Global Anglican Discourse and Women’s Ordination in Kenya: The Controversy in Kirinyaga, 1979–1992, and its Legacy

Kapinde, Stephen Asol and Higgs, Eleanor Tiplady (2022) Global Anglican Discourse and Women’s Ordination in Kenya: The Controversy in Kirinyaga, 1979–1992, and its Legacy. Journal of Anglican Studies, 20 (1). pp. 22-39. doi:10.1017/S1740355320000467

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Abstract

In the 1980s, the question of women’s ordination in the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) caused a controversy in Kirinyaga diocese, in which Archbishop David Gitari (1937–2013) played a critical role as an advocate for women. This controversy is just one example of how African Christian women have faced multiple material and theological obstacles to ordination, both in the Anglican Church and in other churches. Through an analysis of institutional texts we show how the issue of women’s ordination has been addressed in formal Anglican decision-making processes. We also outline the patriarchal attitudes that characterized the wider discourse of women’s ordination in Kenya and in the Anglican Communion, and discuss how this discourse informed Gitari’s intervention. Opposition to women’s ordination is only one facet of sexism in the ACK, as was implicitly recognized by Gitari in his wider project of ‘holistic development’.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	African feminist theology; Anglican Church of Kenya; David Gitari; ordination of women
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BX Christian Denominations D History General and Old World > DT Africa
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Arts, Culture and Environment
Depositing User:	Eleanor Higgs
Date Deposited:	24 Sep 2026 11:33
Last Modified:	24 Sep 2026 11:37
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/16541

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