By. Damba Rogers
The house of bishops of the church of Uganda has today elected the Rt.Rev.Stephen Samuel Kazimba as the new archbishop of the church of Uganda to replace His grace Stanley Ntagali who will be retiring in March 2020.
Kazimba in his address to the media after
election, stated that he is to focus on evangelism aimed at converting the
hearts and minds of Christians in Uganda.
The outgoing
archbishop, Stanley Ntagali pledged
to continue serving the church as and when called on by the new archbishop.
He also
calls upon Ugandans and mostly the Anglicans to fully support the archbishop
elect to better serve the church and nation as a whole.
Church of
Uganda is asking the archbishop elect Rt.Rev.Stephen
Samuel Kazimba to focus his energy during his 10 years of service on
preaching the gospel that is aimed at converting more Christians back into the
church of Uganda as well as fostering unity among believers and the clergy.
Speaking to
some members of the house of bishops after the announcement of the archbishop
elect today at Namirembe,Rt. Rev. Henry
Katumba W. Tamale ( west Buganda diocese) Rt.Rev. James Wiliam (Mukono diocese)
and Rt.Rev Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira (Namirembe diocese) Rt.Rev. Alfred Acur
Okidi (West Lango diocese) expressed high hopes in the tenure of the
archbishop elect saying, they would love to see him do campaigns that are
geared towards getting more believers to the Anglican church as well as
building strong fibers of the church of Uganda.
The house of
Bishops has today through a secret ballot voted Rt.Rev.Stephen Samuel Kazimba as the new archbishop of the church
of Uganda to replace His grace Stanley
Ntagali who will be retiring in March next year.
To be eligible to be
an Archbishop, one must already be serving as a Bishop in the Church of Uganda,
and must be at least 50 years old. Out of the 38 Bishops currently active in
the Church of Uganda, 33 were eligible to become Archbishop.
The installation of
the new Archbishop is expected to take place on 1st March 2020
at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe. At that time, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali
will hand over the pastoral staff to Archbishop-elect Kaziimba, who will then
be invested with the authority to lead the Church of Uganda as Archbishop. The
Presiding Bishop at the enthronement will be the Dean of the Province, who is
the longest serving Bishop in the Church at that time.
Between now and 1st March
2020, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali will continue to do the work of the Archbishop
and the Bishop of Kampala Diocese, as well as continue to bid farewell to each
of the 37 Dioceses.
The Archbishop-elect
will say farewell to his Diocese and prepare to move to Kampala. His current
Diocese will elect a new Bishop, since he will leave his Diocese to also become
the Bishop of Kampala Diocese.
Bishop Edison Irigei, Dean of the
Church of Uganda, said, “We thank God for His clear voice and direction among
us for who shall be our next leader. We also ask all Christians to pray for
this season of transition, especially for the Archbishop and Archbishop-elect
who are bidding farewell in their dioceses, and for the Archbishop-elect to be
prepared to receive the mantle of spiritual authority as Archbishop.”
The previous
Archbishops of the Church of Uganda have been the following:
- 1st Archbishop
Leslie Brown, a British missionary, was the first Archbishop of Uganda,
Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire (1961-1966)
- 2nd Archbishop Erica Sabiti (1966 – 1974)
- 3rd Archbishop
Janani Luwum (1974 – 1977). Martyred in 1977.
- 4th Archbishop
Silvanus Wani (1977 – 1983). In 1980, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire
became a separate, Francophone Province, and Uganda became its own
Province.
- 5th Archbishop
Yona Okoth (1983 – 1995)
- 6th Archbishop
Livingstone Mpalanyi-Nkoyoyo (1995 – 2004)
- 7th Archbishop
Henry Luke Orombi (2004 – 2012)
- 8th Archbishop
Stanley Ntagali (2012 – 2020)
END