December 2011 - Hope and Expectation

Dear Friends

Advent

Our new Church Year has begun with our celebration of Advent Sunday last week. We have begun a new journey of Faith on a well travelled road; a journey of reflection and expectation. We will journey this year with the Gospel of Mark, a book built around the arresting conviction that there is no keeping God at a distance. The writer of Mark’s Gospel asks us to reflect on where God is to be found, and suggests 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 these places, but that God is not confined to these spaces, and that these may not in fact be God’s favourite spaces. Now there’s a thought!

Mark’s Gospel, the Good News, is that God is in the 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 the midst of a family disagreement, or in the intimacies I share with my wife. I am not comfortable with God being around when I succumb to road-rage, and share a few choice thoughts with the taxi driver who has just – suddenly – stopped in front 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 when I NEED you? Where are you when my loved one is ill? Where are you when natural disasters kill thousands? Where are you when war wracks our world? Where are you when the collapses of national economies make the world sneeze and catch cold? Where are you when famine and civil war overtakes our continent? WHERE ARE YOU, GOD?!

“I am around ...”

Hope and Expectation

God is around, in our midst, incarnate, with us. Advent is lived in the expectation that God will act because God has acted. The incarnation (God born in human form in Jesus) took place over two millennia ago, and seemingly paradoxically – believing as we do that God is already with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit – we prepare for his return. Our Church Year is based around the re-enactment, the remembering of the restoring acts 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 our expectations; what is our hope? There is always the temptation to demand that God 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 our lives and society, in the everyday, in the ordinariness of life.

Christmas & New Year

If the speed with which this year has sped by is any indication, Christmas will be here in a blink of an eye! And the New Year will be in swing before we know it. Our Parish Christmas Tea was a huge success last Sunday: a little early, perhaps, but an opportunity to come together as a community before we all head off in different directions for the Christmas break. For those who will be around, please join us for our Christmas Carol Service on Sunday 18 December 2011 at 6pm where we will explore something of the history lying behind some of the better known Carols. There will be the traditional 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 at 9am on Christmas Day. If family or friends are visiting, please bring them along! 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

December 2009

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

December 2008

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

December 2007

Dear Friends

Mission to the World

There is continual need to grapple with this issue. Mission is the Church’s purpose. Scripture, especially Isaiah along with passages like the one at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, is quite clear that this is mission to the Nations, to the wider world. We all too often get caught up in mission to ourselves as Church and forget to reach out, or find reaching beyond ourselves too threatening. We find excuses – often seemingly valid – to not reach out, to remain in our comfort zone. Sometimes it may be that we feel unprepared, uncertain of what to do or say. Often we are so caught up in Church jargon that when we do reach out we speak a language the world doesn’t understand.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, along with others like John de Gruchy (retired Methodist Minister and Scholar), remind us that our starting point in Mission needs to be our common humanity, not our faith perspective. As Christians our faith perspective clearly needs to inform our humanity, but is a “next step” rather than a “first step” in the Mission journey. In starting at the point of our common humanity we avoid the temptation to create an “us and them” scenario, because our common humanity reminds us that there is just “us” – there is no “them”. Scripture (see Genesis 1 and 2) reminds us that all humanity is made in the image of God, not just those who are people of faith. First and foremost we need to learn to speak clearly and loudly the language of humanity, the language that God spoke in the Incarnation (God’s birth into the world in the person of Jesus). We need to immerse ourselves in the world. And then we need to allow God to be present (Emmanuel – God with us) in the world through God’s presence in us.

Our present language is outdated: it developed in an age when the Church was ascendant and in control of society; it no longer makes sense in an increasingly secular and democratic environment. This requires us as Church to begin to learn a new language, one that does not discriminate: a language that is inviting, life-giving; a language that speaks of belonging, of community, of togetherness; a language that affirms our common humanity; a language that creates room for discovery; a language that moves individuals and communities from a point of broken humanity to wholeness. We need to learn this new language if we are to be effective for God’s Mission in the 21st century.

What is this language, precisely? I don’t know, but we need to explore it together.

There is a growing body of literature seeking to help define this new language. New Testament Scholar and Historian, Tom Wright, has some interesting and useful insights. John Suggit, retired Anglican Priest and New Testament Scholar, has just published a rebuttal to Dawkin’s book “The God Delusion”, which also helps grow a new language as we seek to speak with relevance to the World, and to where the World finds itself.

This need for a “new language” intriguingly is not limited to any one church grouping, but is expressed across the breadth of Church perspective, from fundamentalist to liberal thinkers. Some, like that of retired Anglican Bishop, Jack Spong, is so far out in left field that it becomes heretical, even for liberal thinkers. Excitingly, we are part of a new and emerging paradigm of being Church, and while the boundaries are not clear, and thinking remains fluid, we have the opportunity to be a part of exciting new opportunities for Mission, Ministry and Evangelism, part of exploring new language to express deeply held truths of life and faith that the Church continues to guard.

Christmas

I blinked somewhere in May. I am scared to blink again in case I find myself in 2009! Christmas is upon us, and we celebrate Emmanuel (God with us), a deeply significant statement of faith. My prayer is that we will find language to express this significant time meaningfully as families and as a Church community in order to impact for God on our world. So many at this time feel so alone, so there is plenty of opportunity to reach out to others that they may discover the reality of Christian belonging, and in so discovering know the very presence of God.

Ordination

As I write, Vernon Foster, along with four other deacons, is in the throws of preparing himself for ordination as Priest. Vernon has walked a long road, and Corpus Christi has walked much of this road with him. This last year as Missionary Deacon to Willow Glen has been a time of further growth and maturing for Vernon, and he has demonstrated himself a capable minister of God in our midst. I ask us all to set aside Sunday 9 December 2007 to journey with Vernon through his ordination, and I expect to see the parish out in “full force” at St Alban’s Cathedral (237 Schoeman Street, Pretoria) at 9am, please! Vernon will celebrate a brief, said Eucharist at Corpus Christi at 3.30pm followed by a celebratory tea in the Hall hosted by his family, to which we are all invited. Please keep Vernon in your prayers at this exciting, yet anxious, time.

Holidays and Away-ness

School Holidays are upon us, and for many of us this will mean journeys by road and air to be with family and friends in other places. If you are not with us over Christmas, please make the effort to find a church in the area you are visiting and attend either Midnight Mass or the Christmas Day Services. Our attendance, even if among strangers, unites us with the family of God around the World, and our unity proclaims the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Please be assured of my and Dawn’s prayers for you all over this festive season! We look forward to sharing our regained energy in the New Year, as we seek to be God’s instruments of love in Garsfontein and beyond.

Blessings

Mark

December 2006

Dear Friends

Advent & Christmas

The Church Year begins afresh with Advent – a cycle of church seasons has been completed with our celebration of Christ the King, and a new journey begins. During Advent we prepare for the celebration of God’s incarnation through the birth of the Christ-child, a celebration of the inconceivable: God with us – Emmanuel!

The Bishop’s Gift

God willing, Vernon Foster will be made Deacon on Sunday 10 December 2006, 09:30 at St Alban’s Cathedral (we’ll see you all there!). The Bishop’s Christmas present to us is his intention to deploy Vernon to Corpus Christi for the post-ordination phase of Vernon’s ongoing formation, with the specific purpose of building a community of faith and planting a new church in the Willow Glen area – with our support! Parish Council has accepted this exciting challenge on our behalf, and we look forward to your support of this new mission.

Council Plans for 2007

The incoming 2007 Council met recently for a day of planning. The challenges that lie ahead are many and varied. We have tried to stream-line operations by creating clearer areas of accountability for the executive portfolios and council committees. Our focus for the year ahead is to build further on our value of broad-based parishioner involvement, and to continue to focus our personal lives and parish environment on increasingly being a place where others meet Christ. We will attempt to communicate our plans around the Annual Vestry Meeting in January – meanwhile, keep an eye on the notice boards in the hall!

Community

At our recent Diocesan Clergy Day Mr Tom Hamilton, Head of St Alban’s College, addressed us on the issue of Ethical Organisations. I was struck by his comment that fundamental to the “success” of any organisation is relationship and community, and that community needs a foundation of stability and trust to be effective. At Corpus Christi, while we have the basics in place, there is still a definite journey to be walked in the area of social transformation and cultural integration - none of us has the right to demand that others conform to “my” cultural norms! My deep prayer for the New Year is that during 2007 the cultural diversity of our homes will move into our worship services, and our “togetherness” in worship services will move beyond the church-door and into our homes! This can only happen if we make a collective decision to make it happen! This is one of Council’s priorities for next year.

Books

For those of you trying to make sense of where our country is going it may well be of value to pick up a copy of Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC by William Mervin Gumede. Gumede describes his book as a “political biography of Mbeki and the ANC in power” and “not an official biography of Thabo Mbeki and the African National Congress” (page xi of the preface). Gumede is a columnist for the Sunday Independent, does work for the Economist Intelligence Unit and the BBC World Service, and was previously deputy editor of the Sowetan and senior editor at the Financial Mail.

The other book is Rabble-Rouser for Peace, the authorised biography of Desmond Tutu by John Allen. Sometimes it is useful to look back in order to get perspective on the present. This book is something of a reminder that God has not abdicated his/her responsibility for our wonderful country with all its potential – and neither should we!

A Christmas Blessing

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a most blessed Christmas and a hope-filled New Year! Thank you for all you have done to help us be effective for God in Jesus Christ and His kingdom this past year. May He bless you abundantly to the full measure of your commitment and generosity demonstrated in our community life!

Blessings

Mark