Kenya: the church

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF KENYA

OUR VISION
A strengthened Anglican Church built on the foundation of the apostolic faith in Jesus Christ with the ability to equip all God’s people to face the challenges of the new millennium.

OUR MISSION
To bring all people into a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ; through preaching, teaching, healing and social transformation and enabling them to grow in faith and live life in its fullness.


The current Archbishop

The Most Rev. Benjamin M. Nzimbi
P.O. Box 40502, Nairobi
Tel Office +254-2-714755
Fax. +254-2-718442
E-mail: archoffice@ackenya.org archoffice@swiftkenya.com


The ACK Diocese of Bungoma was created on January 1st, 1996 by the sub-division of Nambale Diocese.
Bungoma is in the Western Province of Kenya, covering two administrative districts namely Bungoma and Mt. Elgon. It hosts 50 parishes and ministers to 149, 400 Anglicans.
The Current Bishop

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Eliud W. Wabukala, (B.D., MRel. DD)
(Consecrated & Enthroned Oct. 13, 1996)
P.O. Box 2392, Bungoma
Tel Office +254-055-30481
House +254-055-30635
E-mail: ackbungoma@swiftkenya.com

The Diocese has;• 5 Archdeaconries • 50 Parishes • 750 congregations • 68 Priests • 33 Church workers • 149,400 Anglicans

The history of the Anglican church of Kenya dates back to 1844 when the first missionary from the Church Missionary (CMS), Dr. Johann Ludwing Krapf arrived in Mombasa.

The diocese of Eastern Equatorial Africa was formed in 1884 and it included Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika with James Hannington as the first Bishop. One year after, ex-slaves Ishmael Semler and William Jones became the first Africans to be ordained to the Anglican Ministry. In October the same year, Bishop Hannington was brutally murdered on his way to Uganda.

The first visit from the Ruanda Revival team took place in 1937 and meetings were held in Nairobi, Weithaga and Kabete among other places.

The first African Bishops of the Anglican Church in Kenya, Festo Olang’ and Obadiah Kariuki were consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in Uganda in 1955.

The first African Archbishop of the church The Most Rev. Festo Olang’ was elected in 1970.

In 1975 the conference of Anglican archbishops (Worldwide) was held at Trinity College, prior to the World council of churches 5th assembly in Nairobi.

In 1994 the church of the province of Kenya CPK celebrated the 150th Anniversary since the arrival of Dr. Johann Ludwig, who was the first CMS missionary in Mombasa. The Archbishop of Canterbury the most Rev. George Carey joined them in the celebrations.

In 1998, the name of the church was changed from the Church of the Province of Kenya to the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK).

Today the church has grown tremendously from a few members scattered around the coastal region to over 5 million across the country.

In a period spanning 158 years, the church has established 29 dioceses, several institutions and theological colleges which are all interlinked through a computer network founded by Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York.

The Anglican Church is a member of the 70 million strong Anglican Communion.

Recent News

ACK will not attend Lambeth Conference

The Anglican church of Kenya Standing Comiittee of the Provincial synod meeting in Nairobi has affirmed its support for the Global Anglican Future Conference GAFCON, reiterated her stand that she is not breaking away from the Anglican communion but will not attend the Lambeth conference which starts this week.

GAFCON- A voice of the people

Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Dr. Benjamin Nzimbi was the chairman of GAFCON statement committee.

Archbishop Nzimbi said that the committee was especially interested in hearing what were the fears and concerns about GAFCON, “We are looking for the weaknesses so that we deal with them at the very beginning…then we give people a chance to evaluate.”

What emerged during the conference was that there was passion for the gospel, determination to stay true to the Bible, sadness about the current state of the Anglican communion, a sense of betrayal and abandonment by the existing communion leadership, and determination to build on the experience of GAFCON as a movement.

There is a genuine desire to reach out to other Anglicans around the communion who shared our common faith so that we grow in our witness world of God’s transforming power,” said Dr. Nzimbi.

Post- election violence in Kenya

Thursday 27th December 2007 marked an important day in the Kenyan calendar as the citizens went to the polls to elect civic, parliament and presidential leaders. On Sunday 30th December 2007, following the announcement of the results of the Presidential elections the country was plunged into an unprecedented violence and lawlessness characterised by ethnic hatred, murder, arson, looting and all kinds of threats and intimidation.

ACK response to post- election violence in Kenya

After the post- election violence that affected various parts of the country, humanitarian aid is needed to help the internally displaced resettle and reconstruct their lives.

Thousands of families at the camps are lacking basic needs and requirements. The Anglican Church of Kenya has teamed up with other churches, local and international organizations to meet the immediate needs.

Archbishop of York visits Kenya

The Church of England Bishop Dr.John Sentamu has urged the political divides of Kenya to put the interests of the people first.

The Archbishop of York who is also a member of the House of Commons in the UK, was speaking after conducting a Sunday service at the All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi on Sunday 10th February 2008. Present was Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, ODM leader Raila Odinga and his wife Ida. Dr. Sentamu urged the Kenyans to steadfastly hold on to the country’s democracy and peace.To complete the purpose of the trip, Bishop Sentamu visited the internally displaced at their camp in Eldoret.