Ugandans Receive St. Augustine's Cross
Episcopal News Service. December 17, 1981 [81330]
LONDON -- Three Ugandan clergymen received the St. Augustine's Cross from the Archbishop of Canterbury at the start of a month-long evangelistic mission in England recently.
In presenting the Cross to the Ugandans, Archbishop Robert Runcie stated that he awards the medal infrequently and only to those who have done something very significant for the Anglican Communion.
He gave the St. Augustine's Cross to the Rt. Rev. Festo Kivengere, the Rt. Rev. Misaeri Kauma and the Rev. John E.H. Wilson for their contribution of "outstanding work to the worldwide Anglican Church."
The presentation took place during a commissioning service at Lambeth Palace, London residence of the Archbishop in England, for the clergymen as they began their "From Uganda With Love" mission.
The Ugandan clergymen spent three weeks preaching every night in churches and cathedrals packed with English men and women who came to hear a "Gospel message of love and hope from men whose very lives demonstrate those qualities in the midst of years of terror and devastation in their own homeland."
Daytime meetings were held with English clergy in each of the towns.
In an editorial column, one of the Christian weekly newspapers in London noted: "Christians in Uganda have learned what the Cross of Christ is all about -- reconciliation between God and man, leading to reconciliation between man and man. Now we should be praying that they will be able to teach it to us."
The Ugandans described the groups to which they spoke as "lively, attentive, responsive and committed to the Lord as evidenced by the enthusiasm with which they sang the hymns of the Church."
They were impressed by the fact that the "Lord is penetrating to the heart of a church" that they characterized as "encrusted for centuries by layers of tradition."
Highlights of the mission included a two-day conference at Lee Abbey with 200 in attendance, a weekend in Kendall where each Ugandan clergyman preached at two churches -- all packed to capacity -- and a meeting in Sheffield which was attended by 1,600 at the cathedral there.