Martin Gordon (bishop)

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The Right Reverend

Martin Gordon
Bishop of Goma
Church Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo
Church of England
SeeGoma
In office2023–present
Predecessor Désiré Mukanirwa Kadhoro
Orders
Ordination4 July 2010 (diaconate)
Consecration23 April 2023
by  Georges Titre Ande
Personal details
SpouseAnthea Gordon

Martin Lewis Gordon [1] is a British-born Anglican bishop. Since 2023, he has been the second bishop of the Diocese of Goma in the Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo.

Contents

Education and early career

Gordon is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh. [2] He began his career in politics, working for the British Parliament, and then as international campaigns manager at Christian Aid, where he helped coordinate the Make Poverty History coalition. [3]

Gordon was ordained to the diaconate at Bristol Cathedral at Petertide 2010. [4] His curacy was at St. Michael's, Stoke Gifford. In 2014, he became priest in charge of St. Thomas with St. Stephen, Telford Park, in the Diocese of Southwark. [5]

Episcopacy

In 2020, at the invitation of Bishop Désiré Mukanirwa Kadhoro, Gordon and his family relocated to Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to support theological education in the diocese through the Church Mission Society. Mukanirwa died from COVID-19 before Gordon could arrive in the Congo. He was asked by then-primate Zacharie Masimango Katanda to serve as vicar general until the election of the next bishop. [6] Gordon was eventually chosen to serve as a missionary bishop for the diocese, and he was consecrated and installed as the second bishop of Goma on 23 April 2023. [7]

Gordon's episcopacy has been dominated by the outbreak of violence by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group in North Kivu. Despite the violence, the diocese has continued to grow. [8] On 25 January 2025, as M23 approached the outskirts of Goma and at the recommendation of the British government, Gordon and his family evacuated to neighboring Gisenyi, Rwanda. [9] In response to the continued warfare and reported incursion of Rwandan Defence Force troops into Goma, Gordon issued a call for peace in the region on behalf of the diocese, seeking: an immediate ceasefire; protection of civilians and humanitarian aid; the withdrawal of M23 and RDF forces from DRC territory; the resumption of dialogue between Kigali and Kinshasa; and international coordination to bring a resolution to the conflict. [10] [11] [12]

"There have been many fine-sounding statements from the U.N. from the European community. What we need now is action," Gordon said to NPR. "The only solution, as everyone is saying, is a negotiated solution. So the international community needs to do everything it can to get people around the table and to use its economic and its diplomatic muscle and its financial muscle to enable peace in the region because this could spill into a regional conflict. And all the Congolese people really want is peace and a chance to go about their daily lives." [9]

Personal life

Gordon has been married to Anthea since 2008, and they have three children. [6]

Related Research Articles

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North Kivu is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population estimate of 8,147,400 as of 2020, it is bordered by Ituri Province to the north, Tshopo Province to the northwest, Maniema Province to the southwest, and South Kivu Province to the south, as well as Uganda and Rwanda to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goma</span> Provincial capital and city in North Kivu, DR Congo

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The Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo is a province of the Anglican Communion, stretching over the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kivu conflict</span> Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including neighboring Ituri province, there are more than 120 different armed groups active in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, some of the most active rebel groups include the Allied Democratic Forces, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, the March 23 Movement, and many local Mai Mai militias. In addition to rebel groups and the governmental FARDC troops, a number of national and international organizations have intervened militarily in the conflict, including the United Nations force known as MONUSCO, and an East African Community regional force.

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The March 23 Movement, often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army, is a Congolese Tutsi-led rebel military group. Based in eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), it operates mainly in the province of North Kivu, which borders both Uganda and Rwanda, and is backed by Rwanda. The M23 rebellion of 2012 to 2013 against the DRC government led to the displacement of large numbers of people. On 20 November 2012, M23 took control of Goma, a provincial capital with a population of a million people, but it was requested to evacuate it by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region because the DRC government had finally agreed to negotiate. In late 2012, Congolese troops, along with UN troops, retook control of Goma, and M23 announced a ceasefire and said that it wanted to resume peace talks.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">M23 campaign (2022–present)</span> Conflict in the DR Congo

In late March 2022, the March 23 Movement (M23), supported by Rwanda, launched an offensive in North Kivu against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), and MONUSCO. The fighting displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians and caused renewed tensions between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kishishe massacre</span> Massacre in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitchanga</span> Capital and urban center in Bashali Chiefdom, North Kivu

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Events of the year 2025 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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References

  1. ↑ "Martin Lewis Gordon" . Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing . Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  2. ↑ "Martin Gordon, A life lived in community". Diocese of Bristol. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  3. ↑ Kelly, Annie (13 June 2007). "Strength in numbers". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  4. ↑ "Petertide ordinations". Church Times. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  5. ↑ "Appointments". Church Times. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Martin Gordon, DR Congo". Church Mission Society. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  7. ↑ "Consecration of the 2nd Bishop of Goma". Gordons in Goma. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  8. ↑ "Christmas Day baptisms bring hope to Democratic Republic of Congo amid fierce conflict". Christian Today. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  9. 1 2 Martin, Michel (29 January 2025). "Martin Gordon, Anglican bishop of Goma, calls for peace in the DRC". Morning Edition. NPR. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  10. ↑ "Anglican Bishop describes terror in Goma and issues the international "Goma Call for Peace"". Anglican Communion News Service. 29 January 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  11. ↑ Ashworth, Pat (30 January 2025). "Hospitals in Goma are swamped, bishop warns in peace plea as violence escalates". Church Times. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "Bishop Pleads for Peace in Congo". The Living Church. 30 January 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
Anglican Communion titles
Preceded by Anglican Bishop of Goma
Since 2023		Incumbent
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