Anglican Diocese of Lesotho

The Anglican Church of Lesotho (ACL) is the third largest denomination in Lesotho, following the Roman Catholic Church (RC) and the Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa (LECSA).

The very first contact of the Anglican Church with Basotho occurred in 1850 when Bishop Gray of Cape Town passed the borders of the country on one of his tours, but was unable to meet King Moshoeshoe I as he had wished. The King heard about Bishop Gray’s visit, and subsequently sent emissaries to Bishop Gray saying that he (King Moshoeshoe I) would be happy to have the “Queen’s Church” in his country, and would welcome missionaries to establish the Anglican Church in what was then Basutoland.

In 1863 when the Diocese of Bloemfontein was established, Bishop Gray remembered the King Moshoeshoe’s request, and asked the new Bishop of Bloemfontein, Bishop Edward Twells to visit the King. Bishop Twells visited King Moshoeshoe I at Thaba-Bosiu, and in the same year, 1863, the first Anglican Church service was held in the country. King Moshoeshoe repeated his request for Anglican missionaries to come to the then Basutoland, with his famous saying, “Here is my country, it lies before you.”

In 1875, an Irish priest, Revd. Stenson was sent to work in the then Basutoland, as the first Anglican resident priest. He was mostly operating from Maseru, but in 1876 he settled at Mohale’s Hoek in the south of the country, and started the mission which later became known as St. Stephen’s Mission.

In the same year, 1876, an English priest, Revd. John Widdicombe, started the mission at Leribe in the north of the country, which was to be known as St. Saviour’s Mission. The Rev. Widdicombe would later become the Rural Dean of Basutoland and Canon of Bloemfontein.

In 1877, another Irishman, Revd. Richard Francis Balfour, started mission work at Sekubu in Botha-Bothe in the north of the country, now known as the Church of the Epiphany. Sekubu is the third oldest Anglican Mission in Lesotho after St. Stephen’s in Mohales Hoek and St. Saviour’s at Hlotse. The Rev. Balfour would also later be elected Canon of Bloemfontein, then Archdeacon of Basutoland and then Assistant Bishop of Bloemfontein with exclusive responsibility for Basutoland.

In 1878, Revd. Richard Francis Balfour was joined by Revd. Thomas Woodman, an English priest who started the mission at Masite in the Maseru district, known as St. Barnabas Mission. We are told that when Revd. Thomas Woodman first arrived in the then Basutoland, he stayed in a hut that had been built especially for him by Chief Bereng, son of King Letsie I, who was the eldest son of King Moshoeshoe I.

In 1906, Basutoland became an Archdeaconry under the leadership of Archdeacon Francis Balfour, and in 1907, the clergy working in Basutoland held a clergy conference in Maseru, where they passed a motion requesting to have an independent Diocese of Basutoland which was to be separated from the Diocese of Bloemfontein.

On 19 November 1950, the new Diocese of Basutoland was established. The Archbishop of Cape Town, Archbishop Clayton, undertook the journey to Basutoland, where he officially handed the Mandate for the Founding of the Diocese of Basutoland to the senior priest of Basutoland Revd. John Maund, who later became the first Bishop of the independent Diocese of Basutoland. In 1966 when Lesotho gained independence, the Anglican Diocese of Basutoland became the Anglican Diocese of Lesotho.

The Anglican Diocese of Lesotho now ministers to about 12% of the total Christian population of the country, with close to 300,000 communicants in 47 parishes throughout the country. The Diocese further has 210 Primary and High Schools in the country and 1 mission hospital called St. James Anglican Mission Hospital situated at Mantšonyane in the mountains of Lesotho.

Since 1950, the Anglican Diocese of Lesotho has had the following Bishops:

1. Bishop John Maund (1950 - 1976), 26 years
2. Bishop Desmond Tutu (1976 - 1978), 2 years
3. Bishop Philip Mokuku (1978 - 1997), 19 years
4. Bishop Andrew Duma (1997 - 1999), 2 years
5. Joseph Tsubella (1999 - 2006), 8 years
6. Bishop Philip Mokuku (retired) acting as Vicar-General (2006 - 2008), 2 years
7. Adam Taaso (2008 - 2020)

To date, the Anglican Church has 45 priests in total, 24 full-time priests and 21 self-supporting priests.

The Anglican Church in Lesotho has three long-standing Religious Orders, namely: The Sisters of the Community of the Holy Name (CHN), based at St. Saviour’s at Hlotse; The Sisters of the Society of the Precious Blood (SPB), based at St. Barnabas at Masite; and the Brothers of the Society of the Sacred Mission (SSM), based at the SSM House in Maseru.

The Anglican Church in Lesotho is a founding member of the Christian Council of Lesotho (CCL), and the Christian Health Association of Lesotho (CHAL), and has active programmes in poverty eradication, HIV/AIDS prevention and counselling, gender issues, the protection of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), youth programmes, and many more.

On Sunday 5th December in the year of our Lord 2021, God willing, the Ordination, Consecration, and Installation of the Revd. Canon Dr. Vicentia Refiloe Kgabe, as the Seventh Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Lesotho will take place at the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. James in Maseru, Lesotho. It will be a great day for all Anglicans in Lesotho. We thank God for that.