Tracy J. Sukraw reports for the Diocese of Massachusetts on congregations remembering the three murder victims of the Ahimbisibwe family:
The Ahimbisibwe family had numerous friends and connections in the Diocese of Massachusetts through academic and parish affiliations, including at Harvard Divinity School, St. James’s Church in Cambridge and St. Stephen’s Church in Cohasset.
Members of the Cohasset congregation gathered in remembrance on Feb. 8. “[Rector Margot Critchfield] offered a truly wonderful gathering this past Sunday attended by about two dozen parishioners and local townspeople who had befriended and been touched by the Ahimbisibwes,” senior warden Kathryn Earle said by e-mail. “We said prayers and shared happy reminiscences and shed a few tears.”
On Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m., the African Clergy Caucus in the Diocese of Massachusetts, together with the St. Peter’s Anglican Ugandan congregation that worships at Christ Church in Waltham, will hold a memorial service at Christ Church (750 Main Street). Bishop Alan M. Gates will attend. All are welcome. A reception will follow the service. The offering collected at the service is designated for Ahimbisibwe’s 80-year-old mother in Uganda, according to service organizers.
“In Africa, we say, ‘I am because we are,’” the Rev. Dr. James Githitu, chair of the Massachusetts African Clergy Caucus, said in an e-mail announcing the memorial service. “We should continue to hold our sisters and brothers in prayers.”
In the Diocese of Texas, a funeral service for the three is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. February 19 at the Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston. All clergy are invited to process and will wear white stoles.
The diocese continues to accept donations for the Ahimbisibwe Family Fund.
