Sierra Leone News: Anglican Diocese Ordains New Bishop
By Desmond Tunde Coker
The Archbishop and Bishop of Liberia, Rev. Dr. Jonathan B. B. Hart has on Sunday October 20, 2019, ordained the Bishop Elect of the southern and eastern regions of Sierra Leone, Rev. Canon Solomon Scott-Manga at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Bo City.
The episcopal ordination and consecration ceremony was well attended by galaxy of Bishops across West African. The theme of the ceremony was ‘Abide.’ It was a historical moment for the people of Bo to witness the ordination of the newly elected Bishop after winning the election on June 29, 2019.
It could be recalled that the Bishop seat of the Bo Diocese became vacant after ACC indicted the then Bishop, Rev. Emmanuel Tucker in 2017, for allegedly embezzling funds meant for the fight against the Ebola virus disease.
Following his indictment, the Bishop of Freetown Rt. Rev. Thomas I.A. Wilson told the Archdeacon of Freetown to act as vicar general in the Bo Diocese until an election is conducted for the Bishop.
During his sermon, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Cyril Ben-Smith from Ghana called on the new Bishop to forget about his comfort zone and explore areas where the gospel of Christ has not been preached.
He said that the specific role of Bishop is to exercise authority in the Christlike context. “Power is like an egg, if you hold it hard in your hands it will break and if you hold it loosely, it will fall on the ground,” Rev. Ben-Smith said. “As Bishops, we are called to abide in Christ. Abiding in Christ means to abide with the people.”
He admonished, “My lord Bishop, your ministry will be fruitless if it does not show the quality of a spiritual materials of a holistic life of your people. Remember that every member is important — the clergy, laity and the children are all important. You have been called as the Bishop of this new diocese to abide with God to be in constant tune with your people.”
“The word abide has five letters: the letter ‘A’ stands for accept, the letter ‘B’ represents Bear, as a bishop you have to take up your cross and follow me,” he emphasized. “My lord bishop, been a bishop is not a fancy job. You must be abreast with the needs of your congregation.” He said that the letter ‘I’ stands for ‘Involve’, which means as a bishop you are the life wire in the running of the diocese, and you must be involved at all levels and it is practicable to have a committee and make sure they report. The letter ‘D’ means dependence, you cannot depend on yourself in this work, you most exclusively depend on God for He is the guardian and master of your faith. He added that the letter ‘E’ means eternity, and the bishop should pray for those who are trouble makers in the church so that they will repent.
The newly ordained Bishop, Cannon Solomon Scott-Manga was born on January 25, 1965. In 2005, he enrolled to be trained to serve God at the Diakonia International Service for Counseling Evangelism and Teaching (DISCET).
The Anglican Diocese of Bo (Sierra Leone) is a diocese of the Church of the Province of West Africa, a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Its partner diocese is in Chichester, England.
The current diocese, along with the Anglican Diocese of Freetown, was formed in 1981 by the partition of the previous Diocese of Sierra Leone.
