Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi

Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Anglican
Scripture	Holy Bible
Theology	Anglican doctrine
Polity	Episcopal
Primate	Sixbert Macumi
Headquarters	Bujumbura
Territory	Burundi
Members	c. 900,000
Official website	Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi Official Website

TheProvince of the Anglican Church of Burundi(French:Province de l'Église anglicane du Burundi) is a province of theAnglican Communion,located inEast AfricabetweenTanzania,Rwanda,Kenya,and theCongo.The Archbishop and Primate ofBurundiisSixbert Macumi.

Name

The name of the Province of the Episcopal Church of Burundi changed to the Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi (Province de l’Eglise Anglicane du Burundi) as the result of a decision taken at the Provincial Synod held in Bujumbura, March 2005.

History

After the first missionary work, the first Anglican structures in Burundi were established around 1935 and grew rapidly. The former Ruanda Mission set up its first mission stations atBuhigaandMatanain 1935, andBuyein 1936. There was much growth through medical work and education.Metropolitical authoritycame from theArchbishop of Canterburyuntil in 1965 the 'Province of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire' was established, and the first national bishop was consecrated for the Diocese of Buye (covering the whole country).

Following expansion, Uganda became an independent province, leaving the rest of the region as the new Province of Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire.In 1975, Buye diocese was divided into two and theDiocese of Bujumburawas created. TheDiocese of Gitegacame into existence in 1985, followed by theDiocese of Matanain 1990. The most recent diocese to be created was the Diocese of Rumonge, created from the southern part of the Diocese of Bujumbura and comprising around 50 parishes. Their first bishop elected was Pedaculi Birakengana, with the official inauguration of the diocese taking place on 4 August 2013.

In 1992 the three countries of the Province each gained independence under their own individual Metropolitan Archbishop. The Episcopal Church of Burundi had his first Primate inSamuel Sindamuka,who would be in office until 1998. He was followed bySamuel Ndayisenga,Primate from 1998 to 2005. In Burundi expansion continued, withMakambadiocese established in 1997 andMuyingain 2005. Finally in 2005 the Province adopted the current name. Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi was elected Primate the same year and reelected in 2010.

Membership

There are approximately 900,000 Anglicans in an estimated population of 12 million inBurundi.

Structure

The polity of the Anglican Church of Burundi isEpiscopalian church governance,which is the same as otherAnglicanchurches. The church maintains a system of geographicalparishesorganized intodioceses.The spiritual head of the province is itsArchbishop,who isOrdinaryof one of the dioceses,Metropolitanof the Province, andPrimate.There are currently nine dioceses, each headed by abishop:

SeeAnglican dioceses of Burundi

Archbishop of Burundi

The Archbishop of Burundi is bothMetropolitanandPrimate;he retains his diocesan See along with the Primacy. The holders of the office have been:

• Samuel Sindamuka,1992–1998
• Samuel Ndayisenga,1998–2005
• Bernard Ntahoturi,2005–2016
• Martin Nyaboho,2016–2021
• Sixbert Macumi;2021-

Worship and liturgy

The Anglican Church of Burundi embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. A local variant of theBook of Common Prayeris used.

Doctrine and practice

See also:AnglicanismandAnglican doctrine

The center of the Anglican Church of Burundi's teaching is the life and resurrection ofJesus Christ.The basic teachings of the church, orcatechism,includes:

• Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead.
• Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe.
• The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written by people "under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit". The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine.
• The two great and necessarysacramentsareHoly BaptismandHoly Eucharist
• Othersacramental ritesareconfirmation,ordination,marriage,reconciliation of a penitent,andunction.
• Belief inheaven,hell,andJesus's return in glory.

The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. These three sources uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work ofRichard Hooker,a sixteenth-century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason (on how scripture, tradition, and reason work to "uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way" ).

Social issues

The Church's major concerns include peace and reconciliation, repatriation of refugees and displaced people, community development, literacy and education, and fightingAIDS.It is committed to mission and evangelism and is concerned to support theological education and training for ministry.

Ecumenical relations

Unlike other Anglican churches, the Anglican Church of Burundi is not a member of many ecumenical bodies. The Church is not a member of theWorld Council of Churches.

Anglican realignment

The Anglican Church of Burundi is a member of theGlobal Southbut hasn't been very active so far in theAnglican realignment.ArchbishopBernard NtahoturiattendedGAFCON II,that took place inNairobi,Kenya,from 21 to 26 October 2013.The province was represented atGAFCON III,held inJerusalem,on 17-22 June 2018, by a single delegate.The leading name of theGAFCONin the province is Bishop Seth Ndayirukye, of the Diocese of Matana. Four bishops of the Anglican Church of Burundi attended the GAFCON Training Bishops Institute in May 2019.

Further reading

• Anglicanism,Neill, Stephen. Harmondsworth, 1965.

External links

• Official website
• Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi at Anglican Communion Official Website