Church of Uganda

The Church of Uganda was established in 1887 by missionaries of the Church Missionary Society from England. For half a century it was called “The Native Anglican Church” until 1961 when it became an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion as the Province of the Church of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. In 1980 Uganda became a province on its own. The history of the church in Uganda has been marked by martyrdom and civil strife. The mission statement of the church reads: “The Church of Uganda is an independent Province of the Anglican Community worldwide which subscribes to the holy scriptures. It is part of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church worshipping the one true God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Church is commissioned to carry out Christ’s mission of preaching, teaching, healing and nurturing her people so that they may have abundant life and build an evangelistic, loving, caring, worshipping, peaceful and just community.”

Current activities of the church include spiritual nurture, development and conflict resolution through peace initiatives. Its priorities are to deal with HIV/AIDS through programmes of sensitization, to create a sustainable church, mobilizing people to use their potential and utilize available resources, to promote Christian values, and to create room for the young generation in the church. Concerns of the Church of Uganda today are the issue of homosexuality at national and international levels, the desire to see the church rise and shine, and to achieve networking and sharing information through radio, newspapers, television and the internet.