The Archbishop of Uganda comes to Denton, Texas.

Sunday, the former Archbishop and Primate of Uganda, the Most Rev. Livingstone Nkoyoyo, came to St. David’s. It was an excellent time.

He gave a fun but to the point sermon. He talked some about the Anglican church of Uganda. He mentioned that most priests have several parishes. So the typical parishioner gets communion only three or four times a year.

He talked of Ugandan Anglicans being a laughingstock and being stuck with the label of supporting immorality because of the actions of the Episcopal Church U.S.A. He said this with a sense of humor and without any bitterness. But he made clear it’s a hard label to shake off. ECUSA actions are more than a trivial hindrance to the church’s witness.

But he said the Anglican church in Uganda is growing anyway, and not because of TV evangelists. “We don’t have those.” It’s because of lay Christians doing evangelism. He said the laity is in a better position to do everyday evangelism than the clergy.

Then he told of his own conversion. He said his father kicked him out of the house because he was “a naughty boy.” Eventually, he found a job at an auto shop. Well, a band of people came around the shop to preach. And they kept coming back. And although he was unresponsive at first, God used the lay evangelists to break through. He became a Christian. Not long afterward he was called to ministry while doing a realignment job.

He used his experience and that of the church in Uganda to emphatically tell us that we, the laity, are the ones to do evangelism. Christianity is not a private thing.

He then briefly told us about his orphanage and its work. The need is great – Uganda has two millions orphans due to the AIDs pandemic.

Here’s a news story about ++Nkoyoyo and his orphanage from his visit to Montana. You can also contact the ministry though chainfoundation@yahoo.com.

By the way, his favorite phrase is “Praise the Lord for that one.” And his tat was quite impressive although I don’t have the Anglican vocabulary yet to describe it well.

The archbishop then confirmed a good number of people. Yes, I’m jealous. ;^)

He stayed a long time afterwards, taking with people. And I enjoyed talking with people myself, including a fellow DBC’er who got confirmed and a longtime reader of this blog.

The rector and I agreed – it was a great Sunday.