Anglican churches in Nigeria and Uganda have, through history, stood for biblical truth and principle and been at the forefront of action for justice, peace and equality.
They have transformed their societies, especially the relationships of men and women. One African Anglican archbishop told me recently: ‘Defenders of polygamous families have never lived in one’. The church was also at the forefront of developing democracy in African societies, often in opposition to the ruling colonial powers and their national successors.
Treating the poor differently
The Ugandan church knows the price of opposing unjust and powerful people. Every year on June 3 the church recalls the martyr-doms, between 1885 and 1887, of young page boys at the court of the King of Buganda, who refused to be sodomised by the king because of their Christian faith. In the 1970s Archbishop Janani Luwum paid the price for the church’s critique of Idi Amin with his life.
