THE THOUGHT OF BUILDING A NEW CHURCH

Our Lady & St. Jude Parish Naggulu church is one of the six parishes, which make Naggulu Deanery in the Archdiocese of Kampala, Uganda. The headquarters of the Parish is located on Naggulu Hill, five kilometers from the City center, off Naggulu Avenue Nakawa Division, Kampala District. 

Our Lady and St. Jude Parish Naggulu, was founded on 15th June 1954 by Rev. Fr. Henry Steegmans, who was a Mill Hill Missionary and a Dutchman by nationality. The Parish occupies 10.1 Acres of land that was acquired by that founding Parish Priest, and it was then owned and registered to the Registered Trustees of St. Joseph’s Mission of Mill Hill. When the Archdiocese of Kampala was created in the year 1966, the ownership of this land was transferred to the Registered Trustees of Kampala Archdiocese.

The parish is known as Our Lady & St. Jude Parish Naggulu. The dual naming of this church is a result of combining the desires of Fr. Henry Steegmans the first Parish Priest and the serving bishop of the time; Rt. Rev. Vincent Billington of Kampala Archdiocese during the years 1953 – 1965. The bishop dedicated the parish to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour while Fr. Henry Steegmans to Saint Jude Thaddeus.

Today this land has the following developments; the Church, St. Jude Primary School, Our Lady and St. Jude Nursery School, St. Jude Parish Hall, Parish offices, and the Priests’ residence. The other development here is the recreation garden –which also has a restaurant.

Concept of the redevelopment of Our Lady & St. Jude Church

The concept of developing the church was first discussed in 2002, by the Parish Pastoral Council together with the Parish Priest by then Fr. Edward Muwanga who laid a plan for the future development of the entire parish. They realized the need to revitalize the Parish and face-lift its entire outlook to make it modern and self-sustaining.

Development of the Strategic Plan

For any development, there was a need to have a guiding instrument, and thus how a Strategic Plan (2003 – 2013) came into place. This outlined a ten (10) year Master plan that involved both building new infrastructure(s) and promoting Christian spiritual growth.  

On one part, the Master plan had in it the redevelopment of the Church, St. Jude Primary and Nursery School, Naggulu Parish Hall, Parish & Administrative Offices, and the Priests’ house. On the other part, this plan proposed the establishment of a vocational school, a motel, a convent for the religious, and also the recreation gardens. Today, the church stands as number one in our priority list of development. The existing 65-year-old, in its current form,  has structural faults, besides holding a leaking roof—despite the numerous interventions to fix it. In general, the condition of the church’s ceilings, windows, walls, sitting, aeration, décor, lighting, etc needs improvements and modernizing.

We were advised that considering the above, it is more cost-effective in the long run, to build a new Church altogether than undertake piecemeal yet costly repairs. In that circumstance, the fundraising and planning campaigns for the new Church started in October 2013.

As mentioned, the Parish Executive resolved and prioritized to begin with the church construction which would be followed by the Priests’ house among others. Therefore, the Parish Executive constituted the building committee whose main task would be to build the new church, with the following objectives in mind;

1. To re-develop St. Jude Shrine and expand the church to 2,500 sq. meters.
2. To increase the sitting capacity of Parishioners and devotees to 1,500.
3. To increase awareness of faith in Uganda and attract more Christians.
4. To make St. Jude shrine a centre for renewed commitment to God particularly through the three annual novenas to St. Jude Thaddeus.
5. To provide a safe, secure, and friendly environment for the church.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT?

Through the following fundraising initiatives:

Dear Friends, Well-wishers, Devotees of St. Jude, and Parishioners; it’s our obligation to support the construction of the new church at Our Lady & St. Jude Parish Naggulu, by involving ourselves in all activities introduced to us by the building committee.

1. The fundraising envelopes:  these are envelopes printed, where donors can enclose their cash contribution. On top of this envelope, one can write his/her details; name, Tel contact, parish, and amount of money contributed.
2. Sale of items; here we procure items like; cups, t-shirts, key holders, etc and they are sold at a fee, and the proceeds still go towards the project.
3. Church special collection; here money is collected by the parishioners on Sundays after every Mass, for the construction of the new church. 
4. Cash Vouchers: these are small cash slips printed with denominations of Uganda shillings 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000. Here one is free to ask for any kind of cash voucher and contribute that particular amount printed on the voucher of their choice.  
5. City Box: a small house was fabricated to contribute towards the project. This box has an inlet space where a donor/contributor can drop their cash envelope.
6. Flutterwave online banking system:  this is an electronic platform created where a donor/contributor can contribute towards the project. It has procedures followed if one decides to adopt it.
7. Bank accounts: we have bank accounts where one is free to deposit money on the account in the bank. You could also use EFT and RTGS among others.
8. Friends in the Diaspora; here we encourage and invite friends/relatives living outside Uganda to contribute towards the project. More so, this would not only help in the dissemination of information about St. Jude Thaddeus but also attack funding.  

We thank you for your contribution, and remain blessed beyond measure!

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