The Kikuyu controversy was an

Anglican church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

controversy in 1913 and 1914.

History

In June 1913, William George Peel, the

Bishop of Mombasa The Anglican dioceses of Mombasa are the Anglican presence in and around Mombasa and south-east Kenya; they are part of the Anglican Church of Kenya. The remaining dioceses of the Church are in the areas of Maseno, of Mount Kenya, and of Nakuru. ...

, and John Jamieson Willis, the

Bishop of Uganda The Anglican dioceses of Buganda are the Anglican presence in the Central Region, Uganda (equivalent to the old Buganda kingdom); they are part of the Church of Uganda. The remaining dioceses of the Church are in the areas of Eastern Uganda, of ...

attended an ecumenical communion during an interdenominational missionary conference at the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

's parish in

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: * Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya *Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cent ...

British East Africa East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Bri ...

, in what is now

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

. Attending were

Anglicans Anglicanism is a Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia ...

, Methodists, and Presbyterians. Controversy erupted in December after Frank Weston, the Bishop of Zanzibar, denounced Peel and Willis as heretics, and the issue was exhaustively debated in the press for weeks. Ultimately, the two bishops were not tried for heresy for the perceived schism. In April 1915, the Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement concluding the matter."The Kikuyu Controversy: Archbishop of Canterbury's Judgment," ''The Morning Post'' (London), 26 April 1915, p. 2.

References

{{Reflist Anglican theology and doctrine History of Kenya