Ten per cent in church? Keep praying, African leader tells Sydney Anglicans

Webmaster | 29 April 2005

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Madeleine Collins

The head of one of the world’s fastest growing churches believes the conversion of 10 per cent of Sydney, or 400,000 people, can be easily achieved through prayer.

“These 400,000 people are loved by God,” says Archbishop Henry Orombi, Primate of Uganda’s eight million Anglicans.

“It’s a very small number, I don’t see any difficulty there. Persistent prayer is hard but it is so powerful.”

The Primate speaks from experience. Five years ago Uganda’s main theological college had 120 students. Now it is part of a larger university campus of 3000 and is still expanding. Every Sunday the Cathedral in the capital, Kampala, soars with the voices of 4000 churchgoers.

“I think we’ve discovered Christianity works and Christ can change lives,” he said. “Christianity builds onto Africa’s understanding of spirituality and our way of thinking and working together. It has streamlined it.”

In Sydney recently on his first holiday in two years, the former primary school teacher is one of 11 children of a Nile fisherman and a major player in the Anglican world’s new powerhouse – the Global South – a vocal coalition of conservative African, Asian and South American Primates.

Archbishop Orombi said long discussions with Sydney’s senior clergy during his break signals the start of a good relationship.

“We agree with where Sydney Diocese stands in terms of theological outlook and practice. We can work well together,” he said.
The Primate is in talks with Moore College to discuss sending some of his pastors to Sydney for training. He rejects the oft-said claim that African Christianity is ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’.

“I don’t think that’s true. People who become believers want to know how to walk with Jesus Christ,” he said. “The excitement of conversion doesn’t stay forever, so there is a need for leaders, including myself, to continue learning and understanding for their sake.”

Meanwhile relations with the Episcopal Church of the United States (ECUSA) and its counterpart in Canada are virtually non-existent.
Uganda severed ties with America and Canada following the 2003 consecration of an openly homosexual bishop in the US and same-sex blessings in Canada. In March both countries were asked to leave a key international Anglican body.

Despite official rebukes, the Archbishop, along with other African leaders, will not be silenced on the issue. Their message is simple: they want American and Canadian Anglicans to repent, not apologise.

“They have lost their way,” he said. “I can’t go to Frank Griswold, the Presiding Bishop of America, and hug him and say brother, praise the Lord. I know he’s not walking the way we should go.

“It is such a disservice to us. We received missionaries from those churches 100 years ago who proclaimed the gospel that is now being denied.”

A number of conservative US parishes have sought alternative Episcopal oversight from Uganda, a situation the Primate says is a temporary measure.

“[Griswold’s] kids are running away from him. He doesn’t want to stop and ask why they are running away. I am not interested in gathering Americans under my wings, I have too many already. But when they run away, I can’t close my ears and my eyes and pretend nothing is wrong.”

Sydney has signalled it is standing by the conservatives in Africa in their decision to oppose ECUSA. Bishop of Georges River Region Peter Tasker visited several provinces last year to begin talks.

The Primate welcomed the idea of Sydney Diocese joining the Global South, but warned that liberal Australian dioceses would find it difficult to cope with the ‘highly charged’ biblical nature of the meetings.

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