President Museveni has appealed to the Church to renew the fires and flames of evangelism in society so as to address the erosion of moral standards and integrity, flames, he said, are not burning vigorously today, as they did in the past.
The President made the remarks at the 29th Lango Diocesan Synod where he was represented by the Vice President, Jessica Alupo.
In his speech, the President gave a brief history of the Church of Uganda, in existence for 145 years noting that it had evangelized the Great lakes region while offering holistic ministry in a non-discriminatory manner to members and nonmembers. “The evangelization movement did not stop only at spreading the word of God, it became an instrument of civilization”, Museveni remarked. The President also applauded the existing partnership between the church and state as very critical to our country’s journey to the middle-income status. “We have to work together to eradicate poverty, combat diseases, fight corruption, and provide the country with a moral compass”, he added.
The President also made reference to the soon-to-be-launched Parish Development Model, as a “transformative intervention” that seeks to move 3.5 million households into the money economy and called for the Church’s support in realizing this.
The Diocesan synod whose theme this year was “in times like these” is held every two years and is composed of all Parish priests, Archdeaconry leaders, secondary school headteachers of the church of Uganda foundation body schools, Bishops, and other individuals nominated by the Bishop. The synod comprises eight (8) districts of the Lango Diocese. Among the nominees was
Health Minister, Ruth Aceng who is also the Woman MP-Lira district.
Speaking earlier, Bishop Prof Alfred Olwa appealed to Government to help in several development initiatives such as the All Saints University in Lango, completion of the mission center building-among others.
The President contributed UGX 30million towards the event.