A partner in a better world: Benjamin Musoke-Lubega
and the Grants program at Trinity, Manhattan

The Rev. Canon Benjamin Musoke-Lubega says that he “has the best of two worlds.” Then he corrects himself and says that perhaps he has the best of three worlds. Between his work as program associate for the Grants Program of Trinity, Manhattan, and the two cultures – Ugandan and American – which are part of his life, he has plenty of worlds from which to choose.

Musoke-Lubega grew up in Uganda, where his mother and several brothers and sisters still live. He has lived in the United States for over 25 years, first as a student at the University of Chicago and a seminarian at Nashotah House, and then as a priest in the Episcopal Church.

After seminary, he served as vicar of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Cincinnati, Ohio and then as rector of St. Matthew’s and St. Joseph’s in Detroit. What he misses most about parish life, he says, is “where you have a congregation, you hear the stories. That connection to families – their joys and their trials.”

Musoke-Lubega left traditional parish ministry to become the partnership officer for Africa for the national church in 2001. Particularly following General Convention 2003, he spent a great deal of time building and maintaining relationships with the leaders of the Anglican churches in Africa. “My time there,” he says, “helped me to learn more about Africa. And I can’t say that I know all of it, I’m only a student trying to learn more.”

His work with the national church also gave him the opportunity to visit many different parts of the continent. Those trips were important learning experiences. “People can tell you about their challenges and needs and so forth, but when you go, your eyes are opened in a different way.”

Those relationships and visits have served Musoke-Lubega well in his new ministry with Trinity Grants. As program associate, he is in charge of grants for the Global South, with a main focus on Africa. Trinity Grants gave $2.5 million in grants in 2005, with $1.27 million of that going to Africa and telecommunications. The program emphases in Africa are Theological Education by Extension, Community Development, Primary and Preventative Health Care, and Peace-building and Democratic Participation.
Musoke-Lubega oversees the grant process for Global South applicants and works with grant recipients throughout the length of their project. As an example of his new work, he refers to a micro-credit project for women in Tanzania as an exciting, ongoing project. The women in the project have chosen a business for themselves – from raising chickens to owning a banana plantation – and meet together regularly to learn better business practices from one another.

When he visited them, he says, “You could tell there were some who had just come on board and some who had been in the program for a year and a half. You could tell that by the house they live in, the children, the way they look, their clothing.”

Perhaps more importantly, “Here is a woman who depended on a man for everything and now they are being assisted to realize their potential and they’re doing well,” he says.

There is also a challenge in his story. “It’s not a lot of money. They have about 45 women and the grant was about $30,000. There are parishes [in the Episcopal Church] that can do that kind of project.”
That kind of relationship building project is clearly a priority in Musoke-Lubega’s work at Trinity. Despite the tension between the Episcopal Church, USA and some African Anglican provinces,the grant-making continues. “There is no litmus test,” he says. “Trinity believes that by engaging our partners, we learn more from each other, get to know each other’s context. Hopefully that relationship will begin to transform one another into the likeness of God.”

“I remember going to Tanzania after the General Convention in 2003. What [the people] were seeing was a fellow human being, a fellow Anglican, who had come to visit to learn more about them. They never asked me a question about sexuality. When you go on the ground, it’s always a different story.”

Musoke-Lubega has been in his new position for just a few months, but is enthusiastically planning to be part of the historic work the Trinity Grants Program has undertaken for a number of years. He wants to be part of the kind of work which helps “to enable the Communion to learn from one another, appreciate one another and… contribute to the alleviation of extreme poverty.”

“Right now I think I have the best of two worlds,” he says. “My work keeps me engaged with the leadership in the Anglican Communion, not only in Africa but I think the whole communion. I would classify that as my parish, in a way, although it’s not the traditional parish. But I get to hear their joys and their cries and also being here at Trinity I have the opportunity to be involved liturgically in the community, either during the week or on Sunday.”

Musoke-Lubega’s affection for his adopted country is clear, as is his commitment to his first home.

“I was born in Africa and continue to be a student of Africa. I feel lucky that I’m in a position to learn more about the Anglican Communion, but also to work with them to partner together to create a better world.”