The General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Rwanda has been installed as the first missionary bishop of the Diocese of Karongi. The Rt. Rev. Jean Pierre Methode Rukundo was consecrated and installed as bishop on 26 July 2020 by the primate, the Most Rev. Laurent Mbanda. Located in the Western Province of Rwanda, the Karongi district lies on the shores of Lake Kivu. The see city of the new diocese will be Rubengera and comprises the area of the former province of Karongi. The Rwandan church numbers 1 million members and with Karongi, now comprises 12 dioceses.
The new diocese was instituted 31 May 2020 and carved out of the diocese of Kivu, but BIshop Methode’’s consecration was postponed due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Born on 17 Dec 1971 in Ruhango Distric, BIshop Methode was educated at the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences, and earned a Bachelor’s Degree of Divinity from Uganda Christian University in 2009, and a Master’s Degree from Tyndale Theological Seminary based in Amsterdam in 2013. He is completing a PhD in Theology and Development from Nairobi Graduate School of Theology in Kenya. In 1995 he joined the Shyogwe Diocese as a development officer and after ordination served as a parish pastor and archdeacon and Diocesan Development Officer in Shyogwe Diocese before becoming provincial General Secretary.
He is married to Jeanne d’Arc Mukabatesi and they have five children (Maxime, Hope, Bonte, Phoebe and Noble).
