Churchwardens' Report to Annual Vestry 29 January 2012

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

Once again, the outgoing Council and Churchwardens would like to thank Father Mark for his dedicated leadership and hard work during the year.  We have experienced a further growth in numbers, and have succeeded in more than filling the extension to the Church completed in 2007. We also extend our thanks to those who carry out their roles in front of the congregation, namely the ministry and music teams and servers, as well as those behind the scenes, the sides people, sacristans, flower providers and tea suppliers, and not forgetting Cynthia who keeps the church spick and span, as befits a house of worship.  We are also extremely grateful for the services of Father Julian and Father Danny, who have always been ready to stand in 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 of confirmation and baptism classes.  The good news is that he will be ordained to the priesthood on 19th February, and we wish to offer him our sincere congratulations on this major step forward in his church career. A very important characteristic of Corpus Christi, which is evident 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 a small but faithful group, and a twice monthly service at the Glenhaven Old Age Home, which is much appreciated by the Anglican members of that community who are no longer able to travel to church on a regular basis.

The administration of our parish affairs continues without hitches, thanks to Cheryl.

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

The Diocesan Synod was held in September, attended by your churchwardens.  Many subjects were discussed, 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 was celebrated with a Parish lunch and spit braai, and was a great success.  This also marked the inauguration of the Corpus Christi Family Cross, which has since a week in the homes of a number of parishioners, coupled with a visit from members of the ministry team to celebrate evening prayer with the family, and sometimes, friends.  Those families who have hosted the cross so far have all found it to have influenced their lives in a very positive sense.  The cross will hopefully continue to 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 a family of children there.  As this family is moving on we need to find someone to take over from her to continue the good work.  Any volunteers?  We have also supplied a good number of food parcels to Tumelong Mission, thanks to Leezal Peterson. The Corpus Christi tea garden at the Irene Homes Fete was a great success last year, thanks to dedicated motivation from Mary Verryn. Once again the Christmas party at Maboloko Haven was also very well received with more children than expected arriving, but all left satisfied.  Elsje Rudman 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 improved by the addition of a fixed platform outside the North door of the hall, the addition of gutters and the painting of the walls and the clearing of the passage between the hall and the fence. The existing Borehole was tested and fitted with a pump enabling the sprinkler system to be fully utilized.  We also have a new signboard to welcome old and new parishioners.  Our thanks to Peter Davies for all his efforts to improve the property.  The property has now been fitted with “Green Lighting” using new concept lights to illuminate the car park and in the church.  This qualifies us for a rebate on the cost of procurement and installation as well as enabling an estimated saving of 25 to 30% in electricity bills, so that the initial cost should be recovered in three to five years.  This also means that we are contributing to making a difference to the environment.

Inside the church, the chairs used by the ministers which were a gift from a parishioner many years ago, have been reupholstered and 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 all those others who have contributed to our parish life in many ways as well as by occupying the pews on Sunday mornings.

Tuelo Mogashoa

Lex Jackson

Peter Davies (Alternate).

May 2010

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

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

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!

August 2007

Dear Friends

Rector’s Birthday Bash Braai

Thank you to all who were able to attend. Thank you, too, for the gifts: I much appreciate your thoughtfulness and care. The weather was great – a balmy winter day – as was the company. It was really just an excuse to get together and share in fellowship with one another!! Life is good!

On being Anglican

In a world where the Christian Faith seems increasingly under attack, be it from Islam in North Africa, or from secularism in the West, there is an increasing move to highlight the importance of Ecumenism (different Christian Denominations/Churches working together) in reaching our various communities with the Christian Gospel (Good News). As Anglicans we are part of the Christian Unity Commission (CUC) that is made up of Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists; we recognise each others Sacramental rites and orders based largely on our joint “Reformed” theological heritage. For example a Methodist Minister can be licensed to serve an Anglican Parish without being “re-Ordained” by an Anglican Bishop. There are some anomalies in the ordering of the CUC relationship that create a certain amount of confusion, such as in the Methodist Church the Minister confirms, and in the Anglican Church it is the Bishop and not the Parish Priest. We recognise Roman Catholic rites and orders, although they do not recognise ours. We work closely with the NG Kerk, although they are not part of the CUC, but also “Reformed” in their thinking. We share many commonalities, even with some Pentecostal Churches, yet we are different.

Is this difference relevant? Why make a commitment to a specific denomination, such as Anglican? Can’t we just be Christian?

For many older members of our community at Corpus Christi being Anglican is part of their/our identity, and as much as we don’t change human families because we may have a disagreement, or think differently, nor do we change Churches – we’ll attend the Anglican Church no matter what it is like. Why? Because we are Anglican! For the younger generation it is different, the “Brand” is less important than the relational environment: we’ll change at the drop of a hat if a move will enhance our relational experience. This is true not only in the Church environment, but also in the social/business sphere. Many of our older generation have been Baptised and Confirmed Anglican. For many of our younger generation Baptism and Confirmation will have taken place in different denominations, and possibly neither Anglican.

Every denomination has an “Ethos” – that aspect that lies beyond the commonalities of simply just being Christian. As Anglicans we have an “Ethos” that defines the underlying spirituality of our life and teaching; that impacts on the manner in which we worship, the way we interact with the wider world. Anglicans are deeply Incarnational, reflecting both the spiritualities of St Benedict of Nursia and St Francis of Assisi. Anglicanism is foremostly about “Presence”, being Christian rather than doing Christianity. For Anglicans Confirmation preparation is not only about being Christian, it is also about the manner in which we as Anglicans choose to practice our faith.

Confirmation

Our Confirmation process attempts to prepare candidates in the Christian Faith, while giving them the opportunity to imbibe our Anglican “Ethos” and explore something of the greater symbolism of our worship practices and opportunities. One of those opportunities is formal Sacramental Confession (An Anglican Prayer Book 1989 page 445). I was made aware, once again, of the importance of this particular opportunity during the Confirmation Camp last weekend: the candidates anxiety levels were high … the relief afterwards palpable, both in terms of now having it behind them, but also in terms of being able to express their wrongdoing and need in an environment that did not lead to punishment or censure; and I appreciated the seriousness and comprehensiveness of each one’s confession.

I am saddened by attempts to shortcut the process, especially when I see the value it adds to the lives of those who have walked the more difficult path. Rumour has it that since we have implemented the Diocesan requirement of a two-year preparation process for Confirmation both here and in Waterkloof young people are choosing to continue worshipping with us, but have been Confirmed through the Methodist Church, a much shorter process. I don’t believe this is acceptable, and am further saddened that there has been no parental consultation with myself as the parish priest, if rumour is true.

Becoming Anglican

An Anglican Prayer Book 1989 reflects our awareness that as Anglican communities we have not all been brought up Anglican, and that our entrance into the Anglican Church may have been more recent than our Baptism or Confirmation events. There is a service on page 399 where, after emersion in Anglican worship and teaching, those who have grown up and been Confirmed in other Church environments can be officially welcomed into the Anglican Church by the Bishop. In other words, there is a difference between being a worshipping and communicant member of an Anglican Parish, and actually being Anglican – the only possible exception being if you have joined from one of the CUC churches, and even then you are welcome to go through this process. I am exploring finding a time to run a course on “Essential Anglicanism” – if you would be interested, please speak to me.

In Conclusion

In closing, some questions for reflection: Why do you choose to express you Christian Faith within an Anglican environment? Why have you chosen Corpus Christi as that Anglican environment?

Blessings
Mark

April 2007

Dear Friends

Church Growth

I attended a two day Church Growth seminar last week. Substantial input was given by Eddie Gibbs, presently outgoing professor of Church Growth at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. Eddie has been an Anglican Priest for over 44 years (longer than I have been alive!) and spoke with great excitement for where the Church finds itself today. There are many challenges as the “landscape” has changed as society moves into a post-modern and increasingly post-Christian mode. Two key characteristics of church ministry in this emerging paradigm are that the context is increasingly multi-cultural and mission becomes increasingly effective when it has an ecumenical base. This, however, requires that we become more centred and aware of our own denominational and faith base, and become more radical within our own denominational environment. I asked Eddie Gibbs how he would define a “Radical Anglicanism” – his reply:

By “radical” I mean someone who is living in conformity with the radical message of Jesus – i.e. The Gospel of the Kingdom. This is helpfully and fully spelt out by Bp. N.T. Wright, bishop of Durham in a series of books on Jesus. I hope this helps.

Our Lent course, for the few who attended, has been helpful in this regard by helping us to understand the breadth of Christian Spirituality, both in giving us clearer understanding of those aspects that shape our more traditional Anglican outlook and in giving us a better understanding of what shapes Christians in other denominational environments. It is important that we develop confidence in who we are as Christians and as Anglicans.

Values, Morality and Ethics

As I write this I am attending our Diocesan Clergy School, hosted and directed by UNISA. We have had some outstanding input from various high-calibre academics, including our Anglican sub-Dean Prof. Barney Pityana (also vice-Chancellor of UNISA). We have been exploring what the church’s role is in helping our society rebuild its value base, while exploring the diversity of our call in dealing with the various moral challenges all South Africans face, asking how we reclaim our prophetic voice. Again, the importance of good ecumenical relationships has been raised so that the church speaks with “one voice”, rather than with a fragmented denominationalism. There is a call to re-explore the message of Jesus, to regain a radical commitment to the Kingdom of God as put forward by Jesus, and as experienced in the early church, to be relational rather than legalistic in our interpretation both of Scripture and Tradition.

We have been reminded that poverty should remain one of the church’s main preoccupations, that an “option for the poor” is preferential and not exclusive (i.e. not an “option against the rich”), and that transforming the plight of the poor includes the transformation of the wealthy. Sadly, excessive accumulation of monetary and material wealth is mostly at the expense of the poor. We were asked, “Is inequality ordained by God?” because our lifestyles as Christian people often suggest that it is! Interestingly, while the USA Constitution enshrines “Freedom” as an inalienable human right, our South African Constitution enshrines “Equality”.

In considering the value-crisis in our society within the context of our Constitution and our Constitutional Democracy, we have been asked as Church to consider three important questions:

What is it that undermines our Christian values in the communities in which we live?

How do we “hold the centre” as a faith community, individually and collectively?

How do we become effective moral agents?

The crisis we face, both as Christians and as South Africans, is that our Constitutional Democracy is deliberately misinterpreted for personal (and financial?) gain. Twelve years into our new democratic society there is no consensus or collective commitment to definitive values, even though key values are enshrined in the preamble to the Constitution that include human dignity, human rights and social justice. In South Africa the centre is falling apart as we as a struggle to maintain the consensus gained in 1994, and this is visible in the corruption, crime and other indicators of moral collapse. As Church, we need to exercise authority in bringing people back to the values of the Gospel and values as defined in the Constitution.

Do we have the courage, as Christians and as Anglicans, to regain our prophetic voice?

Blessings
Mark