The priest who only recently was chosen to lead Viti Levu West in the Diocese of Polynesia has died.

The Rev Jone Teana died suddenly last Thursday in Honiara, in the Solomon Islands, where he had been attending a meeting of the Pacific Conference of Churches General Assembly. He was 51.

At Archbishop Winston Halapua’s request, Rev Teana began overseeing the Viti Levu West Episcopal Unit (in Fiji) last month.

He had been chosen to pick up the reins there on the departure of Bishop Gabriel Sharma, who this year has begun doctoral studies in Auckland.

Rev Teana, an evangelist with a heart for ecumenism, was also a member of the General Synod/Te Hinota Whanui and the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Polynesia.

He had served in the Suva-Ovalau archdeaconry for many years, and in 2010 was appointed Archdeacon of Suva-Ovalau.

Rev Teana was born in Wailoku, which is a Melanesian community on the outskirts of Suva, in September 1961.

He went to St John’s School, Wailoku, and spent his high school years at Queen Victoria School at Lawaki, on the east coast of Viti Levu.

He served in the Melanesian Brotherhood in the 1980s, was licensed as a deacon in 2003, and priested in 2004. He became priest in charge of St Luke’s Laucala Bay in 2006, and St Mark’s Newtown in 2010.

Rev Jone’s funeral will be held tomorrow at St Peter’s Church, Lautoka. He will then be taken to lie in state overnight in St John’s Church, Wailoku before being buried the following morning alongside his parents in the community graveyard.

He is survived by his wife Mereani and their two children, Latu and Joana.

Rev Jone’s funeral is the second significant blow to be borne by Viti Levu West in the last few weeks. In January the community mourned the death of Bishop Gabriel’s wife, the Rev Ana Sharma.