The Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, formerly known as Episcopal Church of Sudan, is a
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of the
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
located in
South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
. The province consists of eight Internal Provinces (each led by an
archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
) and 61 dioceses (each headed by a
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
). The current archbishop and primate is Justin Badi Arama. It received the current naming after the inception of the
Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan
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 arch ...
, on 30 July 2017.
Archbishop Primate
The
episcopal see
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
of the Archbishop of South Sudan is at Juba. The incumbent serves the whole church as its
Primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...
, but is
Metropolitan archbishop
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
only for his own diocese (Juba), as the diocese of Juba stands alone as extra-provincial. He is titled "Archbishop & Primate of South Sudan, and Bishop of Juba". He represents the province to the rest of the Anglican Communion, and serves on the international Primates' Meeting.
In January 2018, the Episcopal Church of South Sudan elected Bishop Justin Badi Arama of the Diocese of Maridi to serve as its archbishop, succeeding Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, who retired after serving ten years in the office.
All other dioceses (apart from Juba) are part of one of the eight internal provinces, each headed by an Archbishop.
There have been five primate archbishops since the province was created in 1976.
;Archbishops of Sudan and South Sudan (united as a single province)
# Elinana J. Ngalamu, 1976–1988
# Benjamin Wani Yugusuk, 1988–1998
#
Joseph Marona
Joseph Bringi Hassan Marona (Maridi, now South Sudan, 1941 – Khartoum, September 18, 2009) was a Sudanese Episcopalian bishop.
Early life and professional career
Marona was born in Maridi, a western town of Southern Sudan. He first studied at M ...
Anglican
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 th ...
mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
Llewellyn Henry Gwynne
Llewellyn Henry Gwynne (11 June 18639 December 1957) was a Welsh Anglican bishop and missionary. He was the first Anglican Bishop of Egypt and Sudan, serving from 1920 to 1946.
Early life
Llewellyn Henry Gwynne was born in Britain on 11 June ...
as its first bishop. As the pace of growth continued, a separate Diocese of the Sudan was formed with its own bishop (
Morris Gelsthorpe
Alfred Morris Gelsthorpe, DSO (26 February 189222 August 1968) was an English Anglican bishop and missionary. Known popularly as 'Gelly', he was the first Bishop in the Sudan.
Early life
He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and matri ...
) in 1945. In 1957, oversight for the Diocese of the Sudan was transferred from the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
to the Archbishop in Jerusalem. In 1974, when the
Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
The Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East is a province of the Anglican Communion. The primate of the church is called President Bishop and represents the Church at the international Anglican Communion Primates' Meetings. The Centra ...
underwent structural reform, Sudan became an independent province of four dioceses.
Due to continued growth and displacement due to the
Second Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originate ...
, the province had 11 dioceses by 1993 and has subsequently continued to grow. Many of the dioceses are small. The Episcopal Church of Sudan played a prominent role in the
peace
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
process in Sudan.
At the secession of South Sudan, in 2011, the combined province had 5 large dioceses covering
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
(Khartoum, Port Sudan, El Obeid, Wad Medani and Kdugli), and 26 dioceses in
South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
. With an estimated number of four and a half million members, with three and a half million of these in the south, the Episcopal Church of the Sudan accounted for almost half of South Sudan's population.
The Episcopal Church of Sudan renamed itself as the Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan at the meeting that took place in Bor, South Sudan, from 27 to 30 November 2013. It was decided at the same meeting to divide the Church into nine internal provinces – one in Sudan, and eight in South Sudan. One of these internal provinces would be the Central Equatorial Internal Province, whose first archbishop was Paul Pitya Benjamin Yugusuk, son of the late Primate Benjamin Wani Yugusuk, enthroned in
Juba
Juba () is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria State. It is the world's newest capital city to be elevated as such, and had a population ...
on 23 July 2017.
Creation of the new province
At the November 2013 Synod it was resolved to create an internal (or metropolitical) Province comprising the dioceses of Sudan, and other internal provinces in South Sudan, but to maintain the overall unity of the church across Sudan and South Sudan. The Internal Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan was created, comprising the 5 dioceses situated in Northern Sudan, of which Ezekiel Kondo, the Bishop of Khartoum, was elected the first archbishop on 4 April 2014.
Many in Sudan maintained a longer term view of separating this internal province from South Sudan to full autonomy, with the expectation that the
metropolitan archbishop
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
would ultimately become archbishop primate of the new autonomous church. In 2016 a formal application was made to the
Anglican Consultative Council
The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) is one of the four "Instruments of Communion" of the Anglican Communion. It was created by a resolution of the 1968 Lambeth Conference. The council, which includes Anglican bishops, other clergy, and lait ...
(ACC) for the internal province of Sudan to be granted autonomy, and 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. 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
Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for jus ...
. Since that date, the larger part of the original province has been styled the Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.
Membership
There are approximately 3,500,000 Anglicans in
South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
. There are around a further 1,000,000 in the Republic of Sudan, which has been a separate Anglican province since 2017.
In September 2018 the province lost one of its younger bishops in an aeroplane crash. The Bishop of Yirol, Simon Adut Yuang, was killed when the aircraft crashed into a lake near Yirol Airport. There were 23 people on board the aeroplane, of whom 20 were killed, including the bishop.
Dioceses
The Episcopal Church of South Sudan has 61 dioceses; 60 grouped in 8 internal provinces, and the Diocese of Juba.
* Archbishop and Primate of South Sudan
** Diocese of Juba (extra-provincial)
* Internal Province of Amadi
** Diocese of Lui
** Diocese of
Mundri
Mundri is a village in Kaithal tehsil of Kaithal district of Haryana in India.Diocese of Yeri
* Internal Province of Central Equatoria
** Diocese of Kajo Keji
** Diocese of Lainya
** Diocese of Liwolo
** Diocese of Lomega
** Diocese of Morobo
** Diocese of Mundu
** Diocese of Panyana
** Diocese of
Rejaf
Rejaf, also Rajāf or Rageef, is a community in Central Equatoria in South Sudan, on the west bank of the White Nile.
The Lado Enclave was an exclave of the Congo Free State that existed from 1894 until 1910, leased by the British to King Leo ...
Terekeka
Terekeka is a community in Central Equatoria, South Sudan. It is the headquarters of Terekeka County.Diocese of Wondurba
** Diocese of
Yei
Yei is a medium-sized city in South Sudan's southwest. It lies close to the borders of two of the country's trading partners, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a business hub, attracting traders and customers from all three ...
Diocese of Cueibet
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
(
Gok State
Gok was a state in South Sudan that existed between 2 October 2015 and 22 February 2020. It was located in the Bahr el Ghazal region, and was formerly part of the Lakes State. Gok State bordered Tonj to the west and Western Lakes to the east. The ...
Rumbek
Rumbek ( ar, رمبك) is the capital of Lakes State, central South Sudan, and the former capital of the country.
Location
Rumbek is approximately by road northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in the country. Its coordinates are an ...
**Diocese of Wulu
** Diocese of
Yirol
Yirol is a city in South Sudan.
Location
It is located in ''Yirol West County'', Lakes State, in central South Sudan. Its location lies approximately , by road, northwest of Juba, the largest city in South Sudan and the capital of that country. ...
* Internal Province of Eastern Equatoria (Eastern Equatoria Internal Province)
** Diocese of Kapoeta
** Diocese of Magwi
** Diocese of Nimule
** Diocese of
Torit
Torit is a city of Eastern Equatoria State in South Sudan.
History
On 18 August 1955, the Equatoria Corps mutinied at Torit, starting the First Sudanese Civil War. In 1964 the military government in Khartoum closed "all the Christian mission ...
Diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
of Duk
** Diocese of Kongor
** Diocese of Malek
** Diocese of Twik East
** Diocese of Wanglei
** Diocese of Wernyol
* Internal Province of Northern Bahr el Ghazal
** Diocese of Abyei
** Diocese of Aweil
** Diocese of Gogrial
** Diocese of Tonj
** Diocese of Wau
**Diocese of Wanyjok, Aweil East County
**Diocese of Nyamlel,
* Internal Province of Upper Nile (Upper Nile Internal Province)
** Diocese of Bentiu
** Diocese of Maiwut
** Diocese of
Malakal
Malakal is a city in South Sudan. It is the capital of Upper Nile State, South Sudan, along the White Nile River. It also serves as the headquarter of Malakal county and it used to be the headquarter of Upper Nile Region from 1970s to late 1990s.
...
** Diocese of
Nasir
Nasir ( ar, ناصر, translit=Nāṣir) is a masculine given name, commonly found in Arabic which can mean "helper" or "one who gives victory" (grammatically the Stem I masculine singular active participle of consonantal verb root ''n-ṣ-r''). ...
** Diocese of Panrieng
** Diocese of
Renk
The RENK Group (stylised as RENK Group) is a German company and ranked among the top ten companies in the German defense industry in terms of sales in 2010. Its main production sites are located in Augsburg, Rheine, Hanover and Winterthur (Swit ...
* Province of Western Equatoria (Western Equatoria Internal Province)
** Diocese of
Ezo
(also spelled Yezo or Yeso) is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the lands to the north of the Japanese island of Honshu. It included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 18 ...
** Diocese of Ibba
** Diocese of
Maridi
Maridi is a town in South Sudan.
Location
Maridi is located in Maridi County, Western Equatoria State, near the international border between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This location lies approximately , by road, west of ...
** Diocese of Nzara
** Diocese of Olo
** Diocese of
Yambio
Yambio is a City in South Sudan.
Location
The City is located in Yambio County, Western Equatoria State, in southwestern South Sudan, close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its location lies approximately , by road, west of ...
(Archbishop)
Ordination of women
The province does ordain women to the priesthood. In January 2018, it was revealed that Elizabeth Awut Ngor had been consecrated on 31 December 2016 by Daniel Deng Bul, to serve as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Rumbek. This made the Episcopal Church of South Sudan the first GAFCON-aligned province of the Anglican Communion to have consecrated a woman as a bishop. The consecration remains controversial, being contrary to GAFCON official policy which, according to an approved moratorium. does not permit women to be ordained as bishops.
Anglican realignment
The Episcopal Church of South Sudan is a member of the
Global Anglican Future Conference
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is a series of conferences of conservative Anglican bishops and leaders, the first of which was held in Jerusalem from 22 to 29 June 2008 to address the growing controversy of the divisions in the An ...
and the Global South, and as such has been involved in the
Anglican realignment
The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States ...
. The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church of Sudan decided to break communion with the Episcopal Church from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, because of their acceptance of non-celibate homosexuality, at their General Synod, held in 14–16 November 2011, declaring itself at the same time in full communion with the
Anglican Church in North America
The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba ...
. It was decided still to "work with those parishes and dioceses in TEC who are Evangelical orthodox churches and faithful to God". Archbishop Robert Duncan of the ACNA spent the three days of
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
, at 19–21 March 2013, in the province, at invitation of Archbishop Daniel Deng of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. Ezekiel Kondo, of the Internal Province of Sudan, was one of the eight Anglican archbishops that attended
Foley Beach
Foley Thomas Beach (born October 31, 1958) is an American bishop. He is the second primate and archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, a church associated with the Anglican realignment movement. Foley was elected as the church's prim ...
enthronement, which took place on 9 October 2014, at the Church of the Apostles, in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The House of Bishops decided to formally recognize and to forge a closer relationship with ACNA, following their meeting, held in 25–28 November 2015. At the same time, it was decided to end any formal ties with the Episcopal Church, due to their resolutions that redefined marriage and are not in conformity with the Scriptures, in their view. The House of Bishops also recommended that their Provincial Synod severed any relationship with other province or diocese that approves the blessing of same-sex unions, like the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil. They also encouraged all the South Sudanese and Sudanese "diaspora congregations" in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
to join, wherever possible, ACNA.
The province was represented at GAFCON III, that took place in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, on 17–22 June 2018, by a 26 members delegation. Archbishop Justin Badi Arama was registered to attend but wasn't able to get a visa. He did attend G19, an additional conference which took place in
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
Religion in South Sudan
Christianity is the most widely professed religion in South Sudan, with significant minorities of the adherents of traditional African religions and Islam.
President Salva Kiir, a Catholic, while speaking at Saint Theresa Cathedral in Juba, st ...
*
Religion in Sudan
The dominant religion in Sudan is Islam at 90.7% of the population while Christianity forms 5.4% of the population according to Pew Research Center. In September 2020, Sudan constitutionally became a secular state after Sudan's transitional gove ...
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...