Bishop Osborn (left) and Pr Patience Rwabwogo during a press conference at Entebbe airport yesterday
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The consecration of Pastor Patience Rwabwogo as bishop will boost the local church, giving greater visibility to women in Christian leadership and opening a new chapter for the Covenant Nations Church (CNC), which she founded 20 years ago in Luzira, Kampala.
The consecration, scheduled for Sunday, will coincide with the 20th anniversary celebrations of CNC and will be presided over by renowned American evangelist Bishop LaDonna C. Osborn, whose arrival in Uganda has set the stage for a series of activities leading to the landmark ceremony.
Osborn arrived at Entebbe International Airport yesterday at 1:45pm and was received by Rwabwogo, alongside Bishop Joshua Lwere, the general overseer of the National Fellowship of the Born-Again Pentecostal Churches of Uganda, and Allen Kagina, chairperson of the Technical Vocational Education and Training Council and an elder at CNC.
The ceremony is expected to bring together prominent religious, political and international Christian leaders. President Yoweri Museveni and First Lady Janet Museveni are expected to attend.
Also expected at the ceremony are Enoch Adejare Adeboye and his wife, Folu Adeboye, whom Rwabwogo regards as her spiritual parents. Emmanuel Roro and Helen Yilma from Israel will also minister during the event.
Strengthening Church’s leadership
For Rwabwogo, however, the consecration is more than a personal elevation. It represents an opportunity to strengthen the Church’s leadership and prepare a new generation of Christian leaders to take the Gospel beyond Uganda.
Speaking at a press conference at Entebbe Airport, Osborn said Rwabwogo’s elevation would introduce a new dimension of leadership into the Church.
“I have followed Pastor Patience for a long time and I love the fact that she has lived a prayerful life,” Osborn said.
She described Rwabwogo as a leader who has consistently sought God’s guidance and whose journey to the episcopal office has been shaped by prayer and service.
“She does nothing and says nothing, except prayer. She has sought God’s guidance in whatever she does and here we are, she is joining the Global Episcopal Office of Bishops,” Osborn said.
Osborn also challenged women to emulate Rwabwogo’s approach to Christian service, urging them to concentrate on serving God rather than seeking dominance.
She expressed confidence that CNC would grow beyond Uganda and establish a strong presence internationally, suggesting that Rwabwogo’s new role would give the church an opportunity to expand its ministry and influence.
Rwabwogo, meanwhile, described Osborn as her mentor and spiritual mother, saying she intended to draw from the evangelist’s experience as she assumes her new responsibilities.
“I look at Bishop LaDonna as my mentor and spiritual mother. She found us at Covenant Nations Church ploughing and prayed for us. We have tapped into this anointing and we are taking the word of God to the world,” Rwabwogo said.
Mentoring the new generation
She added that one of her priorities would be to mentor a new generation of leaders who can continue spreading the word of God.
The relationship between Osborn and Uganda’s Pentecostal movement also carries a long history. Osborn is the daughter of the late Tommy Lee (TL) Osborn, the American Pentecostal televangelist, singer, author and teacher whose ministry was based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
TL Osborn and his wife, Daisy Osborn, visited Uganda in 1957, 1985 and 1991, conducting large crusades in Kampala that, according to the background provided for the event, left a lasting impact on the local Church. TL Osborn died on February 14, 2013, aged 89, after six decades of preaching and ministry, including his religious television programme Good News Today.
Bishop LaDonna Osborn is now president and chief executive officer of Osborn Ministries International, the world missionary organisation founded by her parents in 1949. She is also the founder and overseer of the International Gospel Fellowship of churches and ministries, which includes more than 60 ministries and over 1,000 churches in more than 50 countries.
Her role in Rwabwogo’s consecration therefore connects the Ugandan pastor’s elevation to a wider international Pentecostal network.
Women for effective leadership
Bishop Lwere said the ceremony would also demonstrate that women can provide effective leadership in the Church and take the Gospel to the world.
“If women can become vice-presidents and ministers, executive directors and deliver well, then why can’t they become church leaders?” Lwere said.
His remarks place Rwabwogo’s consecration within the broader debate over the role of women in church leadership, presenting her elevation as an example of women taking up responsibilities traditionally dominated by men.
For Kagina, however, the significance of the event goes beyond the title of bishop.
She said the consecration should not merely be viewed as the bestowing of a new title, but as the Church’s recognition of what she described as God’s call upon Rwabwogo.
The ceremony will climax several activities planned by CNC to mark both Rwabwogo’s consecration and the church’s two decades of existence.
“Carry the Torch” conference
Today, Osborn met President Museveni and the First Lady at State House before ministering at the “Carry the Torch” conference which was held at City of David in Luzira.
On Friday, Pastor Adeboye and his wife, Folu, from Nigeria, are scheduled to minister to leaders at Kampala Marriott Hotel.
The activities will culminate on Sunday when Rwabwogo is consecrated into the Global Episcopal Office of Bishops.
Osborn has called upon Ugandans to attend the consecration in large numbers, either physically or online.
For CNC, the event marks 20 years of ministry. For Rwabwogo, it marks the beginning of a new responsibility. And for Uganda’s Pentecostal community, the elevation is being presented as an opportunity to strengthen women’s participation in church leadership while positioning a local ministry for a wider international mission.
The consecration is thus expected to be both a celebration of CNC’s two-decade journey and a statement about the future direction of its ministry—one in which Rwabwogo hopes to mentor leaders, expand the Church’s reach and take the Gospel beyond Uganda.
About the Author
