1 JUne 2023
Anglican Communion Secretary General pays tribute after death of Dr Agnes Abuom, Kenyan ecumenist and peacemaker
Dr Agnes Abuom, a lay woman from the Anglican Church of Kenya who became the first African and first female to be elected Moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, the global ecumenical body, has died after a short illness. She was 73. Dr Abuom was a passionate ecumenist and peacemaker, and her ministry took her all over the world.
The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Anthony Poggo, was amongst many Church leaders paying tribute.
“Anglicans mourn the death of Dr Agnes Abuom and give thanks to God for her outstanding and exemplary leadership within the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Anglican Communion, and in the ecumenical movement and the World Council of Churches,” he said.
“I first met Dr Abuom in the late 1990s when she attended St Luke’s Parish in Kenyatta, Nairobi where I was an attached clergy from 1996 to 2007. I next met her when she was Moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and played a significant role in nurturing the peace process and reconciliation in South Sudan.
“Dr Abuom’s contribution to ecumenism and peace building were recognised globally and also within the Anglican Communion. In 2017 she was awarded the Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“She had a passion for faith, for social justice and for Christian unity, and brought this, with her many gifts, to her long service on the committees and meetings of the WCC, where she served as President and Moderator.
“I thank God for her life and witness. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.”
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