PEARUSA Update: Petition and Charter for Missionary District Sent to Kigali

From the PEARUSA website:

Please join in prayer March 28-29 as the House of Bishops in Rwanda receives and considers our petition to establish PEARUSA as a Missionary District of Rwanda in North America, with the intention of becoming a subjurisdiction of the Anglican Church of North America.

Here is the actual petition, filed early this week:

Petition to the House of Bishops

of the Anglican Province of Rwanda

Greetings in the Name of the Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord and Savior: Praise the Lord!

We are grateful to God for his grace in the leadership of the Province de L’Eglise Anglicane au Rwanda in its indigenous missionary effort in North America. We are committed to participating in this effort and have a renewed sense of call to that end. With this petition we seek to clarify the identity of this effort.

Pursuant to Title 1 Can. 6, Sec 2{b}., we do hereby petition the House of Bishops of the Province of Rwanda for permission to erect and organize a Missionary Jurisdiction, known as Missionary District of the Province de L’Eglise Anglicane au Rwanda in North America through the implementation of a charter for ministry to be developed and agreed upon together to complement the Provincial Constitution and Code of Canon Law.

We humbly request that you grant this petition so that the work we are charged to do for the sake of the Gospel may continue to be advanced and the good order of the church insured.

Respectfully yours in Christ,

The Steering Team and Working Group

As noted, a Charter for Ministry was included with the petition. It covered in some detail:
1. Fundamental theological declarations
2. Fundamental mission
3. Ecclesiastical organization and governance
4. Churches, i.e., how to affiliate, how to join as a mission church, etc.
5. Clergy
6. Constituting an inaugural synod.

While it will become increasingly important for churches that consider affiliation with PEARUSA to know the details of the Charter for Ministry, we also want to respect the process. We expect our Rwandan bishops and leaders to adjust aspects of the charter. As that process advances, at the right time we will publish the charter for everyone to read. (Even then, however, we expect it to be a “work in progress” until the Inaugural General Synod, when it will finally be discussed, prayed through, and ratified.)