrents1282011 Other than the canonical issue, the other main issue people bring up is the AMiA's status with the HOB of Rwanda. They are separate. AMiA is a completely separate US corporation with its own board, etc. It had a voluntary submission to the HOB of Rwanda and its canons and, unfortunately, felt it had to separate from the HOB. From its inception, the understanding is that the AMiA's association was temporary yet highly valued. We still value the HOB of Rwanda and its kingdom witness.

Finally, please pray for the process as we go forward. There is clarity coming. There is grief because of the separation and how it came about. But, above all there is the reign of God and salvation in Christ to be preached and lived out.

God bless you this Advent season.

+Philip

The Rt. Rev. Philip Jones
Senior Pastor, All Saints Dallas
http://www.allsaintschurchdallas.org
Missionary Bishop
Anglican Mission in the Americas

In his letter Bishop Jones omitted a number of critical details. The Anglican Mission in Americas is two organizations. The first organization is ecclesiastical and was created by the 2008 Code of Canon Law of the Anglican Church of Rwanda and the Canonical Charter for the Ministry of the Anglican Mission in Americas adopted under the provisions of Canon 6 of the Rwandan canons. This established the AMiA as a missionary jurisidiction of the Anglican Church of Rwanda under the oversight of missionary bishops elected by the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Rwanda. Under the provisions of the Rwandan canons and the charter a Primatial Vicar was made the "presiding ecclesiastical authority" of the missionary jurisidiction in absence of the Primate of Rwanda (Art. 3.2). Under the provisions of these two documents the congregations and clergy of the missionary jurisdiction, the ecclesistical orgnization of the AMiA, are canonically resident in the Anglican Church of Rwanda.

The second organization is secular, a not for profit corporation that was registered presumably under the provisions of the laws of the State of South Carolina. While the 2008 Rwandan canons and the canonical charter were made public on the Internet, the articles of incorporation and bylaws of this corporation, have to my knowledge never been make public on the Internet. Most AMiA congregations, clergy, and mission partners have never been given an opportunity to examine them.

Under the provisions of the canonical charter the Primatial Vicar of the missionary jurisdiction is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the secular organization and its Chief Executive Officer (Art. 5.3). When the holder of the office of Primatial Vicar resigns that office, he automatically resigns the office of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, that is, if the provisions of the articles of incorporation and the bylaws of the not for profit organization were changed to reflect the provisions of the canonical charter at the time of its adoption. If the provisions were not changed, AMIA clergy, congregations, and mission partners and the general public have every right to ask why not.

Bishop Murphy's repudiation of the canonical charter at the time of his resignation as Primatial Vicar of the ecclesiastical organization and his refusal to resign as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the secular organization and its Chief Executive Officer represents a bid to control the not for profit organization and any funds, property, and other assets under the control of its Board of Directors. Under the provisions of Article 8.3 of the canonical charter the Board of Directors in the event of the dissolution of the AMiA is empowered “to dispose of all the assets to such organizations as shall at the time qualify as an exempt organization under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as the Board of Directors shall determine.”

The exact relationship of individual AMIA congregations and their clergy to the secular organization is unknown due to the fact that its articles of incorporation and bylaws have never been made public. According to the Network Development Manual the Board of Directors approves and funds Project Plans. Whoever controls the secular organizations could withdraw the funding of uncooperative congregations and clergy. If any congregations have been required to sign trust agreements in which the secular orgnization or its Board of Directors holds in trust immoveable and/or immoveable property purchased with funds approved by the Board of Directors, then such congregations risk loosing this property if they are uncooperative.

If the provisions of the articles of incoporation and bylaws of the secular organization were changed at the time of the adoption of the canonical charter and have not been modified since then, Bishop Murphy's representation of himself as the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer and his use of its funds and resources in support of his vision of the AMiA is in all likelihood illegal.

If, on the other hand, he made changes in the governing documents of the secular organization before he broke with the Anglican Church of Rwanda, this raises serious questions about his explanation of the break. Rather he appears to have engineered it, putting AMiA congregations, clergy, and mission partners in the difficult position of choosing between Bishop Murphy and his vision of the AMiA and their eleven-year relationship with the Anglican Church of Rwanda.

Bishop Murphy appears to be banking upon the AMiA congregations, clergy, and mission partners choosing him and his vision of the AMiA over the African province that provided them with a provincial home for eleven years. He hopes to persuade AMiA clergy to attend the 2012 Winter Conference and sway them at that meeting to accept his account of his break with the Anglican Church of Rwanda and to support his vision of the AMiA. To this end, in order to control the outcome, Murphy is seeking to control the information that they need to have to make an informed decision.

What needs to be made public at this stage is the articles of incorporation and bylaws of the secular organization of the AMiA and all the changes that were made in these governing documents, when they were made, how they were made, and by whom they were made. AMiA clergy, congregations, and mission partners should not have to rely upon those who are clearly committed to Bishop Murphy and his vision of the AMIA and may be complicit in any engineering of this break with the Anglican Church of Rwanda for information regarding the relationship of AMiA congregations and clergy to the secular organization of the AMiA. Among the questions these documents would answer is whether Bishop Murphy can legally preside over the 2012 Winter Conference and make any presentations to those present.

This is not the time for a media blackout on the rift between one faction of the AMiA and the Anglican Church of Rwanda. It is time for whatever is hidden in the darkness to be brought into the light!