Browne to Lead West Africa Church
Episcopal News Service. October 28, 1982 [82226]
NEW YORK (DPS, October 28, 1982) -- Barely nine months after it entered the Province of West Africa, the Diocese of Liberia will witness the installation of its bishop as archbishop of the five-nation branch of the Anglican Communion.
The provincial standing committee elected Bishop George D. Browne to the post for a ten-year term which will begin formally with his enthronement Nov. 12 in Monrovia, Liberia. He succeeds Archbishop Ishmael LeMaire of Accra, Ghana.
The election of Browne is viewed as a strong affirmation of the role of Liberia in the province and the process and timing by which it transferred in after being a part of the Episcopal Church since 1836.
Browne takes over a province of tremendous diversity and one which has been structurally weakened in recent years by the secession of the dioceses of Nigeria as a separate province. The ten remaining dioceses are located in Sierra Leone, Gambia and Guinea as well as Liberia and Ghana. They encompass 12 distinct ethnic groups and -- beyond that -- half have French and half English as widely-used second languages. The province consists of 120,000 members in 400 congregations served by 200 clergy.
The nations of the province come from a common background of colonial domination and are currently run by entrenched regimes. Many of the people remain animist, although the Islamic faith is expanding rapidly in the area -- and the thorny question of culturally-acceptable polygamy confronts provincial pastors and theologians. Browne will carry on his apostolate in an area that is economically underdeveloped although most of the dioceses are marginally self-supporting -- and in which communication and travel are difficult.
His 12 years experience in Liberia, involving an upgrading of education at all levels and a concerted -- and largely successful -- drive toward financial responsibility in the face of political and social upheaval, are considered key factors in his election to the archiepscopate.
Browne, 49, was educated in Cape Palmas, Since and Cuttington College in Liberia from which he holds bachelor's degrees in education and theology. He also holds a master's degree in sacred theology from Virginia Seminary. He worked in many areas of Liberia as pastor, teacher and counsellor before being elected to the episcopate in 1970. He is the author of two books and the co-author of two others and has served on a number of civic panels including the national reconstruction committee.