Maseno South’s Anglican diocese set for golden jubilee celebration » Capital News

KISUMU, Kenya, May 2 – The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Diocese of Maseno South is set to celebrate its 50^th anniversary in August this year, an event the Diocesan Bishop Rt. Rev. Charles Ong’injo said the church will use to take stock of achievements realized including its rapid growth and evangelism expansion.

The Diocese of Maseno South was hived off the Diocese of Maseno in 1970.

The Diocese was headed for a long time by Rt. Rev. Dr. Henry Okullu who took over from the first Bishop Rt. Rev. Evan Agola who worked for barely three years before retiring on health grounds.

Rt. Rev. Ong’injo the fiftieth-year celebration set to run for six days will be marked with pomp and colour, expressing optimism that the current ban on public gatherings as part of measures to prevent coronavirus will have been lifted with the  disease contained.

“We felt it was important to celebrate 50 years from 1970, because that is like our birthday,” he said during a press appearance on Saturday.

The bishop said the Diocese has leaped so many folds since it was established in terms of evangelism work across its jurisdiction.

He said the progress made is tremendous and worth celebrating.

Over years, the Diocese has managed to expand its wings by establishing five other Dioceses in the region.

“We gave birth to Maseno West, Southern Nyanza, Maseno East and Bondo Dioceses,” said Ong’injo.

Following the retirement of Bishop Okullu, Rt. Rev. Francis Mwayi Abiero was consecrated Bishop of Maseno South in the year 1994.

He later served and retired in 2018 and was succeeded by Rev. Ong’injo who is now driving the course to celebrate the heroes of faith for what they did for the country.

“One of the milestones I think we have made as Maseno South worth celebrating, is to look at our heroes of faith and what they did not only for this region but he entire republic and I think Bishop Okullu stands out very strongly in that respect,” he said.

Bishop Okullu is credited with the formation of a development wing of the church, Anglican Development Services (ADS), which has left a mark in every village the church has Christians.

Rev. Ong’injo explains that the development wing was formed to enable the church to fulfill the mission of Christ as stated in the biblical book of John 10:10: “I came to give life and give it abundantly”.

“Because the Christians need food, medical attention, quality life, so through ADS, there was emphasis on agriculture, medicare and environment issues,” he said.

Looking back, Rev. Ong’injo prides himself that the Diocese has achieved a great goal in ensuring Christians get quality water through drilling of boreholes.

“These are some of the milestones that we feel are worth celebrating because if you look at what the church was in 1970 and what it is now is very different,” he said.

He noted the Diocese was not left behind when the country started agitating for multiparty democracy in 1990.

Rev. Ong’injo said the free political space in the country was created by the church despite criticism advanced against the church and its leaders who have been accused of taking a back seat in the current happenings.

“The church now does not take a very aggressive role, it is because what it fought for in the 1990s has been archived,” he said.

In terms of education, the Diocese has been in the forefront as sponsors of some of the schools shaping the lives of many learners though guidance and counseling.

Ong’injo said some of the schools that were established by the church still remain the best schools in the region and the country at large.

“Part of the celebration will be to ensure that our role in the education is not diminished,” he said.

The six-days celebrations slated for early August is expected to be graced by ACK Archbishop Most Rev Jackson Ole Sapit, who will also dedicate the new cathedral of Maseno South Diocese.

In the wake of coronavirus that has had unprecedented effects on entirely all sectors in the country, Rev. Ong’injo said the church will adhere to government advisories should a ban on public gatherings be in force.

“As we stand now our celebration is on unless he (Archbishop) changes it, but even if he changes it, he will have to give us another date, but we will also get proper guidelines from the Ministry of Health,” he said.