Archbishop Ntagali: We shall not compromise on homosexuality

WEST NILE. Church of Uganda Archbishop Stanley Ntagali has said the Church of Uganda will not compromise on homosexuality, urging pastors to stand for truthful biblical teachings.

“As Church of Uganda, we shall continue to uphold marriage between a man and woman. We should preach the gospel uncompromisingly. Stand for the biblical truth,” Archbishop Ntagali said yesterday during Centenary celebrations of the Anglican faith in Arua District.
Thousands of Christians flocked Ezuku Primary School playground where the first inland missionaries established a church to spread the faith.
The celebrations were marked under the theme: “On this Rock, I will build my church.” Archbishop Ntagali also rallied Christians to use the celebrations to forgive each other.

“Consecrate yourselves because many still live in sin. Those who killed [Arua Municipality MP Ibrahim]Abiriga should return and repent. This centenary should be used to be for the Christians to ask for forgiveness. Do not begin second centenary with enmity,” he added.

Abiriga and his brother Saidi Buga Kongo were shot dead a few metres from their home in Kawanda near Kampala by unknown assailants on June 8.
Archbishop Ntagali advised parents to nurture their children in love and faith without practising double standard faith.
He lashed out at some pastors whom he said are now changing the context of the Bible.
Bishop of Madi and West Nile Diocese Charles Collins Andaku said Christians need to contribute to the growth of the faith by implementing the five-year development plan of the diocese.

There are more than 700 churches and 700,000 Christians in the diocese.
“From the church, we now have two dioceses with close to a million Christians. This is appreciative. People have been nurtured by the works of the missionaries. God has done tremendous things to the people of West Nile where we had two Archbishops,” Bishop Andaku said.
The Archbishops are Silvanus Wani (RIP), 1977-1984 and Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi who served from 2003 to 2012.

He expressed gratitude to God for the first 100 years of the Anglican Church in West Nile, saying the seed which the first missionary to the sub-region, Frank Gardner, planted in June 1918 at a place called Ovisoni has grown into a tall, strong and resilient tree which has weathered all sorts of storms, including the wars that swept across West Nile from 1979 to 1985.
Ovisoni in Lugbara means “struck by lightning” which is comparable to what happened to the Church of Uganda on February 16, 1977, when Archbishop Janani Luwum was killed.

While representing President Museveni, the State Minister of Finance, Mr Gabriel Ajedra Aridru, called for co-existence with other denominations and urged Christians to be agents of change in promoting development.
“There should be continued good leadership of God’s flock from the time the church missionaries came. This centenary helps us to evaluate how far we have done in evangelism and this demonstrates how far it is still to go,” Mr Aridru said.

Boycott

Archbishop Ntagali has been vocal against the practice of homosexuality. In 2016, the Church of Uganda in 2016 boycotted a top Anglican Church summit in the Zambian capital Lusaka over failure by the top church leadership in Canterbury to disassociate itself from the practice.

[email protected]