|
Church of Uganda commissions a $10 million project
Episcopal News Service
Issue:
Section:
2003-025-7
Posted: Thursday, February 06, 2003
|
The Church of Uganda has commissioned a $10 million project expected to guarantee the welfare of Christians and clergy of the Church. Until now, church workers in Uganda have had to retire without any pension or retirement benefits. The president of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, who was also the chief guest at a gathering that brought together civic, political and religious personalities, contributed $170,000 towards the project.
During his talk at the ground-breaking ceremonies, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Livingstone Mpalanyi-Nkoyoyo, called for the unity of all God's people as they work on various projects such as the new Church House.
Drawing from the sad history of the murder of his predecessor, Archbishop Janani Luwum, who laid the foundation stone of the Church House in 1977 to mark 100 years of Christianity in Uganda, Nkoyoyo said, 'Janani was a remarkable servant of God. His humility grew as he recognized and responded to the darkness through which his people were travelling in those days.'
Janani devised the Church House project as a way for Christians to respond to the world. 'This was meant to serve as a symbol of our unity,' said Nkoyoyo, 'as we face what [former] Archbishop Carey has wisely called, the 'nitty-gritty changes and chances' of this fleeting world.'
Nkoyoyo also recalled Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' words in an essay on 'Different Christs.' ''In the Church,' Williams said, 'There is a strong temptation to draw lines in the sand and regard those who disagree with us as beyond the pale.''
'But this is not the Christ who calls us,' Nkoyoyo said. 'The Christ who calls us instructs us to love our enemies, and, as Archbishop Williams says, '...to love even what may seem the pale shadow of his face in other people's minds, because compared with the light of his glory all our thoughts are shadows.''
|
|
|
|
| © 2004, The Episcopal Church, USA. Episcopal News Service content may be reprinted without permission as long as credit is given to ENS. |
|
|
|
