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Rt. Hon. Amama Mbabazi’s Speech as Guest of Honour at Thanksgiving Service for 60 Years of Self-Governance Church of Uganda 22nd April 2021 Your Grace, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugala, and your dear wife. Our host, the Rt. Rev. Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira, Bishop of Namirembe. Our guest preacher, the Rt. Rev. George Katwesigye, the retired Bishop of Kigezi. Honorable ministers - I see Honorable Nankabirwa. Unfortunately, I'm unable to see far, so there may be others. My Lords the Bishops. I have never seen bishops in the church out of the limelight because I couldn't see them. So, I'm glad you invited them forward. Members of Parliament, religious council members, clergy, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. At the outset, let me express my sincere appreciation for the honour I have been given to be the Guest of Honour at this 60th Anniversary Thanksgiving service today. Thank you very much, Your Grace, for the invitation and for the privilege. I take this opportunity to express my greetings and good wishes to you, the Archbishop, Fellow Bishops, and other ministers of the church, as we have completed a year of the pandemic and begun a new one in leadership of the church. On this happy occasion, it is our great privilege and honour to join the House of Bishops and the members of the church in celebrating this event and to wish the COU long life and success in service to her people and society. A Time to Pause and Reflect on history and recent accomplishments An anniversary is a benchmark on the road; a place to pause and reflect, but not to stop. In his letter of invitation to me for this function today, Archbishop Kaziimba wrote, and I quote, "For the last 60 years we have matured as a church in the area of being self-governing. We now stand at the beginning of the next season which surely will be characterized by becoming a self-supporting church." It is significant that the Archbishop starts with a description of the past, but also points the way forward. An anniversary like this inevitably calls to mind the beginning of this faith. While the church may have started with humble beginnings, and, as Bishop Katwesigye said, I have reason to know this because my father, about 100 years ago, was in the church spreading the church in part of this country. So, the starting was humble. But, it is amazing to see how it has brought together such a large faith community over the years. It is at these occasions like the one we have now that we remember the admirable leadership of the church that has brought us this far. The catechists, all those who started it all at the lowest levels. In the last 60 years we have had eight Archbishops. These past leaders were unquestionably great men, and it is true that one mark of their great leadership that the church lives on in the hearts of millions and continues to grow in vigour and in numbers with years. The Most Rev Stephen Kaziimba is the 9th Archbishop and I would like to congratulate you, Your Grace, upon being elected and enthroned as the 9th Archbishop of the COU and the 8th Bishop of the Diocese of Kampala. You fall in the line of remarkable leaders. You have huge shoes to fill. But, in one year, I am happy to say, you have worked hard in the face of unprecedented challenges to live up to and beyond the high standards set by your predecessors. So far, so good. Media Ministry Despite the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown that saw the church buildings closed immediately after your enthronement, you have ably exhibited a high level of passion for mission and evangelism through television. What they call televangelism. I told you of my sister who always went to church every Sunday until you went to television. When I asked her, "Why are you not going to church?" She said, "How can I go to church in my parish when I'm attending the service of my Archbishop?" So, through television, radio, and other media platforms, something that had not happened before, or not as complete as you have done, something that several bishops and clergy have embraced has now taken root in the church. Many souls have been touched by this innovation. Archbishop’s Leadership Summit I was impressed by the recent Archbishop's Leadership Summit that was held virtually attracting hundreds of church leaders. We must embrace technology and enhanced digital communications as we serve the people entrusted to our care by the Lord. History To contemplate the story of the COU is, in a sense, to be reminded of the early story of Christianity itself. Of how, from a single seed and a handful of believers, it became one of humanity's truly great religions, and possibly the one with the largest flock in the world today. For the story of the COU, born in a time of religious schism and intense nationalism and resistance to colonialism in our country, this faith began its ministry in a small way when missionaries arrived in Uganda in 1877 at the invitation of the Kabaka and immediately started evangelistic ministry. And, from the initial handful of believers in one corner of Uganda, it became a church of hundreds, then of thousands, and finally of millions. We see that growth in the devotion of its many followers and the zeal of its leadership, which, together, underline its tremendous appeal of its teachings and beliefs to the many millions of our people. By the conventional standards of size and age, by which we measure the strength of the church, the COU is, undeniably, a strong church. And, by another standard by which we measure the strength of our faith in terms of the devotion it receives from and the comfort it provides to its members, this is a church of considerable vitality and influence. And, because the COU is indeed a Ugandan church, we in this country, whether we belong to this church or another, have reason to be proud of it. We can take pride in the fact that since it gained self-governance and began its ministry as Church of Uganda 60 years ago, it has not faltered as a spiritual haven and guide to its flock. It has protected and nourished them in their spiritual and temporal needs. And in the process it has contributed much to the well-being and stability of our society and our country. For the last 60 years COU as a Province has been self-propagating and self-governing. I commend the Provincial Assembly that came up with the vision - "A faster growing, sustainable Christ-centred church." Next Chapter to focus on Self-Sustainability Now the next chapter will be about self-sustainability as a Province to stop dependence on only offertories and donations from our friends and, hopefully, from government. I had a discussion with the President several years ago that we have an obligation as a government to support the Churches. That's what other governments do. We should have a budget to support the church religious institutions so that we can really fight this idea of the dependency that Rt. Rev. Katwesigye talked about from outside with conditions. It is only then that we can truly say we have done it. And I hope this will come to pass in the near future. Land to be Titled This self-sustainability will be achieved through the establishment of self-sustaining projects and programmes from parish level to provincial level. This must be a deliberate move. The church must strive to preserve its assets acquired during these last 60 years, most especially land. Land is needed to generate revenue for the church. It is a blessing from God and, without it, our efforts for having a self-sustaining church will be in vain. On this matter, therefore, I advise the church leadership to ensure that they process titles for church land across the province. There are several cases of land grabbing across the Province. People are not ashamed to steal church land. This is unbelievable, but true. It is a fact. We must secure our land. KIDO I'm very happy today that we are going to launch the Kingdom Development Organ - KIDO - which I have been praying for throughout. My friend, Canon Dr. Ben Mbonye, who is the Chairman of KIDO at the Provincial level, has been constantly updating me and I must congratulate him and his team upon his great success and assure him and his team of my full support. He has already explained how the health insurance will work (I think he addressed the House of Bishops yesterday) and how the programme will help churches raise money for investment in health, education, and other self-sustaining projects. This is highly commendable and I call upon all Ugandans to join KIDO for the church to achieve higher success in implementation toward our strategic plan. My wife, Canon Jackie and I, have already told Dr Mbonye of our wishes and that of our children to join KIDO. HUMAN RESOURCES Your Grace, your Lordship the Bishops, and Clergy at large, Church of Uganda has a huge human resource base that can be tapped into in religious engagements with regard to development and, of course, the preaching of the Gospel. This will create a greater sense of ownership of projects and programmes in our efforts to build a self-sustaining church.