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Reflections on Safari in Uganda

Diocesan Press Service. March 8, 1965 [XXX-8]

By Ralph Dean, Executive Officer, Anglican Communion

A thousand-mile safari in Uganda such as the Archbishop of the Province planned for me provides almost enough material for a book, but that will have to wait. Instead, let me share some reflections about the Church in Uganda, present and future, which crystallized in my mind as I thought about all I saw and heard and sensed. That they are not authoritative, and that they are subject to revision by those who know much more than I do is obvious, so let no one think my thoughts claim to be oracular.

Perhaps the theme was given to me when on the morning of my first day in Uganda I knelt beside the Archbishop at a celebration of the Holy Communion in the chapel of his Cathedral - so breathtakingly situated on one of the hills which dominate Kampala. The crimson frontal which adorned the Holy Table had the following words embroidered on it in gold: EGGYE EDDUNGI ERY' ABAJULRWA BAKUTENDEREZA. That is the Luganda version of the phrase in the Te Deum which reads "The noble army of martyrs praise Thee". My mind went back to the martyrdom of Bishop Hannington in 1885 and of the native martyrs, both Anglican and Roman Catholic, who died between 1885/7 as a result of their witness to Christ. Kneeling a few feet away from us was the devout and charming lady, Her Highness the wife of the present Kabaka, who is also the President of Uganda. It was in the lifetime of the Kabaka's grandfather that these martyrdoms took place I So one was close to the source of history, and made vividly aware once again that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church". I saw at first hand the fruit of Christian living and Christian witness that was born of that seed.

Would such days of martyrdom ever come again in Uganda? I pondered such thoughts all the time I was on safari. Possibly in the sense of the giving up of life they will not. But since the word for martyr springs from the same root as that for witness, they will come again and indeed are already inevitably present.

The Church in Uganda is bearing witness now. It will inevitably have to bear its witness in tense and difficult days in the more-or-less immediate future. It will not be easy, and it ought now to be the subject of our prayers. The days of special difficulty, calling for special witness, will certainly come when the Archbishop's resignation takes place in November of this year. No one outside of Uganda has the right to pass Judgment on the Archbishop's decision. He feels strongly that the time has come for the Church in Uganda to be led by a Ugandan. He feels that this is the opportune moment while things are going well, so that his successor may have a time of settled peace in and outside the Church in which to get into the saddle. Certainly the vast percentage of Christians in Uganda do not wish the Archbishop to resign, and are sad that he feels it to be his duty to do so. Certainly this has been no easy decision for the Archbishop to make. Yet, as he would be the first to admit, it does present real problems for the Church.

How far will tribal rivalries affect the choice of his successor? No doubt the African bishops, and many of the clergy and people, are freed from such rivalries, but that they do exist is obvious, nor need we be surprised at that. We in the West are not entirely free of tribalism, even though it may take different forms with us. But that the Church in Uganda stands in special need of the prayers of us all in these critical days was a fact burned in on my mind as I travelled around.

Furthermore the new Archbishop, whomsoever he may be, will be faced with the most difficult situations. One is a painful virtual schism in one diocese. Another is the place the Church will take in the future educational plans of the Government of Uganda. Most church schools have been taken over by the Government, even though the Church still has much say in the provision of teachers. But it is entirely within the rights of the Government to move teachers around, and there could well be Muslim or other non-Christian teachers in schools in the future. It will call for a different kind of campaign on the part of the Church. One expatriate missionary told me he thought the emphasis will have to move from the school to the home as the most effective locus for Christian teaching. Despite the fact that it is Christian teachers rather than church buildings that really make Christian schools, and that this opportunity is still present, it seems as if the missionary is right. It is not an easy adjustment to make. It will demand clear and thoughtful witness on the part of the Church. Another problem which will face the new Archbishop is that of leading his people in the direction of interdependence with the West, rather than of dependence upon it. Despite our best efforts, we have sometimes acted in a way that has tended towards pauperization of the local church. So the problem is as real for us as it is for the Church of Uganda itself. In a proudly independent nation, the overriding image of the Church should not be that of a dependency, even though both Government and Church still need, must have, and if it is properly done, will welcome outside aid. We all need a greater sensitivity to our responsibilities and our situations, and we in the West need this no less, and probably more, than the Christians in Uganda.

Our prayers will be one-sided if they do not include deep thanksgiving to God for the years of service and patient humble leadership which the Archbishop has given, with no regard to his own health or comfort. Witness has been born. It still is. It will need to continue, and be even stronger and clearer, and to that we all are called.

Editors Note

Bishop Dean's column will come to you regularly, through the courtesy of the Canadian Churchman beginning with this the April edition. Also enclosed is a photograph of Bishop Dean in case you want to use it.