Namibia's Nangula Kathindi visits Virginia Theological Seminary

March 13, 2008 [Virginia Theological Seminary] The Rev. Canon Nangula E. Kathindi, provincial executive officer of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, returned to her alma mater on March 10 and addressed the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) community at a forum titled Women and Leadership: A New Day in the Anglican Communion. 

Kathindi, in the United States to attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) gathering in New York City, is a trailblazer.

"In 1993, Canon Kathindi was one of the first two women to be ordained deacon in the Anglican Diocese of Namibia and a year later was ordained a priest," said the Rev. Dr. Barney Hawkins, executive director of the Center for Anglican Communion Studies at VTS. "Since this time she has had many 'firsts' associated with her life. First woman archdeacon in the Diocese of Namibia [1999], first woman elected General Secretary in the Namibian Council of Churches [1999], first woman dean of St. George's Cathedral [2004],  and the first woman Provincial Secretary of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa."

Kathindi knew by the 11th grade that she was called to become a priest. It proved to be a long and persistent journey before this call was realized.  In 1978, after earning a B.A. in Sociology from St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville, Virginia, Kathindi decided to stay in the U.S. to obtain a master's degree. At her request, she was sent to VTS by her Bishop, the Rt. Rev. James Kauluma, with the understanding that she would not pursue the priesthood.  Haunted by her initial call, however, Kathindi approached her Bishop three times with a request to be ordained; each time he refused. It wasn't until 1993, when England and South Africa began to ordain women, that Kathindi's Bishop agreed to ordain her and one other woman.  Since then she has represented a beacon of hope for other women in the Anglican Communion in spite of continued sexual prejudice. 

"Today, in the Anglican Communion, I don't understand why we are facing questions of sexuality," said Kathindi to VTS students. "Even now, we women are being put on some judgment table and are being asked questions about our sexuality and why we are we even leaders.  It confuses me so much! What is happening to us? What about the 'priesthood of all believers'? What about ‘the body of Christ’? How many times are we going to cut it into pieces when Jesus wants us to be together?"

VTS, founded in 1823, is the largest of the 11 seminaries of the Episcopal Church. The school prepares men and women, representing more than 40 different dioceses and nine different countries, for service in the Church, both as ordained and lay ministers, and offers a number of professional degree programs and diplomas.