Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 July 2007
The article analyses the relationship between the Anglican Church of Rwanda and evangelical Episcopalians in the United States. In 2000, the archbishop of Rwanda, Emmanuel Kolini, in a move that gained great support for Rwanda's post-genocide recovery, ordained several bishops to preside over congregations of orthodox, evangelical Americans who had severed their relationship with the Episcopalian Church of the United States over issues such as the blessing of same-sex marriages and the ordination of openly gay clergy. The result was the creation of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, a missionary province in the United States that acknowledges Kolini as its archbishop. Such actions have made Rwanda the current cause célèbre not only of AMIA but the wider evangelical community. While the relationship offers great support for Rwanda's recovery, the Anglican Church has presented to American evangelicals a misleading narrative of Rwanda's past and present political situation.