I’m writing this far too long after the fact, but it’s never too late to document the tragedy and alleged fraud of the Rev. Mark Kiyimba. What’s clear to me is that there is no widespread acknowledgement of Mark Kiyimba’s troubling relationship with the Unitarian Universalist Association. I’m left with more questions than anything. How widespread were the emails sent out by the UUA concerning this? Why is Mark Kiyimba still listed on UUA websites? Why hasn’t UU World picked this up? Why do congregations still keep in touch with him?
This is a failure on the part of the Unitarian Universalist Association to invest resources in protecting UU congregations from further fraud. Some might say it isn’t their job, but when a threat is known, you’d expect the national organization that speaks so often about covenant and right relationship to do their due diligence. That is why i’m collecting this information here. But, first, you might be wondering, why are there allegations Mark Kiyimba is a fraud? I’ll try to list out the experience I had with him while serving as the minister of a Unitarian Universalist congregation as well as list some important information from the UUA so it doesn’t disappear.
My Experience with the Rev. Mark Kiyimba from Uganda
In Summer 2019, Mark Kiyimba reached out to me to plan a visit. He had visited several congregations in the past in North America and it was clear he was on another tour for fundraising and awareness. I had no reason to suspect anything was out of the ordinary because, at one point, he was in good standing with both the International Council of Unitarian Universalists, the International Office of the UUA, and several congregations. Fast forward to October 2019 when Mark visits. I arranged housing for him as well as transportation. I picked him up at a bus stop here in town and our weekend ensued. He preached on Sunday morning and presented at an evening event that explored LGBTQ issues in Uganda.
After his visit, a colleague reached out to me and asked me to talk to the International Council of UUs before sending Mark any money we raised for him. This, of course, raised several red flags. It was also during this time that congregation members reached out to me and started sharing their concerns. It turns out Mark was not a gracious guest. He openly bad mouthed members, talked down to them, and acted in a way unbecoming of a minister. Members were deeply hurt by his interactions with them.
Beginning to Investigate the Rev. Mark Kiyimba
I spoke with the Rev. Sara Ascher with the International Council of UUs. What follows is a summary of information that is more relevant here than his unpleasantness:
- At one point, yes, much of what Mark Kiyimba had to say about his ministry and work in Uganda was valid. He developed close relationships with several congregations and the UUA recognized his work.
- Somewhere this all fell apart. I don’t know what happened, but it increasingly became clear that what Mark was claiming was no longer true.
- The International Council of UUs has never met with Ugandan Unitarians. Mark is the only one that will meet with the ICUU. It’s unclear if there actually is a Ugandan Unitarian congregation in Kampala.
- The few American UUs that have visited (on their own) his “congregation” recall that the religious rhetoric was alarming and sounded more like a fundamentalist Christian congregation. Now, many UUs are Christian, so, that should be taken with a grain of salt. It does, however, feed into worries that a Unitarian congregation does not exist in Kampala.
- The school affiliated with the congregation caused severe concern. It was unclear where the money was going as projects were left unfinished.
- Furthermore, witnesses recall seeing teachers use corporal punishment on the children. The living conditions for the children — given that Mark raised money to improve them — were questionable.
- These visits legitimized rumors of unethical behavior with eyewitness testimony. Remember, people saw children being abused.
- Mark cancelled several International Council of UU official visits because they would not meet his demands — many of which made ICUU visitors feel unsafe.
- All American congregations in active partnership with Mark Kiyimba have ended their relationship due to these unethical observations around mismanagement of money and child abuse.
- Mark stopped cooperating with any inquiry into these concerns and still visited congregations. This is a clear breach of right relationship.
After learning this information, I informed the church board and we withheld the money we raised. We almost sent Mark over $5000.00. I reached out to several congregations he was visiting and informed them of this ongoing but not public investigation into his unethical behavior. I reached out to both the Partner Church Council and the International Office of the UUA and informed them of my conversation with the ICUU. They pledged to investigate it.
Meanwhile, I sent Mark an email letting him know of my concern. He never responded. However, he has since continued to reach out to congregation members for individual fundraising asks. I should note that this is not good collegial practice. Nevertheless, he continues to do this.
First Response from the UUA Regarding the Rev. Mark Kiyimba
After a couple of months, the UUA released a statement about their investigation.
Dear colleagues,
We’ve recently received inquiries from several colleagues about supporting the ministries of Rev. Mark Kiyimba in Uganda. Both the UUA and the UU Partner Church Council decided to suspend our relationships with Rev. Kiyimba several years before we (staff names redacted) assumed our current positions.
We are trying to understand what happened and why the decision to suspend relationship with Rev. Kiyimba was made. While we’re clear that the suspension is unrelated to clergy sexual misconduct, the concerns raised are significant enough that it is important for us to pause, gain clarity about what happened, and decide how we proceed.
We want our review to be thorough and fair and we have invited dialogue with Rev. Kiyimba as part of the process. We are seeking a transparent and just resolution. This process will no doubt take some time. In the meantime, we are reluctant to endorse Rev. Kiyimba’s participation in UUA and UUPCC member congregations. We intend to issue a more definitive statement after we have concluded our review and conversations with Rev. Kiyimba. Unfortunately, we cannot provide a timeline for completion, since much of this process is dependent on factors that are outside of our control.
We understand that our reluctance to endorse Rev. Kiyimba’s ministries may give rise to a host of complicated feelings and views. We do ask that, as colleagues, you direct questions/concerns to either staff names redacted.
In Faith,
named redacted (UUA International Office) and name redacted (UU Partner Church Council)
As you can see, the UUA and UUPCC found that the concerns raised by several congregations were worth investigating.
Second Response from the UUA Regarding the Rev. Mark Kiyimba
Another couple months later, the UUA and UUPCC released the results of their investigation. I don’t know who they were sent to, but it’s clear that Mark Kiyimba is still listed on some UUA websites. Here’s the full text:
Please see the below statement from the UUPCC and UUA on working with Rev. Mark Kiyimba and his ministries in Uganda.
Please send replies to [emails removed]
A number of Unitarian Universalist congregations in the United States have supported the ministries of the Rev. Mark Kiyimba in Uganda over the last decade. We, in the UUA’s International Office, and the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council, have heard a range of experiences as well as a number of concerns from many of these congregations. It is beyond our ability to investigate all of the experiences or to sort through, in a definitive way, the complicated layers of cultural misunderstanding, racism, and white supremacy at work.
For us, these four findings are most compelling as we consider whether to recommend that U.S. congregations work with Rev. Kiyimba’s ministries:
Nine congregations across the U.S. worked with Rev. Kiyimba’s ministries through the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council (UUPCC). All nine eventually decided to discontinue their partnerships with Rev. Kiyimba. Many of these cited as a primary reason for discontinuing the failed effort to create a memorandum of understanding with Rev. Kiyimba outlining the expectations, responsibilities, and accountability of both U.S. congregations and Rev. Kiyimba. Given a pattern of misunderstandings, they felt they could no longer continue the relationship without a clarifying memorandum of understanding. At the core of their decisions, and of import to us, was the consistent lack of trust, respect, and mutuality necessary for creating sustainable partnerships. The UUPCC supported the decision of the nine member congregations and also terminated its relationship with Rev. Kiyimba.
In our conversations with Rev. Kiyimba and congregations, we found a significant disconnect about whether fundraising has been a central focus of Rev. Kiyimba’s visits to congregations.
The relationship between Rev. Kiyimba and the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) was suspended by the ICUU several years ago. Rev. Kiyimba has not made any attempts to address the disconnect with the ICUU. Both the UUPCC and the UUA International Office look to the ICUU to determine Unitarian/Universalist affiliation.
Some U.S. congregations were concerned that after they encouraged members to donate to Rev. Kiyimba’s school partly based on assurances that the school doesn’t engage in corporal punishment, their church members witnessed corporal punishment at the school.
UU congregations in the United States ultimately need to decide for themselves whether they wish to work with Rev. Kiyimba and his ministries. Based on the four findings noted above, we are not able to recommend that UU congregations in the U.S. work with Rev. Kiyimba.
Unpacking the Unsatisfying Response to the Fraud of Rev. Mark Kiyimba
So, okay. This is a response. I can’t say much more. The mention of “white supremacy at work” is victim blaming. It feels absurd to bring that into the discussion with no further explanation. Am I perpetuating white supremacy because I don’t want the congregation I serve giving their money to a fraud? Because that’s what’s happened elsewhere. What’s at stake here is the trust and health of UU congregations and a predatory relationship with someone who does not have UUism in his best interests. I’m glad there’s a recommendation to not work with Mark Kiyimba here. That part is very clear. The mention of child abuse is clear. The mention of relationships going sour is clear.
The problem with this letter is a confusion of roles. Does the UUA vet international guests or not? Is the UUA sorry for the lack of transparency? How about the absence of education for new staff members around potential problems in the international office? Since when is child abuse a matter of white supremacy culture? If we are leaning into the covenantal, why does the UUA insist on being out of covenant with this matter?
As I mentioned, Mark Kiyimba is still reaching out to congregations. He’s still asking for money. His kinda/sorta/maybe congregation is still listed on the UUA website. He’s still listed in UU World articles. Thankfully, the National Education Association (NEA) removed his promotional video when I shared the above letters with them. I didn’t add any further context. The UUA letters do acknowledge enough concern to limit his access. However, the UUA also abdicates their responsibility.
Does the UUA only provide resources to the congregations? Great. Curate them and remove Mark Kiyimba. Does the UUA assist us in our dismantling of white supremacy? Great. Stop keeping this a secret (which is a characteristic of white supremacy culture) and name it. Let’s dig into the cultural misunderstandings at play here. Let’s revisit what covenant means when we are dealing with a community that abuses children, refuses to acknowledge harm, mismanages donations, and may not even exist as a UU entity. I know the UUA is not some detached and distant organization when dealing with difficult issues…so what happened here?! Yes, this is the responsibility of congregations. But it’s also the responsibility of the UUA — take ownership of that.
Hoping for Accountability with the Rev. Mark Kiyimba
The purpose of this post is to name the lack of accountability here. I’ve done my due diligence in the congregation I serve to be accountable for my own lack of awareness concerning Mark Kiyimba. I own that. The congregation ultimately sent their donations to a verified LGBTQ organization in Uganda. We regularly tell Mark, when he reaches out, of our disappointment in what the UUA and ICUU shared. The UUA on the other hand leaves me confused and worried.
And for that reason, I don’t know how long the UUA emails will be available to people. They need to be available. People need to know this before they invite him into their homes or give him money. A simple Google search will display not just the UU World and UUA pages with him referenced, but the countless UU congregations he’s visited.
Thank you for reading. It’s likely I missed some details, but this should be enough to cause alarm. My intent here is to ensure that UU congregations have this information available to them. I hold onto hope that Mark Kiyimba could get back into right relationship with the UUA, ICUU, and UUPCC. Until that time, we can’t sweep this under the rug and pretend it’s solved. It isn’t.
UDPATE:
As of September 2021, congregations are still inviting Mark Kiyimba to speak and, no doubt, give donations to him. There’s been no indication that congregations have been made aware of the problems with him and he’s still listed on several UUA affiliated websites. Shame on the UUA.
UDPATE #2:
As of March 2023, it looks like Mark Kiyimba has moved on from Unitarian Universalism. He changed his named on Facebook to Yosef Kyemba and now describes himself as the Senior Minister of the Kawanda United Methodist Church in Kampala, Uganda. You don’t need to look far on either page — knowing how involved he was in Unitarian Universalism — to see how sketchy this is. The so called Methodist congregation he is pastoring is using old UU-related photos. This is obviously speculation, but it looks like Mark is positioning himself to begin soliciting donations from the United Methodists. I’ll go ahead and pass along the appropriate information to their international office, if they have one.