Church of Uganda

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 Kabaka 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.

Alfred Robert Tucker was made the third bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa in 1890 and in 1899, the Diocese of Uganda was created and Tucker became the first Bishop of Uganda.[5] 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.[6] 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.

In 1961, the growth of the Church of Uganda was recognised in the Anglican Communion with the establishment of the Province of Uganda and Ruanda-Urundi (later Province of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi); the new province was inaugurated by Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 16 April 1961 at Namirembe Cathedral.[7] Leslie Brown, Bishop of Namirembe (Bishop of Uganda until 1960), was elected in 1960)[8] and installed (at the province's inauguration service) as first Primate, metropolitan, and archbishop. 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.[9]

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 Army (LRA). In 1997, Winifred Ochola, the wife of the first Bishop of Kitgum was killed by a landmine. Bishop Ochola has however continued to be committed in working towards peace and reconciliation in northern Uganda[10]

In 1980, Rwanda and Burundi were elevated to a separate province. The Church of Uganda has 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.[11]

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.[12]