Emily Awino Onyango becomes first female Anglican bishop in East, Central Africa
The second woman to be ordained a priest in the Anglican Church of Kenya, Emily Awino Onyango, has been appointed to serve as assistant bishop in the Diocese of Bondo. She will be the first female Anglican bishop in East and Central Africa.
Onyango currently teaches church history at St. Paul’s University, a private, ecumenical school just outside Nairobi. She is chair of the African Centre for Biblical Equity and is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.
She previously served as academic dean and vice principal of St. Andrew’s College in Kabare and academic dean and principal at St. John’s School of Theology in Kokise. Her books include For God and Humanity: 100 Years of St. Paul’s United Theological College and Gender and Development: A History of Women’s Education in Kenya.
In her new role as assistant bishop, Onyango will oversee the training of clergy, women’s ministry within the church, and gender issues—including gender-based violence and the empowerment of boys and girls. —Anglican Communion News Service
