The grave of Alfred Robert Tucker, Durham Cathedral graveyard

Alfred Robert Tucker (1849–1914) was the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa (covering the contemporary countries of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

), from 1890 to 1899, and Bishop of Uganda from 1899 to 1908.

Early days

Tucker was born in 1849 and grew up in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or '' fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

in England. Following in the footsteps of his family, he became an artist, exhibiting at the Royal Academy.

Church life

In 1879, Tucker became a mature student at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. This was unusual for an evangelical ordinand of his time, as by far the greater proportion of evangelical students went to Cambridge. In 1882, he was ordained curate in Bristol, then at St Nicholas' Church, Durham before being sent out in 1890 by the

Church Mission Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

to become the third bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa. He served in this position until 1899. That year, he became the

Bishop of Uganda The Anglican dioceses of Buganda are the Anglican presence in the Central Region, Uganda (equivalent to the old Buganda kingdom); they are part of the Church of Uganda. The remaining dioceses of the Church are in the areas of Eastern Uganda, of N ...

until 1908. Tucker's style was, notably for this era, one of working with the culture rather than trying to replace it with European attitudes. He was quoted in 1908 saying, "We are pretty convinced in our mind that we have everything to give and nothing to receive; everything to teach and nothing to learn; moreover we find it very difficult to believe that there is anything good in the pagan races of Africa." He was very much in favour of native garb being used for clergy rather than European cassocks and robes. He argued for African churches to have autonomy, although he continually returned to England for more missionaries, possibly hoping for them to undertake support roles within the church structure rather than the leadership positions that they assumed. Tucker's approach to the evangelization of Uganda had three phases: conversion of individual African men; church planting; and finally, education.

Latter years

In 1911, Tucker returned to

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

where he spent his days as a canon of

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...

. He died in 1914 and was buried outside the cathedral, where a tall Celtic cross marks his grave. It stands in the raised area to the right of the main entrance path.

Bishop Tucker Theological College

In 1913, a year before Bishop Tucker's death, Uganda's first theological college was formed. On his death, it was named Bishop Tucker Theological College. In 1997, it became

Uganda Christian University Uganda Christian University (UCU) is a private church-founded university administered by the Church of Uganda. It was the first private University in Uganda to be awarded a charter by the Government of Uganda. Location UCU's main campus, with a ...

. In 2004, the university's theology faculty was named "The Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology."

Publications

*Tucker, Alfred. ''Eighteen Years in Uganda and East Africa.'' London: Edward Arnold (1908).

References

Sources

Tucker of Uganda, by Arthur P. Shepherd (1929)
at anglicanhistory.org Full-text book about Tucker {{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Alfred Robert 1849 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Anglican bishops in Africa 20th-century Anglican bishops in Africa Anglican bishops of Uganda Anglican bishops of Mombasa