Source: Christ Church Plano
Dear Christ Church Family,
It gives me great pleasure and joy to share some of the best news I could ever tell you. After months of prayer, consultation, travel and discernment, the Vestry and Clergy staff has decided to join the missionary movement of The Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA). If you explore the links, videos, website, FAQs and other information, I know you will be as thrilled as I am to find a new family of colleagues and partners in ministry.
The Anglican Mission in the Americas is all about the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. At Christ Church this is our mission, too: Go, make disciples and teach them to obey the commands of Christ. The AMiA has a proven record of planting churches that plant churches. They have an infrastructure that puts people and resources in the field. They have leaders and clergy and bishops who are energetically and enthusiastically centered on mission. In short, they are “getting it done” all over North America.
Most of our clergy staff, their spouses, and a representative of the vestry went to a national AMiA conference last week. It was absolutely inspiring. The speakers were great but greater still was the sense of joy and hope among the nearly 1,600 in attendance. There is a harmony of vision and purpose throughout the organization. While there are so many different leaders in different places and in unique circumstances, they all seem to have the same heart for the Lord. Frankly, in a deep and abiding sense, it felt to me that I was coming home…at long last.
Allow me to tell you three brief things about this new alignment:
It is Anglican in faith and order. By this, I mean that all the things that we love about the Anglican Church are true of the Anglican Mission. They have ordered ministry and liturgical worship. The have clergy oversight and parish accountability. They have historic connections to Canterbury, and an international flair and linkage all around the worldwide Anglican Communion. But more important is their faith. They believe the historic gospel according to the Word of God and the ancient creeds and councils of the church. They practice a three-fold ministry: bishops, priests and deacons. They are unapologetically biblical and deeply evangelical. Their clergy are devoted to the practice of ministry and the preaching of the gospel.
They are missionary in focus and action. As I mentioned above, the set-up of the Anglican Mission is all about planting and growing churches. Explore the links at the end of this article and see for yourself the heart for the gospel and the efforts at church planting in North America. It is thrilling. They are breaking the old molds and actually doing it: empowering and equipping leaders, both lay and ordained, to establish new outposts for the Gospel. In fact, their whole structure, from leadership to finances to the work of their bishops, is set up to return resources, people, and money to area networks to plant and support new congregations.
I have met some of these new church planters. They are young and dedicated. Some have taken part time jobs to make ends meet while their churches get started. Some are living way below their normal level in order to funnel money and resources into the new work they are responsible for. It is humbling and inspiring. It is something that I want to be a part of supporting and serving. I know you will, too.
They are American in scope and culture. While the Anglican Mission originated from Rwanda, it is fully American in its leadership, its culture and context. Emmanuel Kolini, the Archbishop of Rwanda, is the spiritual head of the Anglican Mission and gives direction to the work and ministry. I met him years ago when he came to visit Christ Church. He preached in our church and he stayed with us in our home. I remember being touched by his humility and passion. I recently renewed our acquaintance and I was even more humbled by his love of the Lord and his dedication to the mission of Christ.
Historically, East Africa experienced several revivals over the last 100 years. It feels to me that the revival fires of the previous era have come across to America through the Anglican Mission to renew the Christian faith in our Anglican heritage. We should welcome it, let it move us, get behind it, and serve our Lord through it.
Friends, I can’t tell you how excited I am to be free to build and lead and grow and develop a Gospel-centered ministry. Our mission has been clear for a great many years…and for the last few we have been looking for a place to fulfill it. Now, after much soul-searching and prayerful discussion, your vestry and I have found a place that is a near-perfect fit for our church.
Please explore this exciting new alignment at ChristChurchPlano.org/amia. Soon enough you will be able to see the heart and passion for the work of Jesus Christ. I predict that at some point you will read through the vision and values and statements about the AMiA and say, “Of course, that sounds just like Christ Church.” When that happens you will see what I have seen: that the Lord has taken the passion and energy that we have for the Gospel and has given us a like-minded family of Anglicans with whom we can share our ministry, grow in our faith, and reach others with the knowledge and love of the Lord.
I thank you for your trust and confidence.
In Christ,
The Rev. Canon David H. Roseberry
Rector
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