July 2013 - Living our Mission

Dear Friends

Living our Mission

A few nights ago I was invited to dinner with a family who have joined the Parish recently. It was a wonderful evening in which I was immersed in the challenges of their working lives as they shared stories of their experiences in tertiary education and the criminal justice system. The essence of much of our conversation revolved around the challenges of living good lives in the workspace, questioning nonsensical decisions, calling others to lives of excellence. We also touched on the exhaustion that comes from doing a job well, and the increasing expectations that this generates.

This family has recently felt the need to realign their lives with the Church, but their lives have not lacked Faith, and the goodness of God has been operating in them and through them. This realignment reflects a choice to become more conscious of God’s presence and call, and a decision to actively seek God’s strength and help in living their already value-centred lives.

As I reflect on our dinner together, enhanced by other friends – also Parishioners – I am struck by the importance of our mission at Corpus Christi: to be role models and responsible risk-takers for Christ where we live, work and worship. Our mission reflects the Benedictine call to find balance, to ensure that our lives are not over-burdened in any direction, that there is space for prayer, study, work, recreation and relaxation. We need – I need – to stop on occasion and reflect that if we are role models for Christ, what are we modelling? I will never forget the comment of one of our younger Parishioners who worked on a Sunday in the bookshop of a local mega-church: she was consistently amazed at how members of that community would come directly from worship into the bookshop and treat her and other staff with irritation and impatience. I often wonder how the cashiers at Woolworths in Serene Street experience Anglicans on a Sunday after our services of worship? I must admit to being a little nervous to ask …

We live in a consumerist culture where work is often the dominating feature of our lives. How does one begin to find life-balance when traffic and work consume so much of our time? And work always demands that extra bit of flesh from our lives? I am aware that for many at Corpus Christi Monday to Friday is dominated by work and traffic, and there is little meaningful time available for family interaction and community involvement. Weekends are dominated by those things previous generations fitted into their week, which smaller, more rural communities still do. I am hugely appreciative of many who commit to Sunday mornings being Church-focused, willing to spend time in worship and fellowship with fellow participators in the family of God. I am understanding, too, of those whose hobbies and sport draw them away on a regular basis. Interestingly, in a recent study in the USA, regular Church attendance is defined as being present in worship on a monthly basis; a generation ago it was weekly.

Living our mission cannot be something we do separate from the rest of our lives. It needs to be an intrinsic part of the fullness of life, where we live, work and worship: traffic, work, home, family, friendship, gym, church and community. The family I had dinner with may not be aware that they are living out our mission, but as I listened and interacted I heard much about God’s presence in their lives, and while work was a dominating feature of the conversation and the “spiritual” discussion took place as I climbed into my car to leave, I am in no doubt that they model their Faith in what they do, and I am thankful that God’s Spirit is drawing them into a greater consciousness of his place in their lives.

Blessings

Mark

May 2012 - Living the Resurrection

Dear Friends

Living the Resurrection

The Easter events now lie behind us, and we have entered into that interesting space in our Church Year where we focus on what it means to live the Resurrection Life. The challenge is to translate what we are reading in the Scriptures into the complexity of 21st century life, into the context of our daily lives and the communities in which we live, work and play. Increasingly we live in a global village, and yet there is a uniqueness to our Southern African environment that asks us to acknowledge and celebrate what is special about our context. We are challenged in the midst of brokenness and poverty, in the midst of corruption and hopelessness, to be signs of Hope, living signs of Hope. It is about transformed attitudes, life-giving actions, and God-touched lives.

Over two-thousand years later, we forget the chaos that enveloped the community that had grown around Jesus during his ministry after the Resurrection. The news of Jesus’ resurrection has the women who find the empty tomb leaving in fear (Mark’s Gospel); Cleopas and his companion on the Emmaus road are clearly confused, even traumatised, by the events; the disciples are in a locked room, fearful of the Jewish authorities (John’s Gospel). Where are we? Where are you?

What are our expectations in this post-Easter period? What is our experience right now? What feelings churn in our hearts? What chaos envelops our lives? Are we fearful? What interests me is that the various stories in the book of Acts reveal the fearful, disorientated and confused disciples of the Gospel stories as now bold and brave. At some point, and relatively quickly, they found peace and courage that made them fearless in proclaiming the activities of God to the community in Jerusalem, and subsequently to Judea, Samaria and beyond. John’s Gospel has Jesus meeting with his disciples immediately after the Resurrection, breathing the Spirit on them, proclaiming peace among them. The disciples in Acts speak out, they heal, they confront: they are bold!

There is much in our world today, both within the life of the Church, and also out there in the world, that seeks to resist the Resurrection Life. We need to regularly review our consciences, and ensure that we can, in the words of 1 John 3:21b “… have confidence before God”. We may not always feel bold within ourselves; but as children of God, loved by God, trusted by God we can be fearless, bold and brave.

Family

We had some good family time in Durban the second weekend after Easter. Our son, Nathan, and his Fiancé, Megan, are living there now and expecting their first child in a few weeks time. We were down for Megan’s “Baby Shower” and also to meet her family for the first time. Dawn flew in for the weekend from Cape Town (where she has been working again these last few weeks) and I drove down with our daughter, Cassie, and her girlfriend, Jen. It was a really special weekend, and wonderful at last to link up with the McCain family. I spent the Monday night with good friends at Spioenkop Dam and came home over the rough dirt track of Colling’s Pass (why take the tar over van Reenen’s when one drives the best 4x4xFar?!).

St Alban’s Cathedral

Please continue to keep the situation at the Cathedral in prayer as it is not yet resolved. I had a rough visit there last Sunday. There are processes in place and the Diocesan leadership continues to seek opportunities for resolution.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the very generous Easter Offering I received again this year. Your care in this is much appreciated!

Blessings
Mark

September 2011 - Family

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

May 2011 - Rejoice Always

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

Easter 2010

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

July 2009 - The Church Irrelevant

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

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

November 2008

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