Kaziimba opens St. Andrew's Church

Nov 24, 2019

“Many people used to joke on social media that they will love their partners till St Andrew’s Bukoto is finished; now we are worried that their relationships are going to end because we have finished the Lord’s house."

Outgoing Archbishop Stanley Ntagali and in-coming archbishop Stephen Kaziimba at the opening of the church. Photos by Eddie Ssejjoba

After decades of fundraising, construction of St Andrew's Anglican Church in Bukoto, Kampala has been completed.

 The cake

The church opened its doors to Christians today. The two-floor church, which was constructed using internally-generated funds, will be a 2,000-seater sanctuary, with parking for over 300 cars.

 

The church was commissioned by His grace Stanley Ntagali, the outgoing Archbishop, at 8:30 am. The Archbishop-elect, Stephen Kaziimba, was the preacher of the day. 

 The band

When the original church stretched to its limits on all sides to accommodate the rising number of congregants, a needs assessment was carried out and the idea of a new cathedral building, worth sh1b, was mooted.

 

"In 1957, a church nicknamed Kiyovu was erected, but due to its elephantiasis-like shape, Christians decided to pray under a mango tree in protest.

 

With the help of the Rev. Ddumba from Makerere, the current children's church was set up. Unfortunately, by the time of its completion in the late 70s, the church was too small for the growing congregation, hence plans to get a new building," said James Tebandeke, the vicar's warden.

 

Tebandeke also noted that the idea was pushed by Can. Kaiso and late Kagolo and he vividly recalls the day the old church was demolished.

 

Speaking about the church project, James Wasula, the chairman of the building committee, uses words such as magnificent, amazing and miraculous in reference to the new church.

 

"Many people used to joke on social media that they will love their partners till St Andrew's Bukoto is finished; now we are worried that their relationships are going to end because we have finished the Lord's house.

 

This is another milestone in the history of the Anglican Church in Uganda," said Wasula.

 

"Trust in God in everything you do. When we had just started building, we were served with a letter from Kampala Capital City Authority, saying we should not drain water into their channel.

 

The money we had collected for the construction had to be diverted to start with the compound.

alt=''

 

One day, as the vicar was driving in, he stopped and requested the Chinese who were constructing the road to come and grade the church's compound, the Chinese graded the compound at no cost, we were able to save sh50m," noted Wasula.

 

The project, estimated to have cost over sh1b, will house youth offices, a children's centre and administration offices.

 

The church has a chapel where Christians will go and pray quietly. It also has a built-in baptism area. "We thank God for this far we have come. Ever since we started the building project, we have seen miracles happen, people have been so generous," said Rev. Patricia Lyaki, the Vicar.

 

She said they decided to build the church's roof in the shape of an episcopal mitre because authority starts from the head to the congregation.

 

"The unique design of the church shows the authority that comes from our spiritual father. Once the head is covered, that is salvation being preached. The helmet on the head means protection, so we are protected by God," Lyaki said.

 

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});