ABOUT CHRIS HOWLES
I am currently working as Head of Theology at Uganda Martyrs Seminary Namugongo (UMSN) on the outskirts of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. I’ve been there since 2011 with my wife, Ros, and 3 kids (Josh, Danny, and Chloe, the latter two were born in Kampala). Ros is a UK-trained medical doctor, but is mostly now involved in college life (Bible studies, some teaching, health advice) and homeschooling the children. Ros and I are British mission partners seconded to UMSN from Crosslinks-BCMS, a British mission society.
My relationship with Jesus began aged 16 through the ministry of a local church youth group in Birmingham, UK. The Lord then used an eight-month stay in Kenya (where Ros and I met, and married 4 years later), and several subsequent short trips to East Africa, to nurture in me a love for life and learning in those contexts. After a few years teaching geography to teenagers in a London school, I spent four years studying ‘Theology and Mission’ at Oak Hill College, during which time Ros worked as a doctor and also attended some training modules.
Three months after graduation, Ros and I (with a baby Josh) moved to Uganda, where we’ve lived and worked at Uganda Martyrs Seminary Namugongo since 2011. Here we're serving alongside Ugandan Christian leaders to help train men and women from across East Africa for church-leadership in the Anglican Church of Uganda (and equivalents in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan).
My role at the seminary is to guide the training programme such that our 200+ adult students are nurtured in their calling to prayerful, faithful, contextual, missional church leadership that is Spirit-led, Christ-proclaiming, and God-exalting.
Personally, my days are mostly spent teaching theology modules, leading Bible studies, mentoring students individually, running side-programmes such as the college book shop, and a decent chunk of admin involving timetables, development of new programs, and general departmental leadership. Ros and I also help run a pretty large Sunday school at our local church which is an exhausting privilege.
In 2022 I graduated with a Doctorate in Inter-Cultural Studies through Fuller Theological Seminary, focusing on how theological education institutions in Africa can form church leaders who are knowledgeable about, equipped in, and passionate for cross-cultural mission to less-reached African nations and tribes.
In my spare time I’m mainly trying to resurrect my marathon-running abilities of my youth, reading about world Christianity and world mission, buying too many books about British military history, following West Bromwich Albion football club, listening to and reading about The Beatles, tweeting, sitting in Kampala traffic jams, and teaching my kids to play football.
'Namugongo Life' blog (2013-2015)
How National Christians Can Bless and Teach Western Churches
10 tips for healthy links between missionaries and their sending church
What's it like to be a missionary kid?
Life at the coalface in North Karamoja
Links to selections of my articles
Links to videos
Acts 14:22 and Ugandan Christianity
Supporting overseas gospel workers
The book ministry of Langham Literature
Uganda missions history
Supporting overseas missions workers
Links to academic publishing
A Giant on Clay Legs? African Theological Education and the Formation of Missiocentric, Missionary-sending Church Leaders
(Global Missiology vol. 20.2, April 2023)
Encouraging and equipping church leaders in Uganda for cross-cultural mission engagement across East Africa
(Fuller Theological Seminary, Doctoral Dissertation in Intercultural Studies, June 2022)
Links to my guest podcast appearances
Global Mission in the 21st Century?
Building Strong Relationships with Partner Churches
Mission and Mutuality
Christmas Overseas
Top Ten Missiology books
Links to selections of my book reviews
The Missionary Theologian (Missions Round Table vol. 15.3, Sep 2020)
Learning to Lead: The Making of a Christian Leader for Africa (Themelios Journal April 2023)
The Five Phases of Leadership (The Global Anglican Journal, vol. 136.2, Summer 2022 - Not online)
Christianity in Sub-Sahran Africa (The Global Anglican Journal, vol. 133.4, Winter 2019 - Not online)
Christian Theology and AFrican Traditions (The Global Anglican Journal, vol. 128.3, Autumn 2014 - Not online)