Mothers’ Union vice-president of West Indies killed
THE provincial vice-president of the Mothers’ Union in the West Indies and diocesan president for Guyana, Joan James (pictured), has died, the organisation has announced. Mrs James died in Georgetown Public Hospital, Guyana, on 7 January from injuries sustained in a road collision five days previously. She had been a member of the Mothers’ Union for 34 years. The Worldwide President, Sheran Harper, said: “Joan was loved by all, and will be remembered as an outstanding leader — an encourager and motivator who could mobilise communities to take action in any area of Mothers’ Union work. She worked quietly and humbly, but was very effective in her work, always ready to give others the praise and glory. We will miss her dearly.” The chief executive, Bev Jullien, described Mrs James as “a tower of strength” in her service to the international and local community.
Dr Idowu-Fearon awarded for peace-building
THE Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Rt Revd Dr Josiah Idowu Fearon, has received the first Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation 2019 Merit Award for Excellence for his work promoting religious tolerance and peace-building in northern Nigeria, the Anglican Communion News Service reported this week. The award, one of five presented by the Foundation on the eve of Dr Idowu-Fearon’s 70th birthday, on Wednesday of last week, was created by the governors of the 19 northern states of Nigeria in memory of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, who was the first and only head of government for the region before his assassination in 1966. When Dr Idowu-Fearon became Secretary General, the organisers said, “many feared that he would no more have the time to devote to his interfaith ventures. Thank God we have all been proved wrong.”
Bishop steps down after sexual-misconduct complaint
THE Bishop of Zululand, in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the Rt Revd Monument Makhanya, has stepped down, after his diocese filed a complaint of sexual misconduct against him which was reported in The Sunday Times in Johannesburg. The Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Thabo Makgoba, later told the Anglican Communion News Service: “I very much regret that someone appears to have relayed the content of Bishop Monument’s ad clerum to the press. As I explained to the newspaper concerned, as soon as the complainant in this matter was willing to lodge a written statement, we followed our Province’s guidelines for dealing with such allegations. Bishop Makhanya resigned during the process which followed, which is still ongoing.”