The Rt Revd Stephen Ayodeji A. Fagbemi, Ph.D(Kent)
The Rt Revd Dr Stephen Ayodeji Fagbemi is the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese
of Owo and the immediate past General Secretary of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican
Communion), an office that he handled creditably-well until after his enthronement on
November 1, 2017.
Bishop Fagbemi is a native of Oba-Ile in Ondo State and a parishioner of St John’s
Church, Oba-Ile where he was a chorister and later a licensed Lay Reader. He started his
ministry as a Church Agent in Akure Diocese in 1986 before proceeding to train fully for
the ministry at Immanuel College of Theology, Ibadan from 1987-1990 after which he
was ordered Deacon in the Diocese of Owo. He gained the Diploma in Religious Studies
of the University of Ibadan (1989) and the Diploma in Theology of the College becoming
the best graduating student of his set in 1990. He gained a Bachelor of Theology Honours
degree in Second Class Upper Division from the University of Nottingham, having
studied at St John’s College. He also holds a Certificate in Anglican Spirituality from
Canterbury in conjunction with Duke University, Virginia. Later he received his Doctor
of Philosophy degree (Ph.D) in Theology from the University of Kent,
Canterbury specializing in New Testament Interpretation and Applied Theology.
Dr Fagbemi is a child of God and a well-experienced pastor and teacher of the word of
God who has served in various roles as theological educator, prison chaplain, and parish
priest among others. He has varied parish experience from both the Church of Nigeria
(Anglican Communion) and the Church of England. He served as a parish priest in the
diocese of Canterbury, and later as the Co-ordinator of Chaplaincy Services and Anglican
Chaplain at the University of Sunderland and Associate Priest at Sunderland Minster in
the diocese of Durham. He is a member of Tyndale Fellowship of Biblical and
Theological Research.
He has mentored many youths some of whom have now become priests in the Anglican
Church.He is committed to the truth of God’s word and its power to save sinners.
Bishop Fagbemi is a lover of church music, himself an organist. He is a theologian of
uncompromising evangelical Anglican persuasion, and a charismatic Anglican minister
who distinguished himself as the Dean of Archbishop Vining College of
Theology, Akure, where he served for more than 5 years as the Apostle of Positive
Change before his appointment as the General Secretary of the Church of Nigeria. He
believes and shares in the Pentecostal expression of Anglicanism.
He is a prolific writer and author of many academic and popular books and
articles. He has attended and contributed at many national and international conferences.
He authors the Every Soul Matters articles on nigeiraworld.com His
many writings include:
• ‘The Identity of the Elect in 1 Peter. Its Implications for Believers’ in J. Schlosser
(ed.), The Catholic Epistles and the
Tradition (Bibliotheca EphemeridumTheologicarum Lovaniensium, 176), Leuven,
University Press – Peeters, 2004, pp. 367-380;
• Who are the elect in 1 Peter? A Study in Biblical Exegesis and its Application to the
Anglican Church in Nigeria, Peter Lang, New York, 2007;
• ‘Transformation, Proclamation and Mission in the New Testament: Examining the Case
of 1 Peter’, Transformation: An International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies (July
2010) 27:3: 209-223;
• ‘Theological and Liturgical Inconsistencies: The Challenge to Nigerian Anglican
Evangelical Heritage’
• Celebrating the Anglican Heritage, Capstone Communications Ltd, Nigeria, 2018
(revised edition published in 2019)
• ‘Traditional African Values and Christian Hope in Africa’ in African
Christian Theology: Focus on Human Dignity, All African Conference of Churches,
Acton Publishers, Nairobi, 2018, pp. 226-246
He is happily married to Mrs Florence Ebunoluwa Fagbemi, a seasoned teacher who
holds a Master of Education degree in Special Education Needs from the University of
Sunderland; and their union is blessed with godly children.