The Church And Its Never Ending Fundraising Drives.

By Arthur Mwenkanya Katabalwa

 

This morning I am in a very cantankerous mood. Last Sunday, I attended church for like the second time in a long time and my reluctance to attend church over a long period of time was reinforced. I belong to the world wide Anglican church. My father was a man of the cloth and I have many personal ties to the church. So I feel I can direct my ire at it without reservation.

 

We go to church to blame Satan for all our transgressions. Basically stand there and point at Saturn while God goes "Tut, Tut, Tut". I know some people where Satan has pointed back at them and said to God "Their fault" and no come back was possible. It wasn't Satan's fault.

Namirembe Cathedral, the oldest in Uganda.

 

The service on Sunday was brilliant. The Reverend was bang on time. A hard hitting sermon that lasted just over 26 minutes. Yes, I timed the fellow! Some of these guys have a tendency to love their own voices and go on until such a time that when they descend from the pulpit, there is a great awakening. This guy was done in such a short time we clapped!

 

Then the "Omukubiliza" took to the pulpit. This guy is basically the equivalent of the chief whip. Then he started a massive fundraising drive. This is where I need the whole of the church fraternity to read and listen carefully (The CoU is the main culprit). We are weary of these fund raising drives. This particular service I was attending was full of visitors to the parish who were visiting for a Christening. Yet the Omukubiliza  went on to regal the visitors with all the problems that the church has.

 

"The Vicars church has no roof so we need this [obscene amount] of money." The visitors blinked in the light and kept their positions, glued to the pews. Then he said that some random family whom none of the visitors care for had basically repaired the perimeter wall and another amount of money was needed to finish the job. More blinking in the dim light.

 

Then he said that some cards which had been bought by the parishioners where they were supposed to pay for them were needed back. So he said that the money was needed forthwith. I looked at this man with sheer incredulity. 95% of the congregation were visitors. Where did he think they......? I give up. A man felt sorry and he walked up to the front and dropped a scrunched up note in the basket. The Omukubiliza in a very sarcastic tone told us how much the earlier congregation had contributed. I felt like standing up and shouting at him that that was the home crowd! This crowd were not.

 

This is a mistake that very many churches do especially those in the villages. They hold the congregation hostage to a barrage of fundraising initiatives which in the end completely dilute the message that the preacher left. I understand that many of these churches use the service as a community rallying point talking about what is happening in the village; death announcements, those who are ill, wedding banns and many more. But after the sermon please let the wananchi go home. The visitors aren't bothered about your local problems