107 Ugandan Anglicans going to Jerusalem

Thirty-four Bishops from the Church of Uganda and their wives will travel to Jerusalem later this month for the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON). Also in the delegation, there will be thirty clergy and lay leaders from around the country with experience in different areas of ministry.

1,000 people from around the worldwide Anglican Communion, including more than 280 bishops, will participate in this Pilgrimage, and the Church of Uganda will be more than ten percent.

Twelve members of our own Anglican Youth Fellowship Choir have been invited to lead the music for this strategic event, and this is a great honour for us in Uganda.

There are three purposes for GAFCON

1.    To provide an opportunity for fellowship as well as to continue to experience and proclaim the transforming love of Jesus Christ, which we in Uganda know very   powerfully.

2.    To develop a renewed understanding of our identity as Anglican Christians.

3.    To prepare for an Anglican future in which the Gospel is uncompromised and Christ-centred mission is a top priority.

I have served on the Leadership Team for GAFCON, with, among others, the Archbishops of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Nigeria, and the Southern Cone (South America).  We think it is important to approach these three purposes in Jerusalem because that is where our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the dead. The foundation of our faith is Jesus Christ who was born, lived, died and rose again in the Holy Land. So, that is where we are going to discuss the future of Global Anglicanism.

The spiritual vitality of the Anglican Communion is in Africa. The Anglican Churches in the Western world have been declining for the past forty years, while the churches in Africa have been growing.  It is only our misguided mindset of poverty that keeps us from seeing how rich we are in Uganda with the Gospel. We have been given much. And Jesus said, “To whom much has been given, much will be required.” We have been given the treasure of the Gospel, and much is now required of us globally as well as locally.

I am very proud of our Bishops, clergy, and lay leaders who have accepted this challenge to be global leaders of Christ-centred, Bible-based, and mission-driven Anglicanism.

Yesterday we celebrated the 122nd anniversary of the Martyrs of Uganda. The faith they died for is the faith we continue to proclaim and continue to believe is the hope for the world today and the future of global Anglicanism.

The Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi

ARCHBISHOP OF CHURCH OF UGANDA.