Kampala. As part of their Golden Jubilee celebrations, the Anglican Diocese of Kampala has unveiled plans to extend the gospel to slum areas in Kampala to draw people there closer to God.
This was announced by Dr Samuel Kazimba Mugalu, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda who doubles as the Kampala diocesan bishop during the launch of Golden Jubilee activities at St Andrews Bukoto COU on Wednesday.
Archbishop Kazimba said working with leaders in Kampala City, they will take the message of hope to the less privileged for their lives to be transformed.
“As we celebrate 50 years anniversary our focus is on the gospel but also social economic transformation of people’s lives and because of this we are going to work with leaders in Kampala to reach out to the less privileged including street children and slum dwellers among others. We need to reach out to them so they are shown God’s love.” Said Kazimba.
A number of activities have been lined up as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. These include Music, Dance and Drama (MDD), tree planting, unveiling Jubilee projects, cleaning some of the slum areas, compassion visits to the orphanage, prisons, hospitals and other related unprivileged homes. This will climax in August as they enter the new building of All Saints’ Cathedral Kampala which has a capacity of accommodating up to 5,000 people.
The Golden Jubilee Celebrations will run under the theme “Ebenezer: His Mission, Our Priority (1Samuel 7:12).”
About Kampala Diocese
The Diocese of Kampala is one of the 37 constituent dioceses of the Church of Uganda inaugurated on 16 January 1972.
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, The Most Rev. Dr. Samuel Stephen Kazimba Mugalu is also the diocesan bishop. Its seat is at Nakasero Hill (All Saints’ Cathedral-Lugard Road plot 1).
It was originally part of Namirembe Diocese and Bishop Lesile Brown was both, the Archbishop of the Province as well as the Bishop of Namirembe Diocese. He presided over both, the Province and the Diocese smoothly because the two were together.
However, after the Most Rev. Eric Sabiiti was enthroned as the first African Archbishop making Rwenzori Diocese the home Diocese of the Archbishop, and The Right Rev. Dunstan Nsubuga as Bishop of Namirembe Diocese, then that seamless leadership of the Province and the Diocese ceased to be.
It became practically difficult for the Archbishop to preside over the Provincial Office in Kampala from Fort Portal let alone it being very expensive.
Attempts were made to deal with this challenge and three proposals were mooted.
1. That the Archbishop of the Church of the Province of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire shall also be the Bishop of Namirembe Diocese.
2. That there shall be a Diocese of Kampala which shall be the Diocese of the Archbishop.
3. That the archbishop shall be an executive office.
Proposal 2 won the day but it further required institutionalizing it which called for: (a) the creation of Diocese of Kampala and (b) the formulation of a new Constitution to replace that of 1961. Hence the curving out of the Diocese of Kampala from Namirembe Diocese in 1972 to serve as the home Diocese of the Archbishop of the Province of the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire.
All Saints Parish in Kampala was elevated to become a Cathedral of the new Diocese: -The Diocese of Kampala would become the home Diocese to the Archbishop and Namirembe Cathedral would retain a dual role of being Diocesan Cathedral and Provincial Cathedral.
The demarcation of the new Diocese was left to the discretion of Namirembe Diocese which decided to bring together Nakasero, Mulago, Bukoto, Kamwokya, Ntinda, Kyambogo, Naguru, Kisugu, Bugolobi, Nsambya, Kiwuliriza, Luzira, Makerere and Wandegeya city suburbs to become the Diocese of Kampala.
