'''John Thomas Mhina Sepeku'''<ref>[https://www.tzaffairs.org/2017/09/reviews-79/ Tanzanian Affairs]</ref> (1908{{snd}}November 1983)<ref name="dec">{{Church Times | title = Ex-Primate of Tanzania dies | archive = 1983_12_02_003 | issue = 6303 | date = 2 December 1983 | page = 3 | accessed = 18 February 2020 }}</ref> was the inaugural archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church of Tanzania, serving from 5 July 1970<ref>{{Church Times | title = Inauguration of new Anglican province | archive = 1970_07_24_003 | issue = 5606 | date = 24 July 1970 | page = 3 | accessed = 18 February 2020 }}</ref> until his resignation (in ill-health) effective 1 September 1978.<ref>''Crockford's Clerical Directory 1980-82'' p915 London: Oxford University Press, 1982 {{ISBN|0192000101}}</ref><ref>{{Church Times | title = Archbishop resigns | archive = 1978_09_29_020 | issue = 6033 | date = 29 September 1978 | page = 20 | accessed = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>
Sepeku was educated at Hegono Theological College. He was ordained deacon in 1938 and priest in 1939. He worked in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika from 1938 to 1960. He was Archdeacon of Magila from 1960 to 1963. He was consecrated a bishop on 24 March 1963, serving as an assistant bishop of Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam — he lived in Dar es Salaam<ref>{{Church Times | title = UMCA's First 2 African Bishops | archive = 1963_01_18_001 | issue = 5214 | date = 18 January 1963 | page = 1 | accessed = 14 November 2021 }}</ref> — until that diocese was split. He was installed as the first diocesan Bishop of Dar es Salaam on the diocese's inauguration (10 July 1965)<ref>{{Church Times | title = New Diocese of Dar-es-Salaam inaugurated | archive = 1965_07_09_008 | issue = 5343 | date = 9 July 1965 | page = 8 | accessed = 18 February 2020 }}</ref> and remained bishop of that diocese (even while also Archbishop & Primate) until his death in 1983.<ref name="dec" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ac}} {{s-new|rows=2}} {{s-ttl|title=Bishop of Dar es Salaam|years=1965–1983}} {{s-aft|after=}} {{s-ttl|title=Archbishop of Tanzania|years=1970–1978}} {{s-aft|after=Mussa Kahurananga}} {{s-end}} <!--{{Bishops of Dar es Salaam}}--> {{Archbishops of Tanzania}} {{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Christianity|portal3= Tanzania}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sepeku, John Thomas Mhina}} Category:1908 births Category:1983 deaths Category:20th-century Anglican bishops in Tanzania Category:20th-century Anglican archbishops Category:Archdeacons of Magila Category:Anglican archbishops of Tanzania Category:Anglican bishops of Dar es Salaam
{{Tanzania-bio-stub}} {{Africa-Anglican-bishop-stub}}