Josiah Idowu-Fearon

Josiah Atkins Idowu-Fearon (born 17 January 1949) is a Nigerian Anglican bishop. From 2015 until 2022, he was Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council. He was previously the Bishop of Kaduna diocese and the Archbishop of the province of Kaduna in the Church of Nigeria.

Early life Josiah Idowu-Fearon was born in Kerinye, Kogi State on 17 January 1949.

Family Idowu-Fearon is married to Comfort Amina; they had two sons, Ibrahim and Dauda, and a daughter Ninma. Dauda died at age 24 from meningitis while studying in Bristol as a medical student.

Comfort Amina Idowu-Fearon served as diocesan president, Mothers' Union, Women's Guild & Girls' Guild during Idowu-Fearon's tenure as bishop of Kaduna.

Military aspirations Idowu-Fearon trained briefly as a soldier before he changed to theological training for the priesthood. He describes the change this way. "I came to Christ at the Nigeria Military School, Zaria in my second year (1964)" and two years later (1966) the Lord called "me to be a soldier in His Army." Idowu-Fearon was given a 'sympathetic' discharge by late General Hassan Katsina in Lagos so that he could begin training for the priesthood. He has "a higher education than most bishops, both within Africa and throughout the [Anglican Communion]." He groups his overseas undergraduate and graduate study as the four years in the United Kingdom (1976–1981) and the three years in the United States (1990–1993). His studies in Nigeria occurred before 1976 and in the 1980s.

After receiving his theology degree from the University of Durham, Idowu-Fearon went on to earn a master's degree in Islamic Studies and Muslim-Christian relations at Birmingham University. At Birmingham Idowu-Fearon read "Islam, And Christian-Muslim Relations" and wrote "a major paper on 'The Status of a Non-Muslim (thumma) In an Islamic State'".

After his studies in the United Kingdom, Idowu-Fearon continued his studies in Nigeria with a second master's degree in sociology from Nigeria's Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. This was followed with a PhD in sociology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from Ahmadu Bello University. Later, as a bishop, Idowu-Fearon served as a research fellow at the Ahmadu Bello University in the field of "determining the influence of politics and religion on development".

In 2002, Idowu-Fearon received masters and doctors degrees in Arabic and Islamic studies with special interest in Christian-Muslim relations from the University of Jordan.

Ecclesiastical career in Nigeria In 1971, Idowu-Fearon was ordained as a priest of the Anglican church and nineteen years later he was made a bishop. Idowu-Fearon was consecrated as a bishop by Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye, Archbishop of Nigeria, to serve as the first Bishop of Sokoto (the ordinary of the Diocese of Sokoto), During that time, he served as Warden at St Francis of Assisi Theological College in Wusasa and Provost of St. Michael's Cathedral in Kaduna.

As Bishop of Kaduna, Idowu-Fearon co-founded the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christianity. He also served as Director of the Kaduna Anglican Study Centre. and as area leader for the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA).

Beyond his diocese, Idowu-Fearon served as president of the Anglican Network for Inter Faith Concerns (NIFCON) He also served on the International Anglican Conversations on Human Sexuality appointed by former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey following the 1998 Lambeth Conference of bishops.

In 2002, Idowu-Fearon was unanimously elected for a seven-year term as the first archbishop of the newly created Ecclesiastical province of Kaduna in Owerri.

Idowu-Fearon is an adjunct "Professor of Christian/Muslim Relations" at Wycliffe College of the University of Toronto, Canada.

Six Preacher in Canterbury Cathedral Idowu-Fearon was installed as a Six Preacher (a preaching priest) on 26 July 2007 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, and the Very Revd Robert Willis, the Dean of Canterbury.

Acting on his bridge-building commitment, Idowu-Fearon co-founded the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christianity at Kaduna.

Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Regarding the current violent conflict with Boko Haram and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Idowu-Fearon holds that in ISIS or Boko Haram "religion is a facade. What these guys want is power. They know through a democratic process they will never ever get power, so [they] latch onto religion."

Idowu-Fearon is permanently an Officer of the Order of the Niger. He was commissioned into the role on 4 September 2015 by Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, at the Anglican Communion Office in London.

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria wrote this to Idowu-Fearon: "With your intellect, with great pastoral zeal and with compassion, you have over the years risen above intolerance and narrow sectarianism and built interfaith and ecumenical bridges of understanding among your countrymen."

The Ven. Tom Furrer, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Tariffville, CT has worked with Idowu-Fearon for 15 years. "He loves our Lord Jesus Christ and he loves the Body of Christ on earth. He will do everything he can to build bridges and heal our wounds."

Idowu-Fearon has announced that he is to resign at the end of his seven-year term, at the end of August 2022.

Intra-Anglican Communion relations After becoming Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council, Idowu-Fearon said, "My prayer to God is very simple, that I would be able to be a bridge builder; to create the culture of respect for differences, a culture of accepting people as human beings and loving them for who they are in Christ. If within the Communion, we have this understanding, we can live together with our differences."

Opposition to both active homosexuality and its criminalization Idowu-Fearon in an interview for BBC on 9 August 2015 affirmed the Resolution 1.10 adopted by the Lambeth Conference in 1998. Reso 1.10 that stated, "in view of the teaching of Scripture we uphold faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in life-long union and believe that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage." Therefore, he opposes the pro-homosexuality position of some churches in the Anglican Communion. At the same time, he opposes the support for the criminalization of homosexuality by several African churches, like the Church of Nigeria. While he opposes sexually active same-sex relationships, he supports the ordination of homosexual clergy if they are celibate, including in celibate partnerships, and he stated that sexual orientation itself should not be a barrier to ordained ministry.

In another interview, Idowu-Fearon said that if Resolution 1.10 were withdrawn, "he would have to resign".

Criticism of GAFCON Idowu-Fearon has been highly critical of the Global Anglican Future Conference for the role he believes its playing in the current divisions in the Anglican Communion. He has stated that GAFCON was "not a movement of the Holy Spirit, because it is divisive".

Lectures and writings Fearon-Idowa has "lectured and been published widely on the subject of Christian-Muslim relations."

Writings "The Status of a Non-Muslim (thumma) In an Islamic State" Reconciling a religiously-divided community through inter-faith dialogue: an experiment in Wusasa-Zaria of Nigeria (D. Min. Dissertation, Hartford Seminary, 1992) "Conflict and Cooperation between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria," 16 February 2005 "Interfaith Relations and Community Development: How Feasible? What Are the Obstacles? How Do We Surmount Them?", 22–24 January 2009.