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7 Questions with Antonio Ocharo
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Jonno White
7 Questions with Antonio Ocharo
Name: Antonio Ocharo
Current title: Bishop-Elect
Current organisation: American Apostolic Old Catholic Church
I am a Kenyan National. I am a pastor by calling. I trained in Roman Catholic Seminaries preparing to be ordained priest but ended up being ordained Anglican Priest where I served for ten years before taking voluntary retire at 40! At 50 I returned back to ministry this time with the American Apostolic Old Catholic Church where am serving currently. I am Bishop-Elect, awaiting consecration.
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1. What have you found most challenging as a church leader?
There are many challenges but the key challenge is working in a society that cherishes superstition. Most "christians" here are in church when things are going well but when sickness attacks, first contact is something to do with traditional healers and things related to witchcraft. God is the last resort.
2. How did you become a church leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?
I was raised up in non-Christian family background. The only time I was ever allowed to go to church was on Christmas day! The local parish priest was a Polish and he spoke my dialect fluently. This motivated me to admire priesthood so that I would speak many languages, so I thought. Slowly I involved myself in church affairs. I was made a youth leader and rose through the ranks to become a priest. I did eight years of seminary training in the Roman Catholic Church but was ordained in the Anglican Church of Kenya.
3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?
I make weekly pastoral and administrative program. I begin with prayer and scripture reading at five and then set out for the day. I close the day with my family in Reading scripture and prayer.
4. What's one book apart from the Bible that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?
Devotional Classics by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith. The book covers brief biographies of Christian leaders who have impacted the church positively and what they taught. I learn my leadership ropes from this remarkable individuals.
5. What's the most recent significant leadership lesson you've learned?
A leader is not a boss but a servant.
6. How do you develop a healthy leadership pipeline in a church?
I encourage teamwork where every member feels involved
7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a church leader so far?
As a church leader not all would like you. There are three categories of church members: There are those who don't like you and they will have no time for you. They are those who like you from the onset of your leadership. And there are those who mind their businesses. With or without your leadership they are ok. As a leader I should lead a life above reproach.