The first female deacons for the Anglican Diocese of Botswana were ordained last week at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Gabarone. On 4 May 2025 the Rt. Rev. Metlhayotlhe Beleme ordained eight women to the diaconate following a ten year battle with the Church of the Province of Central Africa.

While the Botswana synod voted to allow the ordination of women over ten years ago, the provincial synod only voted in 2023 to allow individual dioceses to ordain women. Last week’s ordination follows Botswana petition to withdraw from the CPCA to join the Anglican Church in Southern Africa after the dioceses in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe voted to form national provinces at the last provincial synod.

“The question of ordination of women has in the past created a controversy of how African Christian women faced multiple sexism and theological obstacles to ordination, both in the Anglican and other churches but to us it is now water under the bridge while I shall proudly confer our sisters to officially administer the sacrament and proclaim the gospel of God to the flock effectively”, the bishop told the congration attending the ordinations, according to the Botswana Guardian.

It is his hope that the ordained deaconesses will carry out the highly anticipated clergy duties to draw the lost flock and engage themselves in growing the Anglican evangelism to higher levels by also reaching out to the vast areas to reach cardinal points of Botswana, the newspaper reported.

The Rt. Rev. Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Newcastle, served as preacher at the service, and was joined by the Bishop of Lesotho, the Rt Rev Vicentia Kgabe.

As of May 2025 the Church of Melanesia, the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea, and the Anglican Church of South East Asia do not permit women deacons.  The CPCA permits the ordination of women, but Botswana has so far been the only diocese to move forward on this issue. Some provinces, such as Myanmar, permit women clergy but have not ordained any.