Of all possible venues for Africa's first gay rights lobby to put down roots, Uganda, with its thriving, evangelically-minded Anglican church, might seem the unlikeliest. No unlikelier, perhaps, than 70-year-old retired Ugandan Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo, the married father of seven, as point man for such an enterprise.

Whereas Ssenyonjo wants heterosexuals to understand people who are different from us and that some are homosexually-oriented, Ugandan Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi-Nkoyoyo bluntly contends that the bishop and a Ugandan priest working with him don't support the homosexuals... "They have come (to the United States) to get money." Charges Bishop Samuel Ssekkadde of Namirembe, in whose diocese Ssenyonjo resides: "[T]hey are money seekers. The proposals they have sent out to donor agencies is an evidence. They shall not sprout at all...The deceptive ploy of these Integrity members will never have any sympathy from the Christians in Uganda...We shall condemn their practices as evil...We stand never ashamed of our God who created women and men for a complementary role."

Bishops in the large dioceses of Uganda's Buganda region — Ssenyonjo was bishop of West Buganda from 1974-98 — have “decided to disassociate from him and withdraw the pulpit from such a heretic,” Ssekkadde says. “We shall never betray our God who loved us so much that He offered His only son Jesus to suffer and die for us.’’

Ssenyonjo, however, says God has called him to stand up for what he sees as an oppressed sexual minority in his nation, and adds that he was “never promised that I was going to get anything” for chairing Integrity-Uganda. Infact, he says he has suffered “persecution” within his church for the stand he has taken.

Some press reports in March depicted an angry Ugandan church evicting Ssenyonjo from his home, and cancelling his small pension. Though the reports proved false, the bishop has taken an undoubted financial hit, some $500 a month in lost income, mainly from parish visitations that Ssekkadde no longer permits. Ssenyonjo also has been denied use of church premises for his counseling work, from which, he says, he earned “a little.” While his level of supplemental income evidently was unusual among retired Ugandan bishops, he said he was depending on it to complete the building of his home.

Enter Integrity-USA. In April, Ssenyonjo’s new American friends hosted him for a sojourn in Jane Dixon’s Diocese of Washington, D.C., where he addressed about 40 supporters at St. Thomas Episcopal Church. After Easter, he planned a visit with Episcopal Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold, or Griswold’s representative.

Integrity-USA President, the Rev. Michael Hopkins, told the St. Thomas gathering that his board “has agreed to do fundraising to replace the supplementary income that has been taken away” from the bishop, until he is able to obtain it within Uganda again.

And, while stressing that Integrity-Uganda is indigenous to that nation and “not a chapter of Integrity-USA”, Hopkins said the board has agreed to help the Ugandan upstart and its 15 members get off the ground.

Expressing gratitude for the help and “solidarity”, Ssenyonjo cited needs that include computers, other office equipment, and a motorbike. Ssenyonjo was flanked at the Washington meeting by the Rev. Erich Kasirye, the Church of the Province of Uganda’s former youth secretary. Kasirye said he was suspended from the post after his support for Integrity-Uganda became known. He told TCC/Foundations that he backed the new homosexual group due to needs he uncovered in his work — gay young people who wondered how they could stay in the church, or who were having trouble coping with their sexual orientation. He said he later approached Ssenyonjo, who had done considerable study of marriage and human sexuality, about providing pastoral care and episcopal leadership for Integrity-Uganda.

Kasirye said he, too, is receiving financial support from Integrity-USA; he, his wife, and Ssenyonjo, were hosted in the Washington, D.C., area by Hopkins, the rector of St. George’s, Glenn Dale, Maryland, and Hopkins’ partner.

Cashing In?
Archbishop Nkoyoyo, however, believes Ssenyonjo “doesn’t support [homosexuals] because he never talked about them” until a few months ago, whereas he had long taken a more liberal line than other Ugandan bishops on polygamy, a problem often faced by African churches when receiving converts into fellowship. He told TCC/Foundations that some 15 other retired Ugandan bishops receive the tiny monthly pension of $20-$25, do not seek outside work, and remain faithful. “When someone retires, they are not supposed to work,” the Archbishop said. “They are looking after their gardens and their goats and their cows” (a common means of subsisting in the nation). But he thinks Ssenyonjo was always angling for more, and his present actions send the message that “if you want money, come and support the gays.”

In response, Ssenyonjo confirmed that he had followed a policy on polygamy for which he was “not very popular” among Ugandan colleagues. However, he asserted that his position accords with the 1988 Lambeth Conference resolution on the subject, which took a softer line on the matter than his brother bishops were willing to accept.

He sees his chairmanship of Integrity-Uganda as representing a further evolution of thought, stemming from his post-retirement counseling work, as well as his previous studies — in Uganda as well as at New York’s Union Theological Seminary, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and Hartford Seminary. His initial belief that homosexuals “should be converted” became a conclusion that some people are gay or lesbian because “that’s how they were made.” He told his Washington audience that he had been “troubling in my conscience” about this when Kasirye approached him about helping the new local gay organisation.

“In my old age, God has called me to work for Integrity,” he stated. “I was never promised any money, or anything of the kind” for doing so, he told TCC/Foundations. Ssenyonjo also said he does not have the support of a farm, as he lives in an urban setting near the capital of Kampala.

Archbishop Nkoyoyo also dismissed Kasirye’s contention that he was suspended as youth secretary due to his involvement with Integrity. Rather, he said the priest was suspended at the urging of police, who “wanted to arrest” him in a case involving improper use of a British woman’s bank statements. According to Nkoyoyo, Kasirye used the statements as security in letters he wrote in his church role to help some Ugandans obtain British visas. It was unclear whether the priest was paid for this help, the Archbishop said.

The woman, Mary LeCoyte, who works for a British charity assisting grassroots African projects, told TCC/Foundations she believes Kasirye obtained her bank statements under false pretext, while he was visiting her home in January. She maintained that the bank statements were used in at least three separate bids for British visas, the first of which was granted. LeCoyte was contacted by the British High Commission after suspicions were raised by receipt of the second such request.

After contacting Ugandan church officials about the matter, LeCoyte said she got an e-mail from Kasirye apologising, saying the reason he took the bank statements was to get his sister’s boyfriend into England (where his sister also resides). He reportedly said he had met with the Archbishop, apologized, and straightened the matter out.

After that, though, the priest reportedly claimed in a letter to the Ugandan Church’s Provincial Secretary, Canon George Tibeesigwa, that his sister had taken the bank statements while the two were at the British woman’s house, though LeCoyte said the sister was never there. LeCoyte reported the case to the Ugandan provincial disciplinary board, which on March 15 suspended Kasirye and gave him two weeks to answer the allegations.

Instead, Kasirye resigned, claiming that he was being persecuted due to his support for homosexuals, and departed soon thereafter for America at Integrity-USA’s expense, Nkoyoyo said. The Archbishop believes the priest is “looking for money’’ and a parish post in the U.S. Episcopal Church (ECUSA).

LeCoyte also recalled being so struck by a comment Kasirye made to her in January, before the visa or Integrity issues surfaced, that she wrote it down. In a discussion about getting financial support for Ugandan projects, she claimed Kasirye said that: “It is necessary to keep in sympathy with the pro-gay movement in order to get funding from America.”

Kasirye denies or tells a different story about the claims against him, and told TCC/Foundations he would return to Uganda after Easter to clear his record and offer his church “a better explanation” of the matters in question. He has retained legal counsel to assist in that effort. He said the visa matter involved “just one case,” for which “I apologised, and we closed the chapter.” He received no money for his help in obtaining the visa, he added. The fact that this incident was brought up again, after his link to Integrity-Uganda was revealed, he feels is a sign that that link was the real basis of his suspension. He said church officials also raised other issues at the time, most of them, again, involving past mistakes he had made which had already been addressed. He felt it was “kind of like blackmail.” But he said, “All that is the confusion I want to correct.”

Kasirye also denied that he ever talked to LeCoyte about the gay movement, as she has “strong ties” to the Ugandan Church, which upholds biblical sexuality teaching. He reminded, too, that Integrity-Uganda was actually started in the middle of last year, it was announced during last year’s Episcopal General Convention, but did not receive critical public attention from Ugandan bishops until earlier this year. If he and Ssenyonjo were after money, he said, “we would have come (to the U.S.) long before...We never thought of flying to the States” until after the “persecution” began in March.

“It’s nothing to do with money...We’ve been at home. We never wanted to fight with our local church, just give needed pastoral support to these young (homosexuals),” Kasirye added. But the reaction of church leaders “became too heavy for both us...We didn’t come to the States to get money, but to have a break.” He said the trip was helping Ssenyonjo in part by giving him the chance to speak with sympathetic bishops in ECUSA and elsewhere; Ssenyonjo himself said he had received a strong expression of support from former South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Hopkins admitted, though, that the Episcopal Church Center in New York had been “bombarded” with questions about the “financial deal” between the two Integrity groups, and suggestions that Ssenyonjo “was just trying to fleece us.” TCC/Foundations asked Hopkins how much financial burden Integrity-USA is taking on to assist Ssenyonjo and Kasirye, and whether the organization was satisfied that neither man would receive more than they were getting previously.

Hopkins said: “The financial burden on Integrity will be relatively small in U.S. terms; no more than $400 a month.” Some sources familiar with Uganda seemed to think that a substantial sum for the African nation, however. “A person could live like a prince in Uganda on $400 a month,” one said. But Hopkins said Integrity-USA had “done our own checking in Uganda independently of Bishop Christopher’s estimates and have found them to be reasonable...We’re drawing strong boundaries... and requiring accountability on all sides...And, as I said, if he starts working again, our support will no longer be needed.”

Integrity has called on other Anglican leaders to help mediate the situation and Hopkins suggested that Bishop Ssekkadde might later lift the inhibition against Ssenyonjo. That presently seems unlikely, however, as do Ssenyonjo’s prospects for work elsewhere in his province.

Domestic Or Imported?
It is, of course, not just the motives of Integrity-Uganda’s principals which have come into question. The fledgling African Integrity chapter, little noticed when it started last year, is now at the centre of an international controversy over whether it is a local movement or a foreign plant.

When word of Integrity-Uganda’s existence finally hit “home” a few months ago—apparently due to a press announcement within Uganda —Anglican bishops there saw it as a move by American gays to invade the African nation. Not only had the group adopted the Integrity name, it was noted, but it appeared to some conservatives on both continents that the statements coming out of Integrity-Uganda had an American rather than African style.

In a statement condemning homosexual practice, Ugandan bishops urged citizens and the government to reject the establishment of the gay group, which apparently has only one other religious counterpart in the nation, and no secular ones. “We believe we have a mission...to preach the love of Christ to all sinners for repentance,” the bishops added, but do not accept an organisation “which will mislead people,” particularly one started “in the name of the Episcopal...or Anglican Church.”

“Integrity-Uganda is not an alien influence from the West,” countered one of several statements issued by the Ugandan or U.S. Integrity camps. Rather, the new group is a “local initiative which developed as a result of sexual pluralism in Uganda,” which Integrity supporters said church leaders have refused to acknowledge or provide for within their pastoral care. Integrity-Uganda aims to provide such care and counseling for that minority, as well raise public awareness and “understanding of our sexuality.” It hopes to move the church as well toward “further ethical-moral re-evaluation of [its] concept of full human sexuality.” The group, which claims to be a response to Lambeth resolutions of both ‘88 and ‘98, includes Ugandans who are either homosexual or desire full inclusion of homosexuals in the church’s life, said a recent joint statement.

And if Kasirye’s projections are correct, the chapter has huge potential. He made the astonishing estimation that about a third of the Ugandan Anglican population of some eight million is gay, but that most homosexuals are “hiding” from a society which largely rejects them. Asked why the Ugandan group took the Integrity name, Kasirye said it was for “a sense of fellowship with our friends” in other countries (Integrity chapters exist in Canada and Australia, as well as the U.S.). Hopkins stressed at the D.C. meeting, though, that “they (the Ugandans) came to us, we didn’t come to them.” He said that each Integrity group functions independently within its own province and under its own leadership.

Charges of foreign interference were fueled, though, when Integrity-USA’s Louie Crew, a member of ECUSA’s Executive Council, met with Integrity-Uganda leaders during a February trip to the country. Crew’s appearance apparently dovetailed with the press announcement of Integrity-Uganda there —something Nkoyoyo seemed to think was hardly a coincidence. Crew’s visit was in connection with his work on the Standing Committee on Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns, which was meeting with Sudanese bishops in Uganda. While there, however, Crew also pressed Nkoyoyo and other church officials about having the conversations with gays pledged in the Lambeth ‘98 sexuality resolution (which also declared homosexual practice “incompatible with Scripture”).

Crew subsequently circulated electronically his own report of the visit, which contained strong criticisms of Archbishop Nkoyoyo in particular and Ugandan bishops in general. This prompted a strong, late February rebuke from (among others) a man desperate to avoid provoking conservative foreign colleagues before the March primates’ meeting at Kanuga. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold accused Crew of abusing his church office to pursue “personal concerns,” and of making public comments that strained relations between ECUSA and other Anglican provinces.

Standing Alone
Saying there had been a “misunderstanding,” Ssenyonjo confirmed at St. Thomas that his support for Integrity-Uganda has not resulted in the loss of his home or pension. The income from parish visitations he did lose appears to be more than is received by most retired Ugandan prelates, but Kasirye said it amounted to 80% of the bishop’s income. Ssenyonjo still believes his pension is in jeopardy as well, despite hearing that it would not be denied. But Ssenyonjo is not retreating from his mission, which he believes is supported by the Lambeth ‘88 decision to study homosexuality (he had retired before Lambeth ‘98). This, he said, is one of the aims of Integrity-Uganda: to examine and listen to various voices on the matter with “a rational mind.” “(We shouldn’t) be afraid to open our minds to things which may be strange to us,” he stated.

Still, Ssenyonjo’s views are probably not in exact alignment with those of his American supporters. For example, he told TCC/Foundations that the idea that homosexuality is a normal variation is “still debatable.” He also believes in helping persons who are disturbed by homosexual feelings — first by helping them “decide if they are really fixed or can change,” and to “see what God wants them to do with their lives.” Those who feel they cannot change, however, should be “accepted” as people who are simply different, he contends.

He insists that he is not encouraging homosexual behavior, but rather an understanding of it. That “understanding” has doctrinal implications as he sees it, though, and here his views track with those of Integrity-USA. The bishop maintained that Scripture and Tradition are important, but must be seen in the light of experience and “where (the Holy Spirit) is leading us.” Passages historically interpreted as opposing homosexual practice need to be “studied more deeply,” he said. Church teaching is “enlightened by many things” and can change, he asserted. Noting that Uganda has experienced more candid discourse on sexuality as it attempts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, Ssenyonjo thinks it is the right time for Uganda’s church and society to begin tackling the gay issue.

In Africa, heterosexuals are the main carriers of the deadly virus. But might a more tolerant view of homosexuality engender the spread of HIV/AIDS in that community? After some hesitation, Ssenyonjo agreed that Ugandan homosexuals also “need to hear” about AIDS prevention.

Ssenyonjo regretfully acknowledged that his divergent stand on homosexuality had resulted in “broken relationships with some of my colleagues,” including Ssekkadde, whom he taught in seminary. “But,” he said, those relationships “are not greater than obeying the Lord...I can’t just turn back from (the Lord’s call) because...of fear.”

Neither can his critics turn away from the challenge their colleague has posed. Ssenyonjo “has disowned himself from us because of making easy money,” said Bishop Evans Kisekka of the Diocese of Luweero. “I disassociate myself away from him, and I am sure no bishop in Uganda will stand with him.” (Indeed, the very thought of Uganda recalls its martyrs: young Christian pages murdered in the 1880s for resisting the sexual advances of a native king.)