African Praise & Worship

I attend Centenary United Methodist Church in Memphis, TN. Because I basically grew up there, I call it my church home and cherish my church family almost as much as my own. When I left for college, I had a hard time finding a church with the same spirit as my church home. As I traveled from church to church, I never found anything close to the animation and music that occurs at Centenary. Last Sunday, we got the chance to visit Robert Kayanja’s Miracle Center Cathedral in Kampala. For the first time ever, I found a church with the same spirit as my church home. In fact, they even sang the same songs that they sing at Centenary! I found the sermon to be extremely disappointing. Robert Kayanja was not present and a guest from Australia gave the message. It seemed that she had no connection with the Ugandans other than the google search she had done shortly before. She even said that she does not watch the news or read the newspaper, and she thanked God for Google. Moreover, she related this vague and unrelated dream to the Ugandan's future prosperity. My disappointment mainly stemmed from the fact that this woman, dressed in her nice clothes and adorned with jewelry, would hop back on the plane and not think about these people after her sermon. I wanted to hear a Ugandan tell the Ugandans that they can pull themselves out of their financial situation. I don't mind prosperity gospel because I believe that it truly gives people hope, but this woman did not even know what she was talking about. Ignoring this, the rest of the service was phenomenal. The music and the spirit of the people moved me very much. The congregation was swaying, dancing, and jumping up and down. They were not afraid to voice their elation, and the harmonies were heavenly. I got chill bumps several times throughout the service, and I would love to go again. Now I understand why African American churches are lively and filled with music and why I have not been able to find that same spirit in predominantly Caucasian places of worship. Watching the Ugandans praise, jump around, and shout reminded me so much of the way my church family acts when the spirit moves them. It was very refreshing and has verified for me that Africa is truly the land I am from.  I am truly grateful for the opportunity to visit a church in Uganda, it has put a lot of things into perspective for me.