Introduction

Ubungo Parish church stands beside the Morogoro highway, near the main upcountry bus terminal and behind the UBUNGO PLAZA building, adjoining the RUBADA building.

Ubungo Parish is now more than 36 years old, which makes it one of the oldest parishes in the Eastern and Coastal Diocese. It began as a sub-parish of Magomeni Parish in 1969, with roughly 10 members.

The place of worship was under a mango tree, on the spot where the electricity distribution station (TANESCO) now stands. The first evangelist was Evangelist MUNISI. Services did not last long in that place. The members had to move to make way for the building of the power station, and went to the Water College, where the membership grew to 50. While at the Water College the services again had to move, after the congregation was sent away because the SUNDAY SCHOOL children had done damage by breaking the classroom windows.

So in 1971 the services were moved into the classrooms of the Ubungo National Housing Corporation primary school.

The membership grew after the move to the school, because the place of worship now had standing, and it reached more than 200 members. This allowed the sub-parish to be raised to a full parish, and so its first pastor was Pastor MLANZI and its first evangelist was Evangelist BENJAMIN SHOO. At that time the Lutherans and the Moravians worshipped together, because the Moravians had not built a church either. The services in that school did not last, because the government banned religious activity from being held in school classrooms, so the members had to look for a plot on which to build a church.

The members succeeded in obtaining plot NO. "437 BLOCK G" UBUNGO and began building in 1972. The contractor was ITALFRAME, who carried out the work and completed it on 1 June 1973. The church building was formally opened on 21 April 1985 by BISHOP ELINAZA SENDORO, then Bishop of the Eastern and Coastal Synod.

In the change from Synod to the Eastern and Coastal Diocese, Ubungo Parish was placed under the Dar es Salaam District, and the Dar es Salaam District was itself later divided into three districts: Temeke, Ilala and Kinondoni.

In 2009, however, the names of these districts were changed and Kinondoni District was renamed the Northern District. In the course of its life this Ubungo Parish has also enabled the founding of the following parishes: Makongo, Kimara Parish, Kibangu Parish, Mabibo External, Msewe Parish and Sinza Parish. It has likewise enabled the founding of the following sub-parishes: Gide and Makoka. Under the changes made from July 2008, Ubungo Parish now falls under the Northern District.