How the church can bring unity and end division today. 

How the church can bring unity and end division today. 

  • The church can bring by indigenizing/ Africanizing the church i.e. it should allow and accept some African cultural practices to be practiced by Christians.
  • The church should emphasis equal treatment of all people in the church regardless of wealth, tribes, gender etc.
  • It should encourage total ecumenism/ unity among churches through having uniform scriptures and translation of the gospel.
  • The church should increase charity works in the main (mother) churches so that people with problems get help and settle in their churches.

The church should be gender sensitive in that, it should allow women to take activity roles in church affairs.  It should emphasize its teachings of equality and universality of the church under one body of the risen Christ.

  • The church should be dynamic in that it should conduct service for different people like the young, adult, aged etc.
  • It should put a standard church code for all churches so as to stop people from breaking away to form their own churches.
  • The church should put up social services like schools and hospitals to be enjoyed by all people regardless of their religions in order to bring unity.
  • The church should also strengthen the (UJCC) Uganda joint Christian council so as to bring unity among all Christian denomination.
  • The church should work hard to solve the social problems that Christians face like sickness, poverty, unemployment etc.
  • The church should work hard to solve the social problems that Christians face, pray for God’s intervations to bring unity and togetherness among Christians.
  • The church should address the issue of conflicts among Christians in times of trouble to avoid breaking away.
  • Church leaders should always listen to the complaints forwarded by the church members and find appropriate solution for them.
  • The church should call upon the government to put strict rule concerning the coming up of new churches that mislead people.
  • It should set up valuable economic projects which can help people to meet their economic spirations and demand.

The Church United

The Ecumenical Movement in East Africa

  • The word ecumenism refers to the efforts made by the church to bring the different Christian denominations together in order to archive great religious unity and co-operation.
  • Generally, ecumenism calls for world wide religious unity among Christians of different denominations. In East Africa, each of the three countries has an inter faith/ ecumenical body that show a certain degree of unity and co-operation.
  • In Uganda, there is the Uganda joint Christian council (UJCC). In Kenya, there is the National council of church in Kenya (NCCK), and in Tanzania, there is the Tanzania Episcopal conference (TEC).
  • In the whole world, there is the world council of churches, (WCC) which is the biggest ecumenical body and its aim is to bring Christian unity in the world.
The Uganda Joint Christian Council (Ujcc)
  • This is an interfaith / an ecumenical body in Uganda which unites three major churches/ Christian denominationsi.e. the Roman Catholic, orthodox and the Anglican Church.
  • It was established in 1963 after independence with the major aim of uniting Christians and improving the quality of life of Ugandans through harmonious co-existence.
Achievements/Activities Of Ujcc
  • It monitors and organizes joint fellowships at diocese and national levels.
  • It promotes joint celebration of some important events among the members e.g. the joint celebration of the day of the cross on Good Friday and the Uganda martyrs day every 3rd of June.
  • It calls for inter faith collaboration and partnership which even includes Moslems hence a peaceful coexistence.
  • It encourages frequent interaction among the three heads of Christians through prayer breakfast where they share expenses of their pastoral lives.
  • The UJCC has fought moral degeneration through condemning pornography, prostitution in the country.
  • The council also advocates for abstinence and being faithful (ABSTAIN) as the only ways of fighting against HIV/AIDS.
  • It has fought for the rights of women by contributing to the domestic relations bill and condemning the beating and mistreatment of women by their husbands.
  • It involved itself in the promotion of Teso-karamaja reconciliation as participated in the Teso animal’s recovery Programme of two tribes.
  • It has actively joined itself in providing social services to those in problems particularly to those in Northern Uganda i.e. the Kilyandongo refuges etc.
  • It participates in ensuring in free and fair elections through supervising elections and condemning election malpractices using mass media like radios, TVs and newspapers.
  • UJCC has taken part in training some of the religious leaders to get involved in the protection of human rights and good governance in the county.
  • It has called for peace in the country and it called upon all dioceses to come together and pray for peace during the kony war in Northern Uganda.
  • It has taken part in making of laws in parliament e.g. it contributed to the constitutional Amendment bill in 2005, referendum bill in 2004, homosexuality bill in 2015.
  • This body has also produced a joint Christian religions syllabus for secondary education.
  • Through the council, the joint prayer book has been produced and it is being used during the public prayer functions.
  • It has called upon government to avail the citizens with cheap health services to improve on their standards of living.
  • The council condemned and opposed the removal of the presidential terms limit hence contributing to the country’s democracy.

Failures of the Ujcc

  • The council has failed to end religious segregation and discrimination especial over employment in church founded institutions.
  • Today there are still schools and health centers that offer services to people basing on their religious denominations and the council has failed to end this.
  • The UJCCC has failed to stop sexual immorality in the society because there is a lot of prostitution, homosexuality and fornication etc among the Christians today.
  • Today, there is continued violation of human rights inform of prolonged imprisonment of people with out trial and the council has done nothing to end this.
  • Political unrest/ instability in Northern Uganda went on for over 20years with serious negative effects with out the intervention of the council.
  • Rigging of elections and other electoral injustices like arresting and imprisoning candidates have to take place despite the presence of UJCCC.
  • The council members themselves are divided in some issues e.g. the Catholic Church discourage the use of condoms ye the Anglican Church has no problem with condom use.
  • The karamajongs and the Itesotes have remained hostile to each other despite the reconciliatory efforts of the council.
  • The council has failed to fight corruption in parliament and in government which even contributed to the removal of the presidential terms limit and age limit.
  • The council has done nothing to resettle the displaced people in Northern Uganda and most of them are still wondering with no help.
  • It has failed to solve marriage conflicts and divorce among married couple. There are even disagreements in the church over gay marriages.

Question:

  1. To what extent has the UJCC achieved the aims and objectives of its foundation. (25 marks)
  2. To what extent has the UJCC tried to bring about unity among Christians in Uganda. (25 marks)

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