We are in the season of Lent

Our Anglican Family

Learn about the DNA of our Diocese
by watching the video below (start at 8:55)

Our DNA as a Diocese

1. We have a passion for mission in an Anglican context. It’s not about being Anglican. It’s about the Kingdom of God and the mission of God. Anglicanism is our context.

2. Our mission defines our structures. We start with our God-given mission and then ask: What structure(s) do we need in order to do what we’ve been called to do?

3. We define ourselves by Jesus and His mission, not by what we fear. 

4. Our Worship brings together Word, Spirit, and Sacrament. We are grounded in God’s Word, moved by the Power of the Spirit, and shaped by patterns of church worship which have been practiced for centuries.

5. We take risks for the Gospel. We sacrifice ourselves for the work of Jesus.

6. All ministry is relational. Relationship is a necessity for discipleship and evangelism.

7. Ministry is Holistic. Ministry is to the whole person (head, heart, body) for the whole community (not just for those who identify as Christian).

8. The Holy Spirit leads us to repentance and integrity. We confess our sins and repent. We turn away from sin into the love of God.

9. Laity (not ordained clergy) are the primary ministers of the church. The church grows as all the people of God engage in the ministry God has given us as a church.

10. Joy comes from Jesus, not from the stuff we accumulate.

11. We are a reflection of God’s movement through the Anglican church of Rwanda. Remembering that our roots come from another part of the world helps us recognize and turn from our cultural tendency toward American exceptionalism to be formed and informed, instead, by the mission of the world-wide Gospel.

More about the global Anglican story...

Anglicanism is an expression of Christianity born in the English Reformation and rooted in the ancient faith and practice of the historic church. Anglicanism upholds Scripture as the primary source of authority in matters of faith and practice. The essence of the Anglican expression of faith lies in the Prayer Books of the 16th and 17th centuries. Driven by a missionary focus, Anglicanism has been about the work of making disciples for over 500 years and has expanded into a global church. With over 80 million members in 164 countries, the Anglican Communion is the 3rd largest Christian denomination in the world (behind Roman Catholicism & Eastern Orthodoxy). The Majority World, especially Africa & Asia, are home to Anglicanism’s most faithful and vibrant churches. Our diocese is the result of a church plant from Rwanda!
Like all the Protestant churches, Anglicans are characterized by a deep commitment to the Scriptures, our complete inability to restore ourselves to God, and the sufficiency of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to accomplish that restoration. Along with these commitments, however, Anglican Christians retain a deep respect for the ways the Spirit has worked in the church since the days of Christ. They believe that the historic church’s creeds, councils, liturgy, and leadership structure upheld the true gospel, not undermined it. For these reasons, Anglican Christianity became a unique tradition within Christianity: fully Protestant in its beliefs, with roots in historic church practices, all because of a passion to preserve and proclaim the good news of Christ.
Also called the Anglican Communion, the Anglican Church is made up of 40 global member Provinces. The provinces are subdivided into dioceses, and the dioceses into parishes. All of the provinces are autonomous, free to make decisions in their own ways. The Diocese of the Rocky Mountains belongs to the province of The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), and our Bishop is Ken Ross.