Church!
David Bast preached at St. Luke's parish and I preached 2 of the 3 services at the Cathedral on the campus of the Uganda Christian University. I don't yet have a picture of the outside, but it is an old stone building, with wide-open windows (no glass, no screens) - very basic and sparse, in the shape of a cross, stone floors and thin red carpet down the center aisle and chancel area. Acoustics are wonderful for singing and preaching. Despite the austere setting, the sound system was state of the art and they even have a projection system not unlike the one at Trinity. Here's the rundown of worship:
7:00 a.m. Luganda Language Anglican Liturgy service
Very formal, reasonably full sanctuary, an old electric organ, and the Book of Common Prayer service read in Luganda. The service lasted for 100 minutes. I preached my Easter message from Trinity through a translator.
9:00 a.m. English Service
Very informal, overflowing with all generations. A praise band with two keyboards, guitars, and a drum machine led worship. Songs like "The name of the Lord is a Strong Tower," "Blessed be the name of the Lord," "More precious than Silver," opened the worship after a time of confession. Later we sang a variety of hymns with an African rhythm. Amazing joy filled the room. At each service, I preached from an elevated pulpit that kept from walking around :). At this service people would applaud after a point they especially found helpful, and at the end of the sermon, there would be extended applause and "Amens!" The service lasted about 90 minutes.
11:00 a.m. Luganda Choir festival service at St. Luke's
We transitioned to hear David's third sermon at St. Luke's. We thought the service would be almost over, but by noon, he hadn't yet preached, and the service lasted until 1:3o p.m., all in Luganda.
So, Lauren was in worship from 7:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with only 90 minutes in English!
The day ended with a dedication service (5:00 to 7:00 p.m.) at St. Luke's for the week of evangelism and launching the radio ministry. The Anglican Church of Mukono Diocese is partnering with Campus Crusade for evangelism for training and Words of Hope for broadcasting, in hopes of reaching more people for Christ. Lay people trained in evangelism came from all over the diocese to spend the whole week doing door-to-door evangelism, and the Bishop came to the evening service to pray for them.
I hope to post more later about the week's schedule.
Thanks for your prayers.
