Archbishop Thabo was asked by The New Age newspaper to comment on President Jacob Zuma's December 27 statement (reproduced below) concerning his remarks early in December on religious leaders commenting on political issues.
The text of the newspapers questions and Archbishop Thabo's answers follow:
Do you find it strange that the Church which was not silent during apartheid is expected to keep quiet now?
I am happy with the welcome the Presidency's clarification that he didn't mean we should not address political issues.
Saturday 31 December 2016
Tuesday 27 December 2016
[Video & Audio] Archbishop Thabo's Christmas sermon
Watch and hear news reports and the full sermon preached by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba at Midnight Mass in St George's Cathedral, Cape Town, at Christmas 2016.
You can also read the full text of the sermon.
SABC News - December 25, 2016
eNCA News - December 25, 2016
News report on SAfm's AM Live, December 26
The full recording:
You can also read the full text of the sermon.
SABC News - December 25, 2016
eNCA News - December 25, 2016
News report on SAfm's AM Live, December 26
The full recording:
Saturday 24 December 2016
Sermon for Midnight Mass at St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town, Christmas 2016
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
Lessons:
Isaiah 62:6-12, Ps 97,Ttitus 3:4-7, Luke 2:8-20
Welcome to each and every one
of you: I am glad you are all here, on this most holy night!
Monday 19 December 2016
The Archbishop's Lenten Course - 2017
REFLECTING, PRAYING AND ACTING TOGETHER, a series of Bible studies for Lent commissioned by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba is now available online for downloading and printing by parishes and Dioceses.
The course comprises daily readings and six weekly teachings centred on weekly themes for personal and/or communal prayer and meditation. Excerpts from the Archbishop's preface:
...[T]his is an invitation to all of us as members of ACSA, to our friends, whether people of faith or of none, and especially to our ecumenical friends, to reflect prayerfully not only on our vison and mission statement (“Anglicans ACT”), but on God’s vision for the world. In these Bible teachings we are given an opportunity to put flesh on what I would call the eternal ideals enshrined in the Bible or in our dogma. In other words, it is an invitation to us collectively to get into the mind and heart of the incarnate Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, and to see how we as his followers can make him real by understanding his ways...
In these teachings, examples of society's failings such as inequality, corruption, unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation are highlighted. We rightly start with daily readings, for as Anglicans we need to begin with Scripture in order to apply our hearts and minds to our daily challenges, to read the mind of Christ in our readings and then to be deepened in our journey...
As I offer these Lenten studies to all of you, I hope you will be as excited as I am with this journey of Reflecting, Praying and Acting Together. I am grateful to the team of people who have prayed, reflected and acted on the challenge that I placed before them to help me construct these Bible studies and to those who have ably read and edited them.
Click here to download a PDF file (34 pages)
PDF file updated to version 7 on December 20, 2016.
The course comprises daily readings and six weekly teachings centred on weekly themes for personal and/or communal prayer and meditation. Excerpts from the Archbishop's preface:
...[T]his is an invitation to all of us as members of ACSA, to our friends, whether people of faith or of none, and especially to our ecumenical friends, to reflect prayerfully not only on our vison and mission statement (“Anglicans ACT”), but on God’s vision for the world. In these Bible teachings we are given an opportunity to put flesh on what I would call the eternal ideals enshrined in the Bible or in our dogma. In other words, it is an invitation to us collectively to get into the mind and heart of the incarnate Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, and to see how we as his followers can make him real by understanding his ways...
In these teachings, examples of society's failings such as inequality, corruption, unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation are highlighted. We rightly start with daily readings, for as Anglicans we need to begin with Scripture in order to apply our hearts and minds to our daily challenges, to read the mind of Christ in our readings and then to be deepened in our journey...
As I offer these Lenten studies to all of you, I hope you will be as excited as I am with this journey of Reflecting, Praying and Acting Together. I am grateful to the team of people who have prayed, reflected and acted on the challenge that I placed before them to help me construct these Bible studies and to those who have ably read and edited them.
Click here to download a PDF file (34 pages)
PDF file updated to version 7 on December 20, 2016.
Friday 16 December 2016
[AUDIO] Archbishop Thabo reflects on Advent IV
In his last reflection for Advent, Archbishop Thabo looks at the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, in particular the Gospel reading, Matthew 1:18-25 and part of Psalm 80.
Saturday 10 December 2016
[Audio] Archbishop Thabo reflects on Advent III
Archbishop Thabo reflects on the Third Sunday in Advent. The Gospel reading for today: Matthew 11:2-11.
Thursday 1 December 2016
[Audio] Archbishop Thabo reflects on Advent II
Archbishop Thabo reflects on the Second Sunday in Advent. His reflection is prompted by the Gospel reading for the day, on John the Baptist: Matthew 3:1-12.
Thursday 24 November 2016
To the Laos - To the People of God – Advent 2016
Dear People of God
As I was completing this letter, news came in from Bishop Manuel Ernesto of the Diocese of Niassa that 60 people were reported killed, more than 100 injured and many are still missing after a fuel tanker travelling from Beira to southern Malawi exploded while on a road in the community of Cafrisange in the central province of Tete. Bishop Manuel asks us all to pray for Archdeacon Martins Nselela and his team in Tete as they minister to the families affected.
[Audio] Archbishop Thabo reflects on Advent I
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba this Advent continues the tradition he has established of recording a series of reflections for each Sunday until Christmas. Encourage your friends and fellow parishioners to listen online or download and listen on their mobile devices.
Monday 14 November 2016
Christ Church, Kenilworth |
Sermon preached by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba at a Confirmation Service of St John's Parish, Wynberg, Cape Town:
2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13, Luke 21:5-19
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
It is good to be with you today. Thank you, the Revd Rob Taylor and your Churchwardens, for inviting me to be here. Thank you everyone for your warm welcome.
Sunday 6 November 2016
Archbishop Thabo's lament for South Africa
Archbishop
Thabo Makgoba led a prayer vigil on the steps of St George's Cathedral
in Cape Town on Wednesday November 2. He ended the silent vigil, held
under the theme "A lament for our beloved
country”, with this prayer.
Let us pray:
Lord, where are you in these trying and challenging times and amidst these great developments in our country?
Shakespeare said: “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”
Lord, we are living through a time of acute misery, amidst an unprecedented political crisis.
Lord, we know though that South Africa is not broken;
Sunday 30 October 2016
Sermon at the 150th Anniversary Service of the Cathedral of St Andrew and St Michael, Bloemfontein
Theme: Standing in the watchpost and stationed at the ramparts
Habakkuk
1:1-4, 2:1-4 Psalm 119:137-144 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10
In
the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who calls us to be
faithful. Amen
Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ, dear people of God in the Cathedral
of St Andrew and St Michael:
Saturday 1 October 2016
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa's debate on human sexuality - Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
Interview at Christ the King, Sophiatown |
The two proposals before the Synod which drew most public attention were:
Firstly, that bishops should be allowed to license clergy who identify as LGBTI, and are in legal same-sex civil unions under South African law, to minister in parishes. The proposers of the motion before Synod withdrew this proposal before debate began.
Secondly, it was proposed that a Bishop may “provide for prayers of blessing to be offered for those in same sex civil unions.” The motion before the Synod did not propose that clergy should be able actually to marry same-sex couples under Church law.
Under the Canons, I declared the issue a controversial motion. This meant that to be approved, it needed a simple majority vote in the three separate “houses” of the Synod: the House of Bishops, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity, the latter representing the people in the pews. In addition, if it had been approved in each of those houses, voting separately, it needed a two-thirds majority overall to pass.
The motion failed to achieve a simple majority in any House. The bishops voted 16 to six against the motion, the laity 41 to 25 against and the clergy 42 to 34 against.
We live in a democracy, our Church has strongly advocated democracy, and people on all sides of the debate have to accept the result.
At the same time, the debate is not over. Without trying to predict its ultimate outcome, or to suggest what that should be, it was notable that a number of opponents of the motion did not reject it out of hand, but suggested instead that opinion in our Church was not yet ready for such a move.
As it was, the degree of support for the motion was quite substantial if you compare us to other African provinces of the Anglican Church, most of which are vigorously opposed to same-sex unions in any form. This was the first time this issue has been seriously debated by our Church, and representatives are free to raise it again at future synods.
Our Church, like South Africa as a nation, has previously provided an example to the world over how we can overcome differences over issues that people feel strongly about, such as sanctions against apartheid and the ordination of women as priests. It remains my hope that those on both sides of this debate can overcome their differences in a way that will be an example to the rest of the Anglican Communion, which is as divided over the issue as we are.
Finally, a word to our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers:
I was deeply pained by the outcome of the debate. I was glad I wear glasses or the Synod would have seen the tears. I wanted to be anywhere but in the Synod hall – I wished I was at home quietly in Makgoba's Kloof.
If one of you, my church members, is in pain, then I am in pain too. The pain on both sides of the debate in Synod was palpable and no one celebrated or applauded the outcome. There are no winners or losers in the Kingdom of God, and we recognised that whichever way the vote went, there was going to be pain.
Nothing that I heard in the last two days takes away from what the bishops have already said to people of LGBTI orientation:
You are loved by God, and all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ. We recognise that many of you are baptised and confirmed members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God’s transforming power for the living of your lives and the ordering of your relationships. We urge you to stick with us to play your full part in the deliberations to come.
May God bless you, and God bless us all.
This post has been corrected since first added.
Thursday 29 September 2016
Archbishop Thabo on SABC News on student protests
An excerpt from Archbishop Thabo's interview at Provincial Synod appears at 3:37 minutes.
The full interview with the SABC can be heard below:
The full interview with the SABC can be heard below:
Tuesday 27 September 2016
Archbishop's Charge to Provincial Synod
Discerning,
Developing and Directing the Resources God Provides for the Task God
Sets Before Us
Text of the Charge delivered to Provincial Synod by the Most Revd Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, 27 September, 2016.
Job
3:1-19, Psalm 88:1-7, Luke 9:51-56
Introduction
May
I speak in the name of God who creates, redeems and sustains. Amen.
Dear
sisters and brothers in Christ, members of Provincial Synod,
distinguished guests: greetings. Welcome to the Thirty-Fourth Session
of the Provincial Synod of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
I
extend a particular welcome to our guests—and especially to our
long-time partners in mission and ministry from Trinity Wall Street:
the Rector and our homilist, Dr Bill Lupfer, whom we will decorate
later in the service as Provincial Honorary Canon, his wife Kimiko
and their team, Canon Benjamin Musoke-Lubega amongst them. I also
greet our ecumenical guests and the friends and families of those to
be decorated with the Order of Simon of Cyrene, as well as those to
be licensed as provincial registrars and deputies.
Those
attending Provincial Synod for the first time, a special welcome to
you. I hope you will feel at home as you navigate the processes and
procedures of this mainly legislative assembly and that you will feel
emboldened to contribute confidently to proceedings.
Lungi,
Nyakallo and Paballo have a special way of putting me in my place. I
am grateful to God for who they are and for giving me the space and
time as well as the necessary critiques of how I perform my varied
ministries.
Thank
you also to the advisory teams, to the Synod of Bishops, the staff at
Bishopscourt, the synod manager, Fr Keith Griffiths, the Provincial
Treasury, the diocesan staff, the chancellors and registrars of the
Province, indeed to everyone who has contributed to this Synod. A
special word of thanks to two of my former staff members, Canon
William Mostert and Ms Pumeza Magona, for all their hard work in
getting us here.
Let
me also extend my and the Province’s particular thanks to Dr
Sitembele Mzamane, Dean of the Province, Bishop of Mthatha and
Vicar-General of the Diocese of Mzimvubu. You have shouldered an
enormous burden for this Province, and for that we give thanks to
God.
Since
our last Synod, Bishop Nathaniel Nakwatumbah of Namibia has retired
and, tragically, died too soon afterwards. The retired Bishop of
Grahamstown, David Russell, and the retired Bishop Suffragan of Cape
Town, Charles Albertyn, have also died. I want to pay a special
tribute to them. Let us observe a moment of silence and thank God for
their lives and witness in Namibia, Grahamstown and Cape Town, and
for their pastoral zeal and love for all God’s people.
It
is always a delight and a special honour to welcome new bishops to
Provincial Synod, and this year we have six with us: Bishop Carlos
Matsinhe of Lebombo, Bishop Charles May of the Highveld, Bishop
Monument Makhanya of Zululand, Bishop Luke Pato of Namibia, Bishop
Allan Kannemeyer of Pretoria, and Bishop Manuel Ernesto, the
Suffragan Bishop of Niassa. And of course, Bishop Dino Gabriel has
been translated from Zululand to Natal. Soon we will consecrate new
bishops for the dioceses of Niassa and Christ the King, and for
Mthatha after Bishop Sitembele’s forthcoming retirement.
We
thank God for the ministry of those who have served this Province as
bishops and who have retired since the last meeting of Synod: Bishops
Dinis Sengulane of Lebombo, David Bannerman of the Highveld, Rubin
Phillip of Natal, Jo Seoka of Pretoria and Peter Lee of Christ the
King. We also thank Bishop Mark van Koevering of Niassa, who resigned
to return to the United States, for his decades of dedicated service
to the people of Mozambique.
The
Incarnation and the Use of Resources
Let
me start the substance of my Charge with a poem by Rudyard Kipling,
which comes from one of the Just So Stories:
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.
I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small—
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!
She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes—
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!
In
saying the Daily Offices and Mass in the chapel at Bishopscourt from
Monday to Thursday each week, I try to bring the joys and challenges
of this office before God as I seek to discern the will of God and to
develop a response which is spirit-filled, yet not timid or woolly,
and directs others to Christ within a theological theme. But when I
am dealing with the things that come across the archiepiscopal desk
each day, too often I fail to ask: What is happening? Why is it
happening? What ought to be happening? Who ought to be doing it? I
need constantly to struggle theologically with the questions I ask
again and again: What does it mean to be the body of Christ in such a
time as this? To what discipleship are we called? What does the cost
of this discipleship entail?
It
was against the backdrop of this wrestling that I was excited
recently to rediscover Kipling’s poem at the end of the story, The
Elephant’s Child. Asking Kipling’s questions—“What and
Why and When, and How and Where and Who”—has been a useful
tool for discerning the way forward. The Synod Advisory Committee—and
the reality of our church’s finances and resources—have directed
me to a further area. That is the what, the why, the when, the how,
the where and the who of exploring a conversation between
Incarnation, which concerns theology, and available
Resources, which concern economy. In this Charge, want
to begin a journey in which we move beyond throwing out biblical
statements such as that God and mammon cannot co-exist and instead
explore the subject through the lenses comprising our Synod theme,
namely how we can, first, Discern, secondly Develop,
and finally Direct the resources that God places before us for
God’s mission.
I
want us to look at what resources might be available within ACSA.
Where are they to be found, how are we using them and why, and lastly
who are they serving? The Charge, some of you will be pleased to
know, will include some accounting for what has happened since the
last Synod, including what you have told me in your reports and my
own observations from when I have travelled around the Province. Of
course I will also add and direct you to look beyond ACSA to broader
societal matters.
Whether
we are talking about the economy of our church or of our different
nations, it is instructive to look at the roots of the word
“economy”. It is based on the Greek words oikos, meaning
household, and nomus, meaning patterns of behaviour, literally
translated as rules. So when we ask what our attitude to the
resources God places before us should be, we are asking what the
rules that govern the allocation of the resources in our church
household should be. As Anglican Christians, what informs us in the
use of our time, money and skills? What biblical ideals should govern
the use of our money, and how? What is the goal of the accumulation
of resources?
Two
years ago, I was struck by vendors in Turkey who lured you into their
shops, saying, “Hello, Sir, let me help you spend your money.”
Who and what guides you as an individual in how you deploy your
resources? When one of our children was younger, they occasionally
returned home from church with the money we had given for the
collection plate. When we asked why they had returned home with God’s
money, the reply was: “The preacher spoke for so long that I went
to sleep and had to go out during the offertory to wake up.” In one
way or another, it would seem the preacher misguided this particular
child.
Anglicanism
is often described as having a strong focus on the incarnation and I
have placed repeated emphasis on it since my installation eight years
ago. Simply put, by incarnation I refer to God in Jesus entering the
everyday experience of human living to point us to God’s reign and
to prepare and invite us through our everyday lives to enjoy the
blessedness of this reign. My writing
and advocacy on the theme of the incarnation and politics is born out
of the struggle of God’s people with political systems in Southern
Africa that demeaned all of us and which were not designed to address
the concrete needs and experiences of our daily lives or to respond
to God’s call to human flourishing.
Last
year, in my capacities as Chancellor of the University of the Western
Cape and Chair of the Church Leaders’ Consultation and the Church
Leaders’ Forum of the South African Council of Churches, I was
called with other church leaders to meet students protesting under
the banner of the #feesmustfall movement. On the surface it
seemed they were advancing a political cause, but when we went deeply
into the issues over the course of many meetings, some late into the
night at Bishopscourt, I came to appreciate the legacy of the
inequality of South Africa’s political and economic system.
That
system has given birth to an intergenerational economic inequality,
in which those who are likely to flourish in our society are the sons
and daughters of the elite, and those who will struggle to break out
of a vicious circle of poverty are the daughters and sons of the
poor. One of the initiatives I have supported is the University of
the Free State’s campaign to reduce student hunger. We listened,
shocked, to the stories of students who had secured loans for tuition
and accommodation off campus, but who either did not have the money
to buy food or had used it for computers and clothing. The question
before us is: what does the incarnate Christ say about the economy,
about student debt, household debt, diocesan and parochial debt in a
world which in which there is also bounteous providence?
Incarnation
is thus an invitation, as the theme of our Synod states, to begin a
journey to discern, to develop and to direct our lives to be more and
more like that of the incarnate Christ. The invitation is costly and
Jesus’ disciples struggle with it even after they accept it and are
honoured to be in his presence. Let us too accept and let’s begin
our journey by looking at what today’s lessons tell us.
The
first lesson, Job 3:1-19, depicts the “new” struggle of someone
who had accepted the invitation of actually translating that
acceptance into actual practice. You might want to paraphrase Job’s
account by asking: why does a righteous God allow a just servant to
suffer? Faced with individual and private suffering, Job vents his
thoughts, “let no joyful voice come therein”. There is no happily
ever after. Job is restless and does not understand why evil and
suffering should beset him as a God-abiding person. He finds his
context and personal circumstances too burdening. To borrow the
language we used earlier to define the economy, he asks: Why are the
rules of the household so unfair, full of suffering and evil? Where
is God in all of this?
The
psalmist echoes this lament. Like Job, the psalmist feels cut off
from God. Unlike in Job’s case, the feeling of sadness is due to
his weighty ills.The psalmist’s soul is full of trouble. Remember
the refrain, “Why are you so full of heaviness my soul, why so
unquiet within me?” In this psalm, the psalmist expresses raw
feelings, seemingly on the brink of collapse. There is no sense of
Job’s discernment of the hand and presence of God in evil and
suffering, only personal trauma and clouds of darkness. I have to
confess that while preparing this Charge I was worried that the
melancholy of these first readings was too depressing for the opening
of Synod, and I was tempted to drop the day’s lections and choose
readings which reflected more sunshine. But I stayed with them,
trying to discern what God might be saying to me, to members of Synod
and to those who might read this text.
Discernment
does not have to be morose but neither can it be shallow nor an
escape from reality. I find the concept of lament, as expressed by
Denise Ackermann, helpful in this context. Denise has written that
lamenting “...is a refusal to settle for the way things are. It is
reminding God that the human situation is not as it should be and
that God as the partner in the covenant must act.” In exploring
lamentation, we trust that the incarnate, second person of the
Trinity, God who took human form, is always with us as we discern his
way in struggling with the contemporary issues of our day. We must
thus act courageously, “recklessly confident” that nothing will
separate us from God’s love.
Turning
to the Gospel, as the Lucan Jesus zigzags through the villages to
Jerusalem, he is rejected even by those he went out of his way to
embrace. The disciples can’t deal with this rejection and want to
respond by deploying God’s power to destructive ends. But Jesus
forcefully directs them away from such a course, pointing them to the
bigger picture and highlighting that short-term gains come at a
long-term cost. His action underlines the importance of his disciples
accurately discerning risks, discerning the correct interventions to
make, relying neither on bullying nor fear-laden behaviour but on
developing God’s ways.
Discerning
During
the Lenten observances of our life’s journeys, we are called to
discern God’s ways. Job and the psalmist give us a model for
penetrating the issues more deeply. They lament. The disciples on the
other hand demonstrate how often we shy away from probing the
messiness and madness of the world around us, but act impulsively to
avoid it. We are particularly prone to this in our technological age.
We—and I count myself here too—often tend to ”press the send
button” before discerning whether our intervention builds the
kingdom or is self-seeking or egoistic.
But
I have to tell you that when I read the reports, the measures and the
resolutions that will come before us at this Synod, I am heartened.
As your Archbishop and Metropolitan, I have the privilege of
regularly travelling through the Province, and with the broader view
this gives me I discern that as we—like the Lucan Jesus zigzagging
his way to Jerusalem—traverse the mountains and hills, the valleys
and the plains, the wealth and the filthy poverty of our Province, we
can thank God that we are alive at such a time. Although there are
risks, although there is pushing and pulling, although there are
those who, like the disciples, are tempted to want to escape from our
protracted and complex problems by seeking Elijah’s chariot of fire
to take us away, we are nevertheless growing; we are wrestling, we
are fighting, we are laughing, we are planting, we are learning and
teaching, we are healing, we are communicating, and above all we are
determined to be people of the Way.
Although
when I address specific situations in this Charge I am usually
referring to our own Province, we should also give our attention to
the pain in other parts of our continent. In recent months I have
visited both Kigali in Rwanda, for a meeting of the Council of the
Anglican Provinces of Africa, and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic
of Congo, for the inauguration of the new Archbishop of the Congo.
These visits were part of an intentional outreach to develop closer
relations with our sister Provinces across the continent. In Kigali,
where I visited the city’s genocide memorial, I could not help but
be struck by how well the city works. There is effective policing,
the place is clean and there is a commitment to service. But I got
the distinct impression that the efficiency could be the result of an
obsession to run away from the country’s dreadful past, from the
messiness of a system that did not work. That made me all the more
grateful for the national electoral systems in our Province which do
work in mediating political conflict, seen most recently in the South
African municipal elections.
I
was also distressed at how political leaders in the Great Lakes
Region of Africa don’t seem to want to give up power. President
Museveni in nearby Uganda has been in power for 30 years. In sad
demonstrations of undemocratic behaviour, others have sought to
follow him by staging pseudo-referendums or manipulating their
constitutional processes to abolish or ignore presidential term
limits. As a result, in Burundi we have seen gross human rights
violations, including disappearances, assassinations and other
killings. It would appear that President Kabila in the Congo wants to
become the newest person to go down this road. Of course in our own
region, presidents Dos Santos in Angola and Mugabe in Zimbabwe lead
the pack, having ruled since 1979 and 1980 respectively. We hope that
President Zuma won’t seek to emulate them; fortunately in current
circumstances it would appear that his party would not have the
stomach to try to force through such a change.
Not
only in our own Province, our region and our continent, but across
the world we hear the cries of those of God’s people who are unable
to live their lives as abundantly as God desires. The Anglican
Communion’s fourth “Mark of Mission” enjoins us “to transform
unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and
pursue peace and reconciliation.” In response to the cries of the
people and to our call to mission, let those of our parishioners
who are well endowed and well connected become voices which broadcast
widely the lamentations of the Jobs and the psalmists of our time.
The incarnation invites us to a deeper dialogue with our governments
over ways in which they and we can uproot and destroy structures
which facilitate societal evils.
A
number of our bishops have been attending courses on sustainability
in the use of the church’s resources and exploring various
commercial models to ensure this sustainability. We are grateful to
Trinity Wall Street for their support of this initiative for the
church in Africa. Each one of you is involved in the economy in one
way or another, so each one of you has a contribution to make from
your own experience: what are the questions you ask of yourselves and
which we should be asking? What should direct your, and our, use of
money? We have many skilled and under-employed people. We have plenty
of land and parish buildings. Can we find ways in which we can deploy
these to empower the unskilled and unemployed? We have many people
who love this church and give of their time and talents. What should
we do to guide them to give more without counting the cost and
without, in some instances at least, wanting power to control. Can we
develop a sustainable Christian model for financing—even a
Christian bank—which operates on the basis of equitable and just
principles, less speculation and fair taxes? Many of the poor I meet
in the Province give all they have to the church but cry, “When
will development bring justice and wear a compassionate face?” Can
it? we ask. I came across a colleague from the Philippines who
answered impulsively, like the disciples to Jesus: No, it cannot and
it will not. Our faith does not allow us to live with that answer.
Developing
Developing
is acknowledging that we are not static. We need to become more and
more like the incarnate Christ, who came not to be served but to
serve. Our Mission Statement as a Province invites us as disciples to
transform the legacies of apartheid and to grow communities of faith
that form, inform, and transform those who follow Christ. In the
global context, development has sadly become synonymous with the
insatiable quest of the privileged for unguided, untrammelled growth
at the expense of the poor and indigenous and on the basis of
uneconomic land use. In discerning how we as ACSA need to develop and
grow and use our resources, we are called to develop what I call a
“spirituality of enough”, one which promotes equality and
sharing.
Let
me share some of the development which has happened in our Province
over the last three years and of which I am most proud:
Since
the last Synod, through the work of the Anglican Board of Education
our Province has partnered with others and opened the Mabooe
Archbishop High School in Lesotho. The CEO of ABESA joined me, the
Bishop of Lesotho and others for the opening. We need, as a Province,
to continue to support the school, which needs more classrooms.
Encouraged by this education mission, individual parishioners in
Lesotho have renovated their schools and are building local churches
near the schools. The Vuleka St Joseph’s Archbishop School was also
officially opened in Johannesburg, where we are grateful to the
Diocese for its facilities. The Diocese of Swaziland has a large plot
and is drafting a proposal to open a school too. The ABESA report to
Synod is well worth reading. The AWF in Grahamstown has a bursary
scheme for indigent learners, as does the Provincial AWF for women in
the ordained ministry.
The
College of the Transfiguration, ANSOCs, our Anglican schools and
chaplains and other diocesan initiatives continue to develop and form
people of the way who respond to the calling to God’s mission in
the world. The Mothers’ Union, the Bernard Mizeki Guild and others
continue to offer socio-economic programmes to alleviate poverty and
give skills to unemployed youth. Green Anglicans continue to develop
ecological awareness among young people in particular and to promote
the greening of our Province. Hope Africa has partnered with a number
of dioceses in theology and development, not in theory but in praxis.
I am grateful too to Growing the Church for its role in growing
disciples and to the Liturgical Committee for directing the process
of liturgical renewal in our Province.
Since
the last Provincial Synod there have been other innovations which
have advanced our mission and witness. We will launch some during
Synod, such as a video giving glimpses of the life of our Province,
produced courtesy of Trinity Wall Street. We will also hear inputs
and reports on many other initiatives, including progress on a new
Prayer Book, an updated Provincial website, a youth academy and
progress with the registration of COTT. The newly-established Canon
Law Council is working well, as is evident in the quality of measures
and motions before us at Synod. We are grateful for the work of this
Provincial advisory team on matters canonical, especially the
contributions of the Revd Matt Esau and Provincial Registrar Henry
Bennett. In this our 167th year, we are still growing,
learning, discerning and developing into apt disciples of the 21st
century.
In
partnership with the mining community and interfaith leaders, we have
also started a series of what we call “Courageous Conversations”.
This initiative is aimed at making an impact on the lives of ordinary
people around the mines without compromising either the pastoral or
the prophetic voice of the church. We have contracted the Provincial
Public Policy director, Canon Desmond Lambrechts, to study and
implement programmes and advocate policy changes that can generate
responsible mining activity. This has brought about a mechanism for
collaboration on issues such as health, development and advocacy.
I
have recently returned from two weeks in Hong Kong, where I took part
in the first Ecumenical School on Governance, Economics and
Management, an initiative of the World Council of Churches, the World
Communion of Reformed Churches, the Council for World Mission and the
Lutheran World Federation. These four major international Christian
groups convened the conference I attended to study how to achieve a
new “economy of life” which benefits all. We looked at how we
could find an alternative to the current global governance of money
and financial systems, replacing it with a system that would be less
exploitative and would distribute resources and income more
equitably. This sounds impractical, but as stewards of God’s
creation we know that nothing is impossible with God. I will be
exploring with the Synod of Bishops at our leadership and formation
week next February a theology and ecclesiology of generosity—the
incarnation as hermeneutical conversation of theology and economy.
This may well be one way of discerning what our prophetic voice might
be in matters of economy. It could help us develop liturgies and an
Anglican social teaching on the economy, possibly leading to a course
at COTT on theology and economy.
In South Africa today, faith leaders across
the spectrum are saying that we as a nation have lost our moral
compass and that this has happened partly because we have been too
quiet for too long. We have had little to say about the Treasury’s
willingness to bail out SAA and badly-run state-owned enterprises,
but not poor students mired in debt. In other parts of our Province,
we have little to say about reported corruption in Angola and
Mozambique, or about housing developments on the Namibian coast which
locals cannot afford. Apart from Green Anglicans, few speak out about
plans to develop nuclear energy at a time when great strides are
being made in the storage of solar power. As prophets we are
economically illiterate. Yet the economic ordering of society and the
question of how we develop our material resources is central to the
crises that afflict us.
In
South Africa, the current ordering of the economy lies at the heart
of the political crisis that is beginning to paralyse government.
Inherited patterns of privilege and wealth, overwhelmingly associated
with one racial group, have created an economy which spits in the
face of Gospel values. Because of this injustice in the distribution
of resources and economic power, there is a group in the ruling party
which is carrying out a programme which it justifies on the grounds
that it is necessary to redistribute the country’s wealth. However,
the programme redirects resources not for the benefit of the poor but
to a small elite group of individuals with links to a small number of
politicians and officials. Private interests are capturing the public
purse. Inflated tenders awarded to cronies drive up the cost of
providing services. The worst-run state-owned enterprises are
gobbling up billions of the public’s money, draining the fiscus and
stalling the development of the real economy. The cost of nuclear
procurement plans—the case for which has not been proven—threatens
to become an albatross around the necks of our children,
grandchildren and great-grandchildren, plunging them deeply into debt
for decades to come. We are told that 16 million South Africans
depend on social grants. If we allow the looting of the resources and
wealth of future generations to continue unabated, there won’t be
any money to pay those grants in future and millions will lose their
only means of existence.
As
the South African Communist Party correctly points out, the answer to
the obscene inequality of our society does not lie in indulging the
rapacious greed of a tiny number of politically-connected
individuals—some of whom are associated with my Johannesburg
neighbours down the road in Saxonwold. No, for Christians,
challenging the skewed racial ordering of our economy must involve a
new compact in society, driven by the values of the Kingdom of God,
which creates a fairer and more equitable system. Perhaps Moeletsi
Mbeki has a point when he calls for a new coalition for development
between the very poor and the owners of capital on the basis that
they are the two key constituencies who support sustainable economic
growth. As religious leaders, we need to be intentional in building
relationships between ourselves and with business and government to
pursue these ideas.
I
call upon Anglicans and others to join efforts to clean up our
government and to reform our economy. As we discern, direct and
develop our resources within the church, let us become more
accountable and transparent about our own dealings and then be robust
in demanding the same truth and behaviour from our governments. I
call upon our liturgists, COTT, Hope Africa and other advisory bodies
in our church to develop liturgies and Bible studies that can help us
explore the creation and governance of wealth and pose sharp concise
questions to help us formulate a social teaching on money and the
common good. Perhaps God is calling us to denounce the kind of
development that is creating inequality and poverty, and instead to
learn to live simply.
Directing
Our
formulation of this Synod’s theme ends by inviting us to direct the
resources which God provides for the task set before us.
Last
year we held a Provincial Planning Meeting to look at our Provincial
Vision and Mission Statement. Both that meeting and Provincial
Standing Committee meeting which followed it affirmed our mission
priorities. They directed that we should prioritise communication and
the personnel needed in this area. The prophetic ministry of the
Archbishop and the Bishops needed to be enhanced within democratic
southern Africa. There was an appreciation by both these meetings
that prophetic ministry entails much more than criticism of the
state: that it should also encompass the exercising of our
theological imagination around what we hope each person should be
about in a democratic state; that it should create space for all
God’s people to tell their stories; and that it should include
advocacy for change not only through public utterance and
demonstration, but also through engaging in policy formulation.
Following in the footsteps of the incarnate son of God, prophetic
ministry entails understanding the obstacles of every village, being
prepared to be rejected, being determined not to count the cost,
finally to be glorified with Christ.
As
you will see, we will be trimming the budget and returning to the
five core mission support items of the Province. We are exploring the
concept of impact investment, which will hopefully not be a new name
for commodifying everything, speculating with the little money we
have and ending up slaves to debt, but will bring about a means of
caring for our disciples, our environment and being stewards for
tomorrow’s faithful.
Whilst
on the subject of care, and specifically of pastoral care, you will
know that we have a motion on the agenda from the Diocese of Saldanha
Bay concerning the pastoral care of Anglicans in same-sex
relationships. We will
discuss the motion first in Conference of Synod on Thursday, and I
hope we will discern carefully together the needs of both our church
and the broader church beyond this Province. I hope you will listen
carefully to and hear one another other as we develop the mind of
Synod, directed by the Holy Spirit already at work within us.
Conclusion
Let
me end where I started, with the incarnation, in which God took on
human form and in so doing became part of the contemporary world.
Through the incarnation, God invites us to a conversation, on a Lucan
journey, to discern as He does how best to realise our true humanity
and to be directed in our ways with each other in service to God and
in respect for His creation.
My prayer is that in evaluating our resources, we will not be
trapped by the temptation of aggrandisement and profit to follow a
prosperity gospel, but rather that, like Job and the psalmist, we
will lament that which breaks our humanity and develop a
spirituality and an ecclesiology of honesty and sharing. As your
Archbishop, in response to an invitation to a conversational
hermeneutic, especially with those who express disagreement, I will
seek to listen, discern, develop and where necessary direct. I come
to this Synod full of hope for our future, open and vulnerable like
Job, ready to share my laments and hear yours, conscious of the
disciples’ impatience and yet committed to the long journey ahead.
I am full of hope because God has placed before me, before all of
you—whether Synod members, staff, family, friends, colleagues or
the restless youth of our time—many resources to discover and to
dedicate to God’s service as we journey together and disciple one
another.
Let
us as a Province dare to discern, develop and direct the spiritual,
mental, and material resources which God places before us for the
good of all people and creation.
Let
no one be too full while another goes hungry. Amen.
Sunday 25 September 2016
Archbishop appeals to South African student protesters
The schools, libraries and other institutions which have been burned
in recent protests are those which have transformed the lives of South
Africans and their leaders in the past, says Archbishop Thabo Makgoba,
the Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape.
Archbishop Makgoba said this in an appeal to the higher education community, including students, in which he appealed for the Fees Commission to be given space to do its work.
The full text of his appeal follows:
Archbishop Makgoba said this in an appeal to the higher education community, including students, in which he appealed for the Fees Commission to be given space to do its work.
The full text of his appeal follows:
I
am deeply pained by the instability at Higher Education institutions
across the country.
Our
universities, colleges and schools are important heritage sites for
our communities. They preserve the history and the knowledge and the
deeds of the leaders of yesterday, and serve in the education and
growth of the leaders of tomorrow.
It
is this dream for the future leaders of this great country that we
must protect. The burning of schools, libraries, and institutions of
higher learning sets us back from progressing as a nation. It is in
these schools, libraries and institutions where people's lives have
been transformed.
We
should not forget the role played by some of these institutions
during apartheid to contribute to the freedom we enjoy today. These
institutions have not only moulded current leaders and those before
us, but have transformed the lives of children and families who come
from the dusty streets of rural Limpopo or those who come from Langa,
Mitchells Plain, Manenberg and other townships and rural areas around
the country.
Let
us give a space to the Fees Commission to do its work, and await its
recommendations with regard to the feasibility of free education for
the poor. Let us give the Ministry of Higher Education and Treasury a
space to implement their new plans to assist the “missing middle”
by introducing a new funding model for 2017.
We
must protect our students’ right to learn in a conducive and
enabling environment. As we need to respect students’ right to
peacefully protest we must also respect students’ right to
peacefully continue the academic programme without interruptions and
intimidation.
Parents,
take responsibility, our children come from homes, families, and
communities.
I
acknowledge that success in most struggles has always been in the
hands of the young.
With
so much inequality and poverty in this country, let us refrain from
deepening the divide through destructive actions. Violence and
destructive action will not bring about the desired solutions.
I
am praying for our children at all the universities, that our
convictions may prove to be greater than the challenges that confront
us today.
You
have the opportunity to be part of something bigger than yourselves.
When one day you reflect on this time, may the story you tell be one
that fills you with pride. May it be a story that like the stories
your parents told you of their fight for your right to equal
education, makes future generations appreciate the opportunities we
have that they never had. May your legacy not be one that destroys
centres of learning, leaving nothing for posterity.
Wednesday 14 September 2016
Archbishop assures Finance Minister, Treasury staff of prayers
An Open Letter to Minister Pravin Gordhan and the staff of the National Treasury
Dear Minister Gordhan, Deputy Minister Jonas, Director-General Fuzile and the staff of the National Treasury,
I address you on behalf of the Anglican Church and of the religious leaders whom you met before presenting the Budget this year to reassure you of our support for your difficult task at this time.
I am confident that religious leaders of all faiths speak on behalf of millions of their followers when we reassure you that our people are praying for you and that the vast majority of South Africans are behind you in your efforts to ensure that taxpayers' money is spent for the benefit of all and not to enrich a few.
We want to highlight the critical values of openness and transparency and urge you within the constraints imposed by the law to ensure that the maximum light is brought to bear on how government resources are being spent. As Christians we say the truth will set us free (John 8:32). The sun, the light, is God's disinfectant and will help us cleanse ourselves as a nation.
We thank you for your hard work and dedication and your willingness even to put your life on the line in order to protect the gains of the struggle and to enhance the quality of the lives of our people.
God bless you.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
Cape Town
Listen to Archbishop Thabo reading the letter:
Wednesday 7 September 2016
To the Laos - To the People of God - September 2016
Dear People of God
This month marks the anniversary of significant milestones in the lives of the two living previous archbishops of Cape Town.
Thirty years ago today, September 7, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was enthroned as Archbishop. As I write, he has been in hospital receiving treatment for a recurring infection, and his office has announced that he will undergo a small surgical procedure today to address the root cause of the infection. I visited him upon my return from overseas at the weekend, and he was in good spirits. Please keep him, Mrs Leah Tutu, and their family in your prayers.
Also this month, Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane celebrates the 20th anniversary of his becoming Archbishop. It is also 25 years since his consecration as Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman, and to cap it off he has celebrated his 75th birthday this year. Our warm congratulations to Archbishop Njongo, and our thanks to him for his continued public service in different capacities.
I write this against the background of last month's South African municipal elections. I am grateful that people went to the polls and voted in such numbers and with such enthusiasm, so that our democracy can be said to be both vibrant and legally intact. What is most encouraging is that South Africa has a legislative framework which establishes institutions and mechanisms that enable the electoral process to happen successfully—so much so that although the ruling party lost political control in major cities, the outcomes were accepted by all. So we need to compliment our political role players but especially that framework and those it empowers to keep our democratic processes operating.
Whether we voted or not, what all of us must now do is to act with the urgency that is demanded of us to make South Africa work and to make our nation what God has destined it to be. I say this also against the backdrop of my short stay in Rwanda recently, where I attended a meeting of the Council of the Anglican Provinces of Africa. Leaving the meeting in Kigali, the capital, to visit the city's memorial to the 1994 genocide, I could not help but be struck by how the city really does work. There is effective policing, the place is clean and when you get to a shop, even if stocks are limited there is a commitment to service. But although the city works, I had the impression that it was a result of what one might call an obsession: a desire to run away from the dreadful past, from the messiness of a system that did not work. That makes me all the more grateful for how our electoral system mediates political conflict, and leads me to re-commit myself to making our country work, and to call upon all our parishioners to play their part in helping that happen.
Since returning from Kigali, I have been reading all the motions, measures and reports that will come before Provincial Synod—our Church's top legislative body—when it meets in September. Reading the reports from provincial ministries and organisations reminds me of the humbling privilege I have as Metropolitan to have a “helicopter” view of all that the Province does. If one looks only only at the difficulties being experienced by a problematic diocese or parish, or at the financial challenges we face, one doesn't appreciate the beauty, the energy and the excitement of what is being done in our church right across Southern Africa. The Province is busy, the Province is active and the Province is alive with worship, mission and service. For that I give thanks to God.
We have resolutions before Synod which may be controversial, one of them on human sexuality, and we too have legislative mechanisms which can help us to address such matters successfully. The Canons allow us to go into Conference, which frees us of the sometimes stifling rules of debate when we are considering a motion. The Synod's advisory team has decided that we need to create more time and space than would normally the available to discuss the motion on human sexuality, so we will go into Conference for our initial discussion of that motion. I am hoping that Synod will be a time of robust and open debate as we confront and work through the issues.
God bless you
†Thabo Cape Town
This month marks the anniversary of significant milestones in the lives of the two living previous archbishops of Cape Town.
Thirty years ago today, September 7, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was enthroned as Archbishop. As I write, he has been in hospital receiving treatment for a recurring infection, and his office has announced that he will undergo a small surgical procedure today to address the root cause of the infection. I visited him upon my return from overseas at the weekend, and he was in good spirits. Please keep him, Mrs Leah Tutu, and their family in your prayers.
Also this month, Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane celebrates the 20th anniversary of his becoming Archbishop. It is also 25 years since his consecration as Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman, and to cap it off he has celebrated his 75th birthday this year. Our warm congratulations to Archbishop Njongo, and our thanks to him for his continued public service in different capacities.
I write this against the background of last month's South African municipal elections. I am grateful that people went to the polls and voted in such numbers and with such enthusiasm, so that our democracy can be said to be both vibrant and legally intact. What is most encouraging is that South Africa has a legislative framework which establishes institutions and mechanisms that enable the electoral process to happen successfully—so much so that although the ruling party lost political control in major cities, the outcomes were accepted by all. So we need to compliment our political role players but especially that framework and those it empowers to keep our democratic processes operating.
Whether we voted or not, what all of us must now do is to act with the urgency that is demanded of us to make South Africa work and to make our nation what God has destined it to be. I say this also against the backdrop of my short stay in Rwanda recently, where I attended a meeting of the Council of the Anglican Provinces of Africa. Leaving the meeting in Kigali, the capital, to visit the city's memorial to the 1994 genocide, I could not help but be struck by how the city really does work. There is effective policing, the place is clean and when you get to a shop, even if stocks are limited there is a commitment to service. But although the city works, I had the impression that it was a result of what one might call an obsession: a desire to run away from the dreadful past, from the messiness of a system that did not work. That makes me all the more grateful for how our electoral system mediates political conflict, and leads me to re-commit myself to making our country work, and to call upon all our parishioners to play their part in helping that happen.
Since returning from Kigali, I have been reading all the motions, measures and reports that will come before Provincial Synod—our Church's top legislative body—when it meets in September. Reading the reports from provincial ministries and organisations reminds me of the humbling privilege I have as Metropolitan to have a “helicopter” view of all that the Province does. If one looks only only at the difficulties being experienced by a problematic diocese or parish, or at the financial challenges we face, one doesn't appreciate the beauty, the energy and the excitement of what is being done in our church right across Southern Africa. The Province is busy, the Province is active and the Province is alive with worship, mission and service. For that I give thanks to God.
We have resolutions before Synod which may be controversial, one of them on human sexuality, and we too have legislative mechanisms which can help us to address such matters successfully. The Canons allow us to go into Conference, which frees us of the sometimes stifling rules of debate when we are considering a motion. The Synod's advisory team has decided that we need to create more time and space than would normally the available to discuss the motion on human sexuality, so we will go into Conference for our initial discussion of that motion. I am hoping that Synod will be a time of robust and open debate as we confront and work through the issues.
God bless you
†Thabo Cape Town
Wednesday 17 August 2016
Provincial Synod to debate proposal for pastoral care for LGBTI members
The forthcoming Provincial Synod is to decide on a proposal to make formal provision for pastoral care to church members identifying as gay and lesbian.
The proposal is contained in a motion included in the 2nd Agenda Book for Synod, which is being sent to Dioceses this week.
Announcing the proposal, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said:
"The motion, tabled by the Diocese of Saldanha Bay, proposes that any bishop of the church who wishes to do so may make provision for her or his clergy to provide pastoral care to those who identify as LGBTI.
"This proposal affirms the assurance already given by our bishops that church members who identify as LGBTI are loved by God and share in full membership of our Church as baptised members of the Body of Christ.
"More controversially, the motion also proposes that clergy who identify as LGBTI and are in legal same-sex civil unions should be licensed to minister in our parishes.
"It also suggests that 'prayers of blessing' should be able to be offered for those in same-sex civil unions. However, it specifically rules out the possibility of marriage under church law.
"It also accepts that any cleric unwilling to take part in providing pastoral care to people who identify as LGBTI shall not be obliged to do so."
The Archbishop added: "Without anticipating what Synod will decide, this debate is overdue in the top councils of our Church, and I welcome it."
The full text of the motion to go before the Synod follows:
A MOTION on PASTORAL CARE in a CONTEXT OF DIVERSE HUMAN SEXUALITY
Presented to the PROVINCIAL SYNOD of ACSA in SEPTEMBER 2016
Whereas
The Anglican Communion has wrestled for many years to produce a comprehensive and mutually acceptable pastoral response to the issue of diversity in human sexuality, to homosexuality and to same sex unions.
And whereas
In 1998, Resolution 1.10 adopted by the Lambeth Conference called the Anglican Communion to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ, and called on the Communion to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation;
And whereas
Anglicans have historically chosen to use Scripture, Tradition and Reason and Experience when discerning God’s unfolding call to mission, knowing that these pillars provide a helpful space in which many voices can be heard and many insights shared, so that a loving pastoral response to those identifying as LGBT can be offered
And whereas
Provincial Synods of ACSA have asked the Bishops of our Province provide guidelines for ministry to those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual or intersex (LBGTI), but have been unable to complete these guidelines
And whereas
Lay and ordained Anglicans who identify as LGBTI, throughout the Communion and within our Province and Dioceses are in need of pastoral care and spiritual support and look to the church for help especially when wanting to enter into same-sex unions
Therefore, this Synod resolves
1. That a Bishop may:
1.1. provide for clergy to be especially prepared for a ministry of pastoral care for those identifying as LGBTI, accepting that any cleric unwilling to engage in such envisioned pastoral care shall not be obliged to do so;
1.2. provide for pastoral counselling of those identifying as LGBTI;
1.3. provide for the preparation for and the licensing of those in same sex unions to lay ministries on Parochial, Archidiaconal and Diocesan levels;
1.4. provide for prayers of blessing to be offered for those in same sex civil unions;
1.5. provide for the licensing for ministry of clergy who identify as LGBTI and are in legal same sex civil unions;
1.6. provide for the use of Liturgical Rites in regard to the above ministries.
2. That a Bishop may not
2.1. provide For the solemnization of same sex unions by clergy, in terms of the ACSA Canon on Marriage (Canon 34).
3. That the Archbishop be respectfully requested to establish an Archbishop’s Commission to:
3.1. Review, reflect on, research and share such theological, pastoral and prophetic principles emerging from this Motion;
3.2 Recommend further actions, both through Interim Reports, tabled at meetings of the Synod of Bishops, and through a final Recommendations Report which is to be tabled at the 2018 meeting of PSC, so that Recommendations, Measures and Motions can be put forward to the 2019 session of the Provincial Synod.
Sunday 31 July 2016
Archbishop's call on political leaders ahead of SA polls
The Electoral Code of Conduct Observer Commission (ECCOC) – a body
made up of religious and civil society leaders – will once again play a
key role in making sure that Wednesday's local government elections in South Africa are
free and fair.
ECCOC works in conjunction with
the Independent Electoral Commission and it aims to help create and
maintain conditions in which elections run smoothly.
One
of its tasks is to ensure that political parties and their leaders
understand that they should not incite violence and instability at a
time when tensions could be running high.
“Political
leaders should not be irresponsible and part of ECCOC’s role is to
ensure that they behave in a responsible manner on election day. We want
to be the first port of call if anyone feels uncomfortable about
anything related to the elections,” said ECCOC’s chairperson, Anglican
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba.
ECCOC’s 15 members are drawn from various faith communities, with a few from civil society.
ECCOC
operates mainly in the Cape metropolitan area and, on election day,
sends observers to voting stations around the broader Cape Peninsula.
They monitor whether presiding officers are doing their jobs properly
and whether elections are conducted in an efficient manner.
ECCOC
as an organisation attempts to be impartial as far as party politics is
concerned and its members are present at polling stations as objective
observers.
“We help to defuse tense situations
if there are any. We hope that political parties and the electorate see
our presence as helping to ensure that there is a moral presence on
election day,” said Archbishop Mokgoba.
Thursday 28 July 2016
Reviewing the fight against HIV and Aids
Friday 24 June 2016
South African Deputy Chief Justice Receives Archbishop's Award
The Archbishop and Justice Moseneke (Photo: Open Society) |
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has presented retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke of South Africa with a special award for his lifelong public service.
Archbishop Makgoba presented Justice Moseneke with the Archbishop's Award for Peace with Justice at Bishopscourt in Cape Town. He did so at a reception during which the interfaith community and civil society in Cape Town expressed their appreciation for Justice Moseneke's service.
Earlier, the Open Society Foundation for South Africa hosted an event during which young lawyers interacted with Justice Moseneke.
In his citation for the award, the Archbishop said that the judge “has earned renown for his strong commitment to social justice and equality, for his fiercely independent spirit and for his dedication to striving for what is good for all the people of South Africa.”
Quoting from Micah, the citation said Justice Moseneke “has done justice, loved kindness and has walked humbly with his God.”
Among previous winners of the award are Archbishop Emeritus Desmond and Mrs Leah Tutu, South African Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, educationist and priest Dr Barney Pityana, retired President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and retired Bishop John Osmers of Zambia.
The full text of the citation follows:
Archbishop’s Award for Peace with Justice - Dikgang Ernest Moseneke
Dikgang Moseneke’s public service can be said to have begun when he decided by the age of 12 that he wanted to change the circumstances of South Africa’s people. Becoming politically active at school in Atteridgeville, by 15 he was a student at what he has called “Makana University”, serving a 10-year prison sentence under the previous regime’s sabotage laws. On Robben Island he sat for his Junior Certificate with Walter Sisulu, then studied in turn for his matric, a BA in English and Political Science and a B Iuris degree, coached in Latin by a fellow prisoner, Mmutlanyane Stanley Mogoba—later a revered leader of the Methodist Church. He also became known for his skills in reconciling prisoners from different political traditions.
Out of prison, he completed his law articles at first an Afrikaans and then a Jewish firm, also earning his Bachelor of Laws degree. Then he established a law firm with other black attorneys in Pretoria. He was first admitted to the Bar in Johannesburg, when the Pretoria Bar still barred people of colour from membership. After helping to write our Interim Constitution, then serving as Deputy Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission, he went into business for six years, initially at the urging of President Nelson Mandela. Returning to the law, he was appointed a judge in Pretoria, then a year later to the Constitutional Court. Less than three years later, in June 2005, he was elevated to the position of Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.
Throughout this time, Justice Moseneke has earned renown for his strong commitment to social justice and equality, for his fiercely independent spirit and for his dedication to striving for what is good for all the people of South Africa. As he memorably said when under fire for his views: “We will all do well to remember that in our constitutional democracy, underpinned by the will of the people and the rule of law, judges are not answerable to any political or other organisation, but are answerable to the will of the people as expressed and formalised in the Constitution and the laws of the Republic.”
Justice Moseneke is also a faithful and committed Methodist. In the words of Micah 6:8, he has done justice, loved kindness and has walked humbly with his God. The Anglican Church of Southern Africa is honoured to recognise this servant of God and of our people with the Archbishop’s Award for Peace with Justice.
Thursday 23 June 2016
To the Laos - To the People of God - June 2016
To the Laos - To the People of God - June 2016
Dear People of God
We face a busy time in the Province in the coming months. The recent Elective Assembly of the Diocese of Christ the King delegated to the Synod of Bishops the choice of a new bishop to succeed Bishop Peter Lee. So the bishops must now choose new bishops for both Niassa and Christ the King at their next meeting at the end of September. Please pray for us as we consider these choices.
Immediately after the Synod of Bishops meets, we will have our three-yearly Provincial Synod. Please pray for the planning process for Provincial Synod, which brings together the whole body of Christ in our church in Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, the island of St Helena and Swaziland. Looking beyond our Province, the body of Christ as represented by Anglicans across Africa will meet in Kigali, Rwanda in August, when we will have a meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA). Pray for this meeting too, and for the election of a successor to the CAPA chair, Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi of Burundi. Beyond Africa, please pray for the Gafcon grouping of Anglican churches and, indeed, for the whole Communion.
Both the Communion and our own Province continue to face the historic challenge posted by the debate around human sexuality. It is a painful issue both for those who support the traditional position on marriage and for those who wish to introduce changes. In our Province, the bishops are committed to ongoing dialogue and conversations around the issue, and I urge those who have not yet read my pastoral letter after the last Synod of Bishops to read it here.
The Second Agenda Book for Provincial Synod will include a resolution on the matter. Please begin to pray about this issue, reflecting on your own sexuality, on your understanding of the sexual orientations of others and on what might constitute a godly, pastoral, biblical and just way of dealing with this matter, taking us to a place beyond where we are now, in which those on both sides of the debate seem to be locked into our positions. I don't want to pre-empt our discussions at Provincial Synod here, but just be aware that this debate is on the agenda. I encourage you to ask your representatives to consult as widely as possible in your diocesan and parish preparations for Synod.
However, I should say immediately that I don’t want the issue of sexuality to dominate our thinking as we view the Communion, and especially as we consider the welfare of our sisters and brothers in other parts of our continent. I have recently been reading material from the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), in Durban, and the situation in the Great Lakes Region is very worrying. Pray particularly for the Democratic Republic of Congo—for an end to conflict in the east, for their planned elections and for their rulers as it appears elections might be delayed and the President’s term of office extended. Madiba’s role in brokering a previous settlement there makes the fate of the Congolese people of special concern to us. As you consider the issues to be dealt with by Provincial Synod, please pray for the Synod using the prayer which appears at the end of this letter.
In South Africa, we are scheduled to have heavily-contested municipal elections in August. It is against that backdrop that I joined other religious leaders recently to witness party leaders and the IEC staff signing the Electoral Code of Conduct in Cape Town. At the signing, the IEC pledged to be transparent and accountable as they work to ensure a free and fair environment for elections. Parties also pledged to play their part. Among the commitments which the Code imposes on parties and candidates are that they undertake:
• Not to use language which provokes violence,
• Not to intimidate voters,
• Not to publish false information about other candidates or parties,
• Not to bribe others to vote for a party,
• Not to deface or remove posters, and
• Not to carry weapons.
Preaching at St Luke’s, Salt River, in Cape Town earlier this month, I regretted the fact that in some provinces of the country we have seen an upsurge in what are said to be political killings. I appeal to all Anglicans to take seriously our civic responsibilities: to vote and to take action if you see any signs of the Code being breached.
In Cape Town, news has come in of the passing of Bishop Charles Albertyn, formerly Bishop Suffragan and a Regional Bishop in the Diocese. His funeral will be on Saturday June 25. We remember Bishop Charles for his deep spirituality and centredness on God, and for the deep wisdom and quick wit he brought to the leadership of the Diocese. We convey the Province’s heartfelt condolences to Berenice and the Albertyn family.
Please offer your prayers for all the situations I have mentioned in this letter in the spirit of St Paul, where he says so beautifully in 1 Corinthians 12, that “all the members of the body, though many, are one body...” and “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.”
God bless you
†Thabo Cape Town
Collect for Provincial Synod
Bounteous God
You provide all that is needed to proclaim your
Kingdom to the nations in our generation:
Grant us
the wisdom to discern the available resources,
the means to develop the people you are calling, and
the humility and strength to commit to the task before us;
through Jesus Christ who has revealed the Kingdom to us
and in the power of the Holy Spirit who drives us into your world.
Amen
Sunday 24 April 2016
VIDEO and PHOTOS: Archbishop awards Leah and Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba on Friday presented the Archbishop's Award for Peace with Justice to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond and Mrs Leah Tutu.
See excerpts from the citations below...
Excerpts from the citations:
Mrs Tutu: We honour Nomalizo Leah Tutu for her lifelong commitment to servant leadership as a courageous opponent of injustice and oppression and as a sustainer, a mother and a supporter of those in her family and beyond who share that commitment. As a role model for students on campuses from Fort Hare to Roma, she helped young women uncertain of themselves in adjusting to their new world. Uprooted from a life of comfort abroad, she came home to fight bravely for the rights of domestic workers, confronting those who would ill-treat some of the most powerless in society. In the face of threats and danger to her husband and family, she nurtured and created a safe haven for them and her extensive network of friends, many of them also leaders in the struggle. Indeed, she does justice, loves kindness and walks humbly with her God.
Archbishop Tutu: We honour Desmond Mpilo Tutu’s extraordinary contributions to the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, to South Africa, Africa and the world as a priest and pastor, prophet and teacher, healer and humourist. Forever caring for his flock as a shepherd, he cajoles people to love one another, to recognise their common humanity and to understand their inter-dependence and equality before God. Angered when he sees those who are created in God’s image subjected to violations of their human dignity, he speaks out courageously for justice in the face of overwhelming odds. With the compassion learned from his beloved mother, he recognises both our strengths and vulnerabilities, always ready to forgive, willing to renew and anxious to reform, resuscitate and rebuild. All this undergirded by a sense of humour—and a loud cackle—which draws us into the all-embracing love of God which he models for everyone whose lives he touches.
Archbishop Tutu: We honour Desmond Mpilo Tutu’s extraordinary contributions to the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, to South Africa, Africa and the world as a priest and pastor, prophet and teacher, healer and humourist. Forever caring for his flock as a shepherd, he cajoles people to love one another, to recognise their common humanity and to understand their inter-dependence and equality before God. Angered when he sees those who are created in God’s image subjected to violations of their human dignity, he speaks out courageously for justice in the face of overwhelming odds. With the compassion learned from his beloved mother, he recognises both our strengths and vulnerabilities, always ready to forgive, willing to renew and anxious to reform, resuscitate and rebuild. All this undergirded by a sense of humour—and a loud cackle—which draws us into the all-embracing love of God which he models for everyone whose lives he touches.
Tuesday 19 April 2016
Archbishop Thabo undergoes tests in Lusaka hospital
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba spent some hours in hospital in Lusaka today, but has been released and will return to South Africa tomorrow after the ACC meeting he has been attending.
He reported to his office in Bishopscourt tonight that after experiencing bowel irritation last night he developed non-stop throbbing headaches. He went to a clinic set up for the ACC, from where a doctor sent him to Lusaka Trust Hospital.
Several tests were done and he is now back in his hotel, he reports, "a bit wobbly as I have never spent more than three hours on a hospital bed. I was deeply humbled by +Justin's visitation and prayers at hospital." He sends his thanks to ACC members and to the "superb" doctors and staff at the hospital.
He reported to his office in Bishopscourt tonight that after experiencing bowel irritation last night he developed non-stop throbbing headaches. He went to a clinic set up for the ACC, from where a doctor sent him to Lusaka Trust Hospital.
Several tests were done and he is now back in his hotel, he reports, "a bit wobbly as I have never spent more than three hours on a hospital bed. I was deeply humbled by +Justin's visitation and prayers at hospital." He sends his thanks to ACC members and to the "superb" doctors and staff at the hospital.
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