The Board of World Mission gives thanks for the many years of mission-focused ministry of Bishop Hopeton Clennon who passed away on January 7, 2024. Bishop Clennon worked closely with the BWM when coordinating mission teams to several locations, most frequently Jamaica, while both a parish pastor and in his former role as Chaplain of Moravian College (now University).
Bishop Hopeton also was an excellent resource to others around the Unity, and the BWM is grateful for the many times he was willing to “be a bridge” to other areas of the Unity – carrying physical letters and fraternal greetings to Synods, as he did in early 2018 when he attended the special synod of the Moravian Church Western Province in Tanzania to help guide that gathering in their election of a Bishop. Bishop Ezekiel Yona was elected at that Synod, and remains grateful for the connection in ministry he forged with Bishop Hopeton.
At the bottom of this page, you will find a condolence message we received to be shared with the BWM and Central Moravian Church. This message is just one example of the impact Bishop Hopeton had in his life and ministry as a Bishop of the Worldwide Moravian Unity.
Since Hopeton’s faith was so profoundly impacted at Camp Hope in Jamaica, the Clennon family has requested that memorial gifts be made to Camp Hope as well as to the future of elementary schools in Jamaica. The Board of World Mission is accepting these gifts and will forward them through the proper channels.
Those in the US can give online at www.MoravianMission.org/Give/ or send checks to: Board of World Mission, 1021 Center Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018. Please indicate that your gift is for the “Hopeton Clennon Memorial Fund.”
Canadians can send checks to: Moravian Church in Canada, 600 Acadia Drive SE, Calgary, AB T2J 0B8. Interac e-Transfer donations may be sent to [email protected]. Please indicate that your gift is for the “Hopeton Clennon Memorial Fund.”
From Bishop Yona:
Greetings from the Western Province in Tanzania,
We have received with great sadness the news of the death of Bishop Clennon, pastor of Central Moravian Church. We are grateful to God for the gift of the life that he gave to Bishop Clennon.
May God lead him to a new eternal life. We will always remember him – his love and his generosity will always remain a special memory to us in our Province.
We pray God gives the family peace in their hearts with the knowledge that their loved one has finished his work here on Earth and is in his eternal abode. We just pray for him to rest in peace.
I am very sorry and send condolences to all at Central Moravian Church.
God’s blessings to you all, our friends. Let’s pray for the bishop to rest in peace.
Bishop Ezekiel Yona
