Bethlehem Nopece

Who is Bethlehem Nopece?

Nceba Bethleham Nopece is a South African Anglican bishop. He has been the Bishop of Port Elizabeth in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa since 2001. He is a theological conservative, the leading name of the Anglican realignment movement in his church and also the chairman of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in South Africa, launched in 2009.

Nopece was ordained a deacon in 1978. He gained his Diploma in Theology at St. Bede's College. He also obtained a BTh at the University of South Africa, in Pretoria, and a Master in Theology at the University of Glasgow, in 1985. He was a lecturer at St. Bede's College. He was nominated Archdeacon of Umtata in 1992, and Suffragan Bishop of Grahamstown, in January 1998. He was consecrated as Bishop of the Diocese of Porth Elizabeth on 28 July 2001.

Nopece upholds the orthodox Anglican stance on homosexuality and as such he condemned the consecration of Gene Robinson, the first non-celibate gay bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2003, as a defiant act to the Anglican Communion.