The newly enthroned Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kigali, Rev. Nathan Amooti Rusengo has said that he will put emphasis on increasing technology in evangelism, as a way of steering the gospel to different audiences in the city.
Officially enthroned on Saturday by fellow bishops, Rusengo replaces the long serving Louis Muvunyi who has been Bishop of Kigali for about 9 years.
Muvunyi leaves his place in response to a request made to him by fellow bishops to go back to school for PhD studies after which he will head a new theology school that the church plans to set up in about four years.
Rusengo has been serving as the bishop of Cyangugu Diocese. He is not new to Kigali since he served as a pastor as well as a secretary in the Diocese before he moved to Cyangugu.
The enthronement ceremony involved prayers for the new bishop by Christians, as well as vows from him that he will serve in reverence of The Lord.
Speaking after his enthronement, Rusengo highlighted the need to stream the gospel into different technological platforms to be able to reach different urban audiences,
“I will pay attention to urban evangelism. You see Kigali is changing, and not Kigali alone but Rwanda as a country. Things change one by one, little by little,” he said.
“Roads are changing, houses are changing, and technology has increased which means that the way we used to approach people with the gospel needs to change. We need to learn to speak to people via Whatsapp and YouTube. We need to think for a way how we can change evangelism to reach these urban populations.”
The bishop as well echoed the need for positive changes in the church’s infrastructure,
“There are some church facilities that don’t glorify God. We need to upgrade them. If you (Christians) have upgraded your own houses, why don’t we upgrade the house of God?”
Rusengo also stressed that he will work on the education of pastors.
Outgoing Bishop Louis Muvunyi thanked Christians and pastors of Kigali Diocese for standing with him and his family for the time of his service.
“When I became a pastor, I didn’t know that I would be a bishop but God made me one in a surprising and pleasing way,” he said.
Kigali Diocese is one of the 11 Dioceses of the Province of Anglican Church of Rwanda. It has 6 Archdeaconries with 41 parishes, 192 local churches.
The Diocese operates in 3 Districts of Kigali city (Nyarugenge, Kicukiro and Gasabo), two Districts of Eastern Province (Rwamagana, Bugesera), and two Districts of Northern Province (Rulindo and Gakenke).
