By Olatunji Yaskey
The special session of synod of the Anglican Diocese of Freetown and the North has elected 50-year old Reverend Canon Thomas A.I Wilson as the new head of the Anglican Communion in Sierra Leone. The occasion took place on Saturday 23 February at the Saint George’s Cathedral in Freetown but according to church rules the new leader will seek endorsement from the conference of bishops in the province of West African province. “Arch Bishop Dr. Telewa Johnson, who is based in The Gambia, will summon a meeting of all Bishops in the province of West Africa to formally acknowledge the result from Freetown before the new man will get the title, Bishop-elect ahead of his consecration and enthronement,” a church source said. The closely-fought contest went into a fourth round to ensure one of the candidates got the required two-thirds. Rev. Canon Thomas A.I.Wilson polled 174 while his nearest challenger Rev Canon Emerson Thomas polled 71. Canon Thomas Wilson was ordained deacon in 1993 and in 1994 became a full priest and a canon in2002. He came from a humble background and rose through the ranks of the Anglican Church. Church sources describe him as a development-oriented man with outstanding leadership qualities that endears him to both clergy and laity. He is credited with building the vicarage of St. Mark’s Church at Lumley, replacing the roof of Bishop Elwin Memorial Church and serving as vicar of the church of the Holy Trinity which he rebuilt after it had been destroyed during the civil war in the late 90s. His closest challenger was Canon Emerson Thomas, the chaplain of Fourah Bay College.
