From herding sheep and goats to shepherding Anglican Church

Electoral College members of the Anglican Church in Kenya (ACK) introduce Bishop Jackson Ole Sapit of Kericho who was on May 20, 2016 elected head of the Anglican Church of Kenya to succeed outgoing Archbishop Eliud Wabukala. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE

What you need to know:

  • The story of Bishop Jackson ole Sapit bears some semblance to the Bible parable of the mustard seed, which was the topic of his first sermon as Archbishop-elect. The 52-year-old primate says that as he takes over leading the five-million strong Church, it is his prayer that his leadership will encourage more Masaai to join Christianity.
  • The alumnus of Narok High School says his journey to the top of the ACK started when a white missionary asked him to be her translator during her interactions with the locals. Before that, in the mid-1980s, he was engaged in cattle trading.
  • And even as he looks forward to his consecration on July 3, Bishop ole Sapit admits that controversial issues affecting Anglicans globally, such as same-sex relationships and the position of women in church leadership, will not be easy to resolve.

When Bishop Jackson ole Sapit, the Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop-elect, delivered his sermon  in Kericho last Sunday based on the parable of the mustard seed, his congregation listened keenly and nodded in agreement.

In the Bible, the tiny mustard seed grew and became the largest tree in the farmer’s vineyard and even provided shelter to all the others.

The congregation needed not look too far for the perfect example of the mustard seed — for right before them stood a man who had risen from herding goats in the harsh plains of Narok to become the sixth spiritual and administrative head of the estimated five million Anglicans in Kenya. 

He has been the bishop of the Kericho ACK Diocese, which he set up from scratch and nurtured into growth before his momentous election on May 20 to take over from Archbishop Eliud Wabukala.

Bishop ole Sapit, who beat five other candidates, may find it difficult to fit in the big shoes of the soft-spoken, firm and generally respected Archbishop Wabukala but he is certainly as tall as his predecessor.

“I was an unlikely winner,” he says.

Indeed, the archbishop-elect acknowledges there were many doubting Thomases.

“When I declared my candidature for archbishop, some media houses ran stories calling me a ‘reluctant candidate’ which was not the case. I thank members of the (ACK) Electoral College for having faith in my ability to lead the church. I will do my best,” he says.

The 52-year-old lost his father — who had 11 wives — when he was barely five years old.

Young ole Sapit joined Rotian Primary School in 1973, a distance of 12km from his home, after the government ordered parents to enrol their children in school or face punishment. He sat his Certificate of Primary Education examination in 1980.

“I wore my first pair of shoes and uniform in 1975 when World Vision (a non-governmental organisation) took me under its Pasotua (Peace) sponsorship programme for orphans. The programme also provided food for my family and this was especially useful during the 1976 drought,” he says.

The first Bishop of the Diocese of Kericho Rt Rev Jackson Nasoore ole Sapit when he took oath of office at the Holy Trinity Church ground in Kericho. PHOTO | SOLLO KIRAGU

PASTORAL SERVICE

The alumnus of Narok High School says his journey to the top of the ACK started when a white missionary asked him to be her translator during her interactions with the locals. Before that, in the mid-1980s, he was engaged in cattle trading.

Being the only one in his area who could speak and write in English, he would accompany the missionary to meetings across Narok.

“I was privileged to ride in her Land Rover whenever we travelled to meetings as vehicles in the area were very rare back then. This was my first interaction with Christianity. One day, as I was resting in the forest after a long journey, her messages hit me and I gave my life to Christ,” he says.

A year later, in 1988, he was recruited by his local priest, Samuel Kamau, to serve as an evangelist. This was meant to prepare him as the first local resident to take over the leadership of the Narok ACK in future.

Through Pastor Kamau’s assistance, Mr ole Sapit enrolled at the Berea Theological College in Nakuru County where he graduated in 1991 with a Diploma in Theology and was appointed deacon in July of the same year.

In January 1992, he was posted to Belgut Parish in Kericho where he was ordained as a priest in July of the same year but left only two years later in September 1994 to join St Paul’s Theological College (now St Paul’s University) to pursue a Degree in Divinity, which he completed in 1997.

“From there I was appointed the Vicar of Trans Mara Parish in Kilgoris and in 1998 I was appointed the manager of the Trans Mara Rural Development Project funded by Tearfund UK (an NGO) and the British government, a position in which I served for five years,” he says.

In 2002, he joined the University of Reading in the United Kingdom to pursue a Master’s degree in Social Development and Sustainable Livelihoods, graduating a year later.

On his return to Kenya, he was appointed by Nakuru Bishop Steven Mwangi, who has since retired, to become the Missions and Development Coordinator for the parish, which at the time extended all the way to Kericho and Trans Mara.

In 2004, Bishop Mwangi promoted Mr ole Sapit to suffragan bishop (subordinate to a diocesan bishop) for Kericho area to help develop it into a full diocese. He went on to become a bishop when Kericho was declared an independent diocese. 

 “Under my watch, Kericho Diocese grew in leaps and bounds. The number of parishes grew from eight to 22 and the number of clergy also rose from nine to 28 — 14 of whom are degree holders in divinity while four are studying for their Masters,” he says.

And even as he looks forward to his consecration on July 3, Bishop ole Sapit admits that controversial issues affecting Anglicans globally, such as same-sex relationships and the position of women in church leadership, will not be easy to resolve.

However, his stand on homosexuality, which threatens to split the global Anglican communion, leaves little doubt that the Kenyan church will not change its stand. 

The new ACK Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit with outgoing Archbishop Eliud Wabukhala on July 17, 2011 during opening of Kericho Diocesan offices. Bishop Sapit was the Bishop of Kericho for 8 years until his election on May 20 as the Archbishop of ACK. PHOTO | COURTESY

WOMEN MINISTERS

“It is our position as the church that God created Adam and Eve because he wanted people to procreate and that cannot happen in a same-sex marriage. Even then, let us pray for those who engage in homosexuality and reach out to them as Christ commanded us,” he says.

This has been a matter of heated debate after the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, a member of the Anglican Communion, in 2004 elected and ordained its first openly gay Bishop, Gene Robinson, causing a split that later became known as the Anglican Realignment.

Earlier this year, the Episcopal Church was suspended for three years by the Anglican Communion over its liberal position on the subject of homosexuality.

On the role of women in the church, Bishop ole Sapit says that even though there is still a lot that needs to be done to create opportunities for clergywomen to lead the church, the ACK has been at the forefront

He, for example, says that the current holder of one of the most powerful positions in the church, the Provincial Secretary, is an ordained minister, Rev Canon Rosemary Mbogo, while many other women across the country are archdeacons.

“This is a debate that we will keep alive and I can see that in the near future we will have women bishops. It is my prayer that we will have more women playing leadership roles in the church,” he says.

Assuming office at a time when the country is preparing for an election, the Archbishop-elect has been quick to caution against hate-mongering by politicians and has called for a sober discussion to solve the stalemate over the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Bishop ole Sapit says Jubilee and Cord should take advantage of the church’s mediation efforts and soften their positions to avoid plunging the country into chaos.

“I am asking leaders from both sides to rethink their hardline positions on the issues surrounding the IEBC and focus on the interests of the Kenyan people instead of their self-interests. Let us agree to dialogue, because that is the only way to find a solution,” says Bishop ole Sapit.

But even amid the political bickering and violent protests over the electoral commission, the bishop says corruption remains the biggest threat as its effects are far-reaching.

Change, he believes, should not only involve the country’s top leadership but also ordinary Kenyans who can play a major role in fighting corruption “by, for example, declining to pay bribes”.

Like the mustard seed, he believes, every little positive action ends up having a major impact. 

The Archbishop-elect, who lists the late firebrand prelates David Gitari, Henry Okullu and Alexander Muge as role models, dismisses assertions that the Church in  Kenya had lost its voice, adding that even when it seems that religious leaders are quiet, they are engaging leaders behind the scenes.

SIMPLE FAMIY MAN

Bishop Jackson ole Sapit with his family at the Kericho ACK Church on May 21, 2016 after a thanksgiving service following his election as the sixth head of the Anglican Church of Kenya. PHOTO | COURTESY

“The Church has never been silent. Our role is not always to criticise the government. Even when people think we are quiet, we are often actively engaging leaders. The Church will continue to offer guidance and give direction and will not fear to speak out when things are not going right,” he says.

An avid reader, Bishop ole Sapit has a huge collection of books in his office, most of them spiritual and motivational.

He is currently reading Unleash Your Purpose by Dr Myles Munroe and has just completed In Pursuit of Wholeness by Wilfred Graves. The Bishop also reveals that he is a fan of the English Premier League club Arsenal.

Despite being Maasai, he says he no longer eats too much meat and is more at home taking his favourite meal of ugali and traditional vegetables with a glass of cold milk, which he takes with all his meals.

A committed family man, he is married to Esther Sapit and they have seven children, four sons and three daughters.

He says that his election to the highest position in the ACK has evoked feelings of pride and excitement among members of his community and his Kericho Diocese because it has proved to them that nothing is impossible. The bishop hopes that even as he pursues his main agenda of strengthening the unity of the ACK and working with other Christian denominations and religions, he will also encourage more people from his Maasai community to turn to Christianity.  

While acknowledging that the job ahead is not easy, he thinks his steady rise and experience in the diocese has taught him important lessons.  

As head of the Kericho ACK Diocese — which covers Kericho, Bomet and Narok counties — Bishop ole Sapit has been credited with launching numerous social development and humanitarian programmes.

They include maternal child health programmes, the famous Farmers Field schools — where farmers are trained on best agricultural practices in a bid to boost production and ensure food stability and an education bursary programme which has seen almost 2,000 orphans enrol in school.

Like the mustard seed, the Archbishop-elect believes that by the time his term is over, he will be mentioned among the giants of the Kenyan Anglican Church.  

 

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Bishop ole Sapit’s predecessors

Eliud Wamukekhe Wabukala (2009-2016)

Born 65 years ago in Bungoma West District, the fifth primate is married and has five children. He has been a leading voice in the conservative movement ‘the global South’ that is opposed to same sex marriage in the church.

He had a brief stint as a teacher and inspector of schools. He also served as a clerical officer at the Nakuru Provincial Commissioners office in 1970 where he served under the powerful Rift Valley Provincial commissioner Simeon Nyachae.

Before his election as archbishop, he had served as the Bishop of Bungoma Diocese from 1996. A graduate of Theology at the University of Toronto where he did his PhD, the primate has been a lecturer at St Paul’s University where he taught ecumenical studies and Old Testament. He was also the academic dean. He is the chairperson of National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee a position he was appointed to President Mwai Kibaki.

Benjamin Paul Mwanzia Nzimbi (2002-2009)

Formerly the Bishop of Kitui, the most reverend Nzimbi is among leaders who made frantic efforts to strike a truce after the post-election violence of 2007/08 before the international community stepped in. He was born in 1945 and he too was a lecturer in education having attended Kenyatta University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Education, majoring in Religion and Kiswahili. He was dean of students and head of social studies at the Machakos Teachers Training College, where he worked as a tutor. Together with his wife Alice Kavula, they have five children. Other than being the president of the Church Army Africa, an organisation of Anglican evangelists, his relentless efforts to curb the spread of HIV were recognised in 2006 when he was awarded Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) award. 

David Mukuba Gitari (1997-2002)

He was perhaps the fiercest of the prelates having openly demonstrated his solidarity with the opposition and groups championing civil liberties in the late 90s what sometimes earned him the wrath of the Kanu regime.

There were many occasions when thugs threatened to kill him because of his strong stance against social ills and high handedness by the government. An alumnus of the University of Nairobi where he undertook Bachelors of Arts, the late Gitari was consecrated the first bishop of the Diocese of Mount Kenya East on July 20, 1975 being one of the youngest bishops at the age of 37. 

Manasses Kuria (1980-1994)

He stoked controversy in death when in 2005 his remains were cremated in what his family said was in in keeping with his will. He had been the Bishop of the Diocese of Nakuru before his elevation. Born in 1929, Bishop Kuria oversaw tremendous growth of the church from seven dioceseas by the time he was consecrated to 20 by the time he left. He attended St Paul’s School in Limuru in 1933 and later joined Kabete Mission School in 1938 where he took the Kenya African Preliminary Examination in 1940 in the colonial Kenya. Like most those who would come after him, he quit teaching to go into evangelism. His passion for education continued in retirement. He started Jehovah Jireh Children homes and schools that accorded street children education and pastoral care. 

Habakkuk Olang’ (1970-1980)

He was the first Anglican Bishop after it curved from East Africa church to create two provinces Kenya and Tanzania in 1970. He was born in Ebusakami Esabalu village in the present day Vihiga County somewhere between 1908 and 1914 and attended Maseno School. Bishop Olang’ would be very instrumental in translating the Bible into Luhya and Luo languages. He would later proceed to Alliance High school and St Paul’s Divinity School, Limuru. The late Bishop is also among the first Kenyans to study in England after he got British Council scholarship to study at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford. He would be made bishop of the Diocese of Maseno, covering Nyanza and Western provinces in 1961 by Archbishop Leonard Beecher. He died in 2004 following cardiac arrest.

-Justus Wanga