For the record: Letter to Dr Fauci and Others

People’s Vaccine Campaign: Letter from Archbishop Thabo Makgoba to Dr Anthony Fauci and Others

30 January 2021

URGENT

To: Dr Tony Fauci and Dr Rochelle Walensky

And to: Dr David Kessler; Dr Vivek Murthy; and Dr Marcella Nunez-Smith

Per e-mail

Installation of new Principal, Bishops, Cape Town

Installation of Antony Reeler as Principal of Diocesan College

Bishops Memorial Chapel

Reading: Mark 4:10-20

May I speak in the name of God who calls, informs and transforms us. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, dear Bishops family, Bishop Joshua, Archdeacon Mark Long, it's a great joy to be with you this morning and to celebrate the installation of a new College principal amidst the challenges of Covid-19. I warmly welcome you all – parents, guardians and learners – and thank you for inviting me. A special welcome to Mr Reeler, his wife Rose, Michael-John and Lexie as they join the College community.

“Living Holy and Healthy Relationships” - 2021 Lent Course

Dear People of God

We enter Lent this year at a time of unprecedented  suffering as a consequence of Covid-19. But while, thanks to medical science and collective action, we can be confident that this pandemic too shall pass, the “hidden pandemic” of our times – gender-based violence – remains deeply rooted in our society.

It is with that in mind that Provincial Standing Committee commissioned “Living Holy and Healthy Relationships” as the Lent Course for 2021.  As the introduction says, “Given that GBV brings such deep devastation to individuals, families and communities, we are often overwhelmed by the disastrous effects of this violence.” But just as we can overcome Covid-19, so too can we overcome GBV if we dedicate as many resources, both spiritually and through collective action, to uprooting this evil.

I commend warmly “Living Holy and Healthy Relationships” and appeal to you to engage earnestly with it, mustering all the energy you can to working among those in your patch of God’s Kingdom to bring about the changes in outlook and behaviour needed to end permanently this scourge.

To the Provincial Liturgical Committee and the Parish of St Francis of Assisi Parish, Parkview, we extend our thanks for the fine work they have done.

God bless.

†† Thabo Cape Town

Download: “Living Holy and Healthy Relationships” 

Homily for the funeral of Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya

Preached for the funeral in Mbabane on January 23, 2021:

2 Corinthians 4: 7-18; Psalm 42: 1-7; John 6: 37-40

May I speak in the name of God, our Redeemer and our Sustainer. Amen. 

RIP - the Right Revd Ellinah Wamukoya

It is with profound sorrow that I have to announce the devastating news that the Bishop of Swaziland in eSwatini, the Right Revd Ellinah Wamukoya, died today.

Bishop Ellinah was admitted to hospital late last week and was put on oxygen therapy for Covid-19. 

We express our deepest condolences to her husband, Okwaro Henry Wamukoya, their children and grandchildren. May her soul rest in peace.

BISHOP ELLINAH WAMUKOYA

Bishop Ellinah Ntfombi Wamukoya was elected to the position in 2012, becoming the first woman bishop in the Anglican Church in Africa. 

She was previously the Town Clerk of Manzini, eSwatini's commercial hub, having earlier served as the City Planner. She held a Master’s degree in Town and Regional Planning.

She had a history of serving in community offices and organizations, and had a long involvement with the Anglican Diocese of Swaziland. She was ordained priest in 2005. At the time she was elected bishop, she was Anglican chaplain to the University of eSwatini.  

In her Diocese, the Province of Southern Africa and the Anglican Communion, Bishop Ellinah was widely known for her advocacy of the integrity of creation. She was the liaison bishop for the environment in the Province of Southern Africa. 

In 2016, she was named by the BBC in London as one of the world's 100 most inspirational and influential women.

†† Thabo Cape Town

Tribute to Dolly Mokgatle

The sudden death of Dolly Mokgatle, an accomplished entrepreneur and leader in both South Africa's private and public sectors, comes as a huge shock which has sent ripples of concern through the Anglican Church, of which she was a dedicated member.  

Homily - Memorial Service for Suzanne Peterson

Preached at an online service on January 8 in thanksgiving for the life of the the Rev. Canon Sally Suzanne Peterson, formerly of the Diocese of Grahamstown and of the Archbishop's office at Bishopscourt, Cape Town: 

May I speak in the name of God who is Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.

Letter of condolence on the death of King Thulare III of the Bapedi

Dear Nape

I write on behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and my family, le Ditlou ka moka, to convey our condolences to the Royal family on the death of His Majesty King Thulare III. I recently sent him a Christmas message, to which he warmly replied, “Thobela, Thobela Archbishop, Merry Christmas, hope you are well. Kea leboga.”

As you know, the King valued our relationship and had hoped that I would play a part in his coronation to cement a long-lasting working relationship. I will miss seeing him annually at the Motsepe Foundation meetings and of course I will treasure the memorable dinner at the Pretoria Diocesan event. We are sorry and pained at this time of grieving. Even at his young age of 40, he did so much for the monarchy and Bapedi, for which we are grateful. I pray that his death will build the family and not divide it, leaving a legacy of a united Bapedi Kingdom after years of contestations.

We have entered a trying second wave of Covid-19 - please ask Dikgomo as a tribute to King Thulare III to be safe, to join in keeping hope alive and finally to defeat this cruel virus whilst we await the vaccines. As Christians, we know that the King is still with us. We know that King Thulare III is with his Maker, who is God of the living and the dead. We know that his Majesty is now reunited with the royal ancestors who have fought bravely for us to be where we are today. May his soul rest in peace and rise in glory. May his young family be comforted and consoled even in their bereavement.

Sebata Kgomo!!!

Arch Thabo Makgoba

Covid-19 - A new, urgent call for prayer

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has made a renewed and urgent call for prayer after the news that coronavirus infections reached a new daily record high in South Africa on Wednesday. 

The South African Department of Health announced that there had been 21,832 new coronavirus infections in a 24-hour period, the highest daily number since the outbreak of the pandemic. Noting the “grim milestone”, it said the total cumulative number of cases had risen to 1,149,591.

The Archbishop said in a note to the Bishops of the Province: “The second wave of Covid-19 is harsher and fierce. It calls for us to be more vigilant and perhaps make a call to our respective dioceses for a day of prayer again or to intensify soaking our countries in prayer.”

He also re-published prayers for use in the Province which he composed during the first wave of the pandemic last year. 

Daily noon-time prayer

God bless the world,

Give it wisdom at this time,

Grant us relief and release,

Be with those who are ill,

And bless the carers fighting this pandemic,

For Jesus Christ’s sake,

Amen

Prayer to conclude worship

Lord God, in this season of fear and uncertainty, 

as we face the threat of the coronavirus,

Grant us the wisdom and determination to walk in one another’s shoes,

The confidence and the humility to draw closer to you and to those affected,

Empower us to pastor those who are ill, to weep for the dead, to support the healers and to care for and love one another.

And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and always. 

Amen

Ad Laos - to the People of God - A Message for Epiphany

Dear People of God, 

2021 is more than a new year: it presents us with a new dawn. The introduction of Covid-19 vaccines will help return our country to a base of normalcy that will allow us to address the inequality of equality and the inequality of opportunities. But even before that, 2021 gives us the breathing room to reflect on the lessons we need to remember about the year we’ld like to forget, 2020. [Text continues after Audio version]