Source: St. Barnabas Orthodox Mission
Kenya
May 16, 2016
May 13, 2016 was an important day
for the Orthodox Church of Africa and moreso in
Kenya. His Beautitude THEODOROS, Pope and Patriarch
of Alexandria and All Africa, during his pastoral
visit to Kenya, came to the newly established Diocese
of Nyeri to celebrate the enthronement of His Grace
NEOPHITOS as ruling bishop of Nyeri and Mount Kenya
at the Church of St. John in Thunguri. His Beautitude
enthroned several bishops of the throne: Metropolitan
MAKARIOS, Metropolitan IOANNIS, Bishop INNOCENTIOS
and Bishop ATHANASIOS.
Curriculum Vitae of His Grace Bishop Neophytos of
Nyeri and Mt. Kenya region
His Grace, the ruling bishop of
Nyeri, Neophytos Kongai was born in 1970 in the
village of Kesengei, in the Nandi district of Kenya.
He holds a degree from the “Archbishop Makarios
III” Patriarchal Academy in Kenya. He was
ordained deacon on September 13, 1998 and priest on
the 27th of the same month from the then Metropolitan
Seraphim of Kenya, now of Zimbabwe and Angola. He
served in parishes in Nairobi and at the Patriarchal
Academy there as Deputy Principal. On February 27,
2005, he was consecrated as archimandrite by His
Eminence Makarios of Kenya. In the same year he was
awarded a post graduate title in Theological Studies
from the Theological College of Holy Cross in Boston.
In 2007 he was tonsured a monk at the Holy Monastery
of the Transfiguration in Veroia. He is a candidate
for a Doctorate in Pastoral Theology, with a
scholarship from the Aristoteleian University of
Thessaloniki. On November 26, 2014, proposed by His
Beatitude, he was elected by the Holy Synod as
Auxiliary Bishop of the once brilliant Diocese of
Nitria.
Biography of Bishop Athanasios Akunda of Kisumu
and Western Kenya
On May 15 His Beatitude THEODOROS arrived
to the newly established Diocese of Kisumu to celebrate
the enthronement of His Grace Athanasius as ruling
bishop of Kisumu and all Western Kenya
His Grace Bishop Athanasius Akunda was born Amos Akunda in
Kenya in 1971. He was the eldest of six children whose
father is a theologian from St. Tikhons Theological
Seminary. He became Orthodox at the age of 8 after his
parents converted to Orthodoxy. He attended Makarios III
Seminary in Kenya and graduated with a Diploma in
Theology, followed by a Master of Divinity at Holy Cross
School of Theology. At the International Institute of
Church Management he graduated in a Doctor of Divinity and
at the University of South Africa a Doctor of Theology. He
also completed a Diploma and Post Graduate Diploma in
Education Management at the India Institute of Management,
and a Certificate in teaching English as a foreign
language at the Cambridge Institute of English Language in
Boston. HG Bishop Athanasius Akunda worked in African
literature, Christian religious education, Social
education and Ethics at Ebukhaya High School, Ebusiloli
High School and Ngoro Orthodox High School, all in Kenya.
He held the position of Catechist in Western Kenya, and
Secretary for the office of the Archbishopric of Kenya. He
was ordained as a deacon in Kenya in 1998 by His Eminence
Archbishop Seraphim and ordained as a priest at Pantanassa
Church also by Archbishop Seraphim in 2002.
In 2010 at the Church of St
Athansios in Benoni, on the feast day of that church,
he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite by His
Eminence Archbishop Damaskinos. He has served as the
parish priest at St. Seraphim's in Soshanguve and
at St. Raphael, Irene and Nicholas' in Yeoville,
Johannesburg. He was also dean and lecturer at Petros
VII Seminary. He was the parish priest at St.
Nicholas of Japan from 2009 to 2015. Other positions
he has held include director of missions from 2003 to
2008 and cicar in charge of missions since 2010.
Bishop Athanasius Akunda has represented the
Patriarchate of Alexandria at the World Council of
Churches, and the All African Conference of Churches.
Bishop Athanasius Akunda left St Nicholas to serve at
the Patriarchal Seminary “Makarios III”
in Nairobi, Kenya in May 2015. He was Appointed by
His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Nairobi as the
director of missions and lecture at St. Makarios
Seminary in cultural anthropology, pathology and
teleturgics. He was elevated to the episcopal throne
of Kisumu and All Western Kenya on November 24, 2015.
