Zambia mourns the passing of Bishop John Osmers

18th June 2021

The Right Revd, John Osmers, former Bishop of Eastern Zambia has died in Lusaka.

Bishop John moved to Lusaka in 1988 to be Chaplain to the African National Congress (ANC), the government-in-waiting for South Africa, and to help in the Anglican diocese of Lusaka. He remained in Zambia when the ANC returned to South Africa and was elected as the first Bishop of the new diocese of Eastern Zambia before retiring in 2002.

Bishop Ruth says, “Our thoughts today are with our brothers and sisters in Zambia and South Africa who I know will feel the loss of Bishop John very deeply - and of course with his family, friends and the many people all over the world whose lives he touched in his years of ministry. His dedicated service to the church and to the people of South Africa and Zambia have been an inspiration to many and I am sure will continue to be.”

Canon of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Lusaka Jenny Humphreys, who first met Bishop John in 1998 when she was Secretary for the Bath and Wells Zambia link says, “John became a good friend, and I valued his wisdom, perception, and good humour immensely. At great personal cost he spent his life in the pursuit of equality and inclusivity. When the Diocese of Eastern Zambia was created in 1995 there was no election for bishop – everyone wanted John. 

“In retirement he helped the Anglican Church in many ways, including Acting Dean of Gaborone Cathedral, Botswana; Acting Rector of St John’s Seminary in Kitwe; and Assistant Bishop in Lusaka Diocese.  He devoted time and resources to helping and advocating for refugees; many now hold leadership roles themselves around the world. We last spoke in April, just before he attended the opening of Bishop John Osmers House, the new Diocesan Centre for Eastern Zambia. The world seems a lesser place without him in it today.  May he rest in peace and rise in glory.”

Raised in New Zealand, Bishop John travelled to South Africa in 1958 and was determined to return after spending six weeks touring the country by motorbike. He was ordained in 1961 after completing his studies Mirfield Theological College, Yorkshire and then spent three years as a parish priest near Rotherham before he returned.

He worked as a parish priest for 15 years in the mountain parishes of Quthing and Masite of Lesotho, South Africa. A member of the anti-apartheid South African University Christian Movement, in 1979 he was attacked by a bomb planted by South African Security in a parcel of the ANC magazine ‘Sechaba’; he lost his right hand and the front of his legs in the blast.

The news of Bishop John’s passing came on the same day that Zambians learnt of the death of their first president, Kenneth Kaunda, had died at the age of 97.

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John Osmer's life - Jenny Humphreys

 

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