Rose Okeno (b. 1960s) is a Kenyan Anglican bishop who became the second female bishop in the history of the

Anglican Church of Kenya The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is a province of the Anglican Communion, and it is composed by 41 dioceses. The current Primate and Archbishop of Kenya is Jackson Ole Sapit. The Anglican Church of Kenya claims 5 million total members. Accordin ...

(ACK) on September 12, 2021. She is the first full bishop in the Anglican Church of Kenya. Prior to her ordination, she served as acting bishop replacing Bishop Tim Wambunya after his resignation in September 2020. She was consecrated at Butere Girls High School, defying a movement to put a moratorium on women bishops. Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit of Kenya presided over the ceremony. Bishop Okeno is the head of

Butere Diocese Butere is a town in Kakamega County of the former Western Province of Kenya. It has an urban population of 4,725 (2009 census). Until 2010, the town was the capital of the former Butere/Mumias District. Transportation links Butere is linked by r ...

, a largely rural area in

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

of small-scale farmers and traders. Okeno is the mother of four children and has served the

(ACK) for 20 years. Bishop Okeno is an advocate for women and girls and for the empowerment of marginalized peoples.

Dispute

The Global Anglican Future Conference, known as

GAFCON The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a global network of conservative Anglicanism, Anglican churches that formed in 2008 in response to an ongoing theological crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...

met in Jerusalem, Israel June 17–22, 2018. At this conference GAFCON called for a moratorium on the ordination of women, "until such a time when a consensus is reached". A "conservative movement in the church," according to Religion News Service, GAFCON was formed in 2008 in response to the acceptance of homosexual clergy and the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson to the Diocese of New Hampshire by the Episcopal Church in North America in 2003. Robinson was an openly gay priest in the United States.

Female Anglican Bishops in Africa

* Bishop Ellinah Ntombi Wamukoya was ordained as bishop of

Swaziland Diocese Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

in southern Africa in 2012. She died of COVID-19 in January 2021. * Bishop Margaret Vertue was elected bishop in October 2012 and consecrated in 2013 in the South African Diocese of False Bay. * Bishop

Elizabeth Awut Ngor Elizabeth Awut Ngor is a South Sudanese Anglican bishop. She serves as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Rumbek of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, having been consecrated a bishop on 31 December 2016 by Daniel Deng Bul, Archbishop of Jub ...

was consecrated as an assistant bishop in the South Sudan Diocese of Rumbek in 2016. * Bishop Emily Onyango was consecrated assistant bishop of Bondo in Kenya on January 20, 2021 * Bishop Rose Okeno was consecrated as a full bishop of Butere Diocese in Kenya on September 12, 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okeno, Rose 21st-century Anglican bishops of the Anglican Church of Kenya Anglican Church of Kenya clergy 20th-century Anglican bishops in Africa Living people 1960s births Year of birth uncertain 21st-century Kenyan women