After its founding in 1877 by the Church Missionary Society, the Church grew through the evangelization of Africans by Africans. The first Ugandan clergy were ordained in 1893 and the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi became an independent Province in 1961. The history of the Church in Uganda has been marked by civil strife and martyrdom. In May 1980 the new Province of Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire was inaugurated; the Province of Uganda has grown since then from seventeen to thirty seven dioceses.
