Following his enthronement as the sixth Archbishop of Kenya on Sunday 3rd July in All Saints’ Cathedral, Nairobi, the Most Rev Jackson Ole Sapit met with the GAFCON Primates who had travelled from as far away as South America to be present for this day of prayer, preaching and colourful celebration.
The Primates welcomed the new Archbishop into their fellowship and he assured them of his desire to build on the work of his predecessor, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, and continue the Anglican Church of Kenya’s participation in the GAFCON movement.
Among those at the meeting was the Primate of Tanzania, Archbishop Jacob Chimeledya. Preaching from 2 Timothy 4:1-5 earlier in the day, he had encouraged Archbishop Jackson to make preaching the gospel central to his ministry. “Whether it’s a good season or bad one you still have to preach” and he urged that on issues such as corruption and same sex marriage “you cannot remain quiet because being in the top leadership of the church means you have to rebuke and correct whenever necessary.”
For those present this was not only a great day for the Anglican Church of Kenya, but also of renewed hope for the Anglican Communion. While some provinces have ignored the apostolic warning not to ‘wander off into myths’ (1 Timothy 4:4), this service was a wonderful demonstration of authentic Anglican leadership which is determined to be faithful to the truth we have received.
