Challenges Facing the Orthodox Church Movements in East Africa

Fr. Anastasios Elekiah Andago Kihali investigates the nature and origin of the problems in the history of the Orthodox Church in East Africa, specifically the history and problems up to the present day with an emphasis on nation of Kenya. This work is not just a mere chronology of the history of the Orthodox Church in East Africa, but rather, it looks into the genesis of its past and present historical canonical problems. Fr. Anastasios's primary goal and hope of this research is that it will lead the Orthodox peoples of East Africa toward a constructive dialogue with each other regarding the state of the Church there today. Then perhaps, this discussion will lead the East Africans into self-understanding as well as the discovery of the motive behind the problems that remain today. Finally, solutions are proposed to some of the existing church governance problems, with a viable administrative structure which would provide a means of moving East Africans forward to a fruitful Twenty-First Century harvest.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Elekiah Andago Kihali (the Very Rev. Archimandrite Anastasios) is a Kenyan Orthodox archimandrite priest under the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria serving in the Church of Kenya. He received his Master of Divinity (M. Div.) in 1993, with Distinction and also his Theology Master (Th. M) 2002 in Canon Law and History with high Distinction, from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline Massachusetts. In addition, he received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2009, in History and Missiology from the Aristotelean State University of Thessaloniki, Greece.