The Church of Uganda is positioning Lweza Training and Conference Centre as a permanent training and formation hub for Bishops from conservative Anglican provinces around the world.
The province has established a Bishops’ Training Institute at Lweza, led by the Bishop of Lango Diocese, Rt Rev Prof Alfred Olwa, and retired Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi.
The initiative is intended to give Lweza a larger role within the Global South Anglican movement by providing continuing formation for newly elected and serving bishops from Anglican provinces aligned with the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) and the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).
GSFA and GAFCON bring together Anglican churches and leaders who uphold conservative, Bible-based Anglican teaching. The networks have gained significant influence, particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America, amid long-running disagreements within the wider Anglican Communion over doctrine, sexuality and church authority.
Adams Sadik, the Church of Uganda provincial spokesperson, described the move as “practical”, citing Uganda’s central location and the relative ease with which participants from many Anglican provinces can obtain visas to enter the country.
Lweza, which is managed through the Church of Uganda’s Directorate of Households and Community Transformation, hosted bishops and their spouses from Anglican provinces across the Global South last month for a bishops’ formation retreat. The centre also hosted newly consecrated Anglican bishops and their spouses in October 2025 for a programme focused on Christ-centred leadership.
The Church of Uganda now wants to build on these engagements by developing it into a facility capable of hosting regular international meetings and long-term Bishop formation programmes.
Speaking at the recently concluded Provincial Assembly at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, Archbishop Samuel Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu said the centre required further investment to meet international standards.
“We have to work hard to improve this centre so as to put it to a world-class standard for such global meetings… The GSFA has found a home in Uganda,” he told the assembly.
Located about 30 minutes from Entebbe International Airport, Lweza is currently undergoing redevelopment, with additional facilities, including accommodation, being constructed.
The expansion comes as Uganda prepare to host one of the most significant gatherings of the Global South Anglican movement. Archbishop Kaziimba told the assembly that preparations are underway for the second General Assembly of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, scheduled for April 13 to 17, 2027, at Lweza Training and Conference Centre.
The meeting is expected to bring together bishops and other senior Church leaders from Anglican provinces across the Global South. Hosting the assembly will give Lweza an opportunity to demonstrate whether Uganda can serve as a long-term base for the movement’s leadership, training and formation activities.
The proposed expansion of Lweza’s role comes as the GSFA continues to develop its structures outside the traditional institutional framework of the Anglican Communion.
GSFA and GAFCON emerged as conservative Anglican networks during disputes over doctrine and sexuality, particularly following divisions between churches in North America and parts of Europe and conservative provinces in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The Church of Uganda was among the African provinces that received clergy who left The Episcopal Church in the United States amid the disputes and later supported the formation of the Anglican Church in North America. The GSFA has since sought to strengthen its institutional identity and deepen cooperation among participating provinces.
In 2024, the GSFA adopted the Cairo Covenant, establishing a more formal framework for cooperation among participating Anglican churches based on shared doctrine, interdependence and mutual accountability. The fellowship held its first General Assembly in Egypt that same year.
With the establishment of the Bishops’ Training Institute and the planned expansion of Lweza, the Church of Uganda is seeking to move beyond hosting occasional international gatherings and position the centre as a permanent institution for leadership development and episcopal formation within the Global South Anglican movement-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
