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Kenyan Anglicans Appoint First Woman Bishop
The Standard, Kenya
January 16, 2021
Dr Emily Onyango has been appointed an assistant bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) becoming the first woman in the history of the church in the country to hold such a senior position.
Rev Onyango, the longest serving female clergy in ACK, was appointed during a special Synod of the diocese of Bondo, Siaya County, where she will deputise Prof David Kodia.
"We followed the necessary steps as required and also send her endorsement to the Standing Committee. We'll thereafter write to the archbishop informing him that the local organs have approved the appointment," Bishop Kodia said following Tuesday's appointment.
Prof Kodia said they consulted widely before the appointment was made.
"Things have been very chaotic but when we, in 2019, got the approval to appoint a woman to such a position, we saw it fit for Dr Onyango to take it up because of her experience and academic background. She now becomes only the second woman to be ordained in ACK," Kodia said.
He added: "She has what it takes. She is well educated and has trained so many people, including bishops and archbishops."
Dr Onyango, who is also a lecturer at St Paul's University, holds a PhD in History from the university of Wales. She has been an ACK priest and a Canon in the diocese of Bondo for years.
The university don also sits in the church's education committee.
For decades, the conservative ACK had been reluctant to appoint women to the position bishop. Some had said such a move would be premature and needed more consideration as women are expected to be confined in their feminine roles.
However, times have been changing fast with more women being appointed bishops among the various Christian denominations. Onyango's appointment may be a sign that Kenyan Anglicans are ready for women bishops.
In its Synod sitting in December 2013, the Diocese of Eldoret overwhelmingly approved the proposal to elect women bishops.
The Diocese of Maseno West, in their August 2014 ordinary synod session, unanimously approved ordination of women bishops.
Justifying the vote, the then bishop who was also the Dean of the ACK, the Rt Rev Joseph Wasonga said the Kenyan church understood the ministry to be a functional office.
"Ministry belongs to all who are baptised, be they men or women, and as such no one can deny the other an opportunity to serve in whatever capacity," Bishop Wasonga said.
Note: Dr Onyango did her Ph D with the University of Wales at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies with scholarship support from the Langham Trust who also supported her post-doctoral fellowship at Ridley Hall, Cambridge.
Read The Standard here
https://efacglobal.com/news/2021-01/kenyan-anglicans-appoint-first-female-bishop
