Note: Reverend Eric Noel serves as one of the curates at St. James Cathedral in the Ruharo neighborhood of Mbarara municipality (southwestern Uganda). After graduating with a Master of Divinity in 2015 from Uganda Christian University Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology, he was posted to the country’s western Ibanda district where he served for one year before he was transferred to St. James Cathedral, which has an estimated congregation of 2,000. Similar to most churches, more women attend St. James Cathedral than men.  Ages vary among four Sunday services that include a children’s service, two youth services (attracting urban youth, including neighboring university students) and a service for the elderly that is conducted in Lunyankole, the native language of Mbarara. Recently, UCU Partners spoke with Rev. Noel to learn about his priestly experience. Part of his story is shared below.

By Brendah Ndagire

How did you come to study at the Uganda Christian University (UCU) Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology?
I started out as a primary school teacher within Uganda’s education system, and as a simple small-scale farmer. My career trajectory was very different from other theology students UCU. Many students joined UCU when they had served in the church for a long time, including as lay leaders. They came with Biblical interpretation knowledge and experience. But for me, I began with teaching and farming, with limited Bible interpretation skills. However, it is not surprising that most teachers in Uganda end up becoming church leaders, because teachers can do practically anything.

How did UCU prepare you for your priestly role?
UCU prepared me very well. The knowledge and experiences I was exposed to were very important for the work I am doing at St. James Cathedral. It is interesting to look back and recognize that the moment I was ordained, God opened up a door for ministry in Ibanda and now here in Ruharo.

What theology class stood out for you?
Biblical Interpretation and Church History. Everything was very new to me, and it was fascinating to learn how to interpret the Bible, and to know how the Church started and grew into a very powerful institution globally.

What scripture defines your work?
John 3:16, which states, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” At St. James Cathedral, we make it clear that it is upon people to choose life, and live, and that to not do so, they perish.

What about a scripture that defines you as a person?
I love the scripture where God says, “Let us create man in our own image…”, it has taught me to really love myself because I am the real image of God. I never used to love myself, as a dark-skinned man. But when I started to think about that particular verse in the Bible, and knowledge that I am made in the image of God, I learned to love myself.

How many other churches within the area are Anglican?
There are many Churches of different denominations, but for administrative purposes, St. James’ Cathedral as a parish has four other daughter Churches affiliated to the main parish Church, and we have nearby parishes such as Kyamugolani, All Saints Church in the center of the town, and others. There are more Churches in rural areas that are a part of St. James Cathedral as a deanery. It is called a deanery because it is a center with the seat of the Bishop.

What is it like for you to minister to the congregation in this community?
In an urban setting, it can be challenging because of time management. Since we have four services every Sunday, we feel like we are rushing the service to prepare and get to another service. Secondly, people in the urban setting are transient, and this presents a challenge when it comes to pastoral visits. Sometimes, I can go to what I believe is someone’s house, and I find that she or he moved to another neighborhood.

What do you find rewarding about your role?
I served the government for 20 years as a primary teacher and head teacher in the public education system. The money I was earning there was greater than the money I was going to make in the church setting. My desire and intention has always been to serve the Lord regardless of income. Ultimately, whatever remuneration I get, I am grateful to God.

Do you have any other economic activity apart from your spiritual role?
I am a farmer as well. However my farm is located away from Mbarara municipality, and that brings certain challenges of supervision, and monitoring. I have coffee, banana, and tree plantations. That is something I have always done while I was teaching as well since 1995. I am doing really well especially when I enjoy the fruits of my farming labor.

What is the most difficult part of being a priest in this community?
Moving from one parish to another really affects building relationships, community, children and the priest’s family life. Moving impacts children’s education performance. Sometimes moving to new parishes makes it difficult for a priest to have a “home.” This may be challenging especially when we are thinking about retiring.

What is your biggest reward serving the Lord?
As He says, those who love Me, I also love them. When we pray and commune with God we understand serving the Lord, brings peace; loving Him promises eternal life; then, I know my greatest reward is in Heaven.

Thinking about the local Church in Uganda, what do you think is the biggest challenge facing the Church in Uganda?
False teachings within different Churches. People have developed ideas on how they can squeeze money from poor people. Since our people are faced with many economic and social problems, bad people take advantage of that situation to get money from poor and underclass people. With so much unemployment among Ugandan youths, some Church leaders declare to them that, “now is the time you are going to get employed, or to go overseas on a plane.” With those false and empty promises, many young people and adults leave authentic Church spaces for prosperity Churches. Such promises have dire consequences, including suffering and human trafficking.

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More information about Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity at Uganda Christian University can be obtained at: http://ucu.ac.ug/bishop-tucker-school-of-theology.

To support UCU Theology students, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.orgor donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/

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 Note: This story is part of a series designed to communicate the life of priests in Uganda. One such priest is the Rev. Tomson Abaho Kankuba, who has been working since 2017 as curate (assistant to the dean) at St. James Cathedral Ruharo in the western Uganda Ankole Diocese. In 2014, he graduated from Uganda Christian University (UCU) with a Master of Divinity degree and was ordained, accepting a post at All Saints Cathedral in Mbarara Municipality. The UCU Partners Clergy Scholarship Fund supports students like Rev. Tomson at Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity. This interview is edited for clarification.

By Brendah Ndagire

How did you get drawn into Church ministry?
I grew up in the church and in a Christian home. My father is a retired priest. My brother and I got drawn to Church ministry because of the experiences we observed our father go through as a priest in this diocese. As a child I observed that his life as a priest was quite tough because of the environment we lived in. For example, he used to ride bicycles long distances for about 40 up to 50 kilometers (25 to 31 miles) to do pastoral visits or go to Church. This was hard a time. Today, the services have been brought closer to people. Priests these days travel shorter distances to go to church and preach the gospel to the people.

What did you do before you became a priest?
I was a primary teacher, teaching English and music. I have a bachelor’s degree in education.

Share with us about your experience working at St. James’ Cathedral in Ruharo.
I have liked being part of St. James’ Cathedral. Each one of us is gifted differently. I love teaching, counseling, preaching, and children’s ministry. And I have been given the opportunity to do what I am passionate about as a priest.

What is it like to move around ministering to people in the community?
The pastoral work here in the urban setting is interesting. Because most people are employed, to visit them, you have to make an appointment or visit them over the weekends. For old or sick people, you have to organize to meet them at their homes, to pray with them and offer them sacraments, take Holy Communion, and share and comfort them. You have to be very flexible in time for ministering.

What do you see as the most rewarding aspect of your role?
People accepting Christ. It gives me joy when I preach, counsel, and when I teach and someone fully realizes that Christ truly saves. It gives me comfort and peace in my heart. The joy it gives me when someone accepts Christ feels like that of a football player scoring a goal.

Outside of the Church’s salary, do you have another source of income?
For priests who serve within the urban setting, we do not have enough time to do anything outside of our Church work. Time is generally limited. By 7:30 in the morning, I am expected to be here at my office and leave around 6 p.m. from Monday to Sunday. It is impossible to think about having another source of income through business or farming. The other challenge is limited access to land where a priest can farm within an urban setting. We cannot do large-scale commercial farming.

What is a scripture that defines your work?
1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God.” In all I do, I love to humble myself. In we all we do, we need to be humbled whether in simple or big experiences. When you humble yourself, God lifts you higher.

What is a scripture that defines you as a person?
Psalm 139 describes how God knows me in and out. It shows that there is no single thing about me that God does not know. He knows me. And that is important for me to recognize because He knows me, He plans our work, and I am follower of Christ because He knows me. As Jeremiah says, “He formed us in our mother’s wombs, and knows every single hair on our heads.” I find that powerful.

What is the most difficult part of being a priest?
In ministry, you can’t completely know the people you are leading. It is challenging to lead people you do not truly know. For example, it is difficult to observe Christians fighting, some cheating, causing conflicts, and Church leaders who are not exemplary to their flocks. Secondly, the general lack of financial resources to run day-to-day Church activities. But amidst of all this, we are still standing and God is faithful.

How did UCU prepare you for your priestly job?
The education I attained from UCU is very important because the people we are serving and leading are highly educated. Sometimes, the “pews are higher than the pulpits.” This means that you stand from the pulpit and recognize the congregation is challenging you. The education I acquired from UCU has equipped me so well to fit in a community where we can reason together, we can share experiences and when I am interpreting the Bible, it feels good to know I am doing it with people who are also Biblically knowledgeable. The urban setting has so many people who are very educated, some are teachers, while others, students in universities. The education priests get at UCU helps them to match the knowledge of the congregants.

How was that experience for you?
Before UCU, I had the experience of serving in my local church as lay leader/chaplain and had training in chaplaincy. When I joined, it was starting afresh to learn more about theology, theory and practice. And the great aspect of being a student was learning how to engage with people in the field. The practice of theology is different from the theoretical aspect of it.

The local Church in Uganda usually faces many challenges. What do you think are challenges facing the local Church in Ankole Diocese?
Leadership in government and politics has generally influenced the leadership in our Church in some way. The Church and the government are inseparable. Most people do not recognize that but the government cannot exist without the Church, and the reverse also can be said. And we have to work together to transform our communities. But we have seen that politicians come to Church and use their money to influence the Church. That breeds corruption because many people are money oriented. It also shuts down dialogue because Church leaders are not expected to speak on political or government related issues.

The second challenge is these mushrooming Churches. There are so many “prophets, and prophetesses” forming churches in Mbarara. And people are following them without finding out where they are trained, how they are grounded in theology. Many of our congregants divert to these churches because they promise them riches.

What opportunities do you see that the local Church can seize to transform its community?
Training priests. When we train them, they will know what to do. Human resource is a good tool we can use to transform the Church, community, and nation at large. Education also is a powerful and transformative tool. Priests need to be educated and grounded in good theology so that they can teach, preach, and interpret the Bible. From there, people will be able to convert and know what to believe, and our society will change, and we will have a strong Church in Ankole diocese.

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More information about Bishop Tucker School of Theology and Divinity at Uganda Christian University can be obtained at: http://ucu.ac.ug/bishop-tucker-school-of-theology. To support UCU and her sister Universities’ clergies, contact Mark Bartels, executive director, UCU Partners, at m.t.bartels@ugandapartners.org or donate directly at: https://www.ugandapartners.org/donate/

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