The Rector's Desk

Rector's Report to Annual Vestry 29 January 2011

2012-01-30T11:55:00.000+02:00

Introduction

Craig van Gelder, in his book the ministry of the missional church: acommunity led by the spirit (2007) – from which I quoted in my report last year– gives a useful definition of vision and mission: Spirit-led congregationslook to the Bible to define their purpose; Spirit-led congregations look totheir context to discern their vision. What we do in terms of worship, care andfellowship, education and discipleship, service and witness, should not be goalsin themselves but rather the instruments through which we live out our missionand reach towards our vision.

As we prepare to look forwardinto 2012, it is important to look back in thanksgiving and acknowledge thatGod has brought us to this place in time and history. 2011 marked an importantwatershed in our history as an Anglican community in the east of Pretoria: our30^th Anniversary! We importantly took time to celebrate this, and Councilallowed other priorities – which we will now pick up – to sit on theback-burner. The Churchwardens’ Report, to be made available at our AnnualVestry meeting later this morning, chronicles the activities and events thatmake 2011 and our 30^th Anniversary a valuable marker in our history.Without attempting to steal the Wardens’ lime-light, it is worth noting thatthe institution of the Corpus Christi Family Cross in June, and theinstallation of environmentally friendly and electrically efficient lighting towardsthe end of last year, have been two major and important highlights of ourcelebrations. The Family Cross, as it travels from one parish family toanother, is a constant call to deeper communal prayer and spirituality; thelighting is a major step to becoming environmentally aware and more caring ofthe world God has given us.

Parish

Having celebrated 30 years inGarsfontein, along with the growth of our community over this time, we now needto reflect on our purpose (“purpose” being another word for “mission”) andvision as we move into the future. Our present “Statement of Purpose” hascarried us through a transitional stage as we have moved from being a so-called“White” parish founded during the late stages of Apartheid to a parish that todayreflects the diversity of our 21^st century South African and Africansociety. It was deeply gratifying – in the survey we completed in 2010 – tohave parishioners comment that our intra-cultural harmony is an importantfactor in sustaining their involvement and membership of Corpus Christi. Thisis not to say we have “made it” in terms of the transformation agenda, but thatwe have begun to journey together in exploring what it is to be anintra-cultural community and a truly New South African community. We are, Ibelieve, committed to affirming each other’s humanity, and able to acknowledgethat we are all, each one, made in the image of God.

The challenge in building avision for the future is not marked by race or culture, but is one ofworldview. We live in an age of discontinuous, fast-paced change. This is notjust in terms of technology or information, but also in the manner in whichpeople see and understand the world. While not necessarily age-specific, thereare emerging worldviews that differ substantially from the Church’s formativeworld view, a world view that understood the world to be governed by timelessprinciples and eternal absolutes, driven by a commitment to transcendent truthand principle. As was highlighted by the 2010 parish survey I mentioned above,many parishioners – especially those over 40 – still hold to this particularperspective of the world. The growing crisis is that those under 40, andespecially those in their late teens and early 20’s, hold to a world view thatis discontinuous and potentially conflictual, certainly paradoxical, to the predominantoutlook of more senior members of our community.

Looking forward, if we want totake younger people seriously and if we have any interest in the Church beingrelevant to our young people and to coming generations, we need to increasinglytake account of perspectives on the world that emphasise egalitarianism, ecology,systemic health, holistic identity and convergence (and I can see you allmentally scratching your heads as you wonder what these terms mean, let alonewhat such worldviews may look like!). Michael Armour and Don Browning in theirbook Systems-Sensitive Leadership (2000) indicate that it is relativelyeasy to understand worldviews that have contributed to the one you now hold,and very difficult to understand newer worldviews that are built on the onethat presently defines your perspective of the world.

And so the challenge I have putto our new Council for 2012 is that while we seek to sustain what is important– and has been important to us at Corpus Christi for 30 years – we need to havethe courage to embrace paradox, to think creatively, to experiment, and not tofear failure. In other words, we need to keep the baby while having the courageto change the bath water! And there is no space or time to take the baby outthe bath while we change the water; and therein lies the challenge toingenuity. It brings me back to Craig van Gelder’s comment that I quotedearlier, that our purpose as a Christian community is to be found in Scripture(and as an Anglican I wish to add, “in Tradition and Reason, too”) and ourvision is to be found in our context. Scripture, Tradition, Reason is our life-line;the paradox of worldview is our context ... along with the social, politicaland economic challenges of our time. My hope is that if our 30^thAnniversary is truly a watershed event in our community life, then 2012 marksthe beginning of a new journey of transformation and spiritual growth. My prayeris that our 2012 Churchwardens and Council will have your full support,involvement and participation as we begin this journey together.

We have faced challenges in 2011,and will continue to do so in 2012, especially as the social, political andeconomic context of our country continues to be taxing on a number of levels. Asyou are aware, we began 2011 with a deficit parish budget in the region ofR60,000. You will be pleased to hear, when we receive the audited accountslater this morning, that with the concerted effort you have all put in we havemanaged to meet all our financial commitments for the year. While addressingthe parish deficit during 2011 Council identified that, while we spend a lot oftime helping the poor through Tumelong, there are people in our own communitystruggling financially to put food on the table while meeting the financialdemand of education for their children. This has led to the addition of what weare calling “Inreach” to our Pastoral Care portfolio for 2012, together with abudget item, in an attempt to be able to help parish families in crisis.“Inreach” is not just about financial crisis, but it is designed to focus onmeeting the wider needs of our parish community and includes focusing on newmembers, the Corpus Christi Family Cross, practical support, meals, as well as financialassistance.

Archdeaconry, Diocese and Province

Diocesan Synod was held during2011, and as usual was a wonderful experience for many as representatives fromall over the Diocese, together with stipendiary and self-supporting Clergy,came together to consider the state of mission and ministry in the Diocese. Akey focus was numerous changes to our Diocesan rules, bringing them into linewith common practice at both Provincial and Diocesan level, and updating themto meet the needs of the Church in the 21^st century.

The theme proposed by the BishopSeoka and accepted by Synod for the next three years is:

Renewed and Empowered through Baptism to be “Servants of God

and Stewards of the Mysteries ofGod” (1 Corinthians 4:1).

The Bishop, in his Charge toSynod, highlighted the need for us to understand that the Church is all aboutcommunity rather than buildings; the need for us to implement integratedministry rather than just being a community where the Clergy do it all; and, theneed for us to go beyond denominationalism by working together with otherchurches at grass-root level in the communities we serve. We are asked torevisit our vision and mission as a Diocese, to focus on teaching about missionand ministry, and to build small faith communities in people’s homes.

Synod was marred by attempts fromthe Cathedral Archdeaconry to undermine the authority and leadership of theBishop, which led to Synod unequivocally demonstrating the Diocese’s supportfor Bishop Seoka and his leadership. These attempts, together with otherissues, have led to the Dean being brought before a Diocesan Tribunal, which ispresently adjourned and will reconvene at the end of February. Please continueto pray for the Dean and his family, the Cathedral Parish, the Bishop and theDiocese, during this difficult and uncomfortable period in our Diocesanhistory.

Society and Nation Building

Our National environment remainsa difficult and challenging context. We await the outcome of Julius Malema’sappeal on his suspension from the ANC, and the ANC’s elective Conferencetowards the end of this year. Corruption, mismanagement and incompetencecontinue to mar Government at every level, and hinder the provision of servicesto the poorest of the poor. We pray for the rise of ethical and courageousleaders, and commend and pray for those – a number of whom are part of ourcommunity at Corpus Christi – who seek to serve our country and people with diligenceand integrity.

Personal

2011 has been an interesting yearfor the Long family. July saw Dawn and I visiting the U.K. to meet mybirth-father – and family – for the first time since my last contact with him aroundthe age of two. This was an exciting and deeply meaningful event, and a journeywe are both pleased to have undertaken. Through this contact my family oforigin has doubled, and while it is a joy to have gained three extra brothers,it continues to prove a little daunting for us both as my family now consistsof twenty-seven close relatives, not to mention an extra aunt and uncle or twoor three (or four!) all in the U.K. Combined with my parents move to the U.K.in March, and my Grandmother’s death in 2010, it has substantially shifted my“magnetic North”. I do not adjust to change easily, and I am hugelyappreciative of Dawn’s willingness to stick by me as I settle into a new spaceof self and family.

Dawn started working for a newemployer in August, and has had to do a lot of travelling, which will continue.She is home most weekends, which we look forward to with longing all week, andare often either too exhausted or too busy to truly enjoy. We had some timetogether in Pretoria over Christmas and enjoyed New Year together in Cape Town.We enjoyed a day and good food in the Cape Point Nature Reserve on New Year’sEve (the Two Oceans Restaurant has a wonderful view over False Bay), and a longwalk down the beach at Pater Noster up the West Coast on New Year’s Day. It waswonderful to have continuous and uninterrupted time together where we couldtalk and share our lives. As I write, I look forward to Dawn’s return tomorrow(Friday) from East London where she has spent the last ten days.

Our son, Nathan, and hisgirl-friend, Megan, announced in September that we are to be Grandparents inearly June this year. Needless to say, rather a surprise to all concerned! Theirrelationship had developed out of friendship, and so has a strong foundation,and is one in which Dawn and I have confidence. They moved to Durban justbefore Christmas so that Megan could be closer to her family. We miss themalready, and the house is very quiet! The most recent scan shows the baby to bea girl, so we look forward excitedly to welcoming little Rebecca into our livesand family in a few months.

Our daughter, Cassie, has had adifficult two years health-wise, eventually being diagnosed eighteen months agowith an under-active thyroid. We chose to go the slower, Homeopathic route indealing with it, and she has at last regained her energy and is back to thedaughter we remember! She has begun working part-time, and is beginning tothink seriously about her future, all of which is hugely positive.

Conclusion

Thank you to you all for yourinvolvement and commitment to parish life during 2011. Once again – big orsmall – your contributions of time, talents and resources, have made ameaningful difference. My special thanks to my wife, Dawn, for her ongoingsupport and love in what has been another challenging year for us personally;to Cheryl Rogers who has continued to be a power-house of organisation in theoffice and my sincere thanks to Cheryl for what she does both in and beyond thecall of duty; to our outgoing Churchwardens and Council, thank you for yoursupport and contribution to the leadership of the parish during 2011, and as asmaller group than usual for carrying a heavier load; to the Ministry Team andsupport ministries, thank you for your ongoing dedication in keeping our worshipand pastoral care alive and well; to Julian Kok and Danny Adonis, for your helpparticularly with Sunday services in my absences due to Archdeaconry duties orleave; to Steve Verryn, thank you for your unflagging support and friendship,and for your commitment to Corpus Christi as our resident Deacon over a numberof years. Steve, we wish you well and pray for you as you prepare for yourordination next month.

Bless you!

MARK R D LONG

Rector

Churchwardens' Report to Annual Vestry 29 January 2012

2012-01-30T11:41:00.000+02:00

It is our pleasure and privilege to present you with thereport for the year starting in January 2011.

Once again, the outgoing Council and Churchwardens wouldlike to thank Father Mark for his dedicated leadership and hard work during theyear. We have experienced a furthergrowth in numbers, and have succeeded in more than filling the extension to theChurch completed in 2007. We also extend our thanks to those who carry outtheir roles in front of the congregation, namely the ministry and music teamsand servers, as well as those behind the scenes, the sides people, sacristans,flower providers and tea suppliers, and not forgetting Cynthia who keeps thechurch spick and span, as befits a house of worship. We are also extremely grateful for theservices of Father Julian and Father Danny, who have always been ready to standin on Sundays when Father Mark was unavoidably occupied elsewhere. A very special word of thanks to Deacon Steve,for his regular work as part of our Sunday services, as well as organizing ofconfirmation and baptism classes. Thegood news is that he will be ordained to the priesthood on 19th February, andwe wish to offer him our sincere congratulations on this major step forward inhis church career. A very important characteristic of Corpus Christi, which isevident to all, is the degree of intra-cultural harmony which we enjoy.

In addition to the 07.00 and 09.00 services on Sundays,there is the 09.00 communion service each Wednesday, which is attended by asmall but faithful group, and a twice monthly service at the Glenhaven Old AgeHome, which is much appreciated by the Anglican members of that community whoare no longer able to travel to church on a regular basis.

The administration of our parish affairs continues withouthitches, thanks to Cheryl.

Our Children’s Church has gone from strength tostrength, thanks to Barbara Primmer, and her team. It is always well attended, and some parentscomplain that they are dragged out of bed on a Sunday morning by their childrenwho don’t want to miss out.

The Diocesan Synod was held in September, attended byyour churchwardens. Many subjects werediscussed, including long needed changes to the Diocesan rules. A full report on Synod will be available shortly.

A highlight of our year was our 30th Anniversary Celebration,held on June 19^th, close to the Feast of Corpus Christi. This wascelebrated with a Parish lunch and spit braai, and was a great success. This also marked the inauguration of theCorpus Christi Family Cross, which has since a week in the homes of a number ofparishioners, coupled with a visit from members of the ministry team tocelebrate evening prayer with the family, and sometimes, friends. Those families who have hosted the cross sofar have all found it to have influenced their lives in a very positivesense. The cross will hopefully continueto do the rounds during the year to come.

We have continued to support Louis Botha Homes,thanks to Penny Craven, who has made a considerable impact on the lives of afamily of children there. As this familyis moving on we need to find someone to take over from her to continue the goodwork. Any volunteers? We have also supplied a good number of foodparcels to Tumelong Mission, thanks to Leezal Peterson. The Corpus Christi tea gardenat the Irene Homes Fete was a great success last year, thanks todedicated motivation from Mary Verryn. Once again the Christmas party at MabolokoHaven was also very well received with more children than expectedarriving, but all left satisfied. ElsjeRudman is continuing to quietly support the WAR (Women Against Rape)movement by collecting packing and sending parcels for rape victims.

The Church Property has been improvedby the addition of a fixed platform outside the North door of the hall, theaddition of gutters and the painting of the walls and the clearing of thepassage between the hall and the fence. The existing Borehole was testedand fitted with a pump enabling the sprinkler system to be fully utilized. We also have a new signboard to welcome oldand new parishioners. Our thanks toPeter Davies for all his efforts to improve the property. The property has now been fitted with “GreenLighting” using new concept lights to illuminate the car park and in thechurch. This qualifies us for a rebateon the cost of procurement and installation as well as enabling an estimatedsaving of 25 to 30% in electricity bills, so that the initial cost should berecovered in three to five years. Thisalso means that we are contributing to making a difference to the environment.

Inside the church, the chairs used by the ministerswhich were a gift from a parishioner many years ago, have been reupholsteredand are looking very good indeed.

Last, but not least, the garden is looking wonderful,thanks mainly to the efforts of Wendy Sturdy and her team.

In closing, we, as your churchwardens wish to thank allthose others who have contributed to our parish life in many ways as well as byoccupying the pews on Sunday mornings.

Tuelo Mogashoa

Lex Jackson

Peter Davies (Alternate).

December 2011 - Hope and Expectation

2011-12-10T18:34:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Advent

Our new ChurchYear has begun with our celebration of Advent Sunday last week. We have begun anew journey of Faith on a well travelled road; a journey of reflection andexpectation. We will journey this year with the Gospel of Mark, a book builtaround the arresting conviction that there is no keeping God at a distance. Thewriter of Mark’s Gospel asks us to reflect on where God is to be found, andsuggests that God is not to be found in the expected places: in heaven, in church,in special and magical events. It is not that God is not in theseplaces, but that God is not confined to these spaces, and that these may not infact be God’s favourite spaces. Now there’s a thought!

Mark’s Gospel, the Good News, is that God is inthe ordinariness, the everydayness of life.

I am not sure I want to meet God in the everyday;I suspect I’d be more comfortable keeping God for those special moments in life,when I need God to be GOD. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with God being in themidst of a family disagreement, or in the intimacies I share with my wife. I amnot comfortable with God being around when I succumb to road-rage, and share afew choice thoughts with the taxi driver who has just – suddenly – stopped infront of me. Am I comfortable with God being “around”? I’m not so sure.

But I find myself asking, “God, where are you?”Where are you when the person I love is murdered violently? Where are you whenI NEED you? Where are you when my loved one is ill? Where are you when naturaldisasters kill thousands? Where are you when war wracks our world? Where areyou when the collapses of national economies make the world sneeze and catchcold? Where are you when famine and civil war overtakes our continent? WHEREARE YOU, GOD?!

“I am around ...”

Hope and Expectation

God is around, in our midst, incarnate, with us. Advent islived in the expectation that God will act because God has acted. Theincarnation (God born in human form in Jesus) took place over two millenniaago, and seemingly paradoxically – believing as we do that God is already withus through the presence of the Holy Spirit – we prepare for his return. OurChurch Year is based around the re-enactment, the remembering of the restoringacts of God in history. It will again, but unique to the present context,remind us that God is with us. And so as we prepare this Advent: what are ourexpectations; what is our hope? There is always the temptation to demand thatGod act as we want him to act. The challenge is to allow God to truly be God,and to open our lives to that reality, and to seek God in the brokenness of ourlives and society, in the everyday, in the ordinariness of life.

Christmas & New Year

If the speed with which this year has sped by is anyindication, Christmas will be here in a blink of an eye! And the New Year willbe in swing before we know it. Our Parish Christmas Tea was a huge success lastSunday: a little early, perhaps, but an opportunity to come together as acommunity before we all head off in different directions for the Christmasbreak. For those who will be around, please join us for our Christmas CarolService on Sunday 18 December 2011 at 6pm where we will explore something ofthe history lying behind some of the better known Carols. There will be thetraditional Crib Service at 6pm and Midnight Mass at 10pm on Christmas Eve,followed by a said Christmas Mass at 7am and the Christmas Family Eucharist at9am on Christmas Day. If family or friends are visiting, please bring themalong! For those travelling over this period, please drive carefully and responsibly;and return safely to us in the New Year.

A very blessed Christmas and New Year to you all!

Blessings

Mark

November 2011 - Servants and Stewards

2011-10-31T17:18:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

Vision

I reminded us in my article last month that the vision ofthe Anglican community in Southern Africa is to be “Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God's Mission, Transformedby the Holy Spirit.” The full vision, mission and priority statements can befound at http://bit.ly/sI5Mrw , and I dorecommend you take time to read them. Bishop Jo, at our recent Synod, indicatedthat in 2012 there will be a process of revisiting our Diocesan statements inorder to align them with the Provincial commitment, as well as to the contextin which our Diocese finds itself, namely that we now have a rector in everyparish in the Diocese, allowing every parish to become increasingly a centre ofspirituality, mission and ministry.

Diocesan Theme 2011-2014

The Diocese meets for Synod every three years, and each timesets a theme for the three years to follow. The theme is designed to help usreach aspects of our Diocesan Vision and Mission, and to give us a focus fordevelopment and growth between Synod meetings. Synod 2011 accepted the theme:

Renewedand empowered through Baptism to be “servants of Christ and stewards of themysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1)

I believe this theme will usefully help us redefine thefocus of our Diocesan Vision and Mission as we seek to explore, in terms of thepresent Diocesan Mission statement, what it truly means for Parishes to beforming centres of spirituality, mission and ministry. In addressing this themein his Charge to Synod, Bishop Jo reflects that we need to move our focus fromthe Church as a building to the Church as community. We need to spend timeteaching and reflecting on what it means to be Christian Community, on what itmeans to be servants and stewards in the realm and domain of God.

One of the keys to building community that Bishop Jo pointsto in his Charge is the importance of establishing small faith communities inpeople’s homes. So much of community in the Anglican environment is establishedaround our building and our Sunday worship, and so there is a huge challengehere. It has been touching in recent weeks to experience how the Corpus ChristiFamily Cross is taking the focus of community into our homes – drawing togetherthe family, drawing in friends – as we meet to pray. It has been encouraging toexperience something of the supportive and faith-filled friendships that upholdmany of our parish families.

Our responsibility, however, is not just to ourselves, andnot just to building our own community; we have a responsibility to the widercommunity of humanity and creation. The faith community forms our foundation,but we are called to build beyond our faith boundaries. Bishop Jo reminds us ofthis in his Charge when he says, “we must, as a matter of our confession, livea life reflecting God’s love which demands unity and requires justice for allhumanity.” A strong aspect of this journey is being willing to reach beyond ourown boundaries and to join hands with people of other denominational, and evenreligious, outlook. Unity can never exist if we are unwilling to embracediversity. We also need to embrace our struggles, suffering and hurt, thefragmentation of human life and community. We are reliably informed that by thetime you read this the global human population will have reached seven billion.What is the implication of such numbers for survival? What is the implicationfor our world? What does it mean for our faith?

The challenge is to live differently and meaningfully, tobuild community that rejects isolation and breeds wholeness, creating a securefuture for our world. Bishop Jo’s challenge to us in this regard is that, “Ourwork for the kingdom of God must create an environment that has the characterof heaven on earth.”

Blessings

Mark

October 2011 - Stewardship and Leadership

2011-09-28T23:45:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

Stewardship

During September we have focused on Stewardship: anopportunity to reflect on our resources of time, treasure and talent; to takestock of how we use these resources in the service of ourselves and in theservice of others. For most of us the bulk of our financial resources are usedin sustaining our families, and a disproportionate amount of our time andtalent in furthering our professional lives in the work place. The challenge ofChristian Stewardship is to reprioritise the manner in which we use theseresources: most of us need to allocate a greater proportion of our time to ourfamilies, a greater portion of our talent to the benefit of the wider community;and we need to direct our finances towards the eradication of personal andfamily debt.

As Christians a proportion of these resources need to bedirected towards the Church. We often confuse Christian giving with one of the OldTestament forms of taxation known as the Tithe. Christian Stewardship needs tobe based on the New Testament principles of thanksgiving, generosity, and theservice of others. Christian Stewardship is a call to advance the reign of Godin our society through the wise and selfless use of our resources. The Churchis uniquely placed to be a vehicle through which we can do this. As Christianscommitted to these principles, we need to ensure the Church is abundantlyresourced to facilitate our involvement in the extension of God’s reign in thegreater breadth of Creation.

The vision of the Anglican community in Southern Africa isto be “Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God's Mission, Transformedby the Holy Spirit.” How does your stewardship of your time, talents andtreasure exercised through the Anglican Church in Garsfontein (Corpus Christi)resource this vision, and effect the Anglican mission: to honour God in worshipthat feeds and empowers us for faithful witness and service; to embody andproclaim the message of God’s redemptive hope and healing for people and creation;to grow communities of faith that form, inform, and transform those who fellowChrist? When last did you audit your resources? As an Anglican in SouthernAfrica, are your resources aligned to the vision and mission of our Church?

We will be celebratingChristian Stewardship at Corpus Christi on Sunday 16 October 2011. You areasked to affirm your commitment to the mission of the Anglican Church, andindicate the manner in which you will allocate your resources to this mission,on this day.

Leadership

October ‘s focus is on leadership, and at a special Vestrymeeting on Sunday 23 October 2011 we will elect our parish leadership for 2012.This will be the election of Churchwardens, Council and Synod representatives. Areas of responsibility on Council in which leadershipis required are: worship, evangelism, education, social responsibility,pastoral care, community needs, Christian stewardship, ecumenism, finance andproperty. Nomination forms areavailable: please prayerfully consider offering yourself for election and/ornominating fellow-parishioners.

What are some of the qualities we are looking for inChurchwardens and Councillors? The Christian Leadership and Management manual puttogether by Hope Africa (2008:9-17) offers the following definitions of good,effective Christian leaders: a good leader will be a person of spiritualcommitment and personal faith, a fervent listener to God through the mechanismsof daily scripture reading and prayer, a person of integrity and example, andhave a servant spirit with all ambition surrendered to God; an effective leaderwill be willing to pay the price, see the big picture and know the source oftheir strength; a good leader is also one who shares power.

This is quite a daunting definition, but Council is a placewhere we draw out and develop these principles of leadership in each other. Itis important to remember that all of us can develop leadership skills, andleadership is not reserved to specific people: leadership is a God given giftto everyone. Perfection is not required, commitment and availability are, and awillingness to offer your time and skill to the growth of our Church.

Blessings

Mark

September 2011 - Family

2011-08-25T22:11:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

Diocesan Family Day

The Diocese will come together for a Diocesan Family Day on Sunday 11 September 2011. The last Family Day was held in 2008, and was a great occasion. It is not often that we have the opportunity to remind ourselves that we belong to the wider Anglican family, and so really do encourage you to make this pilgrimage. The outdoor service will begin at 09:30 at St Alban’s College (Clearwater Road, Lynnwood Glen) on the Cricket Field below the Pavilion. There will also be access to parking on the field from Maldon Road. We are asked to be “seated” by 09:15 – please bring a blanket to sit on, or a garden/camping chair and something to protect yourself from the sun. The Archbishop of Sudan, the Most Revd Dr Daniel Deng Bul, will be the preacher. We are encouraged to stay on after the service and enjoy a picnic together. Please note that braai-fires are not allowed and alcohol is discouraged. Also, there will be no services at Corpus Christi on 11 September 2011.

Please pray for Diocesan Synod that takes place on the Thursday to Saturday prior to the Family Day. It is the most prominent decision making body of the Diocese, and will set our direction as Anglicans in Pretoria for the next three years.

Family Cross

The Corpus Christi Family Cross is continuing its journey around the Parish. It is wonderful how the Cross has been welcomed. It is also proving a joy for the Clergy and Layministers to be able to visit the family hosting the cross for family prayers on a Wednesday evening. If you would like to have the Family Cross in your home, please contact the parish office to find an available week. And while we encourage the family to give testimony when they return the Cross on a Sunday, there is freedom to just hand it back without testimony, too.

Family

As many of you have been aware, Dawn and I spent July in the UK meeting “new” family, and catching up with “old” family on my side. It has been quite a journey, and has stirred many emotions for both of us. Dawn’s comment, just before we landed in Manchester, was pertinent: “This is like going to meet the future in-laws, except you haven’t met them yet!” Contact via email and contact via Skype before we left meant that we weren’t travelling into the complete unknown, but I was apprehensive as we walked through the airport doors to meet the family for the first time. I find it very difficult to find the words that fit the moment or the feelings that accompanied our meeting, and the time that we spent together. I began, during our time with my father and step-mother, brothers and their families, as well as the wider family, to realise that I have carried an empty space in my being for them all my life. To have that space filled is truly amazing.

Joyce Rupp, in her book Open the Door speaks of “The Power of the Threshold” and says that “A threshold contains the power of transformation.” Our visit to the UK has been in many ways a threshold experience, a doorway that has opened up the reality of new relationships unfolding into the future. And we embrace those relationships, the welcome and the love we are given, the home that is made ours. We are eager to explore this new space together. There is so much to celebrate.

Joyce Rupp also speaks of the threshold as a “bleak in-between place”, which may sound strange and paradoxical to the goodness of our visit, but is – I think – a place that we find ourselves in as we return home. In being embraced by a new family we embrace a new narrative, and a new history. But there remains an existing narrative that is my and Dawn’s experienced history, and is a narrative I can’t lay aside. Rather it needs to become a transformative process for us all, old and new family alike. The threshold is, in Joyce Rupp’s words, a space where we lose a sense of clear identity, question what seems to be a dissolving relationship with our self and, perhaps, with our God; a space in which we are cleansed of false perceptions and weaned from feeding on what no longer nurtures us.

The process of building a narrative that embraces who I am, who I might have been, with emerging possibilities of who I want to be, has begun. The journey of building a transformed identity has begun. My journey through the threshold, its impact on my identity and clear sense of self, is costly. Dawn walks a similar path as we walk it in concert, transforming the narratives that impact on the life we share together.

Blessings

Mark

July 2011 - Community and Nation Building

2011-06-24T20:44:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

30 Years in Reflection

Our 30^th Anniversary Celebration on Sunday 19 June 2011 was a truly wonderful occasion. It has to have been the best attended event in our history! A special “thank you” to Lex Jackson and Steve Verryn for giving leadership to the organising committee, and to the Catering Committee for the great food. We had some wonderful speeches, our Youth surpassed themselves with the entertainment they provided for us, and it was a joy to welcome back a number of past parishioners and clergy. Our Family Eucharist was also blessed, and set the day off on a good note. Thank you to you all for participating and making our 30^th an event to remember!

Family Cross

The Corpus Christi Family Cross was blessed as part of our 30^th Celebrations, and began its journey around the parish with the Ndlovu family. Queen and her daughters have used the Cross’s presence in their home to draw them together in family prayer, and we look forward to their testimony in Church on Sunday as to how the Cross’s “visit” has reminded them of God’s presence in their lives. The idea is that the Cross is returned each Sunday and handed over to the next parish family. Members of the parish ministry team (clergy and layministers) will visit during the week for a short time of prayer with the family and (hopefully) a cup of tea. If you would like to have the Family Cross in your home, please contact the parish office to find an available week.

Community and Nation Building

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, in his recent “Ad Laos”, had the following to say:

I returned [from a visit to the Diocese of Niassa – Mozambique] to find the press full of Julius Malema’s statements on reforming land, mines and the whole economy. What he has raised is not new and we should not be alarmed. We need to engage him, and all young people, on what it means to make democracy work. As I discussed in a telephone conference with SACC church leaders, we must have educated public debate on today’s very different sort of ‘struggle’ – the commitment to rightly-focussed hard work that delivers economic justice, and tackles the needs of poverty, education and opportunity which (and Malema is right on this) particularly affects young people so adversely. There is hope, but we must not be afraid of rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty. As my visit to Niassa showed, dedication and perseverance, even in very difficult and uncertain times, can deliver new life. So we must go forward with joy and resolve, and speak up for the poor, the fearful, the despairing, in the true hope of Jesus Christ.

There can be no doubt that we continue to live in precarious political, social and economic times. The recent deaths of Albertina Sisulu, and now also Kadar Asmal – especially in parallel to the recent re-election of Julius Malema as ANC Youth League president – mark a profound loss to South African society of individuals whose positive personal values helped build the foundation for the growth of democracy in South Africa. Personally, I struggle to see what value Malema adds to South African society, and wonder what hope there may be for our country if such a person is the voice of this generation’s young people. Archbishop Thabo’s response (above) is helpful in that he reminds us that despite the advent of democracy in our land, there is still a “struggle” – different to that waged against Apartheid – that impacts on the hopes of our youth in particular; that the Malema’s of this world give voice to the reality that the advent of democracy, and the manner in which democracy is practised, has not yet dealt with socio-economic issues that impact on our people, and that our young people do not see much hope in what our government’s socio-economic policies will offer them in the future. A wise priest under whom I trained taught me the importance of searching out the truth, no matter how small, in the words and actions of people with whom I disagree, or suspect to be fools. The Archbishop’s comments echo this wise advice.

I have just returned, along with other stipendiary clergy of the Diocese, from a three day course on Poverty and Development run by Hope Africa, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s social development arm. The course has been helpful in giving me some insight into why the struggle for economic justice continues despite huge steps being taken to build democracy since 1994. Our government’s economic policies are aligned with those of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, whose policies are directed by Neo-Liberal economic thinking that believes all economies should grow through production and trade. While there may be nothing essentially wrong with this thinking, in the African context it is not helping everyone achieve a satisfactory standard of living. Some would argue that even in the West the Neo-Liberal approach to economics is unsuccessful and that the disparity between rich and poor continues to increase. There is a fundamental inequality that these policies will never bridge, and thus issues of poverty – and poverty itself – will never be effectively dealt with in our society. And the Malema’s of this world will continue to have grist for their discomforting rhetoric.

As part of the Poverty and Development course, we were offered a different economic model better suited to the developmental needs of the African continent, and one which is practically implementable by churches in our efforts to deal with communities caught in cycles of poverty. This model is known as the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) and places people at the centre of development, thereby increasing the effectiveness of developmental assistance. This approach is a way of thinking about the objectives, scope and priorities for development that produces goods and services needed to better the lives of people while also being environmentally-friendly, minimising waste and using renewable resources. It is a model that creates meaningful purchasing power, as well as greater economic and social equity.

The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) asks the seemingly strange question, “What is the wealth of the poor?” In essence, what are people already doing to survive and how are they maintaining this? SLA is a comprehensive model that looks to build on these strengths, seeking to bring together all relevant aspects of people’s lives and livelihoods in developmental planning, implementation and evaluation. It is also a model that is able to respond quickly to changing circumstances. In terms of poverty financial resources are often negligible, and so SLA takes natural, human, social and physical resources of poverty stricken people and communities into account. This makes it a relevant model for development across society, and a workable alternative to models that presently drive our South African socio-economic policies via our link to the IMF and World Bank.

This course on Poverty and Development raises issues about the role of the Church in society. And about how we “do Church” in Garsfontein. Perhaps on my return from the UK we can explore what this may mean?

Blessings

Mark

June 2011 - Celebration

2011-06-16T21:06:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

30th Anniversary Celebration

June marks our Patronal Festival and we celebrate the 30th Anniversary of our Dedication on Sunday, June 19th. Our organising and catering committee have been very busy getting everything in place, and we are looking forward to a truly awesome event! If you haven’t indicated you are attending, there is still time! The 19th is also Fathers’ Day, so we are hoping you will use this as an opportunity to give “Dad” a good lunch—it is a Spit-Braai! There will be a wonderful bottle of wine on auction, so bring a bit of extra cash to ensure your “Dad” gets an extra gift!

Easter Offering

Thank you so much to all who contributed to the generous Easter Offering that I received—it is clear that you love and appreciate me!

Budget Deficit

As you have all been aware, the budgeted deficit for 2011 has been of concern to Annual Vestry and an ongoing concern for Parish Council. There is good news, and a presentation will be given during both Services on Sunday 5 June 2011. The April Financial Report indicates that we have dropped the deficit from just under R80,000 to around R10,000. This is an amount Council feels we can manage. A BIG thank you to everyone for responding generously as you have done, and for taking seriously the financial needs of the Parish. However, let us not be tempted to relax on our laurels at this stage as the wider economic context in which we find ourselves still appears quite volatile.

Holiday—Meet the Parents

Excitingly, Dawn and I will be on holiday in the UK for the whole of July! As many of you are aware my whole family lives there, with my parents Tim and Kirstie being the most recent of the clan to move over to the UK earlier this year. What most of you have not been aware of is that I have a second set of parents and an additional set of siblings also living in the UK. I have been a “Long” since the age of four when my mother remarried. My last contact with my birth-father was in 1968 and as I was just two years old the memories are very hazy. So the main purpose of the visit is to “meet the parents”, and we will be immersing ourselves with the “Moore” clan for most of our time there, with a week or so in the south to catch up with the “Longs”. Please pray for Dawn and I as we make this pilgrimage. It is daunting, yet exciting, in so many ways. My birth-father, Tony, made contact some three years ago, and email and Skype have helped us develop an emerging relationship. Our visit will cement what has already begun, and enable us to build meaningful relationships going forward. I worked out the other day that—between parents, siblings, spouses, nephews and nieces—I have twenty-seven close members of the family in the UK, many of whom we will meet for the first time!

A blessed Winter season to you all!

Mark

May 2011 - Rejoice Always

2011-05-05T11:38:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Philippians 4:4 (TNIV)

2011 marks our 30th Anniversary as the Parish of Corpus Christi in Garsfontein. From our humble beginnings in 1981 we have grown into a fully fledged Anglican parish, and are able to hold our heads high in the Diocese and in the Pretoria East Archdeaconry. Paul’s words to the Philippians (above) echo the nature of Christian life at Corpus Christi, and I pray will be words that enfold us during our celebrations next month. The Message translates this verse as,

“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!”

What do we celebrate?

Firstly, we celebrate that we have been called by God to be a part of the Missio Dei (the Mission of God) in this part of Pretoria, and to make a difference for God in the communities we serve. Secondly, we celebrate those who had the courage to step out in faith, trusting God, to give birth and nurture this community in the early days. Thirdly, we give thanks for everyone who is presently part of the life and mission of Corpus Christi Anglican Church in Garsfontein!

As we look back in thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness to us over 30 years, it is equally important to look forward and ensure that we have a life-giving and creative vision for our future. A vision is built on what we believe in, on what is important to us.

Our parish survey during 2010 highlighted that “belonging” and “family” are important to us at Corpus Christi, along with our “intra-cultural harmony”. It is critical that we build these three values into the foundation of our present and any future vision.

The survey also affirmed that our parish life offers significant opportunities for meaningful caring and worship.

The survey highlighted that we are being true to our present “Statement of Purpose”, the core of which is being a place where others meet Christ. The “Statement of Purpose” also affirms that we value friendship, youth participation and broad-based parishioner involvement. These create that sense of belonging , family and intra-cultural harmony that the survey highlights.

Vision is all about creating a worldview that is compelling, truthful and motivating. The challenge that lies ahead for us is that the context that defined us in 1981 no longer defines us or the communities we serve in 2011. Physically, in 1981, we were on the very eastern outskirts of Pretoria; not so in 2011!

Our present “Statement of Purpose” has carried us through a significant few years of transition, and it is important that we review our vision, our sense of purpose, our values, our mission as we look forward into our next decade.

How do you see our future?

Resurrection Blessings

Mark

April 2011 - Life in Christ

2011-03-30T15:29:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

Life in Christ

The service of Admission of Catechumens (adult candidates for Baptism and Confirmation) asks the important question, “Friends, what do you seek?” The bold reply is, “We seek life in Christ!” – it is a brief response that holds an eternity of implication. Each Lent and Holy Week journey asks this question of us anew, and we respond anew.

What is it that you seek this Lent, this Holy Week? What are your expectations of resurrection and new life this Easter?

New life, resurrected life, life in Christ: what are the implications? And what are the foundations on which it is built?

Jesus says in Matthew 5:17 (CJB), “Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete”. Most English translations follow the Greek by translating the Hebrew word Torah as Law. However, Torah is better translated as Teaching. This gives us a possible different perspective on the 10 Commandments: rather than being Law it is Teaching. The 10 Commandments teach the principles on which we build our community as God’s people, and they become the foundation of our “Life in Christ”.

The 10 Commandments are a teaching given in the context of God’s call to his people to be different from the society that surrounds them. Moses encourages the Israelites to observe the Commandments as they are about to enter into the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, so that, “... this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people’” (Deuteronomy 4:5-6; TNIV). The call to be different is highlighted by phrase in the Commandments, “You shall not ...”. You shall not be like the people around you, you shall not steal like them, you shall not give false evidence like them. BE DIFFERENT!

The question of wrong-doing, breaking the teachings, comes to mind. In today’s world sin has become equated with being caught out, rather than wrong-doing; it is often equated with sex. However, in terms of the 10 Commandments, sin is conforming to a society where wrong-doing is acceptable, deforming ourselves from the principles of Godly community. The 10 Commandments say little about stealing in and of itself; the Commandments highlight that what is wrong is that someone claiming to be a member of God’s people, God’s community, is allowing themselves to be formed and shaped by a society in which stealing (or corruption, or ...) is the norm.

The journey of Lent and Holy Week becomes a journey of re-alignment. We renounce our formation by a society that seeks to deform us from the principles of a God-focused community. We return to the norms of the Christian faith community, responding to the call to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;’ and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’” (Luke 10:27; TNIV). This is a journey of re-alignment, not removal. We are not called to extract ourselves from society, but to reform and recreate ourselves within society, and to respond differently: compelled not by the norms of society, but by the norms of the Christian faith and the principles of God-focused community. Our “life in Christ” becomes a new centre, for ourselves, our communities, our society and our world. We become, again, the light and the hope that we are called by God to be.

Friends, what do you seek?

Blessings,

Mark

March 2011 - Life is a Gift

2011-03-01T09:03:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

“Life is a gift. When you receive it as a gift you begin to give yourself as a gift”

– Erwin McManus.

For a while now I have been struggling to get out of bed in the morning. I could bore you with the details, but I won’t. Very simply, I had forgotten that my life is God’s gift to me and God’s gift to others. We all live very busy and stressed lives, and living is complicated and relationships are complex. Sometimes the complexity is just too much to face, and our problems and the problems of others become overwhelming. We get caught in the maelstrom and are overcome. And we forget whose and who we are.

Erwin McManus’ words reminded me that I had become too involved in myself, and that I needed to look beyond myself and my own need, and regain a sense of purpose and be reminded of my potential: “You ... need to be able to go to bed at night and know that based on who you are and who God has made you to be, you’ve contributed the greatest good that you can for the good of others. And that when you get up in the morning you can’t wait to get out of bed because there is this eager anticipation that your life can be a gift to the world.”

I am not a gift to the world, my life is. My life is God’s gift to me, and it is also God’s gift to others. It is not about me, it is about the gift God has made me to be. It is about the potential God has placed within me to make a tangible difference both to my own life and also to the lives of others. And as I turn off the morning alarm, and turn over to hide under the duvet from the world, I remember that my life is a gift. I begin to wonder how God will use this gift this day, what opportunities will arise, and what God will do. It is not long before I throw back the duvet and head for the shower.

The day is rarely perfect, often fractured and chaotic, crisis-filled and full of frustration. But it is different, because at vague moments I remember and seek again to give myself as a gift. In these moments the sun shines again, and I discover an energy within, God within. And strangely, the fracturing, the chaos, the crisis and the frustration also become God’s gift. They become God-given opportunities to interact and engage with life itself, with issues, with people, with God. There is peace to be found in the chaos and the struggle, and hope.

Yes, my life is a gift. So is yours. It is a gift given to be given away, not thoughtlessly but shared. And the strange part is that in sharing, in giving and in giving away, we find wholeness and renewal. Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 NRSV).

There is a need for us to reflect on whom or what is stealing our lives. What are real boundaries, and what are false ones? Who or what is defining us? Who or what is controlling us? Where is God in our journey?

The Church season of Lent, leading up to our Easter celebrations, is an opportunity to explore these questions; to reflect on how we are living the gift of life God has given us; to seek God’s guidance and leadership afresh. There are a number of resources offered to us during this season: a Diocesan booklet of daily meditations for personal use, or family discussion; a Lent course “Growing the Church”; weekly meditations on the cross; a healing Service on the first Sunday in Lent; our Holy Week and Good Friday programme; Baptism and Confirmation preparation classes.

Friends, what do you seek?

Blessings,

Mark

Quotations from Erwin McManus are taken from Master Leaders: Revealing conversations with 30 leadership greats by George Bana with Bill Dallas (2010).

Rector's Report to Annual Vestry - Corpus Christi, Garsfontein (30 January 2011)

2011-01-28T08:53:00.000+02:00

Introduction

Craig van Gelder, in his book the ministry of the missional church: a community led by the spirit (2007) says that there are three important questions a congregation needs to ask, “What has God done? What is God doing? What does God want to do?” The first question is another way of asking “Why are we here?” The second question is about faith and discernment. The third question is about wisdom and planning.

In light of the above, today is about telling more of our story, adding to our history. We are here to review in particular what it is that God has done in our midst during the last twelve months: we are not only to reflect on our actions, but importantly on the meaning of these activities within the broader call to serve the kingdom of God in the wider world. We are also here to apply our wisdom and give the incoming parish council some direction in their planning for 2011.

Personal

On a personal note the past year has been a challenging one, the second half in particular. I became acting archdeacon of Madibeng, a missionary area to the west of Pretoria, and was asked by the Bishop to investigate its viability for the future. It is my hope that the work I have done will enable the Bishop to appoint a full-time archdeacon during this year, and I will get back to being a Canon. During this time I was one of two candidates for Dean of Kimberly and Kuruman, and a final interviewing candidate for Dean of Cape Town. Both positions went to locally known people. In between all this Dawn and I have completed the Jesuit Institute’s Prayer Guide Course, and Dawn will go on to complete the Spiritual Director's course over the next two years. In February I will complete my post-graduate certificate in Congregational Leadership through the University of Pretoria. This certificate counts as the course-work for a Master’s Degree, which I will hopefully complete during the course of 2011/2012.

Parish

My strong impression is that 2010 has been a year in which we as a parish have caught our breath. The previous year (2009) had been a busy one, and many of us entered 2010 needing to draw breath and recollect ourselves. The impact of the Soccer World Cup, and the demands it made on us as a society, has also had its impact. This was evident in that our Patronal Festival and Christmas events were celebrated with teas, not lunches; and one of our fund-raising events was cancelled.

This said, the 2010 was not uneventful! Isobel Holden once again organised a wonderful Parish Fete that raised in the region of R30,000; our Confirmation candidates enjoyed a spiritually nourishing camp; attendance at the Men’s Fishing Weekend was its largest in its eleven year history, and the clergy spouses hosted a very successful “Ladies Spiritual Spar Day”; our Confirmation Service, with Bishop Jo present, was one of our worship highlights for the year; we managed to produce a Children’s Church Nativity play for the first time in a number of years, and its contemporary format was a definite hit with our teenagers and younger children; attendance at our occasional Youth Fusion events was up, and our Children and Teen Church numbers were high; all of which suggests we are doing something right!

Our outreach has again been a highlight of parish life. We have maintained our relationship with Louis Botha Homes, and our “Shrove Sunday” event with them was life-giving. We donated just over two-thirds of the proceeds of our fete to Tumelong, and have maintained our monthly provision of over 30 food parcels. The Tumelong Maboloka Christmas Party was well-supported, and it was great to see a larger contingent of parishioners involved on the day. Council has also committed to a monthly financial pledge to Tumelong. Irene Homes and WAR continue to get our attention, and I hope we will give better support to our Tea Table at the Irene Homes Fete this year.

Our parish facilities (hall and barn) play an increasingly important local community role: a senior-citizens exercise class takes place every Monday morning; Taekwondo classes are offered twice a week in the afternoon and Jujitsu classes twice a week in the evening; the Cake Icing Guild meets once a month in the hall, and a branch of Alcoholics’ Anonymous uses the Barn on Wednesdays and Saturdays; the local residents security association (GarsB3) uses our hall on a monthly basis for residents meetings and the barn for a committee meeting.

Money is always a difficult subject. We have done well in 2010, all things considered. The effects of the global economic crisis continued to affect our pockets last year, and this was seen in our income from Generosity Giving remaining at 2008 levels; and commitments for this year appear unchanged. There is a limit to how much we can control expenditure increases, and your cooperation is needed to reach our commitments for 2011. I realise we are all more inclined to give to people and to specific projects rather than to a general operational budget, but while our budget looks like electricity, petrol, and other consumables, it is actually focused around people: our staff, parishioners and strangers. Craig van Gelder (quoted above) notes that our financial giving reflects the degree to which we recognise our calling to be a part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in bringing about changed lives, transformed communities, and redemptive ministry in the world.

Our parish has become increasingly intra-cultural over the last few years, something I believe we need to celebrate more often. In particular we need to find ways for our music to reflect this: music is one of the few areas of parish life where we struggle to find ourselves on the same page; we are a little out of tune with each other in this aspect of our worship, and we need to discover a melody that reflects our diversity more fully.

There is need, too, to review our Parish vision and our sense of purpose. This need was noted at our November Council meeting, and some time was spent at the Council Planning Day last week reflecting on leadership, the changes taking place in our society, and a possible model to help take us forward. Craig van Gelder (quoted above) offers a useful model that the incoming Council has agreed to interact with. It is a model that offers an open-systems perspective on congregational life, taking our religious heritage (Biblical and Confessional values), our denominational history (core ministry values), our facilities and location into account. Being an open-systems perspective it acknowledges that the church’s boundaries are porous, that the world affects us and that we impact on the world. In essence, van Gelder’s model asks us to focus on Scripture in defining our purpose (mission) and on our context in discerning our vision. Our core practices (worship, evangelism, education, social responsibility, pastoral care and community needs) become the primary manner in which we carry out our purpose and minister meaningfully in our context. The model also takes sincerely the need for strategic structures, and our programs, people, communication, facilities and finances are all taken seriously. It is a holistic model that recognises the importance of the Church being a transforming community, with the Holy Spirit being the prime guiding agent. At the heart of this model is the understanding that the Church is called, gathered, and sent into the world to participate fully in God’s mission.

Archdeaconry, Diocese and Province

My appointment as acting Archdeacon of Madibeng necessitated the handing over of responsibility for St Anne (Equestria) and St Agnes (Stanza Bopape) to other clergy in the Archdeaconry. Excitingly, the new home for St Anne in Equestria has been completed and dedicated. Frustratingly, it is taking some time to get the water connected, and the community is still worshipping at Willow Ridge High School. There is good a good possibility that St Anne should be able to take full occupation of the new Church in time for Lent. This will mark a new step in their journey, and our child has flown the nest. Thank you to all here who in some form have contributed to seeing this vision of a new Anglican Community in the East take root.

The Bishop is calling the 83^rd session of Diocesan Synod to meet in September this year. This will bring to an end the present Diocesan theme focused on family life. I was encouraged by how many parishioners here at Corpus Christi noted in response to the survey we held last year that it is the strong sense of family that drew them to join this parish, and remains one of the major reasons they stay.

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa adopted a new mission and vision statement, along with eight priority areas for focus, at the Provincial Synod last year: a call for us to ACT, to be Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God’s mission, and Transformed by the Holy Spirit. This is a pivotal step that the Province has taken, and it is important that we find ways at Diocesan, Archdeaconry and Parish level to incorporate these principles into our common life.

Society and Nation Building

We live in a broken and hurting world. As God’s people we are called to be a light to the nations. Leonard Sweet, in his book So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church, says, “When it comes to culture, we are to be in-but-not-of-but-not-out-of-it-either.” He goes on to say that, “to live in the twenty-first century you have to come to terms with paradox, whether you are a disciple or not.” I believe we often experience these challenges as we seek to live out our lives in the midst of family, work, community involvement, as well as in our friendship circles.

Our national life seems to remain chaotic, and Government continues to give the impression of incompetence and corruption at many levels. We need to remain positive, and highlight positives when we find them, and support those who do live out their values in our often compromised social, economic and political society. There are a number of our parishioners working at various levels of Government, and we need to hear the success stories from you, and also hear how we can better support you.

Walking through Woolworths in La Lucia Mall while on leave I was struck by posters up in the store: one read, “We’re destined for great things: the future is SA” and another, “I’m so looking forward to tomorrow: the future is SA.” South Africa remains a land of great opportunity and possibility, and the success of the Soccer World Cup last year demonstrated this in many ways. What I particularly enjoyed is that we shared a common language for the duration, and suddenly had something to talk about whether it was to the petrol attendant or till worker, CEO or shop-floor assistant. It was a wonderful time of unity, and we need more of these moments in our national life. Our future lies in our hands, and we must not be afraid to stand up and claim it.

Conclusion

In my earlier reports to Vestry as Rector I note that I thanked various groups and people for their support and leadership. It is testimony to our growth that I am no longer sure where to start with such a list. I hope it will suffice to say thank you to you all for all that you have contributed this past year. Big or small, your actions and contributions have made a meaningful difference to our parish life. My special thanks to my wife, Dawn, for her ongoing support and love in what has been a challenging year for us personally. Cheryl Rogers has proved a power-house in the office and my sincere thanks to her for what she has done both in and beyond the call of duty. To our outgoing Churchwardens and active members of Council: thank you for your support and contribution to the leadership of the parish. To the Ministry Team and supportive ministries, thank you for your dedication in keeping our worship and pastoral care alive and well.

Bless you!

MARK R D LONG

Rector

November/December 2010 - What is God doing?

2010-11-24T08:48:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

What is God doing?

Our identity as Christians is profoundly locked into this question, “What is God doing?” I have begun asking this question as we draw together in worship, and particularly as we reflect on the lectionary readings for the day. What is it that draws us together as God’s people, the Body of Christ? Is it an interest in what God is doing? Is it also a desire to be a part of what God is doing?

“The Lord be with you!” “AND ALSO WITH YOU!”

What has struck me as I’ve asked people to turn to each other and share what God is doing is the brevity of the discussion. It is not long before the room is quiet again.

When Jesus is asked the question, “Who gives you authority to do what you are doing?” his answer is to reflect that he does what he sees the Father doing. What is our answer? Why are we doing what we are doing? ... and what is it that we are doing?

It is not long before the room is quiet again.

“What is God doing?” is profound because it asks us to focus on God; it asks us to disengage from our self-focus. Suddenly it presents me with a new reality: life is not about me. And I am challenged – we are challenged – by a simple question that has wide-ranging implications; and seemingly no easy answers. We are quiet as we watch and wait and reflect. “What is it that God is doing?” – in my life, in yours; in our diverse daily communities, in our society? Where does God place us daily, in the morning, afternoon and evening? Is it our homes, our workplace, our schools, our friendship circles? What is God doing in these places? What is God doing in these relationships?

It is not long before the room is quiet again.

We ask this seemingly simple, innocent question. We ask it as we reflect on the Scriptures of the day, as we reflect on what God has done as he interacted with ancient generations of people. We ask it as we reflect on our own situation, our own context. We ask it as we draw ancient Scriptures together with the realities of today, the here and now. And tomorrow.

And the room is no longer so quiet.

The room is no longer so quiet because, perhaps – just perhaps – the God who interacted with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with Moses and the Prophets, with King Saul and King David, with Jesus, with the early Apostles and with Paul, also wants to interact with us. And the hum and buzz in the room reflects a growing awareness, a growing expectation; an expectation that perhaps – just perhaps – we too may be part of what God is doing?

And the room is no longer so quiet.

Our time of worship begins to become a time of celebration: God is doing something. God is alive. God is present. God is relevant. Deep within we begin to realise that we want to be a part of what God is doing. And so we enter into the liturgy: receiving God’s forgiveness, reflecting on his Word, sharing the needs of our world in prayer, encouraging each other that we are not alone as we share in the peace, receiving the very life of God as we share in the sacramental bread and wine, reminded of God’s blessing as we prepare to return to our lives in the wider world. We reflect on where we will be as we return from this time of worship – this experience of celebration – into the fullness of our lives beyond the walls of our meeting place. And we begin to ask an equally profound question, “What is God wanting to do?”

And the room is quiet no longer.

As the Deacon’s call rings out, “Go into the world to love and serve the Lord!” we respond, excitedly, noisily, “IN THE NAME OF CHRIST! AMEN!”

And the room is silent. The Church has dispersed into the world, to do what God is doing, to do what God is wanting to do.

Blessings

Mark

October 2010 - On Being Anglican

2010-10-12T10:55:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

On being Anglican

Many of us grew up with grandparents who were born Anglican (or Methodist, or Catholic, or ...), lived their entire lives as Anglicans (or ...) and died as Anglicans (or ...). They probably also worked for the same company their entire working lives and were proud of the gold watch this commitment earned them.

I am struck, every time we present teenagers to the Bishop for Confirmation, at how diverse these young people’s denomination of origin is. This points to the increasing trend for our generation to use different criteria in choosing the church we commit to. We rarely hold any long term commitment to any one denomination, choosing rather to find a faith community that meets our specific needs at a specific time in our lives.

And so what draws us to be Anglican in 2010?

The short answer is probably the vision and mission of the local Anglican congregation (in our case Corpus Christi in Garsfontein), and we will remain involved for as long as this congregation meets our family needs ... and then we will move on. But what keeps us involved in the here and now, and does the focus of the wider Anglican denomination have any impact on our present involvement? Do we know what the focus of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa is?

At our recent Provincial Synod (the chief Governing body of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa) held in Benoni we spent substantial time reflecting on the nature of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa with all the wealth of its diversity from the three Portuguese speaking Dioceses in Angola and Mozambique, to the English language-oriented Dioceses stretching from Namibia through South Africa to Lesotho and Swaziland (and don’t forget the island of St Helena). Despite the breadth of this vast diversity, we were able to agree on a common vision and mission, along with eight key priority areas that we all need to address. This is an exciting step that I pray will unite us as Anglicans in Southern Africa in a new way. It has the potential to cement our identity and our willingness to identify with the Anglican Church beyond just our congregational involvement. We need to be part of a comprehensive response to the many inter-related social-economic challenges we face in the Southern African region. The nature of the Anglican Church is that we are Diocesan rather than congregational, and although we may worship with a specific group of people, we are called to align ourselves with other Anglicans in the region (ours is Pretoria, stretching through to Rustenburg and beyond in the West and to the Mpumalanga Provincial boundary in the East).

And so to be Anglican in Southern Africa is now to be aligned with the following; we are called to ACT:

Vision

Anchored in the love of Christ

Committed to God’s mission

Transformed by the Holy Spirit

Mission

To honour of God in worship that feeds and empowers us for faithful witness and service

To embody and proclaim the message of God’s redemptive hope and healing for people and creation

To grow communities of faith that form, inform and transform those who fellow Christ

Priorities

Liturgical renewal for transformative worship

Theological education

Leadership formation

Health: HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis

The environment

Women and gender

Protection and nurture of children and young people

Public advocacy

Going forward

Together, we can make a valuable difference. The challenge for us at both Diocese and Parish level will be to align our own vision and mission with those of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. Going into 2011 we will be exploring how we as Corpus Christi can contribute to reaching this vision. Provincial Synod did not expect any “quick fix” solutions, but rather saw this new alignment as an ongoing process over the next couple of decades. The eight identified priorities are there to guide us over the next five years.

If you are interested in helping guide this process – or any of its aspects – at Parish level, please let me know.

Blessings

Mark

September 2010 - Journeying with Jesus

2010-08-31T20:07:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

Journeying with Jesus

The Christian life is a call to journey with Jesus. Over the last ten weeks our Sunday readings from Luke’s Gospel have given us an insight into an important aspect of this journey, primarily that as disciples of Christ we are called to proclaim to the people we meet that the Kingdom of God is upon us. “Proclamation” is more than just an announcement: it is to live out a message. This means that our actions and attitudes are more important than our words; and that our relationship with God is visible even in the hidden moments of our lives: a somewhat daunting thought!

What is the “Kingdom of God”? None of the Gospel writers, including Luke, give us a clear, unequivocal description. Instead they portray Jesus as the visible sign of the Kingdom, and through his life – particularly in his interaction with others – we are afforded glimpses of what the Kingdom is. We begin to see that the Kingdom is about love-filled relationships that build justice and true hope in our world. The Kingdom is created through relationships that value love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (An Anglican Prayer Book 1989, pg 144). By incorporating these values into our relationships our lives become glimpses of the Kingdom both for ourselves and for others. This journey with Jesus is one of continual discovery.

What does our journey with Jesus mean for the various other journeys we are on with ourselves and also with others? Jesus’ comment in Luke 9:62, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (TNIV) makes us fear that we will have to leave these other journeys behind. Journeys that conflict with the values of the Kingdom need to be abandoned. However, many – if not most – of our journeys are complementary, and if we are committed and available to Jesus, God draws the journeys of our life together, interweaving them with the Kingdom journey that we are called to.

Too often we forget to make our Kingdom journey the priory of our lives, and we find ourselves pulled in conflicting directions. Rather than this being a conflict in values, it is a conflict of priority. As we increasingly permit our journey with Jesus to become the umbrella under which all our other journeys are allowed to shelter, we will gradually discover over time that the various journeys of our lives are redirected and are progressively guided by our Kingdom journey. The question always is, “How?”

We need to make time to reflect upon our lives, review our priorities, allow the Spirit of God to transform us. This is the call of Christian Stewardship: a call to review our relationship with God, and to reflect upon how we give leadership to our time, our gifting and talents, to our treasure. Our use of time says a great deal about our priorities; the manner in which we deal with our relationships and utilise our belongings says a great deal about our values; our approach to life says a great deal about our relationship with our Creator, Restorer and Sustainer.

Where are you in your journey with Jesus?

Blessings

Mark

August 2010 - New Challenges

2010-08-03T12:14:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

New Challenges

The noonday hour in the Bishop’s office appears to be a bewitching one, if tales are true. Bishop Jo requested to see me in person on my return from leave in June, and as I left the parish office I mentioned to Cheryl that I was either in deep trouble or in line for more responsibility. As it turns out, it was more responsibility: I left the Bishop’s office just after the noonday hour an acting Archdeacon. I now carry responsibility for the Archdeaconry of Madibeng, which is centred around Brits and Hartbeespoort Dam, including Pretoria North. My initial focus is to review the mission and ministry imperatives of this area, which was set up at our 2005 Diocesan Synod as a missionary Archdeaconry. The challenges of Madibeng are great: it is staffed with only one full-time clergyperson and five self-supporting priests. Much of the area is made up of small villages, some around the mines, others with rural roots. It is an exciting new venture for me, even though at this point it remains a temporary appointment.

This change in my focus has led to some reshuffling in the Pretoria East Archdeaconry, and as from September our Archdeacon, the Ven Timothy Lowes, will take over responsibility for the mission parish of St Anne’s, Equestria; and the Chapelry of St Agnes, Stanza Bopape, will fall under the oversight of the Rev’d Madi Moshime of All Saints in Mamelodi East. Please keep these two communities, which have walked closely with us, in prayer as they find comfort in the new allegiances that are required of them. Please keep me and my family in your prayers, too, as I pick up this new Diocesan responsibility out west, while seeking to continue to serve you faithfully here at Corpus Christi in Garsfontein.

Roots

I’ve just returned from a three day retreat (a part of the Spirituality Course Dawn and I are doing through the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg) that focused on the Desert Tradition of the early Church around the third century. I’ve always appreciated that St Benedict and his Rule have substantially influenced Anglicanism as we know it, but what was eye opening was the tradition of the Desert Mothers and Fathers that influenced Benedict. At the heart is a comment from St Benedict’s Rule: “Prefer absolutely nothing to the love of Christ”. It was a huge affirmation for me of what it means not just to be Christian, but to be an Anglican Christian.

The Desert Tradition found its impetus at a place in time when Christianity suddenly found itself the religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine. From being a banned and underground movement, Christianity was suddenly the flavour of the day. Many followers of Christ’s way became disillusioned by a faith that was increasingly watered down and sold short: people’s lives were no longer being changed through conversion. And so many holy and committed followers of Christ found their way into the desert, seeking not to run away from the world, but to find a place not filled by the distractions of the decadent and licentious Roman Empire. The holy men and women of the Desert Tradition recognised that the problem was not the world, but rather the inner being of every person that allows the world to be a distraction, and that leads us away from preferring “absolutely nothing to the love of Christ”. And so the Desert Tradition calls us to flee into the real world of self; we are called to face our demons and encounter both ourselves and the living God in the process.

If we are serious about our journey in God then this journey has to take precedence over everything else. We need to be continually drawn to something more; and we need to ask ourselves why we are ever ready to settle for the mediocre when it comes to our relationship with God. Joan Chittister – whom I regularly quote – reflects that the essence of the Benedictine Spirit (at whose heart is the spirit of the Desert Tradition) is a process of living in the presence of God that gives us a different perception of ourselves and of God. It is the spirit of the sacrament: to touch, to take, and to be transformed.

This, I realise, is something of what it means to be Anglican and Christian; a very special gift.

Blessings

Mark

July 2010 - Survey Results

2010-06-30T15:16:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

Survey Results

Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill in our Survey Questionnaire! We had 128 responses over two Sundays. The results confirmed a lot of what we already suspected: we are a Parish made up of people who seek a traditional church environment with a sacramental flavour; 70% of parishioners are over 40 years old; the 19-26 age group is the smallest with 3% and the 41-55 age group is the biggest with 36%.

Most parishioners joined Corpus Christi because we are the nearest Anglican Church to where they live, and most stay because of the sense of belonging and family that they experience. Our intra-cultural harmony, along with the high standard of sermons and the rector’s personality were also mentioned. Those who serve do so mainly as a way to give back to the community for what they receive in terms of care, belonging and meaningful worship.

A number of issues of concern were raised, most notably a need to stimulate the participation of young adults and encourage youth attendance. Concern was expressed about our singing (dreary!) and a need articulated for the inclusion of African hymns/songs. A number of respondents (including, interestingly, one of our 13-18 year-olds) bemoaned the disruption caused by late-comers, and some find the chatter before worship difficult to accept. Newer members expressed a need to be more fully welcomed, including a desire for a welcome visit from the clergy.

Encouraging Youth & the Future

The survey highlighted that the majority of parishioners hold to a worldview that cherishes transcendent truth and principle. This means the predominant outlook at Corpus Christi understands God as the eternal rewarder of those who stay true to their calling, and presses for a church committed to changeless truth. This outlook requires sermons that underscore accountability, and worship that is reverent, orderly, and predictable. We seek leaders of unquestioned integrity, who keep things under control and on the right path.

The majority of young people today don’t hold to this outlook, preferring to see God either as a divine mentor who calls us to our full potential, and thus seek a church that dreams and acts boldly; or they see God as the healer of an injured world and seek a church that builds healthy, close-knit relationships. They are thus drawn to either the mega-church where worship has a distinctively “contemporary” feel, or to congregations where worship has an intimate “family” feel.

Our emphasis on worship that is reverent, orderly and predictable is largely at odds with the intimacy younger people seek. As adults, we are often uncomfortable with younger people’s desire to chatter during the silences, hug and catch up during the “peace”, sing songs that appear repetitive and theologically “light”, and hold small group interactions in place of a sermon. This explains why the Teens prefer to sit in the cold under the Car-port in interactive conversation with Wonder Mutanha rather than in the warmth of the Church in a predictable and largely non-interactive environment.

It is of course easy to generalise, and we need to note that at least 17% of respondents (in the 26-70+ age group) are comfortable with the younger perspective, and are probably drawn to Corpus Christi because we manage to sustain a good sense of belonging and family. 53% of respondents (also in the same age group) are deeply uncomfortable with it. It is this deep discomfort of the majority of adults with the outlook of our youth that makes it very difficult to encourage youth attendance and young adult participation. The “generation gap” is very wide.

The Challenge

The challenge for the Parish leadership is to continue to meet the needs of the Parish majority, while opening up opportunities for both young people and the minority of adults whose worship and faith needs differ with the general direction that Corpus Christi is travelling. It is to find balance between the expectations of the present and the demands of the future.

This challenge is not one we face alone. It is the challenge that most Anglican and other traditional Churches face. To be an alive and growing church in the future generations we need to find the courage to step beyond the boundaries of what we know and understand, and venture into the realm of the unknown. Our great-grandchildren will stand testimony to our courage or our fear.

Blessings

Mark

June 2010

2010-05-25T13:34:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

The “New Thing” - Pentecost

I shared in my Pentecost sermon (http://bit.ly/aADmsh) that the “new thing” God wishes to do in our lives is for us to come to know the Lord (Hosea 2:20); and that I felt quite offended that God didn’t think I knew him; and that perhaps you might feel the same. And then of course, with a little reflection, I began asking what does it really mean to “know the Lord” – and do I? Do we know the Lord? How is this visible in our lives?

To “know the Lord” means more than vague acquaintance or even superficial relationship: it requires immersion. It requires exploring what the Father’s purpose is for Jesus, what Jesus understood his purpose to be; and discovering our purpose in the midst of Jesus’ call. In Luke 4:18-21, using Isaiah’s words, Jesus states that his purpose – affirmed by the Spirit’s anointing – is to proclaim Good News, freedom, recovery and God’s favour; this proclamation is to be one of action, not words. It is to set the oppressed free.

The call to “know the Lord” is to invest in God’s Kingdom, in our society, and in individual lives. Our acts of proclamation, in terms of Luke 4, are to the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. It is a call to invest in the lives of those we perceive God to have abandoned. Too often we have diminished this call into “alleviation” and provide food parcels, clothing, sometimes money; and generally use a go-between, rarely dirtying our own hands. Does alleviation set people free, give them sight? Does alleviation set me free to “know the Lord”? Alleviation is an important and valuable starting point, an attempt to meet the symptoms of need, giving us space to address the cause. To truly invest is to address the cause, and it is often a sacrificial call to put ourselves – not just our wealth – on the line. It is a call to become the go-between, and to seek ways to invest ourselves in “knowing the Lord” as we immerse ourselves in addressing the causes of need in our society. At our peril we distance ourselves from Jesus’ anointed purpose.

What should we be addressing? Next time you find yourself complaining about some aspect of South African society, perhaps that is a place for us to start.

Easter Offering – Thank You!

Thank you to all who contributed to the Easter Offering I received this year. As always it is much appreciated! It has enabled me to pay for the many books my studies require this year, update my phone, address my wardrobe and hopefully leave something for a rainy day. I am aware that this year the financial crunch has found reality in most of our pockets, and so your gift is all the more valued.

Blessings

Mark

May 2010

2010-04-24T18:08:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

A “new thing” in our midst

Last month I said “I’d love to know what your perception is of the “new thing” that God is doing in our midst.” Due to the complete lack of response I’m wondering if we have our heads firmly buried in the sand, or whether we hope that by not acknowledging “new things” they will disappear and life can continue as normal? Or perhaps God has passed us by, and we have been left in some backwater, marking time?

I’m reading a book – as part of my studies – by Ron Martoia Morph! The Texture of Leadership for Tomorrow’s Church. In it he makes the following insightful comment:

“In our postmodern culture, people are looking for experiences to bring them closer to God. Why have we been so unimaginative? Postmoderns aren’t looking for principles to die for; they are looking for practices to live by” (page 58).

The challenge we face as Anglicans, along with other so-called “main-line” Churches, is that we have been shaped over centuries by a worldview that raises “principle” on a divine pedestal, and is often suspicious of “experience”. Postmodernism is a worldview that forms the outlook and expectations of many younger people (mostly those under 50) and these people are often drawn off to Christian communities that offer a more experiential faith dynamic. It is not that principle is unimportant, it is just no longer pivotal.

Rules and regulations are the pedestal that upholds principle, and Martoia comments that the postmodern perspective associates rules and regulations “leading to dull, monochrome lives” (page 58), and thus to a dull, monochrome faith. As Anglicans we are often nervous to venture too far into the experiential realm, finding our comfort and security in transcendent truth and principle. We are suspicious and critical of other denominations and many of the newer “break-away” communities that appear to reject the sense of dignity that principle engenders in worship and life. And we are nervous to let these ideas through the door: the very thought of them makes us insecure.

Another book that I have been reading – Systems-Sensitive Leadership: Empowering Diversity Without Polarizing the Church by Michael Armour and Don Browning – suggests that postmodernism encompasses at least four emerging worldviews (thinking systems and values), themselves discontinuous, that the Church increasingly needs to take cognisance of. While there is far too much detail to go into here, the key issue is that “main-line” Churches like ourselves need to begin exploring ways to incorporate and make space for people who have an increasingly different perspective and expectation from that which has shaped our Church-life over centuries. Statistics strongly suggest that in the Western world the Church as we have known it is dying, especially when attendance figures are married to population growth. Research suggests that this is not due to a decrease in interest in spirituality – which interest remains high among postmoderns – but is rather an inability (unwillingness?) to transform in order to meet the needs of a new generation, a generation whose needs are discontinuous with the past.

And so, perhaps, I got the question wrong last month, and I need to ask instead, “What new thing does God want to institute in our midst?” – do you have any thoughts?

Blessings

Mark

Easter 2010

2010-03-22T19:45:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

“If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got!” – Anonymous

This quote was shared at our recent Diocesan Clergy School held at the Good Shepherd Retreat Centre in Meerhof during a presentation on “Growing the Church”, which is an initiative of the Synod of Bishops that desires to see the Anglican Church of Southern Africa become “a vibrant God-Centred Church which is clearly growing spiritually, numerically and holistically”. More information can be found at http://www.growingthechurch.org.za/.

My sense is that at Corpus Christi we have begun doing some things a little differently over the last few years, and in a number of areas are seeing the positive fruits of our willingness to “let go, and let God”. Isaiah 43:19 (TNIV) says, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” This is a verse we have carried at Council level over the last couple of years as we continue to reflect on our parish vision. Sometimes we are a little scared of doing things in new ways, partly because the old ways are comforting and help us feel secure, but mainly because new ways disorientate us and the outcomes are often not what we expect. I’d love to know what your perception is of the “new thing” that God is doing in our midst. If you have the time and the courage, please let me have your thoughts at mark6006080@gmail.com or handwritten: I will value your input.

Family Life

As you are hopefully aware of by now, our Diocesan Theme is presently “Equipping and Strengthening Families: Turning Houses into Homes”. This is a challenging theme in today’s world where the certainties of past decades are less obvious and most truth is understood to be relative. “Family” comes in many guises in the 21^st Century, and we are not always comfortable with some of the variations, and not all permutations seem to fit easily with a more conservative Christian faith perspective. The Diocesan Lent Course has sought to get us thinking about family in a broader context, which many throughout the Diocese seem to have found useful. While breadth is good, we also need to think more specifically, and a question my wife, Dawn, has asked me is how are we as a Church specifically seeking to equip and strengthen families with the everyday practicalities of being family. If you are interested in being part of a conversation at this level, please let me know. You can access the Lent Course at http://bit.ly/9g9EYY or collect a hard copy from the office; and if you have not had the opportunity to be part of the Parish Lent Course I’d encourage you to work through the material with your family, or a friendship group.

Holy Week & Easter

There are various opportunities for you to participate in our Holy Week and Easter journey, which begins on Palm Sunday. This year our Good Friday focus is “Journeying with Jesus into the World” and will focus on sharing Jesus with others through humility, forgiveness, service, worship, wonder and surrender; while focused on Jesus journey to the cross, my prayer is that it will begin to help us focus beyond Easter on what both Jesus death and resurrection mean for our lives and our world. For those who may not have the Diocesan booklet of daily meditations for Lent, there is a copy of the Holy Week meditations at http://bit.ly/9YLNzL for your convenience.

Easter Prayer

My Easter prayer for us all is that Paul’s words in Philippians 3:10-11 (TNIV) may be true for us as we emerse ourselves in the Easter journey: “ I want to know Chrsit and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Easter blessings

Mark

Lent 2010

2010-02-22T14:20:00.000+02:00

Dear friends

Lent

Lent is already upon us, wrenching our vision from the birth of the Christ-child to the crucified and risen Christ. In between we have journeyed through the season of Epiphany, seeing Jesus revealed as God’s response not only to the needs of Israel, but to the needs of the world as a whole.

In his recent Ad Clerum (“To the Clergy”) letter Bishop Jo has enjoined us to focus on the three pillars of our Christian Faith: Scripture, Prayer and Worship. We saw yesterday (1^st Sunday in Lent) how Jesus and the Devil interacted around the Scriptures, and how Jesus’ knowledge of Scripture and his understanding of God’s purposes helped him deal with the Devil’s attempt to mislead him. Lent calls us to prayer, along with fasting and alms-giving, and our more personal time alone with God comes under scrutiny. Worship is less about “me” and more about “us”, and particularly about joining together in fellowship to worship God, whether formally in Church or less formally with family and friends: “when you eat this bread and drink this cup” can apply equally to our more formal Eucharist services and to everyday meals shared in our homes. Where are you in your own journey with Scripture? Where are you in your journey of prayer and worship?

The Diocesan Lenten focus is on our Diocesan Theme “Equipping and Strengthening Families: Turning Houses into Homes”. Our Lent course echoes on this, reflecting initially on the challenges of nuclear family, and expanding to remind us that we are part of God’s family (the Church) and a wider community and world family of people created in God’s image. A copy of the course material can be found on http://lifeadventurer.blogspot.com or can be requested from the office.

Being Early

Just a reminder that my theme for this year for us is “BE EARLY!” It is my earnest plea that this is something we all “take on” for Lent this year, and get into a new habit. I am aware of people making an effort, and that is much appreciated. This last Sunday I was aware of a large-ish crowd joining the procession into the 9am Service!

Children’s Church

In recent weeks the Children and Teen Church have reached close on 90 young people attending. We are in DESPERATE need for people to help with teaching as we need to create more groups. If you have some teaching experience or are just keen to work with young people, please speak to our Churchwarden, Bruce Harvey, or to myself – this really is urgent and important!

A Lenten Commitment

Choose this day whom you will serve; WE WILL CHOOSE THE LIVING GOD

The road is narrow that leads to life; WE WILL WALK THE WAY OF CHRIST

Faith is not our holding on; FAITH IS LETTING GO

We offer more than words, O God; WE OFFER YOU OUR LIVES.

(from Lent & Easter Readings from IONA, pg 18)

Blessings

Mark

Rector's Report to Annual Vestry 2010 - St Anne's, Equestria (7 Feb 2010)

2010-02-22T12:50:00.000+02:00

Introduction

Today is our 2nd Annual Vestry Meeting, and marks just over a year of our existence as the Mission Parish in Equestria. Since our 1st Meeting we have gained an identity, and I hear us talking about ourselves as “St Anne’s” as if we’ve always been here, which I see as exciting and positive. We come today to celebrate the last year, which is good; but more importantly we need to look forward with expectation. We need to make ourselves available to God, again, that his life may flow through us so that we may be truly be the light of Christ in this part of God’s world. We need to hold close to our hearts Pauls words, “If God is for us, who can be against us?“ (Romans 8:31b TNIV)

The foundation of our Christian confidence lies in four things: our calling; our identity, where we have come from; and where we are going. It is about vision, knowing who we are, and understanding our context.

Our calling

When I arrive in the Archdeaconry five years ago there was a desire to expand the Anglican Church eastwards, and two areas were identified: the area from Silverton through to Silver Lakes, and the area south east of Mooikloof. These two options were explored and land bought. A development centred in the Willows was identified as the priority area and in 2006 I was asked by the Diocese to drive the process with Corpus Christi (Garsfontein) as a base with support from St Francis (Waterkloof) and Holy Trinity (Lynnwood). By July this year (2010) the first phase in reaching this vision, this mission development, will be achieved with a worshiping community based in a new worship facility in Stellenberg Road, Equestria.

Where we have we come from

We needed to define a new Anglican community, and the Diocese committed to helping us do this by providing a clergyperson-in-training to help us determine if we could get a community off the ground. In 2007 Vernon Foster began canvassing in the area, speaking to various parishes, and before long we had a core group of Anglicans willing to join this new venture; the missionary congregation of Willow Glen was formed, and necessary ministry and administrative structures were put in place during 2008. The community was not growing fast, but the journey was exciting.

Alongside this process another more painful journey was taking place. This was the journey the Parish of All Saints (Silverton) was on with the Diocese. Again, a small core of people working diligently to keep head above water, but with the currents of Diocesan opinion – combined with an increasingly semi-industrial environment booming in the wider Silverton geographical surroundings – threatening their existence.

In July 2008 I was asked to explore the possibility of combining the Parish of Silverton with the missionary congregation of Willow Glen. The option was clearly viable, but necessitated the very hard step of Silverton saying good-bye to their home in Pretoria Road and, a bit like Abram and Sarai, stepping out into an uncertain journey. It required of Willow Glen a willingness to walk away from their still new identity, and inclusively embrace a hurting community.

And so a new community was born on Advent Sunday 2008, and the Mission Parish of Equestria (us!) came into being. Fr Veron acted as mid-wife to this event before his almost immediate redeployment by the Bishop to take up the position of Rector in Lynnwood. Alan O’Brien, also a clergyperson-in-training, was assigned by the Bishop to assist me, and has helped oversee the nurturing of us as a new community. It is thanks to Fr Alan’s leadership, as well as your willingness, that we have forged a united Mission Parish over the last year. While not negating our past we have had the courage to overcome our pain that walking away from the Parish of Silverton required and the sense of loss that walking away for the very young Willow Glen congregation required – and for your courage I salute you!

Our identity

We are still, like Abram and Sarai, on our journey to the “Promised Land”. The site and building-in-progress in Stellenberg Road is giving some tangible reality to the vision, and we are thankful for these facilities at Willow Ridge High School that help contain us on the journey. During 2009 Diocesan Chapter placed the dedication of St Anne on us, which we have accepted. It has some roots in our shared history with Silverton, and so is a touch-stone with the past. St Anne was the grandmother of Christ, and there is always something very comforting about having a granny in residence! But just as Anne bore Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, so our name is a continual reminder to us that our calling is to make Jesus known to the world, to give birth to him in the wider community we serve, and to give birth to others who will continue to give life to the vision and continue to respond to the call.

It has been encouraging to see our community grow from under thirty people at worship early in 2009 to regularly around fifty people now. Our financial position has been far in excess of our Budget for last year. Although we may be relatively small in number there can be no doubt that we are big in heart! My thanks to all who have worked and contributed tirelessly in helping us become who we are, and who we will be. I’m encouraged by God’s name, as he shared it with Moses, because it can be translated as “I am who I am” or “I will be who I will be”: a reminder that we are always more than we appear to be, and that we must never limit our future by how we perceive ourselves in the present.

Where we are going

I know that many of us are mourning Fr Alan’s redeployment to St Bede’s (Soshanguve), and that we had hopes that he would be with us for another year. The reality is that we have had substantial help from the Diocese over the last three years in the form of both Vernon Foster and Alan O’Brien, and there can be no doubt that had they not been with us we would not be where we are today. The Dioceses’ support in the form of Clergy-in-training has helped us find our feet and become a viable Christian community. With Alan’s recent move there is the temptation to feel abandoned by the Diocese, but if we are honest with ourselves such a response is that of any young adult facing the world as parents set them free to explore the world on their own. As we know, parents wait anxiously see if their child will fly, and are ever ready to step in with support. We now stand as many Chapelries and Mission Parishes stand throughout the Anglican Communion: on our own feet with the challenge to grow to the point where we can fully support our own full-time priest. In the meantime we are better resourced than many: we have a Rector with our needs at heart; we have access to two self-supporting Clergy who, together with the Rector, will ensure we have a Eucharist most Sundays; we have four trained and licensed Layministers; we have a committed Council and Churchwardens, also with our needs at heart; and we have each other.

The vision for our existence has been the vision of others; we have accepted that vision, but the challenge now is to make that vision fully our own, and sustain a vibrant and growing sense of family, meaningful worship, caring and fellowship. Both Vernon and Alan have helped engender this in our midst. The timing of the Bishop’s redeployment of Alan may not be ideal from our perspective, but know this: God has purpose in it, and we will look back in time to come and understand. It is part of the journey. Jeremiah says, ““For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 29:11-14a TNIV).

Let us hold to the vision and keep the faith!

The year ahead

Challenge number one: hold the vision, keep the faith!

Challenge number two: we are family together in Christ, and we need to stand together. It is likely that by July we will be ensconced in our new home, and the challenge will be exactly that: to make it “Home”.

Challenge number three: grow! We need to find and take every opportunity of reaching out into the community. The sooner we grow our numbers, the sooner our income will expand, and the sooner we will be able to apply to the Bishop for a full-time priest. However, this should not be an end in itself, nor the focus of our efforts. If it is it will fail. It needs to be an almost unintended consequence of our desire to serve God through Jesus Christ, to serve God’s creation and the wider society in which we find ourselves.

The challenge that lies on the shoulders of our new Council is to give us direction and lead us into the “Promised Land”: it is a massive task. But I trust we will all share the load and continue to walk this journey together. God is here, we are not alone, and we have the archdeaconry and the Diocese behind us.

Let us embrace God’s love, and walk together in his grace.

God bless!

Rector's Report to Annual Vestry 2010 - Corpus Christi, Garsfontein (31 Jan 2010)

2010-02-05T19:08:00.000+02:00

Introduction

Our Annual Vestry Meeting is an important opportunity to stop and reflect on what God has been doing in our lives and community, and specifically where we are in our journey of Faith. We are asked to give “bodily form” to that which is largely intangible, and certainly difficult to define outside of material instruments. In our meeting we will table parish Councillors’ attendance at Council meetings, assess our finances, and hear reports on various actions and activities. I hope we will leave with a sense that it is good to be here, that it is good to belong to the Anglican community in this part of Pretoria.

Through all our deliberations we need to be asking more fundamental questions: is God with us; are we growing into greater maturity in our relationship with God, both as individuals and as a Christian community; are we impacting positively on the world beyond the boundaries of this building in terms of Christian values, morality and ethical behaviour? What is the nature of the Good News we share with God’s creation: do our lives, our relationships reflect the inclusive nature of God’s love? And this despite our brokenness, our human fragility, the shattered nature of our daily existence.

In Ephesians 2:6-7 (TNIV) Paul says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” This reflects an ultimate Christian outcome, and leads us to ask, “How are we creating Heaven within the realm of daily life, struggle and existence?”

Personal

The past year has been a difficult one for me: standing as a candidate for Episcopal election in the Diocese of the Highveld, believing that I have the gifting and call to fulfil the role, and then not being elected left me in a dislocated place. Knowing that I was an outsider, understanding that the Diocese may have other priorities and may well elect someone they are already in relationship with, didn’t make the outcome any easier to deal with. Standing for election makes one visible, and I was subsequently approached by one of the larger parishes in Johannesburg. Dawn, too, has been through a difficult time in terms of her career, and while God has been good in providing opportunities for her to consult in the Motor Industry, she has a deep desire to find a professional direction of deeper meaning and purpose. I remain uncertain as to the present nature of God’s call on my life, but do know that it is good to be here at Corpus Christi, and appreciate the deepening relationship that I share with many of you. Being priest, pastor and teacher in your midst remains a fulfilling existence … and my sense right now is “Long may it last!”

I have registered for an introductory course to Spiritual Direction through the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg, as well as a formal academic course towards a Masters Degree in Contextual Congregational Leadership through Tukkies. So, 2010 promises to be full and stimulating.

Parish

I look back over five years and suspect that we are a different community to that which we were in 2005. I experience a deeper ownership of parish life by most who attend Worship on a regular basis. The “us & them” mentality that noticeably marked parish life when I was first appointed has lessened, and is almost invisible. Challenges remain, and at our Council Planning Day for 2010 last week concern was expressed that we find ways to get the various ministry communities to be more representative: we noted that the catering community has only one “pale African” and that the Children’s Church Teachers are largely “Whities”. On one level this may seem a nit-picky issue in the light of far greater challenges that face our wider society, but they do speak to what it means to be family and friends in Christ. My thanks to all who continue to work hard to reach across the boundaries that mark our different cultural and international identities – you make a valuable difference.

Our financial position suggests that most of us have weathered the economic downturn quite well, and I appreciate that for many committed parishioners your regular financial contribution has become more sacrificial in recent months. I was humbled recently by a most substantial “thanksgiving donation” received from one of our parish families as they celebrated God’s sustaining presence in their midst in recent very difficult circumstances.

All our lives are increasingly busy and not unaffected by the massive amounts of time many of us spend in the chaotic Gauteng traffic that steals significant time from our family and community commitments. I appreciate the time that many of you give beyond the call of Worship, and your willingness to involve yourselves in organising, or just attending, our various parish activities. We have had some wonderful times together in the last year – our Cultural Event stands out with everything from Zulu dancers to Jenny Moser masquerading as the late Queen Mother!

Many of us set Sunday morning aside for Church, and outside of winter and various holiday periods, our Worship attendance has grown, an encouraging sign. I am hugely encouraged by the youth that gather each week for Children’s and Teen Church. We continue to find it difficult to get youth to support activities outside of Sundays, although we had a great turnout for our 2009 end-of-year event organised via Facebook.

Spiritual growth has taken place through our Baptism and Confirmation preparation classes, our Lent Course which focused on transformation, and through our post-winter course on the Baptismal Creed. There are various focus groups that meet where fellowship and spiritual nourishment are received: from the Monday night Cell Group to the Thursday afternoon Bible Study, to the monthly Friday afternoon Women’s group and the monthly Saturday afternoon Comfort Group where the bereaved and divorced meet for fellowship. The Men went fishing (again!) and celebrated 10 years of fellowship and fishing-frustration, and excitingly the Women had a Spiritually-focused weekend away that I hope will also become an annual tradition. Relational counselling has taken up a great deal of my time over the last year, both in preparing couples for marriage and in trying to keep other couples married!

Our main challenge for 2010, apart for praying for miracles from Bafana-Bafana, is to become a community that arrives early for Worship. Towards the end of last year I became aware of a conversation taking place in various contexts of people’s frustration with those who arrive late. No matter how quietly late-comers seek to enter our Worship space, their movement creates distraction. We are not a community that struggles to find transport, and so late-coming, while distracting, is also perceived to be disrespectful both to God and to those already gathered; and so my focus this year is to encourage us to be a community that values arriving early. I’m specifically encouraging parish leaders to be present at least half-an-hour before our Worship begins, and realise that for some there are major challenges in getting children and spouses to join this journey. I am attempting to set this example myself, although being at Church by 06:30 on a Sunday morning is admittedly a challenge!

Vision

At our recent Council Planning Day we revisited our parish “Statement of Purpose” and a good deal of the discussion focused on our second core purpose of building the Kingdom of God in the wider community through outreach and service. We have visibility in the wider Diocesan areas of outreach (Irene Homes, Tumelong) and in the wider Pretoria (Louis Botha Homes and Women Against Rape). The question was raised as to whether we are visible in our more local geographical environment of Garsfontein, Constantia Park, Moreleta Park and Faerie Glen. This was more difficult to define.

Outreach is a powerful form of Christian service, and if we are to truly serve we need to be confident in our calling (vision), our identity (who we are), we need to know where we have come from and where we are going. To this end our “Statement of Purpose” is critical to our confidence in serving both God and the world: our core purpose of being a place where others meet Christ, of building the Kingdom of God in the wider community, and of sustaining traditional Anglican practices needs to guide us; our core values of dignified worship, opportunity, friendship, and broad-based parishioner involvement need to motivate us; our Scriptural imperative “…go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19) must impel us. The focus of many of my Sunday sermons has been aimed at equipping us for our role in the world.

Mission

The focus of our mission as a parish over the last few years has been the encouragement of a new Anglican community in Equestria, and this has been a combined project with Archdeaconry and Diocesan support. Our contribution, apart from the facilitation that I have provided as Rector, has been our partial support of a clergy person-in-training who has been charged with the day-to-day pastoral care and worship coordination of the Equestria community. At the beginning of 2009 the small congregation of Willow Glen combined with the shrinking parish of Silverton to form the mission parish of St Anne’s, Equestria. The Worshipping community has grown from just under thirty regular attendants before Easter to regularly around fifty people by December 2009. Their financial commitment has grown accordingly, and their budget for 2010 is healthy, but not yet at the point where they can, even with our help, provide for a full-time clergy person. The building of the new Church facility for Equestria in Stellenberg Road has begun, and our plan is that it will be completed before mid-year. The construction is largely being funded by the sale of the Silverton Church facilities (R1,800,000), although the agreed cost of R2,500,000 will require ongoing fundraising to meet the shortfall; in this regard, my thanks to all who supported the Welsh Male Voice Choir Fundraising event last year.

We have been fortunate to have had Vernon Foster (now Rector of Lynnwood) and more recently Alan O’Brien as the clergy presence in Equestria during their training, and together with the Equestria community we are most thankful for the Diocesan support in covering their stipends and medical aid while we have met their allowances and other costs. The Bishop, due to the pressure to fill vacancies in parishes that are able to meet the full cost of a clergy person, has made the decision to remove Alan as of 1 February 2010 and place him in one of these parishes for his year of post-ordination training as a Priest. While I remain their Rector I will not be able to offer the same level of presence that Alan has been free to do. There is no doubt that Anglican communities find security, and therefore growth, when a dedicated clergy person is easily accessible and present. The formation of this new Mission Parish remains at a critical point.

Our other area of mission focus has been to support the Louis Botha Homes, as well as Irene Homes, Tumelong and Women against Rape. We have a new, enlarged parish organising community in place for Tumelong, and our Christmas Party for the children of Maboloka Haven attests to their efficiency as well as to the generosity of our Parish community. We continue to collect food-parcels, although the number of parcels contributed by parishioners has decreased significantly in recent months, which is a concern. We also give out many tins of food from the Office during the week to the hungry and destitute.

Diocese

Our Diocesan theme “Equipping and strengthening families: turning houses into homes” remains our focus of mission and ministry until Diocesan Synod in 2011. During 2009 we had “Family Life” as a dedicated Council portfolio, which was largely unproductive with the Parenting Seminars getting very little support from parents. In 2010 all Council portfolio holders have been asked to let the Diocesan theme inform their plans and actions. I was encouraged that three of our Councillors for 2010 expressed a concern for Pastoral Care, and I look forward to this portfolio in particular helping to take us forward in family issues. There are many levels of being family, and perhaps most critically at one level for us as a collective is to explore in the coming year what it means to be God’s family, the family of Christ; and at the other end of the scale finding support as parents balancing children and highly demanding careers in an increasingly hostile environment.

The Diocesan Standing Committee took a courageous decision in November 2009 to move Clergy onto a “cost-to-church” (cost-to-company) package in 2010. This will not have a big impact on us, as we were already largely following this model. There will, doubtless, be a learning curve here as we move forward, but it is an encouraging and exciting development.

I remain a member of the Cathedral Chapter (an advisory board to the Diocesan Bishop) with the portfolio of Canon Chancellor, which includes mentorship of the Diocesan School Chaplains and facilitation of the integration of the Diocesan theme and other Diocesan ministry imperatives in these institutions.

Society and Nation Building

We live in challenging times as a nation. We hear very little from our State President, Jacob Zuma, and too much from the President of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema. There can be no doubt that our leaders set an example that many in the nation follow. Malema’s example is one of disrespect for one’s elders and the ANC’s silence on his behaviour only exacerbates the situation. The ANC’s unwillingness to allow other members of the Tripartite Alliance space to influence Government policy is of concern. Stories of money for social development paid out to contractors being divided before payment to other “interested” parties, along with excessive packages paid to Parastatal executives, highlights the degree of corruption and immoral behaviour that pervades our society.

As Christians we have the responsibility to live a moral and ethical lifestyle, despite the immorality and unethical practices that surround us in both Government and Civil Society. While we cannot impose Christian values on others, we can impose them on ourselves and on the manner in which we interact with the various institutions and representatives of Government and Business. We need to persevere, even when under severe pressure to conform to the immoral behaviour that society increasingly appears to accept as normal. It is the Christian call on our lives as individuals and as a community; it is also our duty. Our actions may seem insignificant and ineffectual in the tide that threatens our nation, but Jesus’ message was always about the apparently insignificant being the source of transformation and abundant life.

Conclusion

You will doubtless have noted that I have mentioned few by name, and thanked no-one specifically. This is purposeful, firstly because someone “important” is often overlooked, and secondly because we do not do what we do for human accolade. God knows our hearts and actions, and will judge us all accordingly. You know what you have contributed, and my thanks goes to everyone who has contributed in some way, great or small, towards the growth of our parish over the last year. Special thanks to those who have supported me in various leadership and caring capacities, and those who have enabled our corporate worship and fellowship events. Know that your efforts are highly valued and greatly appreciated: you have made a difference, and for that I am most thankful.

Bless you!

MARK R D LONG

Rector

December 2009

2009-11-30T16:52:00.000+02:00

Dear friends

Time – African & Western

Arriving on time, or early, in our African context is difficult: to arrive early or on time for a meal is to imply that one has no food at home; to get immediately to the point is to imply that the person one is conversing with, along with their family and community, is of little value. From a more Western perspective to arrive late is a sign of disrespect both for the other people present and the event being celebrated, and is taken as a sign of personal lack of discipline.

My grandfather was a stickler for being on time, if not early. In my grandparents’ social circle was a couple notorious for being at least an hour late for social engagements. My grandmother, hosting a dinner, invited the notorious couple, and knowing they were always late, invited them to attend an hour early. The couple, aware that my grandfather was such a stickler for time, arrived on time – much to the consternation of all concerned!

What time should we arrive for worship? To arrive on time is to imply that there are problems at home; to arrive late is to miss the greeting and welcome. We need to develop a church culture that allows us to step away from our controlling cultural perspectives, and yet permits us to maintain the dignity that our different cultural perspectives provide.

My dream is to see us arrive a good half-an-hour before worship begins, and to gather in the gardens, using this time to greet each other, to ask the questions that give value to our existence, to recognise each other in good African Style. Then, when the first bell rings, to find our way into the church, to find a seat, to greet those sitting next to us, behind us, in front of us. When the second bell rings to fall silent and prayerfully prepare for our time with God together.

Perhaps this is a little over-ambitious, but I do ask for everyone’s cooperation in exploring this as a possible way forward.

Advent & Christmas

The call of Scripture during Advent is for us to move from darkness to light, to be transformed in preparation for the renewal of God’s call to for us in the New Year. It is a time – in the midst of the world’s busyness that we are all caught up in – to slow down, to stop, and to wait. We wait for God to speak, to act. And only then do we respond.

The Gospel calls us to a lifestyle of simplicity, and the recent economic recession has reminded us that it is possible to live more simply. The present tenuous economic recovery may tempt us to throw caution to the wind, but I do encourage us not to become victims of temptation in our Christmas spending. Let us explore other ways to be generous rather than recreating or increasing our levels of debt. Time together as families has far greater value than any material gift.

My young adult son, who has just left home for the third time – and returns weekends – has been questioning me on my goals for life and ministry. It has taken me some time to realise that he really wants to know where he fits into my life. While there is no doubt that he is not adverse to material gifts, it is my willingness to spend meaningful time in some joint activity with him that has the greater value.

What gifts will we choose to give this year that speak of the value to us of the people we give them to? How will our gifts enhance our core relationships with spouses and children, parents and siblings?

Christmas Blessing

Lots of love to you all for Christmas and the New Year from Dawn and myself. I came across this Irish blessing, which I pray will find place in all our hearts:

The light of the Christmas star to you

The warmth of home and hearth to you

The cheer and goodwill of friends to you

The hope of a childlike heart to you

The joy of a thousand angels to you

The love of the Son and God’s peace to you.

Blessings

Mark

November 2009

2009-11-03T17:03:00.000+02:00

Dear friends

Nurture

I was challenged again, listening to the confessions of our young people preparing for their Confirmation. The challenge comes each time I take on this daunting task, and it comes in the form of the sincerity and depth of trust that our young people take in making themselves vulnerable before God. The challenge is two-fold: how do I nurture this sincerity in my own relationship with God; and how do we as community nurture our young people in this very adult decision of Confirmation that they undertake? The world will do its utmost to draw them away, and we as Church will possibly not offer support in ways that help.

Our young people are in process of growing up, seeking their independence, and yet still needing the support of family while often seemingly rejecting it. While peer-pressure is a driving force, there remains the need for mentorship unencumbered by the subjective nature of family relationship. Both our Confirmation process and Sunday morning Teen Church offer opportunity for mentorship as well as the opening to explore questions of faith and life that may be difficult in the family context.

We would like to offer more opportunity for our young people in this regard, and believe it is important, especially after Confirmation, that they have the opportunity to continue to be nurtured in a Faith-focused environment. We have attempted over the last few years to offer youth activity outside of Sunday mornings, and struggled. I’m never sure as to whether it is parent-busyness or youth-busyness that undermines the process. There is always a lot of energy expressed about possible activities, but attendance is virtually non-existent. When I look at Church communities where youth work is thriving it is generally because substantial resources are invested in a paid youth-person who then has the time to invest in relationship development with our young people, and I suspect that this is the logical route to go. Our financial resources do not yet allow us to take this route, but prayer for such a step is not limited.

Forgiveness

The following quote from Henri Nouwen was printed on the front of the Confirmation Service leaflet at St Francis (Waterkloof) last Sunday:

When we have been wounded by the Church, our temptation is to reject it. But when we reject the Church it becomes very hard for us to keep in touch with the living Christ. When we say, “I love Jesus, but I hate the Church,” we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the Church. This challenge is especially great because the Church seldom asks us for forgiveness, at least not officially. But the Church as an often fallible human organisation needs our forgiveness, while the Church as the living Christ among us continues to offer us forgiveness. It is important to think about the Church not as “over there” but as a community of struggling, weak people of whom we are a part and in whom we meet our Lord and Redeemer.

Sometimes (perhaps often is a better word) we forget that the Church is made up of broken people like ourselves, and our expectations and dreams for faith and life can be severely dented. It is through living in, yet looking beyond, the institutions we build that Christ is to be found. The temptation is to reject God because humanity is not God; to reject God because we do not find the depth of care and love in each other that Jesus offers. Henri Nouwen offers sage advice, which can be applied beyond the Church, more specifically in our family lives and relationships. It is in accepting each other as we are – broken, angry, hurt; flawed by destructive attitudes and actions – that we find Christ and each other. This all goes to the image of God that we carry, both in terms of our mental picture, and the image of God projected by the way we live and the attitudes that drive us. Too often God is not the mental picture we carry, and when life-crisis situations occur we find ourselves doubting both God and our relationship with him. Doubt is good because it gives us space to question both God and ourselves, and in the journey to discover God anew and ourselves anew; and to discover ourselves and our expectations of God transformed.

Sacramental Confession is one place the Church offers us, sacred and secure, to be transformed; in our vulnerability to be reassured, healed, strengthened; our brokenness received without condemnation; to find a renewed centre in God, in Jesus; a fresh start in the journey called Life.

Pray for me, also a sinner.

Blessings

Mark

October 2009

2009-10-12T20:14:00.002+02:00

Dear friends

Stewardship

I raised three points in our final focus on Stewardship last Sunday, and I share these for thought: stewardship is taking care of something we value and enabling it to grow; the foundation of financial stewardship is knowing what God wants us to do with our lives; we need to consider a commitment of time, treasure and talent to help sustain the faith community that nurtures our ideals.

Leadership

October is the time we elect our Wardens and Councillors for next year (2010). The new Council will pick up responsibility immediately the election has been ratified at our Annual Vestry in January. Nomination forms are available at the back of the church, and candidates need to be Christians who are confirmed Anglicans and who are on the parish membership roll. Present Wardens and Councillors need to be re-nominated for election, along with new blood. These names only get onto the list if YOU put them there! Please pray, and then be proactive in placing names on the list.

I expressed my concern at a recent Council meeting that there appears to be a general feeling that things are going well in the Parish; the negative side of this has been a growing lethargy over the past two years towards either encouraging others, or putting oneself forward for leadership. I offered to create a CRISIS that would ignite a fire under us, and have everyone running to get elected in order to see to the sacking of the Rector! Council strongly advised against this (obviously!), so I need your help, please: caucus amongst yourselves and nominate people you feel will best represent the parish as either Wardens or Councillors.

The following may be of use to you in your deliberations (1 Timothy 3:1-12 from The Message):

If anyone wants to provide leadership in the church, good! But there are preconditions: A leader must be well-thought-of, committed to his wife, cool and collected, accessible, and hospitable. He must know what he's talking about, not be overfond of wine, not pushy but gentle, not thin-skinned, not money-hungry. He must handle his own affairs well, attentive to his own children and having their respect. For if someone is unable to handle his own affairs, how can he take care of God's church? He must not be a new believer, lest the position go to his head and the Devil trip him up. Outsiders must think well of him, or else the Devil will figure out a way to lure him into his trap.

The same goes for those who want to be servants in the church: serious, not deceitful, not too free with the bottle, not in it for what they can get out of it. They must be reverent before the mystery of the faith, not using their position to try to run things. Let them prove themselves first. If they show they can do it, take them on. No exceptions are to be made for women—same qualifications: serious, dependable, not sharp-tongued, not overfond of wine. Servants in the church are to be committed to their spouses, attentive to their own children, and diligent in looking after their own affairs. Those who do this servant work will come to be highly respected, a real credit to this Jesus-faith.

Please note that in the Anglican Church of the 21^st Century the above applies equally to men and women!

Blessings

Mark

September 2009 - Being Missional

2009-09-07T16:27:00.000+02:00

Dear friends

Being Missional

In this early part of the 21^st century the Church is finding itself increasingly marginalised, and society perceives the Church to be increasingly irrelevant. This is a fundamental shift for which we, the Church, are largely unprepared. The last time we found ourselves quite so powerless and lacking in influence was back in the 3^rd century. A word that is being used to describe the Church in this time of changing awareness is the word “Missional”. The term itself is still finding definition, and there appears to be little consensus on the detail of this emerging paradigm, except that it is different to the paradigm experienced for almost two millennia since Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4^th century.

There are a few building blocks. A new theological field, known as the Theology of Work, is beginning to give some definition to what it means to be Church in the 21^st century. The momentum for this emerging theology is being driven by lay people reflecting on the relationship between their lives in the working world and their Christian faith. A key book in this regard is Joy at Work (A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job) by Dennis W. Bakke, cofounder of Applied Energy Services (AES). In his postscript to the book Dennis attempts to describe the integration of his faith and the secular work to which he has been called, and in so doing touches on some powerful theology that helps us understand what it is to be the Church in the 21^st century, what it is to truly be “Missional”.

Your “Missional” Call

Key to this approach is that “our daily work is a sacred calling from God”. This is a fundamental shift in thinking because it states that working in the secular environment is a sacred calling, no more and no less than working in or for the Church. Dennis says, “I am God’s representative at my place of work and … I am accountable to Him for my behaviour and actions on the job and especially for the service or product I help provide to society.” He goes on to say that, “A church’s service to the community should be measured by the sum of the work carried out by its members. This would include both voluntary and paid work at home, in business, at church, and in other not-for-profit organisations.” Dennis points to the fact that it is the influence of Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle on early theologians such as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas that leads to the idea that “Christian work” is somehow superior to work in the secular environment.

If we are to be truly “Missional”, true to the emerging paradigm of Church in the 21^st century, we need to take seriously the role that each member of the “Body of Christ” plays in representing God in the world. This requires us to change our perspective on stewardship. Our concept of stewardship is too often defined by the old paradigm in which those working in the secular world are required to resource the clergy and the missionary programmes of the Church. “Missional” stewardship is primarily about accountability and responsibility, rather than resourcing the Church; the “… local church [being] a primary vehicle for holding Christian people responsible for their vocational work.” Instead of resourcing the Church being a primary focus, “Missional” stewardship asks us to “… [manage] resources to meet physical needs”, “… [serving] the important goal of stewarding God’s resources to meet societal needs.” In reflecting on his own church experience Dennis says, “Leaders of the church seldom discussed the need for accountability for the way we served God through our secular work.” I recognise this in my own ministry as an Anglican Priest over twenty years, more concerned that my stipend is paid and that our worship is staffed with readers and sidespersons on a Sunday; and less concerned that parishioners are meaningfully equipped to serve God in their work-a-day world from Monday to Saturday; frustrated by the 20/80 principle – that 20% of the congregation contribute to 80% of Parish life – instead of realising that perhaps only 20% of people have time to contribute, while 80% are busy serving God in the realm of homes, schools, business and government.

Scattered

The above backs up another key “Missional” concept, and this is that God sends us, scatters us into the world; that we take the light of Christ into the world and its darkness through who we are, what we do and how we do it. Too often, in the older paradigm, Sundays were sacred moments that had little to do with our lives during the rest of the week, creating a kind of spiritual/secular schizophrenia. In “Missional” thinking Sunday – the Church gathered – becomes a celebration of what God has done in our lives from Monday to Saturday; it is a time of testimony, of sharing how God has been with us, how we have seen and experienced God as we have sought to live out our calling in the scattered environment of our week.

Gathered

This then raised the question of what the church should be doing. Dennis says, “My own bias is that the church should concentrate its pastoral and administrative resources on evangelism, worship, and nurturing and equipping members for service. I suggest that churches run service programs … only in the rarest instances.” I am encouraged by this because it reflects the mission statement of our own Diocese (Pretoria), that every Parish become a forming centre of Spirituality, Mission and Ministry. My role as Parish Priest is to facilitate this process, which Dennis describes as follows: “One of the most important roles of the local church is helping people discover the work that God has planned for them and then empowering them to perform that work.”

Biblical Imperative

Underlying this “Theology of Work” is the Great Commission in Matthew, as well as the creation stories in Genesis, which Dennis describes as “… the stewardship mission of Genesis.” Too often the church gets overly caught up on the redemptive nature of God; “Theology of Work” brings our lives into balance by reminding us of God as Creator and Sustainer, too.

Questions

September is “Stewardship Month” in our Diocese: how are you accountable to the “Body of Christ” for 100% of your life? How are you resourced by the Church to be responsible for your sacred calling to represent God in the secular environment? How are you resourcing the gathered Church that it may become increasingly effective in empowering you and others in your daily lives in the scattered environment of your week?

Blessings

Mark

All quotes are from: Bakke, Dennis W. 2005; Joy at Work (A revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job); PVG, Seattle; Pages 245-275

September - Stewardship Month

2009-09-07T16:24:00.000+02:00

As we consider how we are stewarding our lives, relationships and resources in the midst of a tough economic and social global environment, a short book by Klaus Nürnberger Making ends meet is of value. It is available from the CB Powell Bible Centre in Pretoria.

Prof Nürnberger states that poverty is the discrepancy between income and needs, and that the nature of need is that it is always greater than our financial resources. This means that even the most wealthy may be poor, and often deeply in debt! Could that be us?

We try to beat poverty by finding ways to increase our income, but in tough times like the present global meltdown, the best way is to decrease our needs. Prof Nürnberger describes needs as: basic essentials; social expectations; personal desires; pure luxuries.

He gives four tips on breaking even:

Orient yourself down to the less privileged, rather than up to the more privileged.
Don’t crave for what you don’t have, but praise God for the precious gifts God gave you.
Avoid debt at all costs. If you cannot afford something, simply do without it.
Make a budget and stick to it.

Here Prof Nürnberger suggests a budget formulated as follows:

ü Work on a monthly basis.

ü Get the whole family together.

ü Be absolutely transparent.

ü Add up all household income.

ü Make a schedule.

ü Allocate to specified items.

ü Agree on priorities.

And he suggests we allocate it as follows:

ü The money of God.

ü Debt redemption or saving.

ü Fixed items: rates and taxes, rent, water, light, school fees.

ü Household expenses: food, cleaning material, etc.

ü Transport.

ü Clothing for each member.

ü Pocket money for each member.

ü New acquisitions.

Using these principles in the following order of priority for our allocation of available funds:

The money of God.
Debt redemption or saving.
Fixed items: rates and taxes, rent, water, light, school fees.
Household expenses: food, cleaning material, etc.
Transport.
Clothing for each member.
Pocket money for each member.
New acquisitions.

Prof Nürnberger says the challenge, however, in getting ourselves out of poverty are:

Ø Can we trust God to provide for our healthy survival?

Ø Can we trust each other?

Ø Can we swallow our pride and be transparent to each other?

Ø Can we overcome our selfishness and cooperate?

Ø Can we sacrifice for each other?

Ø Can we discipline ourselves?

Ø Can we be an example for others?

August 2009 - An African Adventure

2009-07-30T10:15:00.000+02:00

Photos of Botswana Trip

Dear friends

A Great African Adventure

I’ve just returned from a great adventure in Botswana and the Caprivi. Dawn’s dad, Glen, and I spent twelve days travelling through the length, breadth and depth of Botswana by 4x4. We were part of a group of 19 people in 9 vehicles all set up for the challenges of the bush, sand and mud. Our first destination was Lekhubu Island in the middle of the Kgalagadi Salt Pans with the main interest being a collection of Baobab trees. It took two days to get there, our second day taking nine hours to cover just under 50km’s due to lots of water and large amounts of mud: I learnt a great deal about vehicle recovery (including help winch a stranded twelve tonne Overlander vehicle out of thick mud), and our winches and snatch-ropes were put to extreme test. Thereafter the biggest challenge was soft sand: Botswana is in the main a big bowl of sand up to a kilometre deep in places!

We then headed through Maun to Lake Ngami, which was so full we couldn’t see it as water was right up into the bush, preventing us finding any good view points. We headed up the western side of the Delta, visiting Gcwihaba Caves (similar to Sterkfontein), and spending a few days at Drotsky’s Cabins on the Panhandle. This included some time on the water, and a moment of great excitement as my Father-in-Law managed to get a sighting of African Skimmers for the first time in twenty-five years (he’s a great “Birder”): he was heard to utter more than one uncharacteristic “Halleluia” in a moment of grand excitement!

Next stop was the Caprivi, where the major moments were being charged by an elephant, and meeting up with Kingsley Holgate and his entourage in Katima Mulilo. A poignant moment was driving through the old Buffalo Camp (32 Battalion), now peacefully “peopled” with Kudu. The cement foundations, collapsed prefabs and crumbling ablution blocks paid peaceful testimony to the violence of the past.

We headed back into Botswana through Chobe and spent an uncomfortable night in Kasane. We spent the next two days travelling an “Eco Route” down the Botswana/Zimbabwe Border, and a wonderful night at a waterhole in the middle of nowhere, listening to the sounds of elephant in the bush around us. Game was scarce as it was hunting season, and our human presence unsettled them. We found lion spoor, and felt the adrenaline-rush of being in the African Bush. All too soon it was time to set the GPS for home as we headed through Francistown for the Border at Martin’s Drift.

Wine Tasting

A very big thank you to Isobel Holden for organising last Saturday afternoon’s Wine Tasting. Katherine Simms presented us with some unusual wines from the Joostenberg Winery, increasing both our knowledge of different wine cultivars and the added value different cultivars bring to different foods. The snacks went down well, and a good afternoon was enjoyed by those who attended.

The only “sourness” experienced was that nearly half of those who bought tickets didn’t attend, resulting in Katherine addressing at least three empty tables, and valuable funds wasted on hiring glasses and preparing snacks that went uneaten, resulting in only R1,000 being raised towards the Equestria Building Fund. In South African society generally is seems increasingly acceptable to indicate attendance – either through a positive reply to an invitation or the purchase of a ticket – and then to not attend for whatever reason. This is certainly also most evident at Weddings. I suspect this has to do with the speed at which we live our lives, but also that we double-date and fail to keep a responsible diary. As Christians we need to set a better example in this regard, please!

With Church fundraising events it will be helpful in future if, when we know that we cannot attend but would like to contribute, that instead of purchasing a ticket we give a donation towards the function.

The Rector’s Birthday Bash

Thank you so much to everyone who attended our “Bring & Braai” on Sunday 5 July in the Church gardens. Dawn and my July Birthdays are really just an excuse for a mid-winter Parish get-together for fellowship and a relaxed time. However, thank you for all the good wishes, and the small gifts we received: in most cases the gifts have been much enjoyed, being edible and drinkable! We received a wonderful “African Mirror” from the Catering committee that now has pride of place on our lounge wall; however, it is strangely silent when I ask it if I am the most beautiful of them all!

Blessings

Mark

July 2009 - The Church Irrelevant

2009-06-25T20:16:00.000+02:00

Dear friends

Irrelevance

As a priest “Church” occupies a large part of my landscape. My faith and my profession are deeply intertwined. I can’t imagine what it may be like to live life out of touch with the Church, but increasingly society is filling up with people who do, and who don’t perceive any loss in this disconnection. For centuries the Church has operated in an environment in the West and in Africa where a connection – even if tenuous – has been the norm; evangelism and mission have focused on strengthening this connection, or on reconnecting people who have wandered off; society nurtured it. Increasingly urbanised society sees no inherent added value in religious connection, and if anything, perceives religion to be a limiting life experience.

At the June Equestria Family Breakfast discussion meandered around family values, Church, and reaching out to our peers. It became clear that for many young people the Church is perceived to be an outmoded social construct proclaiming an outdated moral lifestyle. For instance the Church’s teaching that sex should only be celebrated within marriage is looked on with disdain, and seen as a sign that the Church is lost in a puritan past, and therefore irrelevant to life in the 21^st century.

As Church we believe that our moral outlook remains relevant, and yet our South African society – in which a majority of people still claim a Christian allegiance – demonstrates very little adherence to a Christian moral code. A recent survey conducted by the SA Medical Research Council (reported on www.time.com 20 June 2009) found that just over 1 in 4 South African men admit to having raped, and just under half of these to having done so more than once. Many of the men surveyed had obtained some level of education and income.

And so the relevance of the Church to our society comes into question. We no longer influence our wider society to any meaningful degree.

We have relied for centuries on being politically powerful, on being the official religion of society in the West and in Africa since Constantine. The French Revolution led to the first marked societal move away from religion, and France today still guards its secular political dispensation with fierce doggedness (now under threat perhaps more from Islam than Christianity).

Where do we find our response? The answers lie not so much in the monarchical narratives of David and Solomon – as they have done for centuries – but increasingly in the stories of Israel’s time in the desert after escaping slavery in

Egypt

, and in the experiences of a persecuted early Church. Our Christian faith, our existence as Church, needs radical review.

Family Life

Our response to the increasingly chaotic experience of family life in the 21^st century is one road that may lead us towards a renewed relevance. Our diocesan theme of “turning houses into homes” provides a handhold. The months of May and June have provided us with three important family related events: our parenting workshop where Dr Mary Anne Harrop-Allin dealt with temperament (personality), self-esteem and relationship; our Ladies Weekend led by Dawn Long, Sabine Verryn and Olga Nel, where over twenty of our wives, mothers, daughters and grandmothers had the opportunity to spend time away from family commitments in worship, self-discovery and creativity; our Patronal Breakfast where we were able to celebrate being part of our wider Parish family over a relaxed meal.

The people of God since the time of Abraham have found relevance in relationship: with God, with each other, with the world. This can be true for us, in our time, and to our generation.

Blessings

Mark

“Everything the Lord has said, we will do” - A sermon (edited) preached by Deacon Alan O’Brien on the occasion of our Patronal Festival on 14 June '09

2009-06-25T20:07:00.000+02:00

Here we are this morning gathered as Corpus Christi - the Body of Christ. What a truly awesome responsibility it is to be the Body of Christ in this time and in this place! We are truly blessed to be able to meet together Sunday by Sunday to worship and adore our loving God who gives us life and to whom we owe so much for all we have received at His hands.

The Holy Communion is an act of supreme love. We need to be people of love to all God’s people in this hurting world in which we live. We need to seek out the marginalized in society so that they can be embraced into Corpus Christi. That means our family in this part of the city and all Christian communities around the world need to gather in all those who feel that they are being neglected by the communities in which they live. We are being challenged to do ‘everything the Lord has said’.

The various names that have been given to this central act of worship help us come to a better understanding of these holy mysteries. For some it is known as the Eucharist, that act of Christ’s praise and thanksgiving in which we join in Sunday by Sunday. For others it is known as the Lord’s Supper, the commemoration of Christ’s prophetic acceptance of his death on Good Friday. For some it is known as the Holy Communion, the fellowship meal which binds all of us together as the Body of Christ. Others know it as the Holy Sacrament, which is then for them the pledge of Christ’s real presence among his people. Whilst for others it is the Mass, the identification of ourselves with Christ’s once and for all act of sacrificial obedience which he eternally presents to his Father in heaven.

Just how do we live out this command to be Corpus Christi?

By looking at the various names by which we celebrate Communion week by week, I believe that we can get some insight into the manner in which we can truly be Corpus Christi.

The Eucharist: we are called to be a community of praise and worship and thanksgiving. As we meet weekly we have much to be thankful for. The word Eucharist means thanksgiving and so one of our major focuses on a Sunday must be one of thanksgiving and this through our praise and worship. We daily need to thank God for all the many blessings which he bestows upon us. We must give thanks for our life, and that we should do as we awake every morning and as we retire to bed every evening. We must give thanks for our families and friends and especially those who are our family in this place – God’s family who have been given to us to care and to nurture. Our praise and worship must be such that it brings glory to our God in whom we place our hope and trust. We need to people of prayer and so daily we need to offer up ourselves to God and in his service. ‘Everything the Lord has said, we will do’.

The Lord’s Supper: As we celebrate this day as the Lord’s Supper, we remember Christ’s prophetic acceptance of his death. We too are called to be prophetic witnesses in the world at this time. We need to be people who will be prepared to speak out against the injustices that are practiced against all God’s marginalized people. We think of those who are suffering as result of HIV and Aids and the lack of treatment which is given to them by the clinics. We think of those women who suffer as a result of rape and struggle to get the justice system to work in their favour. We think of those women whom I read about last week in the paper who struggle to get their maintenance from the courts, the very courts which awarded them the very necessary maintenance, but which now are totally lacking in compassion for them. We need to be the prophetic voice which calls all people to care for ‘their neighbour’ and that we know can be any one who comes and asks for our assistance and so ‘everything the Lord asks of us, we will do’.

The Holy Communion: Our celebration of the Holy Communion means that we are bound together by this fellowship meal. The Holy Communion began as a meal and as we know it has its roots in the Jewish meal which is celebrated Friday by Friday in a Jewish home. It is around a meal that one is able to enjoy the company of others. Just think back to the times in your own life when something important has been celebrated, it has normally been done within the context of a meal. It is important that as the family of God, we meet together around a meal. Later on this morning there will be a meal that will be shared together by the members of this family, God’s family – Corpus Christi. It is important that families at home take time to sit down at the family table and have a meal together. I think that in this modern or post-modern world in which we live, we have lost the ability to share experiences around a table and enjoy a meal together. As our diocese begins to focus on building houses into homes, so we need to reclaim this element of family life for ourselves. It is one of the aspects that we can control within our homes. We need to make time to be together and to share a meal together. We need to be able to share our hopes and our joys, our thanksgivings and our concerns, within the context of a meal. Our Holy Communion in its structure allows us to do just that, as we meet around the altar week by week. Our communion binds us closely together so that we will become one. Think of those beautiful words from that modern hymn: Bind us together Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken…’ And so ‘Everything the Lord has said, we will do’.

Holy Sacrament: Our Holy Sacrament means that Christ is truly present amongst his people. Christ is present in the here and now because of us. As St Teresa of Avila said: ‘Christ has no hands, but yours; he has no voice, but yours …’ We are therefore called to be Christ in and to the world. We are being called to be Corpus Christi, in and to the world. Again a modern hymn comes to mind: ‘Brother/sister let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you…’ So we are called to be servants, to serve those in our families, in this family; to serve those with whom we interact on a daily basis; those who are marginalized in society, those who I have mentioned earlier on in the sermon, they are the people to whom we have to be Christ. We need to be able to show Christ to others so that they might be drawn into this wonderful caring and compassionate group which we are. There has to be outward looking otherwise we will become too concerned with our own needs and not the needs of those who so desperately want our love and care. Are we being Corpus Christi? So we must do ‘everything the Lord has said’.

The Mass: In the Mass we identify with Christ’s obedience. Here we have been given an example that we have to show forth obedience in our lives. We are called to be obedient to God’s call on our lives. There are many passages in the scriptures which tell us that we have to be obedient, as the words from Psalm 40 tell us: ‘…my ears you have marked for obedience… and in the scroll of the book it is written of me that I should do your will…’ How fortunate we are that we have the example of our Lord before our eyes who was obedient to what his loving Father called upon him to do in his life. Once again the challenge: ‘everything the Lord has said, we will do’.

And in conclusion I believe that if we allow ourselves to take each one of these in turn, we will be able to become more of the Body of Christ, Corpus Christi, to all God’s people in the different world’s in which we live.

‘Everything that the Lord has said, we will do’ these words need to become a vital part of how we interact and engage with the world as we share God’s love that He has given to us and which he commanded us to share. And so as we are nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist today, may our Lord be always at the centre and heart of our church and also at the centre and heart of the lives of each one of us as we become Corpus Christi. Amen

Pentecost 2009

2009-06-05T17:56:00.000+02:00

Dear friends

Religion & Philosophy

In our last magazine I reflected on “The Nature of our Easter God”. I sense that some found it a little esoteric. Our Clergy Retreat director had focused on Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), a Dominican, who obtained his Magister in Theologia in Paris. Towards the end of his life he was accused by his Archbishop of heresy, for which he seems to have been largely exonerated, except for a few statements that it appears he recanted. His writings have influenced some of the major German philosophers and he is considered one of the foremost Christian Neo-Platonists of the 14^th century. The challenge of the retreat – for me – became a call to allow God to truly be God, and not to limit him with my own humanity.

Leave

It was wonderful to have a full three weeks off! Parish Council informed me it was time to stop taking little bits of time off and get serious about recreating! We spent a wonderful ten days in Pringle Bay in the Cape followed by a weekend in Cape Town with very good friends from our Nelspruit days (the Cape weather was idyllic!). We came back via Bloemfontein so Dawn could put in two days work. Time off is always good, so good in fact that I will be taking some time off in July to go to Botswana with Dawn’s Dad.

Our time was not without its trauma. Just before we left, during a wedding reception on the Friday at which I had officiated, the Groom’s uncle was shot dead during an attempted hijacking, which rather threw the proceedings into some chaos. As the Groom’s family are part of our friendship group going back twenty years, and I’d spent the evening talking to the victim, the whole event was deeply traumatic. It appears the victim taunted the hijackers, and that he may have been shot with a weapon stolen from the hotel room of one of the guests at the wedding: sometimes we South Africans are our own worst enemies.

While we were in Cape Town our two children were involved in a very early morning car accident here in Pretoria: fortunately only a shoulder dislocation (from not wearing a seatbelt in the back) and bad bruising (from wearing a seatbelt in the front). It was a friend’s car, and not their fault, fortunately. On our way into Bloemfontein – thanks to the GPS – we ended up in the taxi-rank at 5pm, and looking like sitting ducks (two ‘Whities’ with GP registration and luggage on the back seat) we became the focus of a Smash&Grab in which Dawn lost her handbag … with I.D. … and Drivers License … and Bank Cards … !

Politics & our Future

The last month has been dominated by the elections, the inauguration of our new State President, the announcement of a new Cabinet, and a somewhat immature interaction between Helen Zille of the DA and the ANC Youth League and MK Military Veterans Association. Despite my qualms about Zuma I agree with Zapiro that the “shower head” should be suspended, and both Zuma and the new Cabinet be given time to prove their worth. Zuma’s inauguration speech and new Cabinet show some reflection of Obama’s inclusiveness, and I look forward to a possible new era for South Africa … time will tell! On an economic front it has been interesting to see the Rand strengthen on the news of a free and fair election process, and on the announcement of the new Cabinet. COSATU’s attempt to block the listing of Vodacom on the JSE has seen the first bump in the Rand’s value; and one wonders what the true agenda of COSATU is in this action – perhaps testing their strength under the new political dispensation?

Life – what fun!

In rereading the above, it strikes me that life, especially in South Africa – and probably Africa as a whole – is never dull! And we need to reflect on where God fits into it all. We carry misconceptions of God’s purpose as God, and often these are driven not by incorrect teaching but by our own need as human beings. We ask the question “Why?” of God, and become distrustful of God because God appears to be rather diffident to our need. God chose in Jesus to become incarnate in our world: Emmanuel – God with us. He remains incarnate through the presence of the Holy Spirit. And God’s purpose is just that: to be present. God is with us through the power of the Holy Spirit; not to save us from hardship, trauma, difficulty; but to walk beside us, with us, as a companion and friend, as a helper, as one from whom we can draw strength, comfort, and hope.

As Christians we are called to live this out, to be ourselves this presence in the world and in the lives of others. We are called to involve ourselves in human development, to give of ourselves and our resources; to make a difference that is different because it is part of us, not separate from us. Too often we involve ourselves in acts of charity, and not in self-giving. Charity too often equates to hand-outs; self-giving brings about transformation.

This is our country, our Nation, our society, our community: we have responsibility. How is God’s presence visible through us, God’s Body, God’s community, God’s Church?

Thank You

Thank you to all who contributed to the very generous Easter Offering that I received this year. It is a demonstration of your love, and is enhanced with your care and friendship. Thank you so much!

Mark

Easter 2009

2009-04-02T09:50:00.005+02:00

Dear friends

The Nature of our Easter God

In reflecting on our recent Clergy Retreat where we were challenged to not just expand our spirituality, but to seek greater depth, I realise that I need to re-explore my understanding of God. The complication is that I am comfortable with the ‘limited’ God I believe in; the God defined by Christian doctrine and Anglican tradition.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refuse to worship the ‘God’ of plaster and gold – imposingly 27 metres high and almost 3 metres wide – created by King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3); and I ask why did Nebuchadnezzar find it necessary to create such a God? His anger at the three’s refusal to bow down in worship seems to have little to do with the ‘God’ and more to do with his own desire to control: “Who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands?” Nebuchadnezzar asks. He clearly believes this wondrous statue has no power, yet demands its worship.

And so I reflect on my ‘limited’ God, as magnificent and wondrous as my Christian faith and Anglican tradition proclaim God to be; and I wonder how much I truly believe, how much I –like Nebuchadnezzar – seek to use God as a form of control in a world increasingly chaotic?

I do not question God, exactly, but the limits we have placed on God. Can God be defined? If so, what drives us to define God? And if not, why do we place so much effort into doing so? And then what is the basis for our Easter hope?

Scripture and human experience point to God being both absolute and infinite.

That which is truly absolute and truly infinite cannot really be defined by what it is or is not (define ‘0’ for me …), but only, perhaps, by what it is greater than. To do otherwise is to declare it finite, and what is finite cannot really remain absolute. And so, because I am limited in my use of words, in my ability to fully imagine an absolute and infinite God, I – like Nebuchadnezzar – create a ‘limited’ God, designed to my own specifications, empowered by my own need and human limitations, and I become unhinged when you challenge my creation.

I am thus challenged to begin to believe in God who is always substantially greater than my ability to define ‘God’, who is continuously ‘beyond’ my understanding, who remains absolute and infinite ‘mystery’. Anything and everything else is anathema, without substance, without power, without true existence; unless it is embraced in the absolute and infinite mystery of God. A reminder, too, that all that I am, all that I have, is through the grace of God: absolute, infinite, mysterious.

I’ve always been attracted to the Baptismal Creed (An Anglican Prayer Book 1989, pg 59) because of its simplicity, its willingness to sacrifice the complexity of belief described by the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. What better describes God than ‘Creator’, ‘Redeemer’ and ‘Life-Giver’? What better describes the absoluteness of God than declaring God to be ‘One’? What better handhold to the absolute, infinite mystery that is God than these concepts?

And yet we insist on defining God further, on making God like us, on using God for our own ends. Idolatry is, then, not the worship of other gods, but the worship of God diminished by our own attempt to define the absolute and the infinite, to demystify the mysterious. And then what is the basis for our Easter hope?

Our limitation of God is most visible in the religious rules and regulations we adopt. We see Jesus in his own context lifting two laws out of the plethora of Jewish rules that define not God, but our response to God: love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind (Deuteronomy 6:5); and love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). And so our Easter hope begins to find value in our active response to God and neighbour.

Our Easter hope is manifest in the activity of the one and only, the absolute and infinite God: Jesus’ death and resurrection reveals God’s faith in us, and God’s gift of abundant life unlimited now by sin or death.

All things become possible because I have faith in God who is beyond my ability to comprehend.

And I respond by caring for my neighbour.

Easter Blessings

Mark

March 2009

2009-03-07T04:45:00.004+02:00

Dear friends

Highveld Election

Thank you all for your sincere prayers leading up to the Elective Assembly. I was deeply disappointed to not be elected, but am at peace and accept this as God’s will at this time. The process has been a deeply affirming experience, both in terms of the process itself, and in the overt joy in the parish that I remain with you for the time-being! It does my soul good to know that I am loved by you all.

Deeper Communion: Gracious Restraint

I commend to you the March 2009 ‘Ad Laos’ (To the People’) communication from our Archbishop, Thabo Makgoba, and enclose it in place of my normal letter to you.

Blessings

Mark

To the People of God – To the Laos

March 2009

Dear People of God

In my last letter, I promised to share reflections on the February meeting of the Anglican Primates (the leaders of our 38 churches around the world).

It was remarkable coming together in Alexandria, a cradle of African Christianity enjoying a tremendously rich Christian heritage though today it lies in a Muslim country. While there we participated in the dedication of St Mark’s, the Anglican Pro-Cathedral. In his sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury reminded us of the need to see Christ in one another, recognising that Christ alone is the foundation of our building and our work, the one who prays in and through us.

By the grace of God, and encouraged by this message, we found we were able to be very frank together about our continuing disagreements over human sexuality, and about the way we handle those disagreements. We prayed, worshipped God, and studied Scripture together, seeking to be faithful to the call of God in Christ, and to discern the Holy Spirit’s leading. We felt that at heart we shared a common concern for the Anglican Communion and a strong desire to see it flourish and remain united. I offered our experiences of holding on to one another in continuing fellowship through all the pains of Southern Africa’s past, as an example of hope and encouragement in our current traumatic divisions. (The Synod of Bishops reaffirmed this message later in February. I hope you have seen the Pastoral Letter which we issued to record our meeting. If not, it is online at www.anglicanchurchsa.org.za. Please pray for Dean David Bannerman as he prepares to be consecrated Bishop of the Highveld.)

At the Primates meeting, we found a fresh spirit of open, respectful dialogue, engaging at a new and deeper level, and we unanimously agreed that our Communiqué should be entitled ‘Deeper Communion: Gracious Restraint’. We approved various measures for going forward, including professionally mediated conversations to try to heal our most painful divisions. We also affirmed the continuing development of an Anglican Covenant through which we can better express our mutual commitment to the ‘bonds of affection’ between us. To sum up – our differences remain, and are serious, but we are determined to tackle them together as far as we can.

We also discussed many other issues that concern the life of Anglicans within our world, among them the situations in Sudan and Gaza, coordination of Anglican relief and development bodies, and the importance of good theological education that helps us live faithfully to the gospel in our many different cultures and circumstances. But at the top of the agenda was Zimbabwe. We issued a strong statement in support of the people and churches there, and urged President Robert Mugabe to respect the outcome of the elections of 2008 and to step down. We called for the implementation of the rule of law and the restoration of democratic processes. We decided a special Representative should travel to Zimbabwe to exercise a ministry of presence and show solidarity. We also proposed various ways of engaging politically with SADC and the African Union.

The world-wide Anglican Communion joined our Province in observing Ash Wednesday as a special day of prayer for Zimbabwe. Thank you for sharing in this. The Archbishop of Canterbury has also launched a worldwide appeal to facilitate aid for Zimbabwe. As I said in Alexandria at the time, ‘If we don't intervene we will be failing God in terms of “when I was hungry you fed me and when I was poor you cared for my needs”.’ (See Mt 25:31-46.)

These verses from Matthew’s gospel were also in my heart when I visited the scenes of fatal flooding in Soweto, and met some of those whose lives had been turned upside down. Flooding has also caused deaths in KwaZulu Natal – and who knows what other disasters may occur before this reaches you. As I said in my messages of support to the Bishops of the affected areas, those who can give practical assistance must do so in response to Jesus’ command; and all of us must pray. We must also take responsibility – as democracy invites us to do – to hold our governments to account in pursuing policies that are environmentally sensitive, and which do not exacerbate the effects of bad weather (for example, through the draining of wetlands, or allowing inadequate urban development); as well as on wider issues of preventing global warming. God gives us the gift of free will in choosing how we treat our world. We must do so wisely, and hold it in trust for the generations that will come after us.

Here in South Africa, we pray for ‘gracious restraint’ as we approach April’s General Election. Across the country, encouraged by civil society groups in which the churches play a leading role, political parties are signing codes of conduct: a promise of respectful behaviour towards one another, in word and action. I hope that Anglicans in South Africa will do what you can to help promote political tolerance and a better understanding of democracy. And may the whole Province join in praying that these elections will be free, fair and peaceful; and that we will elect true and honest individuals, who will dedicate their lives in the service of everyone who lives in this land. We pray also for Mozambique, which is preparing for elections later this year.

‘Deeper Communion: Gracious Restraint’ would also be a good slogan for our Lent and Easter observances! Through ‘restraint’ – stepping back from distractions and complications into a simpler way of being – we can make more space for God in our lives. Penitence and fasting (from anything from food to television!) can help us recognise with greater honesty, and with greater discontentment, how bad it is for us to live without God. For then we have a greater appreciation of, and desire for, how good it is to live with God! And in this way we can be drawn into deeper Communion with him. So may I encourage you to ‘press on’ towards Easter, ‘with eager faith and love’. I pray that you may all be caught up more fully into God’s love for us, shown in Christ’s self-giving on the cross for the sin of the world, as we look forward to celebrating the joy of his resurrection and triumph over evil and death.

Yours in the service of Christ,

+Thabo Cape Town

Rector's Report to Annual Vestry 2009

2009-02-01T19:28:00.005+02:00

A audio version of this report is available at http://share.ovi.com/media/markrdlong.sermons/markrdlong.10131

Dear Friends, it is my privilege to present to you my fourth Rector’s report to Annual Vestry. Easter 2009 will mark the fourth anniversary of my appointment as Rector, and November 2009 will mark the twentieth anniversary of my priesting.

Reflection

We meet today to reflect on the past year and God’s graciousness to us, and to look forward into all that 2009 will be for us. 2008 has been a tumultuous year, and 2009 threatens to be no less challenging. In the midst of global economic chaos, political uncertainty in the Southern African environment, and the disarray of our own personal lives, we have, nonetheless, experienced God’s grace as a Christian community here at Corpus Christi. Perhaps today’s psalm speaks to the focus that has been ours in the midst of all the darkness that the world has thrust, and continues to thrust, into our lives:

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

On God rests my deliverance and my honour; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us. (Psalm 62:5-8; NRSV)

In my report last year I challenged the Euro-centric nature of our parish life, which sparked some honest, but hurtful, responses in the subsequent discussion. The value of that interaction is that some of us have done some soul-searching, and I sense a greater openness to the dreams and hopes of all who call Corpus Christi home. Dawn, as only a wife can, in the midst of my own frustrations and reflection reminded me that I have walked a different path from many and that my experiences in ministry, from my emersion in Township culture in the late 1980’s to my exposure to different cultural expressions of Anglicanism in my varied parish appointments, has given me a perspective on relationships and a vision for the potential of worship in a suburban, inter-cultural parish – such as ours – that can at times be deeply disturbing to others. There are two motivating factors that have driven my vocation: a desire to make God in Jesus Christ known to others, and a deep desire to overcome the obstacles to relationship created by Apartheid in the Southern African context. A Euro-centric outlook, while comfortable for many of us, is not helpful in this ongoing process of transition that affects us as much within the context of the Church as it does in our wider society. It may be that my role is to express the need, and that together we commit to explore the possibilities and walk the journey.

Highlights

Looking back over the last year: a personal highlight was representing the Diocese at the enthronement of the new Archbishop of the Sudan, his Grace Daniel Deng Bul, and helping define our companion Diocesan link relationship with the Diocese of Juba in Southern Sudan; a diocesan highlight was our Diocesan Synod where it was acknowledged that over the last ten years we have, as a Diocese, moved substantially from maintenance to mission, and a new focus on family life, with the catch phrase “turning houses into homes”, was adopted. There have been a number of parish highlights, much of which will be enumerated in the other reports received by Annual Vestry.

One such highlight has been our finances, and the phrase “Abundant Generosity” comes to mind. This may not seem to be very spiritual, but I generally find that the financial strength of a parish is directly proportional to its spiritual depth. Our Generosity Giving income was regularly over-budget resulting in us not needing to dig into funds deposited to cover an expected, but unrealised, deficit in our budget for 2008. Additionally in December we were able to clear the capital amount on our Diocesan Loan taken out to cover the cost of the extension of the church, enabling us to begin 2009 debt free. Further substantial donations were received that have made possible the renovation and extension to our Garden of Remembrance.

Outreach

Our involvement in outreach and mission during 2008 has also been considerable. We participated once again in the Irene Homes Fete and our stall made the highest contribution of the day to the Fete income. We have continued to provide food parcels via Tumelong to vulnerable homes in Maboloko, and with the rising cost in food last year the cash value of this outreach is sizeable. We again hosted a Christmas Party for the Maboloko Haven children and your response to this in gifts and food was inspirational: the children looked quite lost as they received gift after gift. Our involvement with Louis Botha Homes has continued and our “Shrove Sunday” celebration with the children of the house we support has become a Corpus Christi tradition. Our support of Woman Against Rape has also continued in a low-key, but ongoing, generous contribution of the “necessities” for our rape survivors.

Mission

The Gospel reading this morning reminds us of Jesus calling Simon Peter and his brother Andrew into ministry and mission: And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” (Mark 1:17; NRSV). These words remind us of the greatest highlight of 2008, our involvement in the development of a new Anglican presence in the Willows area of Pretoria East. Diocesan Synod acknowledged the growth of this work of mission by declaring the Mission Parish of Equestria. Our ongoing support of this mission effort will be needed for some years to come, and we will contribute a further R40,000 in 2009 towards the support of the Missionary Deacon, the Revd Alan O’Brien, who has taken the Revd Vernon Foster’s place. The formation of the Mission parish of Equestria has meant the closing down of the Anglican Church in Silverton, and the amalgamation of Silverton with what we have called Willow Glen. This process has been a difficult one that has taken up much of my time and energy since June 2008, and I look forward to it bearing fruit under Alan’s leadership in the year ahead. The focus of ministry between now and Easter will be the consolidation of the new Mission Parish, and beyond Easter on growth into the community. This is, perhaps, the opportunity to wish Vernon God’s richest blessings in his new appointment as Rector of Trinity Anglican Church in Lynnwood, and thank him for his dedication in so many varied ways to the formation of what is now the Anglican Church in Equestria; and also to welcome Alan onto the team.

It was agreed at our Council Planning day for 2009 that we need to encourage Equestria to become fully self-supporting by 2012, so that we can begin to throw our energies into developing an Anglican presence in Mooikloof and beyond. The Diocese is in the process of registering a property at the intersection of Garsfontein Road (M30) and the R25. It was agreed at our Council meeting in November that now that we have cleared our loan debt, it is time to take up the challenge of the Special Vestry meeting that approved the extensions to our Church to now raise funds for a building in Equestria; and so this will be the focus of all fundraising in 2009 and perhaps beyond.

Looking ahead

At our Council Planning day earlier this month it was a sobering realisation that no-one who served on Council in 2005 remains. Each year we have had a good balance of new blood infiltrating the ranks of seasoned campaigners. It is with sadness and much appreciation that the Parish bids Mary Verryn and Jeanne Jackson farewell as experienced champions of Parish life at Council level. Their contributions over the years have been considerable, and we trust that they will remain involved in other areas of parish life and ministry.

And so, at least at Council level, it seems we enter a new era. Over the last four years we have worked hard to define who we are, our purpose and our values as an Anglican Christian Community in this part of Pretoria. The challenge that lies ahead is to define our future: Jim Collins speaks of the importance of a BHAG, a big hairy audacious goal; Stephen Covey speaks of a WIG, a wildly important goal. What is our BHAG, our WIG? Certainly, building new Anglican Communities in the East of Pretoria may be a part of this, but only a part. We need something that drives us as a Community and impacts on the communities in which we are placed here in Garsfontein and the surrounding suburbs. I am very sure that God wants us to explore this, yet – as I said to our new Council at the planning day – I am personally struggling to give this definition. I have mentioned before in other settings, and continue to believe that, despite the effort we have put in over the last eight years to improve our facilities here in Garsfontein, from a strategic mission perspective we need to explore centring ourselves on the other side of Hans Strijdom Drive, perhaps purchasing the old NG Kerk facilities at the top of Rubenstein Drive in Moreletapark.

Family Life

One of the important briefs of the incoming Council will be to take up the challenge of the Bishop and Diocesan Synod to involve ourselves in “turning houses into homes”. To this end a portfolio has specifically been set up to focus on areas of parish life that impact on family experience. A number of parenting seminars are being organised focusing on helping parents with drug awareness, self-esteem, discipline and stress. We will be attempting to organise events designed to help us be family together. We also recognise that the impact of the global economic recession touches us all, and are looking at support for those who may be struggling to meet high levels of debt.

Broad-based parishioner involvement remains a key parish value. Are you involved? If not, why not – what is the cause? It is my expectation that you will participate in parish life, no matter how insignificant your contribution may be. Are you over-involved? Why? It is my expectation that you will constantly and consistently invite others to walk with you in the Parish responsibilities you carry. Proactive face-to-face conversations are the best way forward, and will challenge the perception, shared frequently at 2008 Council meetings, that those involved in leadership are over-stretched and over-committed.

Young People

Children’s Church and Teen Church, which have formed the centre around which our ministry to young people has focused during 2008, sees some change this year. Olga Nel and Belinda Holden have resigned in order to focus on their own families, and we need to extend to them both our huge debt of gratitude for the major contribution they have made to our young people and children through this ministry. We welcome Barbara Primmer and Wonder Mutanha, along with others, as they step into Olga and Belinda’s shoes. In addition, our ministry to Teenagers outside of Sunday’s has been given a major injection with the resurrection of “Youth Fusion” – Hilary Davis has acknowledged her passion for this ministry and has gathered others around her to give this ministry new life. Our young people’s response is most encouraging.

The Future

I need to request your most sincere prayers: I have allowed my name to go forward for consideration by the Elective Assembly of the Diocese of the Highveld for election as Bishop. The election will take place on 12 February 2009, and depending on the outcome, could significantly alter all our lives. I covert your prayerful support, both for myself and my family, as well as for the Diocese of the Highveld, and for ourselves as a Parish community. Whatever the outcome, there will be consequences that will affect our future.

Thanks

My specific thanks to our outgoing Council for all you have contributed in giving direction to our Parish life during 2008, and to those who in stepping down have created space for new blood.

Thank you to you all! Our parish life would be diminished without your contribution of time talent and resource, however great or small, significant or insignificant; or just by your presence in our midst. The Kingdom of God is built not by the efforts of the individual, but by the collective multiplication of individual actions. I value you all and I thank you.

MARK R D LONG (Canon)

Rector

December 2008

2008-12-02T01:27:00.001+02:00

Dear friends

Turning Houses into Homes

In my November “… from the Rector’s Desk” I reflected on our new Diocesan Focus on equipping and supporting family life in our church and society. One of the important questions is what Scriptural resources do we have to draw on as we walk this new journey? It is important that our faith interacts with our daily experience if we are to offer ourselves and the world something that has substance and creates renewed relational abundance.

I recently picked up a copy of The People’s Bible Commentary on GENESIS written by the Professor in the School of Theology at the University of Natal, Gerald West. This is a most marvellous book: normally Commentaries are rather intimidating and dry, but this one is a very different animal! It is written as a collection of daily readings, with a brief prayer attached, in language that everyday Christians can deal with, while retaining a very high standard of scholarship. Gerry was my Teen Church teacher some twenty-six years ago, so for me it’s a bit like dialoguing with an old friend!

What particularly caught my eye was the author’s comment in the introduction: “… Genesis does deal with cosmic matters, but on the whole it is about family matters. Most of the stories are about a family, although this family has had to bear the heavy weight of theological and ideological baggage. They can and do, therefore, speak to each one of us about ordinary but important matters, such as the fear of being unable to have children, the responsibilities of having children, the tensions within family; they speak about jealousy, envy, lust, love, forgiveness and trust; they speak about leadership; and they speak about God’s presence and absence in human life” (page 17).

Gerry comments that Genesis frames our reading of the whole Bible, covering as it does everything from a difficult to determine Israelite ancestral period right through to the shift from Persian rule to Hellenistic colonial control of Judah a couple of centuries before the birth of Christ (pages 13,17).

I am using this Commentary for my Advent reading, and am finding it really useful. It is available on http://www.loot.co.za/ for a frugal R156, and will prove worthwhile reading for the New Year.

Children and Teen Education

Critical to our parish family life is our Sunday Children and Teens worship and classes. Olga Nel – who has done and outstanding job for a number of years – has resigned as our Children’s Church Coordinator due to changes in her family and work life. Belinda Holden, who has been the mainstay of our Teen Church, is also stepping back after four years of dedicated service. We have lost a number of our younger teachers to the rigours of student life and studies. Three of our teachers, out of a needed nine (a coordinator plus two teachers per age group), remain to “hold the fort”.

It is particularly important that we find a coordinator with organisational and educational experience, otherwise we will not be able to reopen our Children’s Church in 2009. Please don’t leave this responsibility to others: if you have the skills, please apply. If you know of other parishioners who may be potential teachers, please speak up!

Youth Activities

Hilary and Lloyd, Shane and Liesel, Steve and Sabine, have made a commitment to re-charging our young people in the New Year: there has been a lot of interest shown by our young people, and we hope parents will also join this initiative.

Assistant Clergy

Our congratulations go to Vernon on his appointment as Rector of Trinity Anglican Church, Lynnwood, as from 1 January 2009. Please keep him in prayer as he prepares himself for this new responsibility and ministry.

Mission Parish

Our “baby” in Willow Glen is beginning to grow up! At Synod the decision was made to amalgamate Silverton and Willow Glen into the Mission Parish of Equestria. We await confirmation from the Bishop as to the appointment of a new Missionary Deacon for this mission. Please keep me in your prayers as continue to give leadership oversight to this important missionary outreach.

Tumelong

Jenny Moser, our own “Mrs Tumelong”, has indicated that she wishes to hand on the baton, and give others the opportunity to give leadership to this important social development focus in our parish. Jenny, you have been a giant in our midst, and held the flag high: thank you for your continued badgering and selfless contribution to the cause of the poor beyond our parish boundaries. We salute you for your dedication and the caring example you have given over the years. We know you will remain involved, but acknowledge your need to take some very well deserved rest!

Thanks

As a parish we have had a good year. My personal thanks to you all: your contribution, be it just finding time to attend worship, or greater involvement through time and resources, has enabled us to be about the business of building the Kingdom of God in our needy world. Bless you!

A blessed Christmas and New Year to you all!

Mark

November 2008

2008-10-29T12:04:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Diocesan Synod 2008

Our recent Diocesan Synod was a great event, including a wonderful Diocesan Family Day Eucharist on the Sunday with the celebration of Bishop Jo’s 10th year as Bishop of Pretoria. Among many important areas of church and society addressed by Synod, the following stand out:

New Focus—Turning Houses into Homes

Excitingly, as a Diocese, we have made substantial progress over the last 10 years from maintenance to mission, and this was marked by Bishop Jo’s challenge to the Diocese in his Charge to now focus on equipping and strengthening families by turning houses into homes.

Mission—realignment

As part of a strategic move to realign our structures towards greater effectiveness in mission a motion was passed in principle (to be ratified by DSC in mid-November) to refocus our parish structures: this included the amalgamation of struggling parishes into clusters, moving some from parish to mission parish status, others to parish status. Excitingly, this included the amalgamation of our mission congregation in Willow Glen with the parish of Silverton into the new Mission Parish of Equestria.

A motion was also accepted to form a commission to review our Archdeaconry structures towards greater mission and ministry effectiveness.

Family Life

Our Bishop’s call to focus on equipping and strengthening families comes at a critical point in our social, political and economic context. While we can find much to bemoan in our present socio-political crisis as a nation, there can be no doubt that the breakdown in family life is a significant factor. Partly a cause of urbanisation, partly the rise of individualism (a negative consequence of Western-style democracy), “community” as a way of life, as a place of belonging, is increasingly rare. Families are communities; villages are communities; churches are communities; God, the Trinity, is a community. Huge, sprawling cities are not.

A house is a place, but a home is a relationship; and homes are relational networks for emotional, Spiritual, as well as economic and social, support. A home is more than just a place to sleep and store our clothes. A home is so much more than just a house.

In past centuries, mothers were often the relational centre around which family life revolved. With women, rightly, increasingly gaining economic and political power, this centre has been lost, and society has been unable to redefine the centre, and reform the nature of family into a viable 21st century social structure. The wider Church also appears largely impotent, and even—with people like Angus Buchan, of “Faith like Potatoes” fame, calling people back to an outdated social concept of family—contributing to further family confusion and chaos.

The Bishop’s Charge is effectively a call for us as Church to become creatively involved in reforming family life. We have resources, but we also need a willingness to interpret these resources in a new way for a new century with new challenges. Scripture is a prime resource, built as it is on communities of Faith over the ages, but a resource that needs to be reinterpreted for the times in which we live, rather than just a “cut and paste” job that takes no account of human evolution over two thousand years and more.

We need to re-explore “community”: we need to define how we choose to “belong” and recognise that some of our present choices may be dangerous to our relational, emotional and Spiritual reality; we need to experiment in finding a new centre, one that is not gender specific; we need to recommit to the centrality of meaningful relationships despite a consumerist global society that focuses us on possessions and teaches us a “throw-away” mentality. We need to be less discriminatory and more discriminating; we need to begin to see the wood for all the trees.

I suspect here is much we can learn from each other if we are willing to share, in particular, the areas of family life with which we struggle. A starting point may be to begin taking inventory of the reality of the family we are presently a part of, honestly and without shame.

We are all a part of this journey.

Blessings

Mark

October 2008

2008-09-25T01:51:00.003+02:00

Dear Friends,

Challenging Times

I spent ten days in the Richtersveld this month, followed by the Men’s Fly-Fishing weekend in Belfast. In this brief time our political landscape has changed dramatically, and I have returned to civilisation to find ourselves in a new phase of political transition. The rights and wrongs of the recent actions of the ANC in recalling President Thabo Mbeki from the Presidency can be debated, but the reality is that we are moving into a transition phase that will only find some resolution after a national election is called early next year.

During times of transition, complexity, confusion and uncertainty, we need to remind ourselves of our role as Christians within the broader society. Firstly and foremostly, we need remember our first loyalty is to God through Jesus Christ, that our confidence and security is in God and not in the material world around us. Secondly, that we are ambassadors for Christ in the World, and therefore need to allow our Christian values—not our very real human fears—to dictate our words and our actions: we are called to be symbols of hope in the midst of uncertainty. Thirdly, we are called to be people of prayer and instruments for God’s divine intervention in our society: our words and actions should at all times flow out of our daily times of prayer and devotion.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13:13 (TNIV) says, “… these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” He comments on the nature of love, “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:7; TNIV). In these uncertain times let LOVE be our watchword.

The Richtersveld

I spent a wonderful ten days in the Richtersveld with my father-in-law during September. We were with a group of nine vehicles (eighteen of us plus four young children), and spent a great deal of time driving. We entered through Namibia and spent a night under the most massive cliff I have ever seen on the Manchab River Eco Trail. The Richtersveld itself required regular use of 4x4 (I am definitely “shaken, not stirred”) and some “hairy” moments on some very steep and rocky passes. The scenery was enchanting, and so different. One valley would be incredibly lush, and half a kilometre further the next valley quite desolate. Bare mountains, on closer inspection, were full of life, and the most amazing variety of plants survive in gravel. Klipspringer, Dassies and Ground Squirrels were in abundance, and birds—while few—were all new to me. Two of our camps were on the banks of the Orange River, and one high in the mountains. Some intrepid fishermen managed to haul out a Yellow Fish and Cat Fish were in abundance. We covered over 3,500km in the ten days (500km in the Park), set up camp too many times, but nonetheless it was a truly marvellous experience.

Synod 2008

Next time I write we will be on the other side of our Diocesan Synod. Looking through the Agenda Book there are some interesting topics up for debate, and Synod promises to be a productive time. Please keep this time (2-4 October) in your prayers and thoughts.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Diocesan Family Day service on Sunday 5 October 2008, where we will also be celebrating Bishop Jo’s 10th Anniversary as Bishop of Pretoria.

Blessings
Mark

September 2008

2008-08-28T04:54:00.004+02:00

Dear friends

The Anglican Communion: what it means to be “Church”

In my letter to you all last month I reflected on what it means to be Church. Since then, Lambeth, the decadal conference of Anglican Primates and Bishops from around the world, has come and gone. Excitingly, the conference has strengthened relationships within the Anglican Communion, and despite contentious issues around sexuality, the Communion is, it seems, stronger than ever. This is largely due to the nature of the Conference itself, a deeply spiritual event focused on listening, rather than debate and resolutions. There is a renewed understanding among bishops as to the challenges of mission and ministry in the multitude of different contexts in which they find themselves, and a renewed commitment to support the Archbishop of Canterbury as a symbol of our unity. The threat of schism, overplayed perhaps by the media, did not find light of day, and we thank God that we remain in fellowship with Anglicans around the world. In reflection, our Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, says in his Ad Laos communication: “… when I look back, I realise that most of all Lambeth was about relationships – with Jesus, with one another in Christ, and with the world.” This is something to celebrate!

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, in a reflection to the Bishops post-Lambeth, notes: “First, there was an overwhelming unity around the need for the Church to play its full part in the worldwide struggle against poverty ignorance and disease. … Second, on the controversial issue of the day regarding human sexuality, there was a very widely-held conviction that premature or unilateral local change was risky and divisive, in spite of the diversity of opinion expressed on specific questions. … Third, there was a general desire to find better ways of managing our business as a Communion. Many participants believed that the indaba method, while not designed to achieve final decisions, was such a necessary aspect of understanding what the questions might be that they expressed the desire to see the method used more widely – and to continue among themselves the conversations begun in Canterbury.” We have a lot to be proud of, as Anglicans!

Diocesan Family Day: Sunday 5 October 2008

10:00 at St Mary’s DSG

This is an important Diocesan occasion where we celebrate being part of the wider Diocesan Family. It is also our celebration of Bishop Jo’s 10th Year as Bishop of Pretoria, so an important day for us. It is likely that the preacher will be Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan.

As has become tradition there will be NO SERVICES at CORPUS CHRISTI on this Sunday. I am also aware of the temptation to play golf, visit neglected family, or generally do something other than be part of these BIG events, so my plea is that you breath deeply, put temptation behind you, and come join us at St Mary’s DSG (one of our Anglican Schools in Pretoria) in Duxbury Road, Hillcrest! These days are always fun once one gets there, so please make the effort to join us and be a participant in this event.

As we will be outside, you’ll need to bring a chair, a hat, maybe an umbrella (for the sun, hopefully not the rain) and a picnic for after the service.

Blessings

Mark

August 2008

2008-07-31T10:53:00.003+02:00

Dear friends

What it means to be “Church”

As I write, Lambeth, the decadal conference of Archbishops and Bishops from around the world, is in the second week of meeting at Kent University in the UK. A major focus of their time together is grappling with the definition of “Church” and “Christian Community”, highlighted by the ongoing concern for many that The Episcopal Church (TEC) of the USA may have stepped beyond the boundaries by electing a Bishop (Gene Robinson) who is in an active Gay relationship. In many parts of Africa and Asia homosexual relationships are considered a criminal act, while in the USA and other parts of the world it is recognised as just another way humans celebrate relationships. It seems over two-hundred Bishop’s may have boycotted the conference due to the perceived “permissiveness” of TEC in particular. An Anglican Covenant is under discussion to try to address “orthodoxy” (sound doctrine and practice), but whether or not this will help bridge the large gap in both doctrine and practice around the issue of sexual orientation is yet to be tested. This is not the only issue under discussion, and our Archbishop’s Blog (http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/) is instructive, as is a UK site called “Thinking Anglicans” (http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/).

The Nature of “Church”

In a lecture given on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Ripon College, Cuddesdon (UK) in 2004, Archbishop Rowan Williams had the following to say about the nature of the Church: “… the Church is first of all a kind of space cleared by God through Jesus in which people may become what God made them to be (God’s sons and daughters), and that what we have to do about the Church is not first to organise it as a society but to inhabit it as a climate or landscape.” This brings to mind our parish slogan: “Our lives: a place where others meet Christ.” It is a call not just to live out our faith in life, but to live IN our Faith: to immerse ourselves in God.

Archbishop Williams’ thought is a radical one for many of us who possibly prescribe to the view that, “… the Church is essentially a lot of people who have something in common called Christian faith and get together to share it with each other and communicate it to other people ‘outside’.” Williams’ comments that this view is “… harmless enough … but a good way from what the New Testament encourages us to think about the Church.”

The perspective that Church primarily constitutes a place to be inhabited, not organised, shines a fresh light on what it means to be involved with the Church, with the people of God, and again Williams comments, “When Christ calls, he calls, we are told, into a community with diverse roles and tasks, not into a mass of individuals vaguely looking for things to do …”

This beggars each one of us to ask the question: what role, what task, am I fulfilling? Or am I just vaguely passing through?

[The full text of this lecture can be found at: http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1185].

Gifting

The above brings us back to my comment in my last communication that Hilary Davis, in the Stewardship portfolio, has worked hard to distil questions that will prompt us to acknowledge our individual God-given gifts. The second set of questions is available elsewhere in this magazine – please look at them, and perhaps revisit last month’s magazine for the first set of questions. I am always willing to make time to discuss issues of faith and calling with you, and will be happy to include discussion around how and where you are encountering God and the myriad of gifts he places into our lives. Please feel free to phone and book some time with me.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who made a special effort to make Dawn and I feel special this month as we celebrated our birthdays: we received FOUR birthday cakes (!); we much appreciated spending time with those who could make it around the Braai on Sunday 6 July; we are most thankful for the cards, gifts and fellowship given to us in such abundance!

Web Presence

We are still planning a parish web page, but this seems to be taking a while! In the meantime previous editions of “… from the Rector’s Desk” can be found at

http://fromtherectorsdesk.blogspot.com/

where there is also a link to our parish Picture Gallery, which can also be accessed at

http://picasaweb.google.com/garsfontein.acsa.

Please feel free to browse!

Blessings

Mark

July 2008 - It's in your hands

2008-06-29T16:57:00.005+02:00

Dear friends

46664 – It’s in your hands

At his 90th Birthday Concert celebration in Hyde Park, London, last Friday Nelson Mandela gave a brief, but remarkable speech: “We say tonight after nearly 90 years of life, it is time for new hands to lift the burdens. It is in your hands now.” Madiba has been inspirational both as a person and as a leader, in large part because he has lived and led with integrity. The political landscape, particularly on the African continent, even in the world, is bleak in comparison. We need God to raise up leaders of integrity, able to inspire public confidence and loyalty. But even more importantly we need to hear Mandela’s words, that it is our hands: we have the wherewithal to make a difference. We need to acknowledge our God-given gifting and stand up and be counted.

Broadening the base - encounter

Parish Council has recognised that as a Parish we rely on the few to carry the burden of leadership, mission and ministry. Hilary Davis, in the Stewardship portfolio, has worked hard to distil questions that will prompt us to acknowledge our individual God-given gifts. The first of these questions appear in this edition of the Magazine, and more will appear in the next few months, and I encourage you to wrestle with yourself, with God, with us, so that together we can increasingly be obedient to the call of God on our lives to mission and ministry. Where are you encountering God – in life, in the church, in the world? Where you encounter God is likely to be where God is calling you to develop your calling and ministry further.

Community development

The Diocesan Mission, Ministry & Evangelism (MM&E) programme is moving us into a phase where we begin to consciously focus outwards into the world, and encounter the communities in which we live. Thobeka Mda, in the Community Needs portfolio, has collated your input via the recent questionnaire circulated in the Pewleaflet. A number of ideas have been put forward including interacting with and supporting the Garsfontein Police Station; parenting support; outreach to the various schools and retirement centres in our neighbourhood; the activation of parishioners geographically for mutual support and outreach initiatives. If you have any further thoughts, either on ideas already mentioned or other opportunities, please feed these into the office or directly to Thobeka.

Journeying in discipleship

The recent visit of the Bishop of Reading to the Diocese highlighted the importance of evangelism & mission as a continuing journey, and more specifically that to be a convert is insufficient: one needs to become a disciple (learner) of Christ as well. My initiative in starting a regular Wednesday evening adult Christian education course is in response to this challenge. We are presently reflecting on and discussing aspects of the Apostles Creed, which participants are finding challenging and exciting. While the course is designed in such a way that you can interact when available, I am really encouraging you to set time aside on a Wednesday and take your growth as a Disciple seriously. Attending Sunday Worship, while hopefully uplifting and encouraging, maintains our Spirituality but is not designed to grow us as disciples – additional commitment of time is needed.

My thanks to Les Rudman, in the Ecumenism portfolio, for our weekly Pewleaflet insert on aspects of Anglicanism. This initiative is part of our education development initiative and has grown out of an awareness that if we are going to seek to interact with other Christians in community outreach, it is important that we know who we are as Anglican Christians; that we are confident in who we are and in why we choose to worship in the way we do.

Sunday worship

In case what I’ve said above gives the impression our Sunday worship may not be as important as we think, let me share with you the Benedictine perspective on Sunday Worship from Joan Chittister: “The Rule of Benedict – insight for the Ages”:

It is a day full of tradition and rhythm and rememberings of the simple but important concepts of existence. It is a return to basic truths that are never to be sacrificed for variety and always reinforced through repetition. … the Sabbath is the moment for returning to the surety and solemnity of life, for setting our sights above the daily, for restating the basics, for giving meaning to the rest of the week so that the mundane and the immediate do not become the level of our existence. [page 80]

Willow Glen developments

Diocesan Standing Committee has taken the initiative in expanding the mission to the wider Willow Glen area by encouraging the parishioners of Silverton, who have become unsustainable as a Parish due to various factors, to merge with the congregation developing in Willow Glen. Additionally, Diocesan Trustees have made a decision to sell the Silverton Church plant and property and invest this money in building a new Church and community facility on the Diocesan property in Stellenberg Road in Equestria. Our hope is that in October we will receive Diocesan Synod’s permission for this area to formally become a Mission Parish, centred on Willow Glen/Equestria, but stretching from Silverton in the West through to Silver Lakes in the East, filling the corridor on either side of the N4. Please keep these ongoing initiatives in prayer, and especially Fr Vernon who presently carries this missionary responsibility.

Thank you

It is encouraging in these tough political, social and economic times - with increasing interest rate hikes, fuel prices, and electricity costs - to see our Parish finances still looking so healthy. Parish Council appreciates the sacrifice we know many of you are making to keep to your Generosity Giving commitments. Thank you!

Blessings

Mark

June 2008 - Transformation, Identity & Xenophobia

2008-05-27T16:16:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

from Transformation to Identity

The theme I have constantly returned to during the Easter to Pentecost journey has been “Transformation”: the transformation of Life itself through the death and Resurrection of Jesus; the transformation of the Jesus of History into the Christ of Faith through the Ascension; our transformation through the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost. The Feast of Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ) takes us the next step: identity.

Transformation, Identity and Xenophobia

I have grappled with the resistance I have had even to using the term “Transformation” in relation to our parish life. In reflection I realise that underlying this resistance is the issue of identity: who am I, who are we? What is it to be Human, African, South African? What is it to be a person/community of Faith, Christian, Anglican, a member of the Body of Christ? What is it that primarily defines who I am, who we are?

It strikes me that often we define ourselves not in the more universal terms of being human or Christian, but in terms of particular aspects of our existence: we highlight ethnic priorities or specific traditions; and these have led, ultimately and sadly, to Xenophobic violence in our country. This “Us” verses “Them” dichotomy leads to the breakdown in community relationships. This is true in South African society and in the Church, even at Parish level.

Somehow we need to embrace a concept of “Us” that does not create a “Them”; an “Us” that revels in embracing different perspectives in creative balance; an environment where “They” are “Us”. Perhaps this ultimately is the source of transformation, a transformation where, from a Christian Faith perspective, we become ever more Christ-like, and in so doing become ever more human, recognising that we all are made in God’s image, in the image of the Creator.

Xenophobia and a new Way of Living

The horror of recent and ongoing Xenophobic events in our country point to a failure in Government – but also to the failure of the Church – to build a truly democratic, free society. Yes, the number of refugees from other parts of Africa has reached intimidating levels with the statistic of up to 25% of informal settlements being made up of foreigners. Yes, service delivery has not impacted on the poor in ways they find meaningful. Yes, crime is sometimes perpetrated by foreigners. However, it is largely our own children, the so-called “Born Free” generation – who are estimated to make up 70% of all unemployed people in our country – that are perpetrators of much of the recent upheavals. We as Government, as Civil Society, as Faith Communities, have failed to instil a moral core into our young people; we have failed to give them an identity of which they can be proud; an identity onto which they can build a solid moral code.

And so it hurts that we at Corpus Christi, we who carry the name “Body of Christ”, are so resistant to facing up to the call to be transformed. Within our Parish life we have a wonderful opportunity to explore our diverse cultural heritage, to experiment with what it means for “Them” to be “Us”; to build transformed relationships and community in a way that offers HOPE to our wider society, to our Nation. I hear, “Don’t rock the boat”; I hear, “Things are going well – don’t spoil it”. But what do I see?

What do I see?

Despite verbal resistance, I see transformation in action; I see greater involvement from groupings in the Parish that previously were less visible; I see people who struggle with change reaching out across perceived barriers; I see new relationships germinating; and I feel … yes … sense a new ownership of Parish life growing in people’s hearts. I see a community struggling to find a new path, a transformed identity. We are not there yet, but we have begun a journey. Let us persevere, together.

Blessings

Mark

May 2008 - An East African Journey

2008-05-03T18:47:00.006+02:00

PICTURES: http://picasaweb.google.com/garsfontein.acsa/2008JubaSouthernSudan

Dear Friends

An East African Journey

My trip to Southern Sudan was a growing experience. The cheapest flight was via Ethiopia, which enabled me to spend a day with a friend from the Lowveld who has been living and working in Addis Ababa for the last eighteen months doing agricultural development work. It was good to catch up with him and the development work he is doing. Then it was on to Juba in Southern Sudan for a week.

The Episcopal Church of the Sudan

The Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS) gathered in Juba for the enthronement of their new Archbishop, Daniel Deng Bul, along with partners from the USA (Virginia and Chicago) and the UK (Salisbury and Bradford), Canada, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. The occasion marked the beginning of a new era for the Church and her people. Over twenty years of civil war have left most Dioceses decimated, and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 remains very brittle. Refugees are beginning to return, but are finding few resources in place and many end up at the door of the local Bishop who has little capacity to be of any material help. There are four geographically huge dioceses in the North, and a further twenty dioceses in the South, with at least seven new dioceses planned. Few Dioceses can offer their Bishops much in the way of resources, and many live in grass huts, there being no house for the Bishop, no office, no Cathedral, and no car. Where structures did exist, many have been destroyed during the war, and most Christians worship under trees. Dioceses on the southern borders, such as Ezo, continue to be attacked by the LRA (Uganda) losing seed, communication equipment, even people in these raids. During the war the economy was largely a cashless one, but with the advent of peace and the arrival of various Aid organisations – including the UN – the church is losing professional people to better salaries in these organisations. Clergy (referred to as pastors in the ECS) go largely unpaid and under-trained, and at least one Bishop I spoke with had not received a stipend since December. The ECS is acknowledged by the Government of the Southern Sudan as the largest civil society organisation in the South, and with this acknowledgement comes expectation. The Church finds itself needing to involve itself with agriculture, health and education.

Diocese of Juba

As the Diocese of Pretoria we are looking to develop a relationship with the Diocese of Juba, the host Diocese of the Archbishop. I met with the assistant Bishop, Micah Laila Dawidi, of Juba and some of the Diocesan staff to get some idea of the challenges. The real need for Juba – and other dioceses – is for capacity building. The Diocese of Juba is made up of three areas: the Archdeaconry of Terekeka (to become a new Diocese); the Archdeaconry of Wonduruba (reached via the neighbouring Diocese); and the Archdeaconry of Juba Town. The Archbishop is keen that Pretoria journey with Juba in the area of education. Juba has nineteen church schools – 8 pre-schools, 10 primary schools and 1 secondary school – catering for over six-thousand learners. There are two teachers per classes of ninety to one-hundred and fifty children. Government is busy withdrawing financial support for teaching staff in church schools even though results show these schools are producing a higher level of excellence than government institutions. Fees are around USD$60 per year, and salaries range from USD$250 per month for a primary school teacher to USD$600 per month for graduate teachers in secondary schools. Juba has a Theological College with resources for training up to fifty pastors, but this is presently closed due to lack of funds. There is a shortage of medication and many clergy and laity live with untreated diseases such as high blood-pressure due to lack of treatment or lack of funds for treatment. The Diocese runs a health centre – the Clinic of St Luke – but this is often closed due to shortage of both funds and medication. It is estimated that around one-million people now live in Juba, many of whom remain traumatised by the war. There is a lack of manpower, with many intellectuals having been targeted and killed during the war, and training of both clergy and laity is priority. The Government is not helping with the reconstruction of Church buildings, although some effort is being made with schools and clinics. The Juba Diocese owns a few buildings which are rented out to NGO’s, which along with small projects such as the sale of eggs provide limited income to meet the Bishops’ stipends (USD$200 per month) and salary costs (USD$100 per person per month) in the Diocesan Office. The Diocese has one vehicle, a motorbike that is used by the development officer. The Diocesan Office is in need of repair, and additional space.

It seems the Youth is strong in the Juba Diocese, but with peace has come greater expectations: modern musical instruments, a club for youth to meet. A Sunday School syllabus has been produced and printed, but remains in storage as no money or vehicle is available to transport this resource to the parishes. HIV/AIDS is a growing problem, and forty-two councillors have been trained in Street Theatre and counselling skills through a UK grant, and are working with Provincial Church structures as well as the Southern Sudan Council of Churches.

I raised the idea of Pretoria providing a sabbatical option for clergy and bishops. The general response was that, despite the trauma war has caused, the needs on the ground are too great to allow people substantial time-out, and that many have only recently returned from exile and are needed to help rebuild the country and the church. There was a positive response from Bishop Micah of Juba to short-term, experiential visits that would build capacity through specific training events, but greater interest in our sending individuals to Sudan for periods of two weeks to a month to run intensive training/capacity building courses.

Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)

The CPA caused me to miss an opportunity to be shown around the Diocese of Juba, as the Census – due to be taken the week before, but due to the exclusion of a question on ethnicity and one on religious affiliation, was nearly aborted but agreed to for the following week – required all Sundani to remain “inside” for the duration. This meant we were tied to the Lodge for the day. The American delegation arranged for the American Consul, Christopher Dada, to address the Bishops in the afternoon, a very interesting interaction. The Census is the first of three important steps in the implementation of the CPA, which includes elections in 2009 and a referendum as to whether Southern Sudan will separate from the North in 2011.

Local Custom

In east Africa everyone drives on the right-hand side of the road, a little off-putting as I was nearly squashed on a couple of occasions looking right and stepping out blithely into traffic coming from the left! Also, instead of a family name, people (men and women) in east Africa use their father and grandfather’s names, which leaves one feeling a little lost as to who belongs to whom, but explains why everyone uses three names. In the Sudan one greets with a hand to the left shoulder, followed by a hand-shake, although Westerners are often just greeted with a handshake.

Accommodation

Accommodation in Juba is hugely expensive: I was privileged to stay at the White Nile Lodge along with the Sudanese Bishops. There is a government tax of 25% on such accommodation, and all electricity is provided by generators that chug into the night, providing air-conditioned bliss in temperatures of 36˚C and high humidity. This said, USD$120 got one a prefab sauna (room) - the other option was a tent – with bathroom: cold water, a shower that leaked through the bedroom wall, and a toilet so close to the wall one needed to detach one’s legs at the hip to use it! The mattress was new and of sturdy foam! To sit, sipping bottled water, watching the White Nile flow past, was a treat!

Gift

I presented the Cathedral of All Saints, Juba (the Cathedral in Khartoum is also called “All Saints”) with a Prayer Book as a gift from all of us at Corpus Christi. This gift was much appreciated, especially as the Sudan is in the process of reviewing and hopefully publishing its own Prayer book in the near future. I was presented with a wooden carving of a Rhinoceros as a symbol of the people of the Sudan and a locally made hand-bag for Dawn. I was also presented with a ornate walking stick for Bishop Jo, and a wooden cut-out map of the Sudan as a focus for prayer.

Blessings

Mark

April 2008 - The Transformation of Resurrection

2008-04-01T17:46:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

The Transformation of Resurrection

In my letter to you all last month I spoke of transition. Easter speaks of something more: transformation! Some may say, “Yes, yes, it’s all words …” and you’d be right. However, each word gives us a different perspective, highlights a different facet of the diamond that is life in God. How has your life been transformed, how is it being transformed, as you grow in relationship with God and God’s people? Are you encountering God in life, in worship, in relationship? Where are you encountering God in your involvement with Corpus Christi? Do people encounter God as they encounter you? You and I, we … are called to be instruments of transformation in our families, our friendships, our society and our nation, our world. To be transformed by the resurrected life of Christ is to be the same, but different; to be aware that as we accept Christ into our lives we, too, are risen! At Corpus Christi our primary core purpose is to be a place where others meet Christ: how is your life an instrument of love in the world of others?

I encourage you to dwell on these questions as the answers may not always be immediately obvious, but they are there.

A Dream

In my reflection last month on our need to be a community in transition towards greater inclusivity I shared that for me it is “a dream” that as yet has no great clarity. In further reflection I realise that the exposure I have received as an Anglican Priest forms the foundation of my vision for our future. Perhaps I need to share something of my journey …

… a Stretching Journey

I was dragged up in a largely liberal-English fashion in a home where people were always acknowledged as people, no matter their creed or colour, and a grandmother who had been an active Black Sash member. My early life was, however, marred by Apartheid in that few opportunities arose in Apartheid South Africa to meet and interact meaningfully with so-called “non-Europeans”. My exposure to other South African cultures was sadly lacking. I became conscious during my two years of mandatory National Service in the mid 1980’s that for me black people had no individuality, and that I needed to set this right. This led to an overnight move at the end of my two years in the South African Defence Force to living in Garankuwa (North-East of Pretoria) and sharing a mission house together first with Kabelo Thlokoe (who sadly never made it to Priesthood) and then with Gilbert Mashiane (from Mamelodi) and Johan Viljoen (the son of an Apartheid Ambassador), while studying Missiology part-time in Pietermaritzburg with some very radical young black fellow-students.

This move was probably the most stretching of my life as I was immersed in anti-apartheid structures and conscientised for the first time in my young life to the realities of life on the other side of the Apartheid coin, a painful place. My worldview was transformed, and left me in a lonely place: my friends no longer understood me, and seemed uncomfortable with my new perspective on life; my new environment was an uncertain and uncomfortable place; a position in which I had chosen to immerse myself. This journey also absorbed me in the breadth of Anglicanism, and especially in the invigorating worship environment of township communities; and new friendships in a new environment; new, different insights into what it means to be a Christian in South Africa. A stretching journey that began to inform my desire for a comprehensive, broad Southern African Anglican inclusivity.

In White River, my first posting as Rector, I had responsibility for a largely English-colonial community in town, and responsibility for the township parish in Kabokweni made up largely of Swazi people, as well as mixed African-cultural groupings in Bushbuckridge and Shatale. I was then posted to Nelspruit, a largely English and Indian parish, while also having responsibility for Kanyamazane. I was in Nelspruit towards the end of the 1990’s and we saw a number of black folk move into town and into the parish during this time, which for some reason was more threatening to the Indian community than the English. As Chaplain to Uplands College I encouraged tutor groups to lead the prayers, and individuals had the right to use any language they chose – the most challenging (and creative) moment being when a Muslim student stood up and prayed the Lord’s Prayer in Arabic! Now at Corpus Christi, the most integrated Sunday community I have ever served, I also carry responsibility for the Anglican community in Stanza Bopape.

Stanza Bopape, as those who occasionally join me there from Corpus Christi will attest, is an amazing experience of inclusive language: the Psalm is said antiphonally, the odd verses in Setswana/Sepedi and the even verses in isiZulu/isiXhosa. The Eucharistic responses happen in all four languages at the same time, and the Lord’s Prayer in English (I think for my benefit).

The point I am making is that in twenty years of ministry my weekly/monthly worship-life has always been diversely inclusive, even if in quite culturally-specific congregations; regular worship in different languages and cultural patterns is “normal” for me.

Ministry in the Anglican Church and specifically in the Diocese of Pretoria has given me, from the earliest days of my training, a vision for what we can be as the people of God, for the unity that is possible in the midst of our huge diversity.

Possibility

As I look out over our Sunday congregation at 9am I see for the first time in twenty years, in a congregation I serve, a real possibility of being reflective of the unity we find in Christ in our fuller diversity as Anglicans and as Southern Africans. And thus my pressure on us to reach out towards a greater inclusivity in worship styles and cultures. I am aware that this is a stretching vision for us, one with which many in our community are not comfortable, and that even limited use of other languages has created distress. I am an eclectic at heart, which possibly adds to the discomfort, as my desire to piece together the best of our diversity often lacks specific focus and so appears to raise its head in creative disorder.

We have the building blocks; each of us is resourced with language and cultural experience and a relationship with God through Jesus Christ; do we have the will to make it work? And do we have the courage?

It requires a letting go … of what has been “normal” at Corpus Christi … and what has been “normal” in our diverse congregations-of-origin. Do we have the courage to let go … and be transformed?

POST SCRIPT – Thank you

Thank you to all at Corpus Christi and Willow Glen for your generous Easter gift to me – I greatly appreciate your love shown in this very concrete manner!

POST SCRIPT – Sudan

As the Chairperson of the Diocesan Companion Links Committee I will be attending the enthronement of the new Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) in Juba. As a Diocese we are attempting to develop a Companion Link with the ECS Province, and so I will hopefully also be able to explore possibilities for this relationship – one the recently retired former Archbishop was keen to develop – with them while I am there. Please keep the new ECS Archbishop, Daniel Deng Bul, in your prayers as he leads the ECS during a critical phase in the national life of Southern Sudan. Please keep me in your prayers, too. I will be away from 16 to 24 April 2008.

Blessings
Mark

A Response to the Eucharistic Prayer

2008-04-01T17:40:00.001+02:00

Our physical response in prayer is an important symbolic response to God and his love for us. As Anglicans we are used to kneeling for prayer, a sign of complete submission before God. I was struck, recently, while watching a documentary in which the Queen Elizabeth II was bestowing a knighthood that as this person knelt before her it would have been as easy to whip off his head as it was to tap him gently in the shoulder! Kneeling is the most vulnerable physical position the human body can adopt … and so rightfully our attitude in prayer.

We adopt this position during the Eucharistic Prayer, generally after the Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy Lord …). The question, though, is why?

There are perhaps two responses: we respond to the word “prayer” and fall on our knees; in our previous Book of Common Prayer the Eucharistic Prayer was understood to be the work of the Priest, not the congregation, and so we meditated in prayerful attitude while this work was completed.

The (almost 20 years old!) new Prayer Book, An Anglican Prayer Book 1989 (APB) presents a different attitude to the Eucharistic Prayer, describing the Priest – in the bishop’s absence – as the one who “presides” over the Eucharist Service. The Priest is no longer described as the “Celebrant”, a term used in the Book of Common Prayer. The implication of this change is that the Priest now presides over the congregation, and the congregation celebrates: the Eucharist is now the work of Priest AND congregation, no longer just the Priest.

This changed (dare I say “transformed”?) attitude to the Eucharistic Prayer is backed up by the words in the first Eucharistic Prayer, “… we your people celebrate before you …” (APB pg 119) and in the second Eucharistic Prayer, “… we celebrate with this bread and this cup …” (APB pg 121) and in the third Eucharistic Prayer, “We thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you.” (APB pg 124) and in the fourth Eucharistic Prayer, “… we offer/bring before you this bread and this cup…” (APB pg 126) and “… giving thanks that you have made us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you” (APB pg 126).

And so the Eucharistic Prayer is transformed from meditative prayer to celebration. And how do we celebrate? – very rarely on our knees!

The Parish Ministry Team and Council have discussed this at length, and believe it is right that we should adjust our physical response from kneeling after the Sanctus to standing, and to kneel for the first time at the Lord’s Prayer or Prayer of Humble Access (We do not presume …). This said, we also recognise that for some members of the Parish, kneeling for the Eucharistic prayer may be a deep part of one’s spirituality developed over decades, and so while we are encouraging everyone to stand, it is not obligatory! Additionally, we are aware that for some it is physically difficult to stand for long periods and a medical condition may require one to sit.

In Scripture we see a number of physical responses to encounter with God from falling on one’s face prostrate, to kneeling, to standing, to standing with one’s hands uplifted. Rarely, however, does anyone ever seem to sit in response to a Divine encounter – and so perhaps should only be a response if a medical condition applies!

Hopefully the above is helpful, particularly to those who were not present when this was discussed at our various Services in early March.

The Rector