Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Kaziimba delivered a powerful speech at his enthronement as the 9th archbishop of the Church of Uganda, in which he re-affirmed his commitment to Jesus Christ and pledged to uphold the teaching of scripture and not be swayed by pressure from the West.
Kaziimba described his enthronement as testimony that Jesus Christ works judging by his very humble beginning. He re-affirmed his commitment to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“My conviction is that everything that I do and say should make Christ be known. I want us to focus on making Christ known in the power of the Holy Spirit,” said Kazimba, whose history of strict adherence to the teaching of the bible and persuading people to embrace Christ is legendary.
The colourful ceremony took place at St. Paul Cathedral at Namirembe hill in Kampala, and was attended the top government leadership including President Yoweri Museveni and his wife Janet Museveni, the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, The Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Leader of Opposition Betty Aol Ochan and several ministers.
The ceremony was also witnessed by cultural leaders from Buganda Kingdom including Katikkiro Charles Mayiga and Buganda queen Nabagereka Sylvia Nagginda, leaders of other religious denominations including Catholics, Muslims, orthodox Christians and thousands of christians from across Uganda and beyond.
11 Archbishops and 30 Bishops from across the world, 39 active Bishops under CoU and their retired colleagues witnessed the historic occasion.
Marriage God’s Way
In a crystal clear and loud voice, Kaziimba affirmed that during his term the Church of Uganda was not going to tolerate homosexual relationships and abortion, which he considered as deviations from the teaching of the bible.
“We shall continue supporting the lifelong exclusive bond between one man and one woman,” said Kaziimba, before he urged couples to that are still cohabiting to put their marriages before God.
Opposed abortion
While reiterating his belief in family planning, Kaziimba said that under his leadership the church will not support abortion.
He took swipes at the United Nations agencies whom he described as pressure intended to influence Christians to accept abortion and homosexuality.
While praising his predecessors, Kaziimba pledged to carry forward the vision and mission of the Church of Uganda including implementing the Church’s 2020-25 Strategic plan.
Kazimba also outlined his own vision in which he said his ministry will revolve around creating a holistic transformation of the Head, the Heart and the Hand.
He explained that transformation of the head means bringing about mindset changes for people to accept Jesus as saviour.
Finding a lost coin and lost sheep
He also committed to take forward his business evangelism with its focus on establishing income-generating projects for the Church, as the first and important step of attracting people towards the Church.
