Child-Friendly Church

I’ve been living in Uganda for two years now. Working with Viva, I meet lots of pastors and am always in contact with local churches. I love my church here, it’s filled with people who truly want to be there together, are really excited about worshiping God and serving their community.

But the Ugandan church, just like everywhere around the world, suffers from contrasts in faith, actions and beliefs. What do you see when you picture an African church? Maybe a building without walls or with a thatched roof … maybe a bunch of colourfully dressed people singing under a tree, raising their hands and swaying with African enthusiasm. The reality is that African churches are unique in their own way, but also very similar to churches everywhere else.


My church in Kampala is very family-oriented. Through the week we have activities for all sorts of different groups: children, students, support for people with HIV. Unlike back home in the West, people at my church here actually hang out at church during the week. It’s just a fun place to be, it’s safe and it’s a bright social scene. That would be hard to find in the UK! People here go to church regularly – something that’s been lost to the last few generations in the West. I’m always excited to see that bit of culture alive and well in Africa.

Tragically, the same old problems that have plagued the Western church for hundreds of years also exist here – but with a special African flair. Pastors in Uganda get a lot of respect, which opens up a door for those who are corrupt to use their office to make money or influence people in ungodly ways.

In some cases, pastors are notorious for demanding money before they’ll pray for someone. Imagine being a child in an impoverished family, your mother has AIDS, you invite your local pastor to pray for your sick mother, and before he starts he asks for money you don’t have! What image would that give you of God?

Another widespread practice in many churches is ‘demon casting’. This is a reverberation of the traditional witch doctor culture here, that’s been grafted into the church. In my first home here I woke up in the middle of the night to chanting and screaming: a midnight ‘church’ service where demons were being cast out! I was scared and I’m grown up … I can’t imagine being a child and seeing these things go on in my church.

Of course the Ugandan church can’t be summed up by me, and it definitely can’t be summed up in a blog post. But I’m in a special position to see how churches here can be made more child-friendly.

Lots of churches don’t have programmes for children, and they’re just expected to sit through the service. A Sunday school programme, which we take for granted back home, would be a great idea for the kids.

Ugandan churches really do want to help children at risk. But this is often seen as an expenditure that they simply can’t afford. There are easy ways churches can reach out to children in their communities around here though, like having after school clubs or Bible study groups, or a children’s prayer ministry. Their human capital is the best thing they’ve got going, and they need to use it!

I’m so happy Viva is in a special position to help these churches reach their full potential of reaching out to children. We’ve been able to train church leaders and workers in child protection, and our networks are always coming up with ideas and new ways of mobilising congregations to help kids in their communities. It’s up to the churches themselves to take the initiative and use what Viva’s given them to change their entire community.

The church is the best placed organisation in the whole world to help millions of children at risk. I’m privileged to be working for Viva as it helps to support churches across the continent to do just that. Thanks to our unique networks of projects, churches and NGOs across Africa we can help every church become a Child Friendly Church.


~ F. in Kampala


Visit www.viva.org/what to find out more about how we help children at risk in Uganda and around the world. 

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