Benjamin Argak Kwashi (born

Plateau State Plateau is a northern states of Nigeria, Nigerian state. It is located in the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria and includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and Tourism". Th ...

, 1955) is a Nigerian Anglican archbishop. He is married to Gloria and they have six children, one of them is also a priest. They have 54 orphans living with them in

Jos Jos is a city in the North-Central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. The city is situ ...

, Northern

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Biography

He was born in Amper village in Plateau State, in a Christian family. His father was a respected teacher. Kwashi at first wanted to follow a military career but he felt a religious calling in 1976, and decided to follow a religious life. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1982. He went to serve in several rural and urban parishes. He also would be Rector of a Theological College. In 1987, his church and vicariate were totally burned during Muslim riots. He was consecrated as the first bishop of the newly created Anglican Diocese of Jos in 1992. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Nigeria conferred on him the national honor as an Officer of the

Order of the Niger The Order of the Niger (OON) is the second highest Award, national award in Nigeria. It was instituted in 1963 and is junior to the Order of the Federal Republic, the highest order of merit in the country. Award The two highest honours, the Gr ...

(OON), the second-highest civilian honor bestowed in Nigeria. In 2008, he was enthroned as Archbishop of Jos Province in the

Church of Nigeria The Church of Nigeria is the Anglicanism, Anglican Church body, church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest Province (Anglican), province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptised membership (not by attendance), after the Church of Englan ...

; he was re-elected for a second term on 19 January 2013. He has been a leading name in the

Anglican realignment The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episco ...

, attending GAFCON II, held in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, in 21–26 October 2013. In November 2014, after a bombing in

Potiskum Potiskum (also Pataskum) is a local government area and city in Yobe State northeastern part of Nigeria. It's the largest, most populous and fastest growing city in Yobe State. Of the native languages in Yobe State, Potiskum is home to several ...

killed forty Muslim schoolchildren, Kwashi released a statement strongly criticizing the idea that

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (), is a self-proclaimed jihadist militant group based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group spli ...

violence was the result of poverty. Kwashi said it was important that the issues of poverty, corruption, and extremist violence should not be conflated and confused. At the conclusion of

GAFCON The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a communion of conservative Anglicanism, Anglican churches, aligned with the Confessing Movement, that formed in 2008 in response to ongoing theological disputes in th ...

3 on 22 June 2018 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, it was announced that in early 2019 Archbishop Kwashi will succeed Archbishop Peter Jensen, former archbishop of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, as GAFCON's general secretary. Kwashi earned his

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (DMin) is a doctorate in religious ministry. It often includes an original research component, and may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in ministry. It is categorized as an advanced doctoral de ...

degree from

Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry Trinity Anglican Seminary, formerly known as Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, is an Anglican seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. It is generally associated with evangelical Anglicanism. History In the mid 1970s, several prominent evangelic ...

in 2002. He was awarded the

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

degree ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' from Nashotah House Theological Seminary in 2004. He published ''Evangelism and Mission'' (2018) and ''Neither Bomb nor Bullet'' (2019), co-written with Andrew Boyd. In 2023, Kwashi retired as bishop of Jos and general secretary of Gafcon.

Styles

* ''

The Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

'' Benjamin Kwashi (1982–1992) * ''

The Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated as The Rt Revd or The Rt Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian ministers and members of clergy. It is a variant of the more common st ...

'' Benjamin Kwashi (1992–2002) * ''The Right Reverend''

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

Benjamin Kwashi (2002–2003) * ''The Right Reverend'' Doctor Benjamin Kwashi (2003–2008) * ''

The Most Reverend The Most Reverend (abbreviated as The Most Revd or The Most Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. It is a variant of the mor ...

'' Doctor Benjamin Kwashi (2008–present)

References

External links

Biography of Ben Kwashi at the Diocese of Down and Dromore Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwashi, Benjamin 1955 births Living people People from Plateau State 20th-century Anglican bishops in Nigeria 21st-century Anglican archbishops Trinity School for Ministry alumni Anglican archbishops of Jos Anglican bishops of Jos Anglican realignment people 20th-century Anglican theologians 21st-century Anglican theologians