Sere, Andereya and Lea

[TORO]

As a young man Rev. Andereya Sere had served in the enclosure of Yafeti Byakweyamba__ and had thus come into contact with Christian teaching.[1] He was baptized at Butiti by the Rev. Zakariya Kizito Kisingiri__ on April 27, 1897.[2] He worked as a teacher under the Revs. A. L. Kitching and T. B. Johnson at Butiti.[3] In 1903 he was sent to teach at Butanuka for a brief period.[4] His wife, Lea, had also been trained as a teacher and she received her letter in 1905.[5] At the request of the Christians of Butiti he was chosen for ordination.[6] He was made deacon in 1907.[7] He worked for a year at Butiti and a year at Mboga, and was then ordained priest in 1909, again returning to Butiti where he remained until 1913, when for two years he worked at Ngoma. From 1915-1922 and possibly longer he worked in Kyaka, and later also served in Busongora—like the church teachers he was moved around a good deal.[8] He officially retired in 1936, but went on doing a little work until the early 1950’s.[9]

Louise Pirouet

Notes(short form; see List of Sources__ for complete citations):

1. Balya, 1965.

2. Kabarole Baptism Register.

3. Balya, 1965.

4. Kabarole Church Council Minutes, September 19, 1903.

5. Toro Women Teachers Record.

6. Balya, 1965.

7. Church of Uganda, Record Book.

8. The details of his postings in these years can be traced from those of his wife in the Toro Women Teachers Record.

9. Balya, 1965.

This biography, written by Louise Pirouet, was included in “Appendix A: Biographical Notes,” on page 421 of “The Expansion of the Church of Uganda (N.A.C.) from Buganda into Northern and Western Uganda between 1891 and 1914, with Special Reference to the work of African Teachers and Evangelists” (PhD Thesis: University of East Africa, 1968). Pirouet published this thesis as Black Evangelists (London: Rex Collings, 1978). However, Black Evangelists does not reproduce the detailed biographies, complete with references to sources, found in Appendix A of the thesis. Print copies are available at Africana Section, Makerere University Library (U 02 P57); The Centre for Christianity Worldwide, Cambridge; and a microfilm copy at the School of Oriental Studies, London. [information from Angus Crichton]