Agnes Regina Murei Abuom (1949 – 31 May 2023) was a Kenyan Christian organisational worker who served as moderator of the Central Committee of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

(WCC) since 2013. She was the first woman and the first African to hold this post. She represented the

Anglican Church of Kenya The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is a province of the Anglican Communion, and it is composed by 41 dioceses. The current Primate and Archbishop of Kenya is Jackson Ole Sapit. The Anglican Church of Kenya claims 5 million total members. Accordi ...

Early life

Born in Nandi Hills to a family of six children and a mother who worked with community development, Abuom was educated at mission schools first in her local area and later at a boarding school run by missionaries. She went to high school near

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

and then undertook studies at

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a collegiate research university based in Nairobi. It is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dates back to 1956, it did not become an independent univer ...

Career

Abuom became involved with the World Council of Churches when the WCC's assembly was held in Nairobi in 1975. She also was involved in student organizations and politics – the latter causing controversies that led her to leave Kenya for Sweden in 1976. She learned

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and earned a degree in education. After two years as a youth worker for WCC in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, she returned to Sweden and earned a doctorate in

missiology Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology, which began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. History Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was ...

with the thesis "The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Development". She later worked with refugee issues for WCC in Sudan and worked two years in Zimbabwe as a tutor. Returning to Kenya in 1989, Abuom was imprisoned for her opposition to President

Daniel Arap Moi Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ( ; 2 September 1924 – 4 February 2020) was a Kenyan politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He was the country's longest-serving president. Moi previously served as the third vice ...

. She went on to work for the Anglican Church of Kenya, mostly with national development issues, and from 1991 with a civic education program. Abuom became African president for the WCC in 1999 and served until 2006. She also worked with

All Africa Conference of Churches All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC, or CETA) is an ecumenical fellowship that represents more than 200 million African Christians in 204 national churches and regional Christian councils in 43 African Countries. AACC's head office is in ...

, African Council of Religious Leaders (ACRL) / Religions for Peace, and

National Council of Churches of Kenya The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), (in Swahili, ''Baraza kuu la makanisa nchini Kenya'') is a fellowship of Protestant churches and Christian organisations registered in Kenya. It is currently Chaired by the Africa Brotherhood Chur ...

. She was involved in ecumenical work and peace-building efforts in the Horn of Africa and other places. Abuom was one of the Directors of TAABCO Research and Development Consultants, which was established in 1997 and focuses on consultant work for civil society organisations and aid organisations.

Moderator of WCC

In November 2013, Abuom was unanimously elected moderator of the WCC Central Committee at the organisation's assembly in

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. She was the first woman and the first African to hold that position.

Personal life and death

Abuom had two daughters; her husband died in July 2014. Abuom died on 31 May 2023, at the age of 73.

Honours

In 2017, she was awarded the

Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism The Lambeth Awards are awarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In addition to the Lambeth degrees, there are a number of non-academic awards. Before 2016, these awards consisted of the Lambeth Cross, the Canterbury Cross, and the Cross of St Augus ...

by the Archbishop of Canterbury "for her exceptional contribution to the Ecumenical Movement, for her work with the World Council of Churches and currently its Moderator". In 2019, Abuom received the

National Council of Churches The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Un ...

' s President’s Award for Excellence in Faithful Leadership. The award announcement stated that she was being recognized for "exceptional, risk-taking leadership." She also received an honorary doctorate from VID Specialized University in Norway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abuom, Agnes 1949 births 2023 deaths Kenyan Anglicans People of the World Council of Churches Protestant religious leaders People from Nandi County