I am Rt. Rev. Kosea Odongo the 6th bishop of Church of Uganda Diocese of Soroti. The Diocese of Soroti was created in 1961 by the division of the Upper Nile Diocese. The bishops who have served before me are: Rt. Rev. Stephen Salongo Tomusange (1961-1964), Rt. Rev. Athanasius Maraka (1965-1975), Rt. Rev. Geresom Ilukor (1975-2001), Rt. Rev. Dr. Charles Bernard Obaikol Ebitu (2001-2009), and Rt. Rev. George William Erwau (2009-2018). We praise God for the ministry of these great men of God.
The Diocese of Soroti is located in Eastern Uganda and is 307.3 km from Kampala.
Our philosophy as taken from Galatians 6:9, “DO GOOD AND YOU WILL FEEL GOOD.” As a Diocese, we long to see the members of our Diocese doing good to all the members of the body of Christ and to see the whole Church feeling good as they share fellowship as brothers and sisters in the Lord, who share one calling, one baptism, one Holy Spirit, and a shared hope of going to heaven.
We are committed to preaching the gospel as presented to us in the Holy Scriptures- the Bible. We are a rural Diocese, and being a rural Diocese, a majority of our members are peasants and the main activity done in our Diocese is agriculture. This implies that we majorly work with poor people but who love the Lord Jesus Christ. We keep trusting in the Lord to sustain our Diocese and to grow it to greater heights. We welcome you to pray for us and support us in fulfilling God’s will in serving the people entrusted to our care in this time and season.
Church of Uganda, Diocese of Soroti is one of the now 39 Anglican Dioceses that currently constitute the Province of the Anglican Church in Uganda. We are estimated to be about 45% of the population in the 7 Districts (Soroti, Serere, Kaberamaido, Kalaki, Kapelebyong, Amuria, Katakwi) and Soroti City that make up the Diocese of Soroti.
The Diocese of Soroti is led by the Bishop Kosea Odongo who is the 6th Bishop of the Diocese and was consecrated on 16th June 2019. He is supported by 1,094 staff both ordained and lay. The Diocese has 107 active clergy, 805 active lay readers, 182 Secretariat staff serving within the 06 Departments of Missions, Lands and Estates, Education, Health, Household and Community Transformation (COU-TEDDO), Finance and Administration. These numbers keep rising each year due to the creation of new churches, new parishes and also departments within the secretariat.
There has been steady progress across the Diocese especially in the last 5 years of the leadership of Bishop Kosea Odongo. We have achieved a lot and these among others include the following:
Infrastructural Development: This includes the construction of a 2.4 billion New St. Peter’s Cathedral Soroti which is now at 70% completion rate. Other key infrastructural projects include the New Bishop’s House at 80% completion, St. Andrews Church Amuria at 50%, St. Paul Katakwi at 65%. We are also constructing a new technical school in Kalaki called Alalo Memorial Technical Institute which now 75% complete and will start operating in the year 2025. We have also constructed 4 lecture theatres now being rented by Kyambogo University. We started our own Alpha and Omega Audio studio which is operational and we are constructing a new 16 roomed guest house now at ring beam level.
Church growth and Development: Many Christians have come up to ensure that their churches grow and develop. The approach is holistic and we are saying the gospel preached and thousands receiving Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. There are fellowships and prayer groups in all parishes and many people have returned back to the church from other churches where they had gone to. In the last 3 years we have created 21 new parishes and three new archdeaconries. We are also focusing on manpower development and have 43 Ordinands in colleges and universities ready to come and fill the existing ministry gaps in the Diocese. Christians are building permanent churches and the grass thatched churches are disappearing. This commitment to development in the church is visible from the bishop’s office and down to the local church.
Stewardship and improved resource mobilisation: We are doing our best to reduce donor dependency especially now that most donors and even Christian organizations are reluctant to fund us because of the Church of Uganda’s stand on homosexuality. We are encouraging Christians to own church development and know that they are the primary donors of the church. As a result we see giving going up and many projects started by the different church groups like mothers union, youth, fathers union, believers etc. These groups have projects like for cows, goats, sheep, pigs, etc which help to meet the expenditure of their respective churches. At the Diocesan level, we also have some income generating projects that include the Audio studio, hospitality centres, Lorry and two tractors for hire and several rental premises bringing in some additional income to the Diocese. We carry out annual audit of our books of accounts and this has led to improved internal controls ensuring effective management of resources. We have plans in our 5 year strategic plan (2023-2028) to invest a lot in real estate and construct several infrastructural buildings to enhance our income base and have a self-sustaining Diocese. We plan to construct a mission hospital, an archade, pension house for clergy, Hostels for students and houses for staff and others for rent. We are even dreaming of having our own Radio station and a fuel station. With God all things are possible and we believe with time ll these shall come to pass.
