In a letter to all the Anglican Primates and Partners in Mission of the Province of the Anglican Church of Congo (PACC), Isingoma described the actions by his bishops as "illegal" noting that his bishops were seduced by money under the influence of the retired Archbishop of Rwanda, the Most Rev. Emmanuel Mbona Kolini, and the lawyer of ASMAW, Canon Kevin Donlon.

"I am writing to you to share with you the great concern of the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Congo about the voluntarily involvement of our three bishops, namely Bishop Bahemuka William of Boga diocese, Bishop Bahati Bali-Busane Sylvestre of Bukavu diocese and Bishop Masimango Katanda Zacharie of Kindu diocese in carrying out a joint missionary work in their respective dioceses with the new bishops who will very soon be consecrated (in May 2015) by Bishop Philip Jones, the 'Apostolic Vicar' from Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) currently called 'Anglican Society for Mission and Apostolic Works' (ASMAW) and sent out to their respective dioceses.

"We deplore AMiA's behavior to try and weaken the structure of our Province in order to achieve its goals that greatly contribute to the disobedience among the bishops and to the division in our church. We are saddened to note that our three bishops are unfairly listed on the official sittings of ASMAW with the help of the retired Archbishop of Rwanda. Incredibly, there is no single bishop from Rwanda where the retired archbishop worked from!" (www.theamia.org/leadership)

The Congolese archbishop added that it is not prohibited for bishops to look around for partners to support their dioceses due to the financial hardship they go through, but that this should be done with utmost care and wisdom so as to keep the identity of a Province intact while uplifting their own reputation and dignity.

"This decision indeed taken on their own behalf, for the hope to get financial support to run their dioceses, under the influence of the retired Archbishop of Rwanda, Emmanuel Mbona Kolini, and the lawyer of ASMAW, Canon Kevin Donlon, has raised a serious question of how we shall continue operating as a Province after the infiltration of bishops from AMiA since we do not recognize them as legitimate bishops nor do we know their intentions/objectives in their mission among us."

Isingoma said it is a pity that, in the current administrative structure of ASMAW, the Province of the Anglican Church of Congo is represented by such a large number of three bishops considering the eleven dioceses so far targeted for its mission in the Anglican Communion.

Our actual concern is as follows:
1. How will our three bishops manage the parallelism of the Episcopal ministry in their respective dioceses and how will they work out the vision, mission and the structure of ASMAW with those of the Province of the Anglican Church of Congo? Will this not appear as a province within another province?
2. How will they relate with our Province that is a member of the Anglican Communion and of the evangelical movement of Anglicans in Africa (GAFCON)?
3. Are the Christians from the dioceses in this new partnership aware of the unavoidable consequences of this new mission institutionally?

On May 2, Kolini, the former primate of Rwanda, and the Most Rev. Yong Ping Chung, the former primate of South East Asia, the Rt. Rev. Charles Murphy, the former leader of the AMiA assisted by three Congolese bishops, a Tanzanian bishop and a Ghanaian bishop consecrated the Rev. Gerry Schnackenberg and the Rev. Carl Buffington as "Bishop Emissaries" for the Congolese diocese of Boga and the Tanzanian diocese of Kibondo.

According to the AMiA's website, the "Bishop Emissary of a Mission Partner allows the Bishop of that Diocese to promote their Diocese, bringing awareness of its works and needs to other organizations and Christian bodies outside the geographical borders of their Diocese."

Then two bishops will also be licensed as bishops of the ASMAW -- an independent denomination in the Anglican tradition -- said the Rt. Rev. Philip Jones, its Apostolic Vicar and will provide episcopal ministry to its congregations.

END