By Douglas Olum
In the heart of Gulu town, about 360 kilometers (224 miles) north of Uganda’s Capital, Kampala, stands Christ Church, an Anglican Church under Christ Church Parish in Gulu Municipality. Every Sunday, the quadrangular-shaped, brick-and-mortar-walled, flappy-winged and over 2,000-seater, blue and cream painted Church runs three services. With the first starting as early as 6:30 a.m., the services are conducted in Acholi (the dominant language in the area), English and Acholi again, respectively.
Key among the activities during the services, is a collection to support the clergy. Christians donate foods, household materials as well as cash to support the priests and their families.
But on Sunday, September 29, this northern Uganda Church joined other churches across the country for the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Sunday, Christ Church sacrificed its session for collecting funds and materials for supporting their clergy to be used for collection of funds to support the university. In addition to money, among the gifts were ripe bananas, bar soap, powder soap, sugar, maize flour, rubber floor dryer, hard brush and trays of eggs.
The UCU Sunday is an annual day declared by the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Uganda in 2017 to raise awareness about the university among Christians in all Anglican Churches in Uganda and collect funds to support its operations and training of clergy.
Unlike in other churches where the collections are not immediately disclosed to the congregation, Christ Church announced its collections for the UCU Sunday before the end of each service with a total after the third service.
About 1.1 million Ugandan shillings ($300) were collected through the three services, with the first service raising 510,000 UGX, the second raising 405,100 UGX, and the third 178,700 UGX.
Rev. Godfrey Loum, the Deacon of Christ Church, said it is important that Christians support UCU because some of the funds are used to train clergymen and women like him and his colleagues.
While preaching during the services, Rev. Canon William Matuwa Ezekiah, told the Christians that while there are many universities in the country, UCU desires to train and equip students with integrity and other values that enable them positively impact both on their communities and the country.
One example of UCU graduate honesty provided to the Gulu church congregation involved a West Nile region organization that was corrupted through money-skimming by 15 graduates of other universities. When these 15 were replaced by UCU alumni, the organization regained strength and thrived. The main message delivered was: In an economically poor country suffocating from greed and corruption like Uganda, integrity and servanthood that form part of the UCU core values are key to development.
This year’s UCU Sunday services were conducted under the theme: Higher education for a Godly legacy.
David Mukiibi, the head of Ushery at Christ Church, said as a Christian, he feels proud to support the university because he knows that his money will be going towards the continuity of the Church. Mukiibi however, encouraged the university to put the collection to good use and also give accountability for that use to the contributors.
“UCU Sunday is a very good idea that will receive even more support from Christians if the university accounts for how our collections are used,” he said. “They also need to write a letter of appreciation to the Christians, not the church administration, when they receive the money. That will motivate people to give more.”
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For Americans and others outside of Uganda wishing to contribute for UCU Sunday, go to
https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/ and indicate “UCU Sunday” in the special instructions/comment box that is part of the on-line form, or send a check in the mail (Uganda Partners, P.O. Box 114, Sewickley, Pa. 15143) payable to UCU Partners with instructions for the UCU Sunday designation.