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BY RICHARD DRASIMAKU
ARUA: THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2026
A conference for men attracting 500 participants is under way at Emmanuel Cathedral in Mvara organized under the auspices of the Madi and West Nile diocese.
Bishop Charles Collins Andaku, flagged off a parade through the Arua city starting from St Thomas, Abiriambati church to the diocesan headquarters.
Several participants in the parade including women carried placards with a variety of messages wooing men to be useful to their families and to the service of God.
In a media briefing preceding the march, Bishop Andaku said the decision to organize this maiden conference specifically for men arose from deep pastoral concern of male disengagement that is affecting families.
“There is a growing crisis of male identity, male withdrawal from family leadership and from spiritual service in the church,” noted Bishop Andaku.
He said this is contrary to the mandate of men stated in Genesis 2:15 which reminds us that the Lord put man in the Garden of Eden to work it, which is a call to responsible leadership and stewardship in service.
Bishop Andaku stressed that from January 23 to January 24, 2026, high ranking church officials will be engaging participants with the aim of fostering fellowship and changing the narrative around men.
“It is a call to repentance, renewal and responsibility. A journey to restore men to their God given mandate,” he asserted.
Rev Canon Capt Hellen Munduru, the head of the diocesan family life unit commended the leadership of the diocese for the foresight and organization of the conference.
She acknowledged that they have been annually organizing conferences for women in which they lament the lackluster involvement of their husbands in running the family and participating in church activities.
“We need men to be closer to families and on board in church service. During the political rallies men and youths take the lead but when it comes to the critical issues of their families they are absent,” she noted.
Giving a snapshot of the dire situation of male absenteeism from family and church service, Rev Canon Onesmus Dralega, the head of the Fathers’ Union in Madi and West Nile diocese painted a particularly grip picture for the rural churches.
“When you go to hospitals and churches in the rural areas, 80% of the people you find in attendance are women. In the markets, 80% of the people laboring to ensure that families run are women,” he said.
“But you go to Arua prison – over 90% of the prisoners are men. In the bars and on rope meshes at roadside hangouts all those idling there are men,” Dralega added.
He said this is a loss of the original God-given mandate of men in the Book of Genesis and the conference is timely organized to edify men through various skills under the theme “anchoring in Christ for unity, stability and peace in our homes.”
The topic to be tackled include Men’s mandate, Being a real man and leader in family, Intentional Parenting, Model Christian man, practical biblical wisdom for financial stability and making marriages sweet.
