Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan

Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationAnglican
ScriptureHoly Bible
TheologyAnglican doctrine
PolityEpiscopal
PrimateEzekiel Kondo
HeadquartersKhartoum, Sudan
TerritorySudan
Members1.1 million

The Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan is a province of the Anglican Communion, comprising the Sudan. It is the 39th Anglican province, created in a ceremony that took place in All Saints Cathedral, Khartoum, on 30 July 2017. The first archbishop and primate is Ezekiel Kondo.[1]

History

The entire country of Sudan comprised the Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, created in 1976. After the secession of South Sudan, in 2011, it was decided to create an internal (or metropolitical) province comprising the dioceses of Sudan, but to maintain the overall unity of the church across Sudan and South Sudan, at the General Synod, in November 2013.[2] The Internal Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan was created, comprising the 5 dioceses situated in Northern Sudan. Ezekiel Kondo, the Bishop of Khartoum, was elected the first archbishop on 4 April 2014.[3]

Many in Sudan believed that this internal province should be given full autonomy as a new Anglican province, with the expectation that the metropolitan archbishop would become archbishop and primate. In 2016 a formal application was made to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) for the internal province of Sudan to be granted autonomy. In July 2016 a team led by the archbishop of Adelaide and the vice chairman of the ACC carried out a fact-finding mission in northern Sudan. This team reported back to the ACC to enable a formal response to the application for autonomy.[4] In March 2017 it was announced that the ACC had decided that the internal province of Sudan would become the 39th province of the Anglican Communion, with Ezekiel Kondo, Archbishop of Khartoum, as the first archbishop and primate. The constitution of the new province took place on 30 July 2017, in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.[5][6]

Membership

There are approximately 1,000,000 Anglicans in Sudan.[7]

Archbishops

Dioceses

Map of the Catholic (red) and Anglican (blue) bishoprics in Sudan and South Sudan, 2017.
  • El Obeid
  • Kadugli and Nuba Mountains
  • Khartoum
  • Port Sudan
  • Wad Medani

Anglican realignment

The new province is associated to the Global South and the Global Anglican Future Conference. Ezekiel Kondo, then archbishop of the Internal Province of Sudan, was one of the eight Anglican archbishops that attended Foley Beach enthronement as archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church in North America, on 9 October 2014, at the Church of the Apostles, in Atlanta, United States.[8]

The province wasn't able to send representatives to GAFCON III, held in Jerusalem between 17 and 22 June 2018, due to the fact that Sudan did not allow their citizens to travel to Israel.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Celebration as Sudan becomes Anglican Communion 39th province, Anglican Communion News Service, 31 July 2017". Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Sudan synod rejects call to divide: The Church of England Newspaper, December 13, 2013". Conger. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  3. ^ "An Archbishop for Northern Sudan". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  4. ^ Report on visiting team at ACNS.
  5. ^ "Sudan announced as a new Province within the Anglican Communion, Anglican Communion News Service, 10 March 2017". Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Celebration as Sudan becomes Anglican Communion 39th province, Anglican Communion News Service, 31 July 2017". Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Celebrations in Sudan as new internal provincial Archbishop enthroned, Anglican Communion News Service, 28 July 2014". Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  8. ^ "ATLANTA: 2000 Anglicans Participate in Historic Investiture of New Anglican Archbishop - Virtueonline – The Voice for Global Orthodox Anglicanism". Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  9. ^ GAFCON III largest pan-Anglican gathering since Toronto Congress of 1963, Anglican Ink, 20 June 2018

External links