Worship Harvest Ministries (WHM), one of Uganda’s fastest-growing contemporary church movements, traces its roots to 1989 when “Come Alive,” a youth-focused discipleship initiative, was founded at St. Francis Chapel, Makerere.

Origins & Early Years

• The roots of Worship Harvest go back to 1989, when Benoni Mugarura‑Mutana (known as “Uncle Ben”) began an initiative at St. Francis Chapel, Makerere, called Come Alive. This was a program aimed at helping S.6 leavers explore their gifts and ministries during vacation.
• In 1996, Moses Mukisa joined Come Alive. By 2000 — after many of the original members left — he began rebuilding the group by recruiting new participants.
• Later in 2000, Moses Mukisa and others transformed the group into Come Alive Ministries, drawing in people from many churches to join a shared vision of transformation, particularly through music and other gifts. The base remained at St. Francis Chapel.
• In 2003, the ministry was renamed to Worship Harvest Ministries — to avoid confusion between the original Come Alive and Come Alive Ministries.

📆 From Ministry to Church — Launch and Expansion

• In 2005, under a new conviction, Worship Harvest decided to evolve into a church-planting movement.
• The formal launch happened in 2006, when the first gathering took place under the name “House of Praise” at Al Fiesta restaurant on Lumumba Avenue. That same year, foundational teaching on grace, faith, and the gospel was introduced through a course by teachers from abroad.
• Over time, the church changed locations (after being evicted from one site) and reverted to the name “Worship Harvest.”
• By 2010, the church began acquiring land (0.8 acres in Naalya) for a permanent facility. Construction began in 2011, and by September 11, 2011 part of the congregation had moved to the newly launched “WH Naalya.”

Growth and Church Planting Movement

• Over the years, Worship Harvest has launched multiple locations across Uganda — in Entebbe, Jinja, Bugolobi, Mukono, Makerere, and many other areas. The expansion continued year after year, reflecting rapid growth.
• In 2020, WHM planted its first international church locations (for example in Nairobi), marking the beginning of cross-border expansion.
• By its own count (as of the latest update), Worship Harvest operates dozens of campuses (“locations”), supports over 1,000 missional communities, and has a long-term vision: to plant 3,000 life-giving churches by 2042, and deploy 100,000+ disciple-making missional communities.
• The underlying strategy: each existing church location is to plant another every three years; for every 20 “garage attendees” (i.e. Sunday-service-goers) there should be one Missional Community (MC); and each MC should engage a “Frontier” (community outreach) at least once a month. This framework is meant to drive “Kingdom impact and transformation.”

Identity, Purpose & Ministry Focus

• Worship Harvest defines its purpose as: “Catalyzing Spiritual, Social and Economic Renewal in our immediate communities and as a result, the World.”
• Their mission is pursued by planting “life-giving, disciple-making, community-renewing churches.”
• The conceptual model of church for WHM emphasizes church as people, not buildings. They hold that “a location” (campus) is meant to equip and deploy Missional Communities, rather than simply host services.
• WHM describes its core values with the acronym L.E.G.I.T:
  • Loving
  • Excellent
  • Generous
  • Involving
  • Transparent Worship Harvest Ministries (WHM)
• They view themselves as a “Movement of the Gospel, Discipleship and Mission.”

Leadership Training & Capacity Building

• In 2017, WHM started the Harvest Institute, aimed at training and equipping men and women to become skilled, strategic servant-leaders — not just for church roles but also leadership in workplace and community. Worship Harvest Ministries (WHM)
• Harvest Institute’s training is holistic — combining spiritual foundation, ministry knowledge, practical business, and (by 2025) technology skills. This is part of WHM’s broader approach to leadership and community transformation.

via Worship Harvest Ministries (WHM)

Julius Rwotlonyo the new Team Leader for Watoto Church Ministries was commissioned on Friday 3, February 2023 at Watoto Church Downtown in Kampala, Uganda.

Pastor Julius or Julz, as he has fondly come to be called, is the first-born child of three siblings. He was born in Gulu, northern Uganda on 18 March 1981 to Professor Sam Obwoya Kinyera and Mrs. Perry Nabaasa Kyomuhendo Obwoya (RIP). Julius grew up in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. 

Julius gave his life to the Lord as a 10-year-old boy at Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC) -now Watoto Church- when his mother took him to watch the evangelistic drama, Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames. At 16 years, he recommitted his life to Jesus during a youth conference and joined KPC in 1997 after his friends invited him to visit the church. He was impacted by the youthful congregation, dynamic worship, powerful preaching and the compelling vision of the church to transform community. He immediately joined the youth ministry where he was discipled and became a leader in his youth group.

Julius went to Bat Valley Primary School and Nakasero Primary School for his primary education and Namilyango College for his secondary education. In 2004, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Makerere University, Uganda.

After university, he started serving at Watoto Church during which time he undertook various leadership and theological trainings. These include a Diploma of Ministry from Glad Tidings Bible College in Uganda (2007 – 2010); a Diploma in Transformational Church Leadership from Pan Africa Christian University in Kenya (2016 – 2017); and a Graduate Certificate in Organization Leadership from South Eastern University, Florida, USA (2018). He is also a graduate of School of Community Leadership conducted by Quest Leadership Centre of the Pan African Christian University. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Global Ministry Design from South Eastern University, Florida, USA.

Fresh with a passion to serve God, Julius kicked off his ministry experience in the church’s Cell Ministry, serving as a youth group leader of his peers between 1999 and 2004. After completing his engineering degree, he went for missionary work to the United Kingdom through Careforce from 2004 to 2005. It was while serving as a missionary that Julius confirmed his call to serve in full-time church ministry. When he returned to Uganda, he served as a Youth Worker at Watoto Church Ntinda from 2005 to 2006. In 2007 when Watoto Church was expanding to Gulu, northern Uganda, he was the Project Leader. After Watoto Church Gulu was successfully planted, Julius was appointed Youth Pastor for Watoto Church from 2007 to 2009.

Between 2009 and 2010, he served as Pastor for Watoto Church East Campus and Pastor for Watoto Church Cape Town, South Africa in 2011. From 2012 to 2017, he was the Pastor for Watoto Church Central after which he served as the Pastoral Team Leader between 2017 and 2018. Thereafter, he was appointed Associate Team Leader for Watoto between 2018 and 2022, a role he diligently served until becoming Team Leader for Watoto Church Ministries in 2023.

Julius is a member of the Watoto Church Council and serves on the Watoto Child Care Ministries International Board. He sits on the global boards for Watoto in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America in addition to serving on leadership teams for global movements like Empowered 21 and 4/14 Global Movement. He is also a member of Global Kingdom Partnership Network and Coalition for Transformational Churches.

Julius and his wife Vernita have had the privilege of being mentored by our founders, Ps. Gary and Marilyn Skinner for over 15 years. He believes in teamwork, serving people and loves to see lives transformed by the power of the Gospel. He is passionate about Jesus and the Church being God’s primary agent for community transformation.

Julius enjoys music, reading and playing golf. He is a committed and dedicated family man. He is happily married to Vernita Rwotlonyo and together have four lovely children – Hayil, Hank, Hannela and Halyn.

Adapted from Watoto Church website

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stephen Mugalu Kaziimba has praised the works of Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo saying he was visionary and a man of many abilities.

He was speaking at the inaugural Archbishop Nkoyoyo Memorial Lecture. Nkoyoyo passed on in February 2018.

“The Late Archbishop Nkoyoyo was multi-talented, from being a Mechanic to ordained Minister and later Archbishop. He was very generous. He identified people’s gifts and empowered them. He sent me to Nakanyonyi to study a Lay Reader’s course and mentored me in ministry,” Kaziimba said.

The lecture was held at Uganda Martyrs Anglican Site in Namugongo.

Nkoyoyo who served as Archbishop between 1995-2004, was the vision bearer of the development of the Uganda Martyrs Anglican Site, Namugongo to a world class faith based tourism one.

Kaziimba Maama Ruth Nkoyoyo for keeping her late husband’s legacy alive by living an exemplary life.

READ ALSO: Museveni, Kaziimba to speak at Archbishop Nkoyoyo memorial lecture on Thursday

President Yoweri Museveni was represented at the event by Energy Minister, Ruth Nankabirwa. The Archbishop thanked Museveni for the support he has given the project.