Celebrating the Luganda-speaking Community at The Ascension, Hulme
Revd Enock Kiyaga Mayanja is the founder of the Luganda Service at The Ascension, Hulme. Situated in a diverse local community, The Ascension has always been welcoming to people of all cultures and heritages.
Revd Enock Kiyaga Mayanja is the founder of the Luganda Service at The Ascension, Hulme. Situated in a diverse local community, The Ascension has always been welcoming to people of all cultures and heritages. Enock began the Luganda Service with the support of a small team and Incumbent Revd Canon Falak Sher, and continues to be supported by Fr Azariah France-Williams and the wider worshipping congregation, many of whom join the Luganda Service on special occasions.
This community church is now in its eleventh year, and what began as a small gathering has grown to welcome over 100 attendees to its monthly service. “People will attend other churches, but will come to The Ascension on the last Sunday of the month to attend our service”, Enock explains. “It reaches far beyond the geographical boundaries of the parish, as language, heritage, and being followers of Christ connect us.”
At the heart of the service is a strong culture of welcome, which has contributed significantly to its growth. “It’s important to be welcoming in God’s house. When people feel welcome, they open up. We are welcoming and pay attention to the welfare of people, and they recommended the church to other people.”
This ministry is structured into three parts. The first is the communion service in Luganda, led by Enock, which provides spiritual nourishment through sacraments and worship. The second is a series of workshops to improve the welfare of the congregation, many of whom are immigrants. For this, Enock arranges for professionals to come and share information on areas such as education and housing, addressing culturally significant and unique challenges. The third element is sharing in Ugandan food, which helps to foster a sense of community among attendees. “I see it as feeding the heart, then feeding the mind, then feeding the body”, Enock says.
Running the service hasn’t been without its challenges, and in its earliest days, the founders had to learn to navigate the structures of the Church of England. Since then, they have shaped the service from a simple Service of the Word into the full communion service celebrated today, which is made possible thanks to Enock’s curacy training. There is also a financial aspect to sustaining the ministry, as the Luganda Service is self‑funded through offertory giving and regular fundraising.
As the service has grown, it has become more integrated into the wider life of the church. Members of the Luganda community have been encouraged in their giftings and have taken on leadership roles, such as serving on the PCC and becoming Readers. The congregation has also been blessed with committed lay leadership since its early days, including Isaac Jakira, who has faithfully served since the service’s inception.
“We pray and expect that others will continue to emerge in the future”, says Enock. “There have also been baptisms, confirmations, and two blessings of marriage. The Luganda Service has even nurtured vocations to ordained ministry.” In fact, it was through leading the service that Enock himself first recognised his call to ordained ministry. More recently, the Revd John Alex Muyita has become the second ordained minister to emerge from the Luganda Service congregation, a joyful sign of the fruit that God continues to bring forth through this ministry.
As for the future of the service, Enock feels motivated to inspire the next generation of leaders who will take the ministry forward. There are already a large number of young people playing an active role by supporting Sunday School, helping to improve technology, and contributing to services. With so many attending from further afield, online services also feel like a natural next step in widening access.
For Enock, the purpose of the ministry remains clear. “We have brought a would be hard-to-reach community into the Church of England,” he says. “This has been my vocation with the Luganda Service – bringing people to church, and then when they come to church, they find their rhythm with God.”