Participants pose following the installation of elected officials during the LCU’s 2023 National Synod Conference.

UGANDA – Delegates from across the Lutheran Church of Uganda (LCU) gathered for the church’s 7th National Synod Conference from December 7-10, 2023, during which time they reelected Bishop Charles Bameka to another term as National Presiding Bishop. The conference was held at Lutheran Theological College – Uganda in Magamaga.

LCU Bishop Charles Bameka.

Bishop Bameka was consecrated as the first bishop of the LCU in 2022, prior to which he had served the church body as its president. He previously served as Director of Lutheran Media Ministry Uganda. Bishop Bameka attended seminary in Accra, Ghana, and was ordained in 2001.

The conference opened with a worship service led by Archbishop Joseph Omolo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK). Other international guests in attendance during the conference included Bishop John Donkoh of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana (ELCG); Bishop David Tswaedi of the Confessional Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (CLCSA); Bishop Yohana Ernest Nzelu of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania’s South East of Lake Victoria Diocese (ELCT-SELVD); and Rev. Michael Frese, Deputy Director of Church Relations for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS).

The convention also saw the election of Deans for the LCU’s seven deaneries, among other positions. All those elected during the conference were formally installed or reinstalled during Divine Service on December 10, 2023.

The Lutheran Church of Uganda is a member church of the International Lutheran Council (ILC), a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies that proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the basis of an unconditional commitment to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

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