Namirembe Cathedral, Uganda's oldest Anglican church and one of the most storied places of Christian worship in East Africa, celebrated its 125th anniversary on Sunday 19 January 2026 with a historic thanksgiving service attended by thousands of worshippers, dignitaries, and church leaders from across Uganda and beyond.

The service, themed "125 Years of God's Faithfulness: From Generation to Generation", was presided over by the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Samuel Stephen Kazimba Mugalu, and attended by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who read scripture and gave a brief address on the role of the Church in Uganda's national life.

"This cathedral has been a witness to Uganda's history — from the martyrs to independence to today. What God has done here is not finished. The best is still to come."

— Archbishop Samuel Stephen Kazimba Mugalu

A Century and a Quarter of Witness

Namirembe Cathedral was first built in 1890 on a hill in what was then Buganda Kingdom, following the pioneering missionary work of the Church Missionary Society. The current cathedral building — a grand red-brick structure visible for miles across Kampala — was completed in 1919 and has since served as the spiritual home of Anglican Christianity in Uganda. Over 125 years it has witnessed the Uganda Martyrs, the East African Revival, independence, civil war, and renewal.

The anniversary service drew delegations from the Church of England, Anglican Communion representatives from Kenya and Tanzania, and ecumenical visitors from the Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, and Orthodox communities in Uganda — a remarkable display of Christian unity at a site that has historically been the heartbeat of Ugandan Christianity.

Highlights of the Celebration

The service featured a procession of clergy numbering over 300, representing every diocese in the Church of Uganda. The Namirembe Cathedral Choir — which has ministered continuously for over a century — performed a programme of classical Anglican hymnody alongside contemporary East African praise, a musical journey through 125 years of worship.

A commemorative book, Namirembe: 125 Years of Worship, Witness, and Transformation, was launched during the service. It documents the cathedral's history from the martyrs' era through the East African Revival to its contemporary ministry serving Kampala's growing urban population.

Looking Forward

The celebration also marked the launch of a five-year development plan for the cathedral precinct, including the restoration of the historic tower, construction of a new conference centre, and expansion of the cathedral's social ministry to reach an additional 10,000 families in Kampala's informal settlements.

"They paid a great price for the faith that we enjoy today," said the Archbishop. "We owe it to them, and to the generations who will come after us, to be faithful stewards of what has been entrusted to us."