I ate Serena Dinner, drank AYF music!

It was the occasion of Fundraising for the All Saints Cathedral Building Project. A fundraising dinner it was. Where else could the Archbishop host His Excellency the President as chief guest with a select 300 guests from a congregation of over 6000? Kampala Serena Hotel was the ultimate choice, and in Victoria hall - an acoustically rounded and furnished cozy room - the party filled the air. Gone was the tingly tension of organizing this when the Prime Minister arrived shortly after 6pm to represent his boss, and the many guest soon concluded their networking and cocktail in the lobby.

When all were seated, AYF took to stage and started with their timeless "Seasons come and seasons go". This song seems to be unlike seasons - it never expires! Led by the Music Director's high tenor voice and flavoured with a balanced harmony over a great arrangement of instrumentation, "Seasons" provided the right cushion to get everyone comfortable. The nice ballad soon slid into reggae with the drum and bass moving in sync like siamese twins. A great display of disciplined art accompanying sweet words - only those words can explain how it all came together: Jesus, He never change, Messiah.

But the best was yet to come. I cannot tell you details of all that happened - the speeches, the fundraising, the good attendance, the good food - I'll write about that elsewhere. Let me go to the song that ripped a shy doctor's pocket and scooped a million shillings: that was "Anyonga". It started when I had moved out, and when I found it in the middle, I was too far from the speakers to feel it deep down. But when it was bought encore, I heard every note loud and clear. The intro ended in a sizzling high to low roll on warm lively keyboard tines. Was it the keyboard or the keyboardist? I don't know - it was just great. Then entered a voice that sounds like two put together; and this is truer when he hops from the low to high octave with more ease than a ball rolling downhill. At every end of line, a slap bass gave the song such flavour to connect the well calculated harmonies. And when the story in the lyrics was at its best, just before we could lift up our songs of praise, the chorus "Anyonga" just drove house mood ecstatic. Some danced, others brought money and the Prime Minister included his heartfelt gratitude in his speech at the end.

Other songs from all over Uganda (except the West where I come from) were sang. Others by Joint Heirs. I forgot about the great hotel juices and the tea; did I take any? What I'm sure of is I ate the Serena Dinner and drank AYF music. Thanks guys.

Pressing towards the goal, even after World Cup

Celebrations heightened in all parts of Spain as they lifted the cherished World Cup for the first time. In Kampala Uganda, the joy and excitement were rudely blasted off by lethal bomb explosions in two public places that left the country in deep shock and sadness. The country wide mourning will last at least a week, and much longer for the bereaved families of over 75 people who died.

At All Saints Cathedral, we feel the pain not only for and with the bereaved but also as a nation that is facing attack. The attacks kill many innocents! But nothing happens as a surprise for God; we are a nation in need of God's grace, in the face of attacks from without and attacks from within. We are attacked by many vices from within, and some may quickly suspect that the violence around us is partly as a result of a degenerating Uganda and the region at large. Christ have mercy and turn our hearts to follow you and trust you for full salvation.

On a lighter note, I recall how the first African World cup began. We were triple thrilled by a moving Desmond Tutu who attempted to jump out of the dream, only to realize it was real - a World Cup in Africa! All Saints celebrated the opening ceremony at the upper Terrace of the Church premises; the celebration's main agenda though was fundraizing for the new Cathedral. We had a theme "I press on towards the goal to win the prize".

We continue even after World Cup to prepare and work towards the achievement of building a new Cathedral. Yes, it will be much bigger than our current one; it's wide doors invite more and more to draw in and call upon the Lord. Call upon the Lord for this nation and for our world.

ACP Info Pack Ready for you

We need 6 billion shillings (USD 3 million) to construct the first phase of the new Cathedral. If 100 entities (it could be a person, family, company or a group of friends) give 10 million shillings each, that makes 1 billion shillings: that can get us started. Another 1000 persons could give 1 million each, and we have another billion!

This being the magnitude of the work, and you tasked to mobilize such funds, what would you like to know about the project? We have Info Packs at the Secretariat which could answer your questions and enable you to mobilize... Some of the information you will find include:

- The bigger development vision of which the new Cathedral is part
- Why should we build a new Cathedral?
- What is the status of the project?
- What are the features of the new Cathedral?
- How much money has been collected and used on the project so far?
- How much is it going to cost?
- When it is finished, what will be the next development?

Feel free to comment; what more would you like to be included in the Info Pack? Post comments to enable the Secretariat provide all you need to mobilize.

All Saints Cathedral Building Project

All Saints Cathedral Kampala is in the process of building a new 4500-seater Cathedral on Nakasero hill. This blog has been created to offer a discussion opportunity to many stakeholders who may not be able to access information about the All Saints Cathedral Building Project (ACP) by frequent visits to the ACP Secretariat.