A new vicar has been appointed to the parish of the Good Shepherd with St John in West Bromwich. The parish has been without a vicar since December 2008 when the previous incumbent, the Revd Dr Patrick Okechi, was removed from office after a disciplinary tribunal found him guilty of ‘conduct unbecoming to the office and work of a clerk in holy orders’. The parish has, in effect, been without a full time priest since August 2006 when Dr Okechi was suspended from duty.
The new vicar, who will also facilitate a multi-faith chaplaincy service at Sandwell College, is the Revd Kennedy Njenga. The 42-year-old priest was born in Kenya and has lived in the UK for the past 19 years. Currently Vicar of The Beacon Church, a joint Methodist and Anglican church in Pheasey, between Birmingham and Aldridge; Kennedy began his ministry as Curate of St John’s Church in Old Trafford, Manchester.
He was educated at London’s Oak Hill Theological College and Middlesex University; and the Queen’s Ecumenical Foundation in Birmingham. He will move to West Bromwich to take up his new post next Spring, alongside his wife Salome and their three young children, Sarah, Matthew, and Michael.
He said today: “I am thrilled after receiving the good news that I have been appointed vicar to the Good Shepherd with St John, and chaplain to Sandwell college in West Bromwich. The parish is situated in place that is multicultural, and multi faith, and this will give me the opportunity to serve in a community which is diverse in many ways.
I also look forwards to working with other community faith leaders and interacting with students at the Sandwell College.”
He added: “I have been privileged to work here at the Beacon church in Pheasey, and I will treasure the friendship that has developed here with all my friends in the last five years.”
The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill, welcomed the appointment, saying: “I am delighted that we have been able to find an excellent candidate to serve as Vicar for the parish of the Good Shepherd with St John. Kennedy has served the parish of Pheasey well and I am confident that both he and the wonderful congregation at the Good Shepherd will be able to take the parish forward.
“This parish have experienced a number of difficulties over the past few years but through them all have persevered and come through stronger than before. My prayer is that they will be fruitful and find abundant blessings in the new start they are about to take.”
The Revd Kennedy Njenga will be licensed as Vicar of the Good Shepherd with St John by the Bishop of Wolverhampton and the Archdeacon of Walsall at a special service on 1st March 2010.
Source: http://www.lichfield.anglican.org/news&newsID=660&newsYear=2009
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