I greet you in the Precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. We are so grateful to God for the far He has brought us as Children’ Church. Seeing Children being recognized and considered to be celebrated is our greatest joy and pleasure. And so on behalf of the children’s Church and the entire Cathedral we do appreciate the leadership of the Church of Uganda for considering this day in launching the year of children. In particular, we thank our Archbishop, His Grace Stanley Ntagali, for having the Children at heart, which is a sign of godliness because Children are at the heart of God. We pray this spirit will spread over to all leaders in different capacities so as to have a church strongly grounded right from the foundation, and so then we will be confident that the Church of Uganda is still here for the next 100 years plus. As you are all aware, today the 31st March, 2019 the Province of the Church of Uganda is launching the year of Children and as the Cathedral we are privileged to be the host. Today we have children from Kampala, Namirembe and Mukono Dioceses participating in leading the service, as well representing the entire Province of the Church of Uganda. This is a great opportunity and so we believe that this will have an impact on us as a church and parents; reflecting on how we live our lives for the sake our children.
From beginning to end, God speaks about the importance of children through His Word.
This is because Children are important to God and to us. Jesus talking to His disciples called a child and placed a child among them. And said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me”. (Mathew 18:1-5) therefore, we ought to be very careful on how we treat our children simply because they are God’s treasured possession and we are only stewards; so how we raise them matters because at the end of the day they become what we have shaped them to be. King Solomon the ever lived wisest king tells us in Proverbs 22:6, to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Today many of us are complaining and grumbling about adults who are going astray and keep saying ‘children of these days’ forgetting that we have not given time to train them as they are grow. I pray that each of us will really be intentional in the lives of these children because they are not only children but rather the pillar of the church. They are also the future leaders of the nation who will in a few years down the road shape our country in the way they honor God.
Therefore, today as we launch the year of children as the Church of Uganda it’s my sincere prayer that we will use this opportunity to focus all our efforts towards children and pay attention to their holistic needs – that is; physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally; as they are valuable members of the kingdom of God. And unless we do our part in training these Children as parents and as a Church to help them grow in the knowledge and fear of God, then the world and the devil who is the enemy will snatch them and distort God’s intended purpose of their creation. We as a church are committed and determined to do everything possible to see to it that our children are different from the rest of the world just as God instructed Moses in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ‘…these commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up……’. We therefore kindly call upon each one of you to be intentional in raising children because if we don’t, the world is ready to offer them what will not benefit us or even our nation. So let us all join efforts and work together to see to it that our children will grow to reflect the image of God; for He has given these children to us as a gift for His own glory and not ours. I strongly believe, once we are determined to help them love and fear God our church and nation will be safe and free from evil vices that have spread like fire in our country.
Rev. Capt. Florence A Tumwesigye
Priest in charge of children.