Church of Uganda
Encyclopedia
The Church of the Province of Uganda (or Church of Uganda
) is a member church of the Anglican Communion
. Currently there are 34 diocese
s which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop
.
Each diocese is divided into archdeacon
ries, each headed by a senior priest
known as an archdeacon. The archdeaconries are further subdivided into parish
es, headed by a parish priest. Parishes are subdivided into sub-parishes, headed by lay reader
s. As of the 2002 Census, 8,782,821 Ugandans (35.9% of the population) consider themselves affiliated with the church.
The current Metropolitan Archbishop is the Bishop of Kampala, the Most Reverend Henry Luke Orombi
.
of Buganda
near present day Kampala
.
Kabaka Mutesa I was known for his brutality and used the rivalries of the Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Muslims against each other to try to balance the influences of the powers that backed each group. His successor, Kabaka Mwanga II
, took a more aggressive approach by expelling missionaries and insisting Christian converts abandon their faith on pain of torture or death.
In 1885, three Anglican Ugandans were killed and the arriving Archbishop of the Province of Eastern Equatorial Africa, James Hannington
, together with his party were arrested, detained and later executed at the orders of the Kabaka. Joseph Mukasa
, a Roman Catholic priest and an official of the Bugandan court, rebuked the deed and was arrested and beheaded. This was the precursor to the large scale persecutions and killings from 1886 to 1887 of Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Those who were killed in that period are remembered as the Martyrs of Uganda
.
This incident brought about the interference of Imperial British East Africa Company
who backed a rebellion against Mwanga II by Christian and Muslim groups. Mwanga II was eventually overthrown in 1888 and was replaced by his half brother, Kiwewa. Kiwewa himself was overthrown by the Muslim faction in the court and was replaced by his Muslim brother, Kalema
. British forces forced Kalema to abdicate and restored the throne to Mwanga II who in 1894 acceded to Uganda's status as a British protectorate
. These incidences guaranteed the long term viability of the Anglican church in Uganda.
was made the third bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa in 1890 and in 1897, the Diocese of Uganda was ccreated and Tucker became the first Bishop of Uganda
. In 1893 the first Ugandans were ordained and Buganda was established as a centre for evangelisation in the Great Lakes Area. One of the most celebrated indigenous Anglicans of that period is Apolo Kivebulaya
, who is also known as the "Apostle to the Pygmies" for his work among the Pygmy
people in eastern Congo.
Anglican growth in Uganda thrived by the turn of the 20th century and among the most notable contribution of the Anglican church was in the area of education. The first elementary schools were established in the 1890s. In 1913, the Bishop Tucker Theological College was established in Mukono and this institution was eventually expanded into what is now today the Uganda Christian University
. Likewise the CMS took a lead in public health with the establishment of the Mengo Hospital in 1897.
Tucker proposed controversial measures to the Church constitution that would grant considerable power to the indigenous Anglicans in what was known as the Native Anglican Church. These radical proposals were opposed by the missionaries which resulted in a church hierarchy that was primarily expatriate until the independence of Uganda decades later. The domination of the CMS, and its later offshoot BCMS, led to a low church
tradition in the Church. Revivalism was also made a hallmark of the Church with the outbreak of the East African Revival that began in Rwanda in 1936.
In the 1950s, the emergence of a generation of Ugandan Church leaders began to replace the expatriate hierarchy. Festo Kivengere
, who later became the Bishop of Kigezi in 1972, travelled to Europe as an evangelist for the first time. As an international figure he was a joint founder of African Evangelistic Enterprise.
and Burundi
). The incumbent Bishop of Uganda
, Leslie Brown
, was the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province. Brown was succeeded in 1966 by the first Ugandan Archbishop, Erica Sabiti.
Relationships between the Anglicans and Roman Catholics that have been strained since the fighting of 1892 saw a new turn with the establishment of Uganda Joint Christian Council. This has included the small Orthodox Church of Uganda.
In 1971, Idi Amin
gained power in a coup d'état
and was initially greeted with enthusiasm by the general population of Uganda. The brutal and corrupt nature of the regime became evident soon and with the consecration of Janani Jakaliya Luwum as the new Archbishop in 1974, the Anglican Church became more outspoken in opposition to the policies of Amin. This led to the 1977 execution of the Archbishop on Amin's orders.
(LRA). In 1997, Winifred Ochola, the wife of the first Bishop of Kitgum
was killed by a landmine planted by the LRA. Bishop Ochola has however continued to be committed in working towards peace and reconciliation in northern Uganda
In 1980, Rwanda and Burundi were elevated to a separate province. The Church of Uganda has been active in working towards the recovery and rehabilitation of the country. The Church of Uganda has also played an active role in promoting AIDS awareness and prevention in Uganda. As a result of these efforts and others in the country, Uganda has begun reversing the effects of AIDS on her society.
The Church of Uganda has been active in the leadership of southern hemisphere churches which have agreed to provide pastoral oversight and support to new Anglican churches in North America in the ongoing Anglican realignment
.
On 2 September 2007, the Ugandan church consecrated an American bishop, John Guernsey, from Virginia, to oversee many of the American parishes which it supports. This action was opposed by the Episcopal Church
(TEC), the American branch of the Anglican Communion
. The Anglican churches in Africa are theologically conservative and deeply opposed to what they view as departures from orthodoxy in the American church, for example the ordination of gay priests. In keeping with this stance, the Church of Uganda declared itself in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America, a denomination formed by American and Canadian Anglicans opposed to their national churches' actions regarding homosexuality, on 23 June 2009.
On 28 September 2011, the House of Bishops elected the first bishop for the new diocese of South Ankole, which was created from parts of the dioceses of Ankole and West Ankole.
. In October 2009, the Ugandan Church's leadership reacted to the Vatican's proposed creation of personal ordinariate
s for disaffected traditionalist Anglicans by saying that although he welcomed ecumencial dialogue
and shared moral theology
with the Catholic Church, the current GAFCON structures already meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of conservative Anglicans in Africa.
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
) is a member church of the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
. Currently there are 34 diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
.
Each diocese is divided into archdeacon
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
ries, each headed by a senior priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
known as an archdeacon. The archdeaconries are further subdivided into parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es, headed by a parish priest. Parishes are subdivided into sub-parishes, headed by lay reader
Lay Reader
A lay reader is a layperson authorized by a bishop of the Anglican Church to read some parts of a service of worship. They are members of the congregation called to preach or lead services, but not called to full-time ministry.Anglican lay readers are licensed by the bishop to a particular parish...
s. As of the 2002 Census, 8,782,821 Ugandans (35.9% of the population) consider themselves affiliated with the church.
The current Metropolitan Archbishop is the Bishop of Kampala, the Most Reverend Henry Luke Orombi
Henry Luke Orombi
Henry Luke Orombi is the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda and Bishop of the Anglican Doicese of Kampala. He has served in that capacity since 2004.-Background:...
.
Early developments (1877 - 1897)
Shergold Smith and C. T. Wilson of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) were the first European Anglican missionaries to Uganda when they arrived in June 1877. They, along with others who arrived later, were based in the court of the KabakaKabaka of Buganda
Kabaka is the title of the king of the Kingdom of Buganda. According to the traditions of the Baganda they are ruled by two kings, one spiritual and the other material....
of Buganda
Buganda
Buganda is a subnational kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Ganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day Uganda, comprising all of Uganda's Central Region, including the Ugandan capital Kampala, with the exception of the disputed eastern Kayunga District...
near present day Kampala
Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
.
Kabaka Mutesa I was known for his brutality and used the rivalries of the Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Muslims against each other to try to balance the influences of the powers that backed each group. His successor, Kabaka Mwanga II
Mwanga II of Buganda
Danieri Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II Mukasa was Kabaka from 1884 until 1888 and from 1889 until 1897. He was the thirty-first Kabaka of Buganda.-Claim to the throne:...
, took a more aggressive approach by expelling missionaries and insisting Christian converts abandon their faith on pain of torture or death.
In 1885, three Anglican Ugandans were killed and the arriving Archbishop of the Province of Eastern Equatorial Africa, James Hannington
James Hannington
James Hannington was an Anglican missionary, saint and martyr.-Life:Hannington was born at Hurstpierpoint in Sussex, England, on 3 September 1847. A poor scholar, he left school at fifteen to work in his father's Brighton counting house. At twenty-one, Hannington decided to pursue a clerical...
, together with his party were arrested, detained and later executed at the orders of the Kabaka. Joseph Mukasa
Joseph Mukasa
Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe was a Ugandan Roman Catholic and the majordomo at the court of Mwanga II of Buganda, recognized as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church...
, a Roman Catholic priest and an official of the Bugandan court, rebuked the deed and was arrested and beheaded. This was the precursor to the large scale persecutions and killings from 1886 to 1887 of Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Those who were killed in that period are remembered as the Martyrs of Uganda
Martyrs of Uganda
The Uganda Martyrs were Christian converts who were murdered for their faith in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda.-Charles Lwanga and his companions:...
.
This incident brought about the interference of Imperial British East Africa Company
Imperial British East Africa Company
The Imperial British East Africa Company was the administrator of British East Africa, which was the forerunner of the East Africa Protectorate, later Kenya. The IBEAC was a commercial association founded to develop African trade in the areas controlled by the British colonial power...
who backed a rebellion against Mwanga II by Christian and Muslim groups. Mwanga II was eventually overthrown in 1888 and was replaced by his half brother, Kiwewa. Kiwewa himself was overthrown by the Muslim faction in the court and was replaced by his Muslim brother, Kalema
Kalema of Buganda
Rashid Kalema Muguluma was Kabaka of the Kingdom of Buganda, from October 21, 1888 until October 5, 1889. He was the thirty-third Kabaka of Buganda.-Claim to the throne:...
. British forces forced Kalema to abdicate and restored the throne to Mwanga II who in 1894 acceded to Uganda's status as a British protectorate
East Africa Protectorate
East Africa Protectorate was an area of East Africa occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to Uganda and the Great Rift Valley...
. These incidences guaranteed the long term viability of the Anglican church in Uganda.
Diocese of Uganda (1897 - 1961)
Alfred Robert TuckerAlfred Robert Tucker
Alfred Robert Tucker was the Bishop of Uganda from 1897, the inception of the diocese, until 1911.- Early days :Tucker was born in 1849 and grew up in the Lake District in England. Following in the footsteps of his family, he became an artist, exhibiting at the Royal Academy.- Church life :In...
was made the third bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa in 1890 and in 1897, the Diocese of Uganda was ccreated and Tucker became the first Bishop of Uganda
Bishop of Uganda
There has been a diocese of Uganda in the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.The Anglican diocese of Uganda was formed in 1897 as a division of the diocese of Eastern Equatorial Africa...
. In 1893 the first Ugandans were ordained and Buganda was established as a centre for evangelisation in the Great Lakes Area. One of the most celebrated indigenous Anglicans of that period is Apolo Kivebulaya
Apolo Kivebulaya
Apolo Kivebulaya was a Ugandan Anglican priest and evangelist. He is sometimes referred to as the "apostle to the pygmies" for his work among the Bambuti people of the Ituri forest in eastern Congo. He is commemorated in the Anglican Calendar of Saints on 30 May.He was born, along with his twin...
, who is also known as the "Apostle to the Pygmies" for his work among the Pygmy
Pygmy
Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
people in eastern Congo.
Anglican growth in Uganda thrived by the turn of the 20th century and among the most notable contribution of the Anglican church was in the area of education. The first elementary schools were established in the 1890s. In 1913, the Bishop Tucker Theological College was established in Mukono and this institution was eventually expanded into what is now today the Uganda Christian University
Uganda Christian University
Uganda Christian University is a private church-founded university administered by the Church of Uganda .-Location:The main campus of the university, with approximately 6,500 students, is located in the town of Mukono, approximately , by road, east of Uganda's capital city, Kampala, on the...
. Likewise the CMS took a lead in public health with the establishment of the Mengo Hospital in 1897.
Tucker proposed controversial measures to the Church constitution that would grant considerable power to the indigenous Anglicans in what was known as the Native Anglican Church. These radical proposals were opposed by the missionaries which resulted in a church hierarchy that was primarily expatriate until the independence of Uganda decades later. The domination of the CMS, and its later offshoot BCMS, led to a low church
Low church
Low church is a term of distinction in the Church of England or other Anglican churches initially designed to be pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the established church in the 16th and 17th centuries, commentators and others began to refer to those groups...
tradition in the Church. Revivalism was also made a hallmark of the Church with the outbreak of the East African Revival that began in Rwanda in 1936.
In the 1950s, the emergence of a generation of Ugandan Church leaders began to replace the expatriate hierarchy. Festo Kivengere
Festo Kivengere
Bishop Festo Kivengere was a Ugandan Anglican-Christian leader referred to by many as "the Billy Graham of Africa". He played a huge role in a Christian revival in southwestern Uganda, but had to flee in 1973 to neighboring Kenya in fear for his life after speaking out against Idi Amin's...
, who later became the Bishop of Kigezi in 1972, travelled to Europe as an evangelist for the first time. As an international figure he was a joint founder of African Evangelistic Enterprise.
Province of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi (1961 - 1980)
In 1961, the growth of the Church of Uganda was recognised in the Anglican Communion with the establishment of the Province of Uganda and Rwanda-Urundi (later Province of Uganda, RwandaRwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
). The incumbent Bishop of Uganda
Bishop of Uganda
There has been a diocese of Uganda in the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.The Anglican diocese of Uganda was formed in 1897 as a division of the diocese of Eastern Equatorial Africa...
, Leslie Brown
Leslie Wilfrid Brown
The Rt Rev Leslie Wilfrid Brown, CBE was Bishop then Archbishop of Uganda before returning to England to be Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich ....
, was the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province. Brown was succeeded in 1966 by the first Ugandan Archbishop, Erica Sabiti.
Relationships between the Anglicans and Roman Catholics that have been strained since the fighting of 1892 saw a new turn with the establishment of Uganda Joint Christian Council. This has included the small Orthodox Church of Uganda.
In 1971, Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
gained power in a coup d'état
1971 Ugandan coup d'état
The 1971 Ugandan coup d'état was a military coup d'état executed by the Ugandan military, led by General Idi Amin, against the government of President Milton Obote on January 25, 1971...
and was initially greeted with enthusiasm by the general population of Uganda. The brutal and corrupt nature of the regime became evident soon and with the consecration of Janani Jakaliya Luwum as the new Archbishop in 1974, the Anglican Church became more outspoken in opposition to the policies of Amin. This led to the 1977 execution of the Archbishop on Amin's orders.
Province of Uganda (1980 - present)
The overthrowing of Amin in 1979 saw the gradual resumption of normal life in Uganda although peace remained elusive in northern Uganda with the insurgency by the Lord's Resistance ArmyLord's Resistance Army
The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged since 1987 by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, operating mainly in northern Uganda, but also in South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo...
(LRA). In 1997, Winifred Ochola, the wife of the first Bishop of Kitgum
Kitgum
Kitgum is a municipality in Kitgum District, in Northern Uganda. The town is administered by Kitgum Town Council, an Urban Local Government within Kitgum District Administration...
was killed by a landmine planted by the LRA. Bishop Ochola has however continued to be committed in working towards peace and reconciliation in northern Uganda
In 1980, Rwanda and Burundi were elevated to a separate province. The Church of Uganda has been active in working towards the recovery and rehabilitation of the country. The Church of Uganda has also played an active role in promoting AIDS awareness and prevention in Uganda. As a result of these efforts and others in the country, Uganda has begun reversing the effects of AIDS on her society.
The Church of Uganda has been active in the leadership of southern hemisphere churches which have agreed to provide pastoral oversight and support to new Anglican churches in North America in the ongoing Anglican realignment
Anglican realignment
The term Anglican realignment refers to a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada...
.
On 2 September 2007, the Ugandan church consecrated an American bishop, John Guernsey, from Virginia, to oversee many of the American parishes which it supports. This action was opposed by the Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
(TEC), the American branch of the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
. The Anglican churches in Africa are theologically conservative and deeply opposed to what they view as departures from orthodoxy in the American church, for example the ordination of gay priests. In keeping with this stance, the Church of Uganda declared itself in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America, a denomination formed by American and Canadian Anglicans opposed to their national churches' actions regarding homosexuality, on 23 June 2009.
On 28 September 2011, the House of Bishops elected the first bishop for the new diocese of South Ankole, which was created from parts of the dioceses of Ankole and West Ankole.
Dioceses
The primary source for this section is referred in the References section below
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Ecumenical relations
Like many other Anglican churches, the Anglican Church of Uganda is a member of the ecumenical World Council of ChurchesWorld Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
. In October 2009, the Ugandan Church's leadership reacted to the Vatican's proposed creation of personal ordinariate
Personal Ordinariate
A personal ordinariate is a canonical structure within the Catholic Church enabling former Anglicans to maintain some degree of corporate identity and autonomy with regard to the bishops of the geographical dioceses of the Catholic Church and to preserve elements of their distinctive Anglican...
s for disaffected traditionalist Anglicans by saying that although he welcomed ecumencial dialogue
Ecumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
and shared moral theology
Moral theology
Moral theology is a systematic theological treatment of Christian ethics. It is usually taught on Divinity faculties as a part of the basic curriculum.- External links :*...
with the Catholic Church, the current GAFCON structures already meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of conservative Anglicans in Africa.