AMiA Bishop Chuck Murphy Spins Break with Rwanda

The Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA), the first group of Episcopalians to leave The Episcopal Church over a crisis of faith and leadership more than a decade ago, has withdrawn from the Anglican Province of Rwanda following a breakdown in talks between Rwanda and the Anglican Mission, which was exploring the possibility of reorganizing as a Missionary Society and no longer simply as a Personal Prelature.

The chairman of the Anglican Mission, the Rt. Rev. Charles H. Murphy, III announced yesterday that he and seven of his fellow Anglican Mission bishops, along with retired Bishop John Rodgers, have resigned from the Anglican Province of Rwanda due to a strong difference in opinion about the future structure and identity of the Anglican Mission. You can read the letter of resignation here: http://www.theamia.org/am_cms_media/letter-of-resignation-from-the-house-of-bishops.pdf

Bishop Thad Barnum did not sign the resignation letter from the Rwandan HOB. On December 5, he chose to step away from his role in the Anglican Mission and instead continue in a pastoral and canonical relationship with Rwanda.

Bishop Murphy had been seated as a Primatial vicar in the Rwandan House of Bishops on an equal footing with Rwanda's House of Bishops.

"Valuing continuity, we see this as a logical, consistent progression of what God has been doing in and through the Anglican Mission since 2000," explains Bishop Murphy. "The missionary society concept provides the appropriate structure for us to be what we have said we are from the beginning - a mission, nothing more, nothing less." To read more, click here.

Note how Bishop Murphy presenting himself as the innocent victim and the Rwandan bishops as the villains. He is clearly seeking to make himself to appear the aggrieved party, gain sympathy for himself, and to influence the perceptions of people in and outside the Anglican Mission regarding what happened. He especially wants Anglican Mission congregations, clergy, and mission partners to buy into his story. If they question his account of what transpired and look beyond it to what he has been doing as Anglican Mission chairman particularly in the last 5 years, they may have second thoughts about rallying in support of his continued leadership of the Anglican Mission and his proposed restructuring of the Anglican Mission.