New Archbishop Kaziimba lists key mission priorities

What you need to know:

By the time his stewardship of the Anglican Church ends in August 2027, Archbishop Kaziimba expects a change in the way the boy-child is treated and behaves.

The Anglican faithful in Uganda today witness the enthronement of Steven Kaziimba Mugalu as the ninth archbishop of the Province of the Church of Uganda.
The enthronement at St Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe in Kampala will be presided over by the Rt Rev Jackson Nzerebende Tembo, the Dean of the Province, who is the longest serving bishop.

But anchoring the new archbishop’s pastoral mission will be three ‘Hs’, his catchwords for the head, the heart, and the hand.
“Our main focus will be the conversion of the head, heart and the hand. Conversion of the head will focus on the mind-set, education and attitudes. For the heart, as we read in Jeremiah 17:9, ‘the heart is so deceitful and it has fallen sick, who can heal it.’ The heart must be converted. Conversion of the heart is about our spiritual lives, and emotions. The political controversies we see and hear are all about the head and the heart,” he says.

“Conversion of the hand is about action, socialisation, work and doing things. The hand must work, you shouldn’t expect free things. Paul says in 2nd Thessalonians 3:10: ‘he who doesn’t work shouldn’t eat either’, we are blessed by eating the things that come from our hands. This is the message I am bringing to Ugandans.”

Vision for the boy-child
By the time his stewardship of the Anglican Church ends in August 2027, Archbishop Kaziimba expects a change in the way the boy-child is treated and behaves.
“I would like to see more attention given to the boy-child. As they grow into men, they are running away from their responsibilities. And women are taking over. According to the scriptures, leadership was given to Adam, though in Genesis 3, Adam ran away from his position,” he says.

Championing health, education
Health and education are other areas where Kaziimba wants both the Church and the State to give priority. The Church Missionary Society (CMS) pioneered both formal education and western medicine. In his pastoral reign, Archbishop Kaziimba wants to see a sustained improvement in the two fields that were introduced to present day Uganda by the Anglican church missionaries.
“I would like to see an educated nation. Our children should have education that is relevant to both the country and the church.”

On health, the archbishop draws from John 10:10, which in part says: “….I came that they may have life and have it in abundance.”
It is at this point that he appeals to the government and medical practitioners to play their role in ensuring the good health of the nation.
Kaziimba appeals to Christians to be humanely.
“I will pay special attention to building humanism in humans. We have educated humans without humanism. Corruption is high simply because people have no humanism in them.”
“For the love of money is the source of evil,” says the archbishop, quoting the Bible. But he is also quick to add that the absence of money is another source of evil. It is against these two statements that Kaziimba is looking forward to be prosperous as archbishop.
“People should have money, I need to see people work. I am going to launch business evangelism. This is about the soul and the lost coin. Putting this into a business perspective is my ministry; we are looking for the lost sheep. The lost sheep represents the lost people. But you need the lost coin to facilitate you look for the lost sheep. I am a marketer of Jesus, I will market Jesus and other products to bring money to the church and other people.”

Politics and peace
The archbishop comes in at a time when electioneering is taking centre stage. Tense moments are expected ahead, and many are going to be looking up to the church leaders.
“We’re going into politics. Human beings are political. Politics is an organised way of managing people. The way we handle it is what destroys us. I want to call upon Ugandans to be peaceful, regardless of our political party affiliation, tribe or religion. We are all Ugandans,” he counsels.

Dioceses of CoU
Ankole
Bukedi
Bunyoro – Kitara
Busoga
Central Buganda
Central Busoga
East Ruwenzori
Kampala
Karamoja
Kigezi
Kinkiizi
Kitgum
Kumi
Lango
Luweero
Madi West Nile
Masindi-Kitara
Mbale
Mityana
Muhabura
Mukono
Namirembe
Nebbi
North Ankole
North Karamoja
North Kigezi
North Mbale
Northern Uganda
Northwest Ankole
Ruwenzori
Sebei
Soroti
South Ankole
South Rwenzori
West Ankole
West Buganda