ABOUT US

ABOUT US

OUR BACKGROUND

The Diocese of Kagera is one of 28 Dioceses of the Anglican Church of Tanzania. It was established in 1985 having been curved from the Diocese of Victoria Nyanza and was officially registered in the same year with registration number 4057. For the last 34 years of her existence the Diocese of Kagera has significantly grown and graciously being sub-divided to produce the Dioceses of Rwelu and Biharamulo in 2006 and 2017 respectively. Within this period the Diocese has witnessed the smooth transition of four different bishops namely, Bishop Christopher Ruhuza (1985 to 1993), Bishop Edwin Nyamubi (1993-1998), Bishop Aaron Kinjanjali (1998-2017) while the current Bishop is Rt Rev. Darlington Bendankeha who took over in 2017.   

Diocesan boundaries cover Ngara, Karagwe and Kyerwa districts with total number of more than 1 million residents, where the number of Anglicans is more than 45,000 at Kagera diocesan level.

CORE VALUES

• Authority in the word of God
• Christ centeredness
• Good stewardship and responsibility
• Diligence
• Cooperation
• Learning from others and from experience 

 

SYNOD

The Synod is the supreme organ of the diocese. It is chaired by the Diocesan Bishop. The synod meets once every three years, and therefore has delegated her executive functions to the diocesan council which meets at least twice a year

Kagera Diocese synod has 3 categories of members 1.) Bishop House represented by Diocesan bishop 2.) Servants’ house being represented by assistant Bishop, ordained pastors and deacons and 3.)  Laity house representing believers of Anglican Church of Tanzania, Kagera Diocese.

Synod authority is on making policies and guidelines adhering to constitution of Anglican Church Kagera diocese. Pastors and other diocesan staff perform their duties accordingly to set policies and guidelines prepared by the Synod

Two types of Synod meeting are taking place, firstly ordinary session usually take place after three years and extra ordinary session where bishop call upon it at anytime and anywhere when necessary and based on diocesan council suggestions.

CHURCH LIFE

The bottom unit in the structure of the diocese is the local congregation usually headed by a Catechist or an Evangelist assisted his roles by Church Elders. Three or so congregations constitute a parish overseen by an Ordained Pastor. Several Parishes within a certain Geographical jurisdiction join together to form a deanery usually headed by a Rural Dean who doubles this responsibility with a primary role of being a Parish Pastor. Archdeacons supervise daily church duties in the archdeaconry that together form a deanery and below them Rural Deans support responsibilities delegated

By December 2019, ACT Diocese of Kagera had 16 deaneries, 57 Parishes and total 257 congregations. The membership of the Church has also grown from around 6,000 (when the Diocese was established) to over 42,000 members in 2021; the Diocese has 82 active pastors, 75, lay readers and 272 evangelists. 

 

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

The Diocese of Kagera is implementing five years strategic plan 2021-2025, focused on serving people spiritually, physically and mentally and it is an important tool being used by every stakeholder. Other departments have their own strategic plans, which are based on the Diocesan

The current Diocesan Strategic plan has five main objectives with specific objectives and tasks being undertaken to attain the desired situation. These objectives are:

1)      The church that is growing, expanding and thriving

Special mission areas are Kibirizi, Murongo, Kayanga and Kyerwa Deaneries for Evangelization as the most challenging areas in proclaiming the word of God. Other activities are Church Planting, efficiency evangelization and upholding spiritual service with peoples’ development  

2)      Strengthening of strategic departments

Two strategies are taking place, firstly reform and secondly expansion of strategic departments. Targeted departments are Development department, Education and vocational department, mission and Evangelism department, Youth department, gender, women and children department

Activities:  

§  Amendment and transformation of departmental structure

§  Strengthening performance capacity of departments

§  Expansion of Ngara Anglican Primary School (NAPS)  

§  Strengthening Kagera Christian Theological College (KCTC) on preparing and advancement of church leaders

§  Transform Mugwanza Nursing school to be the  Institute of Health and Allied Sciences (already transformed currently named as Murgwanza Institute of Health and Allied Sciences-MURIHAS)

§  Expansion of Mchungaji Mwema secondary school

§  Widening Bible Knowledge program 

3)      Strengthening of diocesan contribution on development and social  welfare

The diocese will increase efforts on development and peoples’ welfare by implementing projects purposely on assisting sick persons, poverty reduction, support to disabled and human rights protection within and outside the diocesan boundaries

Activities:

§  Murgwanza hospital in provision of specialty services

§  Church and Community Mobilization Process (CCMP) carry on empowering cultivators, livestock keepers and entrepreneurs for poverty reduction

§  Karagwe Community Based Rehabilitation Program (KCBRP) strengthening rehabilitation center, production and selling assistive devices

§  Community Based Inclusive Program (CBIDO) support disabled youth and children at Kyerwa and Karagwe through disability overcoming progra 

4)      Strengthening leadership, administration and resource management

In the duration of five years, Kagera Diocese is emphasizing on (a) Strong policies, laws, guidelines and systems that give proper direction on implementation and monitoring (b) Presence of competent and motivated human resource on undertaking duties (c) Availability of material and financial resource in contributing to development

Activities:

§  Review and amendment of guidelines

§  Building the capacity of the staff in carrying out  their responsibilities

§  Strengthening of Monitoring and Evaluation system

§  Strengthening the exploration, management and development of resources  

§  Improvement of building infrastructure  and administrative facilities

§  Initiate endowment fund

5)      Sustainable environmental conservation stewardship  

Within five years, the diocese is stressing on environmental conservation at all levels through trees plantation, the use of alternative energy and waste recycling.  In partnership with the Government and development partners, community will be empowered and capacitated through CCMP and other strategies in trees plantation, conserving planted ones and recycling wastes in environmental friendly mechanism