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Called by God but Ordained by Men: The Work and Ministry of Reverend Florence Spetume Njangali in the Church of the Province of Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2009

Christopher Byaruhanga
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Abstract

The controversy over the ordination of women as priests in the Church of the Province of Uganda has been going on for a long time. Today, there are a few women priests in a good number of dioceses in the Church of the Province of Uganda. But this revolution against the conservative order of male domination has not come without a price. Women who feel called by God to the ministry in the Church of the Province of Uganda are usually discriminated against even when they eventually become ordained. One wonders whether women are called by God but ordained by men. This article looks at the work and ministry of one of those women who opened the door to the ordination of women in the Church of the Province of Uganda. In her response to the challenges of the time, Njangali not only refused the old definitions of women’s involvement in church ministry but also guided the whole church to rethink and renew its leadership policy.

Keywords

culturedeaconfeministmothers’ unionordinationprovincesynodwomen’s ministry
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Anglican Studies , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , November 2010 , pp. 219 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust 2009

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Footnotes

1.

Christopher Byaruhanga is Professor of Historical Theology at Uganda Christian University.

References

2. For more information on this point see, Stimson, Eva (ed.), Together on the Holy Ground (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1999), p. 21Google Scholar.

3. Jewett, Paul K., Man as Male and Female: A Study in Sexual Relationships from a Theological Point of View (Grand Rapids: Eerdmanns Publications, 1975), pp. 162, 170Google Scholar.

4. Ann, Warren, Today’s Christian Women (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1984), pp. 17–18Google Scholar.

5. During Njangali’s childhood, there were four kingdoms in Uganda namely, Buganda, Bunyoro, Toro and Ankole.

6. Byaruhanga, Christopher, Bishop Alfred Robert Tucker and the Establishment of the African Anglican Church (Nairobi: WordAlive Publishers, 2008), pp. 144–145Google Scholar.

7. For more information on the role of the indigenous Christians in the evangelization of Uganda see, Pirouet, Louise, Black Evangelists: The Spread of Christianity in Uganda, 1891–1914 (London: Rex Collings, 1978)Google Scholar.

8. Concerning the religious beliefs of Miss M.B. Leakey see, ‘Duhaga Girls’ School Jubilee 1908–1958 Magazine’, pp. 4–7.

9. Concerning the religious beliefs of Miss E.H. Ainley see, ‘Duhaga Girls’ School Jubilee 1908–1958 Magazine’, pp. 5–9.

10. For a detailed record of the thirty students see, ‘Records of Students of 1942’, Uganda Christian University Archives.

11. A copy of Njangali’s Lay Reader’s License is in File LR 1/1944, Bunyoro-Kitara Diocesan Office.

12. One of the emphases of the East African revival movement is the equality of men and women before God in the revival fellowship meetings but not in formal church leadership. For more information on this point see, Osborn, H.H., Pioneers in the East African Revival (Winchester, UK: Apologia Publications, 2000), p. 266Google Scholar.

13. ‘1961 Constitution’, File IPS 226/16, Uganda Christian University Archives.

14. Amooti Katebalirwe, one of Njangali’s relatives, interviewed by the author, December 10, 2006.

15. Nasaka, Olivia, ‘From the Veranda to the Frontline’, Uganda Christian University Opportunity Issues Magazine 1 (May 1998), p. 22Google Scholar.

16. Njangali, Florence S., ‘Speech at the Pastors’ Retreat, 1978’, File 1978/BKD/05, Bunyoro-Kitara Diocesan Office.Google Scholar

17. As women were not allowed to be ordained as deacons even at the outcome of the ordination course, they were called ‘church commissioned workers’.

18. Njangali’s feminist theology is found in her notebook entitled ‘Itwena tuli omukisiisani kwa Ruhanga’ (We are all made in the image of God). This notebook which has no date is with Amooti Katebalirwe, one of Njangali’s relatives whom the author interviewed on December 10, 2006.

19. For detailed information on the two categories of feminist theology in Uganda see, Kwesiga, Joy C., ‘Is a Feminist a Valour or Villain?’, Arise, a Women’s Development Magazine 23 (January–April, 1998), pp. 27–28Google Scholar.

20. Mbiti, John S., African Religions and Philosophy (Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers, 2002), p. 133Google Scholar.

21. Gal. 3.28 says, ‘There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus’.

22. For a detailed account of the inter-denominational quarrels see, Byaruhanga, Christopher, Bishop Alfred Robert Tucker and the Establishment of the African Anglican Church (Nairobi: WordAlive Publishers, 2008), pp. 59–69Google Scholar.

23. Anglican Consultative Council, The Time Is Now: Anglican Consultative Council First Meeting Limuru, Kenya 23 February–5 March 1971 (London: SPCK, 1971), p. 39Google Scholar.

24. In 1971, the Synod of Hong Kong and Macao became the first Anglican Province to officially permit the ordination of women to the priesthood. In 1976, the Episcopal Church became the second province within the Anglican Communion to adopt canonical changes, formally allowing the ordination of women. The Anglican Church of Canada followed the Episcopal Church and ordained its first women on November 30, 1976 and New Zealand in 1977.

25. For the background information on Barbara Harris’s election to episcopate see, Darling, Pamela W., New Wine: The Story of Women Transforming Leadership and Power in the Episcopal Church (Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 1994)Google Scholar.

26. Wilson Turumanya, former Diocesan Secretary and Bishop of Bunyoro-Kitara, interviewed by the author, August 1, 2008.

27. For a detailed background on this point see, ‘Orubazo rw’Omurolerezi wa Bunyoro-Kitara’ (The Bishop’s Charge) in File BGC/1/197, Bunyoro-Kitara Diocesan Office 4.

28. The issues this paragraph highlights are not just for Uganda, but for other places in the Anglican Communion as well.

29. The first three women to be ordained priests are the Revd Canon Monica Sebidega, the Revd Canon Deborah Micungwa Rukara and the Revd Margaret Kizanye Byekwaso.