Rwanda Sister Parish

St. Paul's Cathedral - Butare

Mandated and inspired by Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini and in line with our origin and allegiance to Rwanda, the vision for the Sister Parish Partnership team at ASC is to shepherd an organic connection between All Saints Church and St. Paul’s Cathedral (SPC) in Butare, Rwanda. The partnership seeks to be mutual, centered on relationship (as opposed to projects), and based upon our common desire to seek God’s truth, kingdom, and beauty manifested in differing social and cultural settings. The partnership initiative at ASC seeks not to be a new stand-alone ministry, but an integrated one, engaging, adding to, informing, and enriching existing aspects of church life at ASC and at SPC. We undertake this partnership believing that God will use this to take both congregations to a place that neither can go alone.

In June 2010, our Rwanda Sister Parish Team travelled to Butare, Rwanda to minister to and be minsterered to by our brothers and sisters at our sister parish, St. Paul's Cathedral. They had a rich and surprising experience and God's faithfulness to them has been made evident and available to us here in Chapel Hill and Durham.

Background: Following an initial trip to Rwanda in 2007, once ASC was officially assigned to SPC, we undertook a short-term trip to Butare in June 2008 to take the first step to connect our congregations and to explore how such a partnership may be formed. Eight members of ASC took part: Rev. Steve Breedlove, Ralph and Jennifer Ennis, Niel and Ellen Ransom, MaryMac and Nathan Thielman, and Ehsan Samei. We were most graciously welcomed by our hosts at SPC, members of the congregation, the leadership of the Butare diocese, and Rev. Lambert, the pastor of SPC. The highlights of the trip were the many gatherings at the homes of members of the congregation. This trip set in motion the start of a relational partnership between the people of the two congregations.