By ACNS staff

Members of the global Anglican Communion have been invited to watch the funeral of Primate of the Church of the Province of West Africa Archbishop S. Tilewa Johnson, online.

Anyone with access to the Internet will be able to watch the funeral and requiem mass which is being streamed live on Friday 21 February. It is thought this is the first time a Primate's funeral has been made available to members of the Anglican Communion via live streaming.

Archbishop Dr Solomon Tilewa Johnson, 59, was Primate, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Internal province of West Africa, and also Bishop of Gambia. A popular figure both home and abroad, he died in Fajara on January 21 while playing tennis.

He was himself a huge fan of digital technology and social media, particularly for his youth ministry. He once described himself as part of a "new breed" of ministers who were "attracted to all things digital". In a video for the 2010 E-learning Africa Conference in Lusaka, the Bishop said he believed information and communication technologies were "God given" that needed to be "exploited" by God's people for the common good. 

The two parts of the services marking the Archbishop's life and ministry are Solemn Evensong and Tributes at Christ Church Serrekunda on Thursday 20th February 2014 at 6.00pm, and a Funeral and Requiem Mass on Friday 21st February 2014 at 3.00pm (local time). The live streaming of Friday's Funeral Service will be available at www.liveawmgambia.org

The Provincial Secretary Canon Anthony Eiwuley recently issued a statement, via email and on the late Primate's Facebook page, inviting people to watch the proceedings via the Internet and asking anyone who was planning to do so to contact the Province via the page, or by email at [email protected].