Anglican Church in the Sudan Inaugurated
Episcopal News Service. November 5, 1976 [76336]
JUBA, Sudan -- The formal inauguration of the independent Episcopal Church of the Sudan by Anglican Archbishop Donald Coggan of Canterbury took place in Juba on October 10.
Formerly part of the Jerusalem Archbishopric, which became the independent Central Synod of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East in January 1976, the new Anglican province will have four dioceses: Juba, headed by Bishop Elinana Ngalamu; Omdurman, under Bishop Butrus Tia Shukai; Rumbek, led by Bishop Benjamin Wani Yugusuk; and Yambio, headed by Bishop Yerimaya Kufuta Dotiro.
Pending the establishment of the new province, the Diocese of the Sudan, which has a membership of 250,000, reverted to the sole jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury as an extra-Provincial diocese. Bishop Ngalamu had been Bishop of the Sudan with the other three bishops who now head the new dioceses as his assistant bishops.
Early in October it had appeared that Archbishop Coggan would not be able to go to the Sudan to inaugurate the new province because of the suspected outbreak of lassa fever in the area. However, he and Mrs. Coggan were able to make a one-day trip to Juba for the inauguration by special plane as the result of a personal appeal to President Jaafar el Nimeiry of the Sudan.
Later, Dr. Coggan and his wife flew to Pakistan where they visited Dr. Ruth Coggan, their elder daughter, who is a member of the staff serving the Pennell Memorial Hospital in Bannu.
The Episcopal Church of the Sudan becomes the twenty-fifth independent national or regional church in the 46.7 million-member Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church in the U.S. is another of the members.