To the Laos - To the People of God - Advent 2018

As published in the monthly newsletter of the Diocese of Cape Town:

As this edition of Good Hope went to press, I was on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where I and two of my fellow bishops consecrated the new Bishop of St Helena, the Right Revd Dale Bowers.

St Helena is part of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa which in the past has received less attention from the Province than other dioceses; its remoteness making it accessible until now only in weeks-long voyages by sea. My visit is the first undertaken by the Metropolitan in more than 30 years, and as far as we can establish a bishop for the Diocese has never before been consecrated on the island. Yet Anglican ministry in our Province began on St Helena: the first Anglican chaplain was appointed in 1671 and St James' Church in the main centre, Jamestown – where we said Morning Prayer on the day of the consecration – is the oldest surviving Anglican church in the Southern Hemisphere. The Diocese, which includes a parish on Ascension Island, is the fourth oldest in the Province, after Cape Town, Grahamstown and Natal.

Bishop Dale with the Archbishop.

So it was a special joy to be able to take advantage of St Helena's newly-built airport and to fly there with the Dean of the Province, the Right Revd Stephen Diseko of Matlosane, Bishop Allan Kannemeyer of Pretoria, and my chaplain, the Revd Mcebisi Pinyana, for the consecration. The consecration service took place on November 11, so it was also preceded by a civic Remembrance Day service in which we commemorated the end of the First World War exactly 100 years earlier. The local Catholic Church hosted an ecumenical lunch to welcome us and to honour Bishop Dale. He is only the second of the 16 bishops of the Diocese actually born on the island; please pray for him, for his, wife, Penny, his family and for the people and clergy of the Diocese.

Turning to more solemn Provincial matters, our only institution for full-time residential training for the ordained ministry, the College of the Transfiguration (Cott) in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), is undergoing serious financial trouble. So I am issuing a special appeal to parishes as your Archbishop: please make a special love gift to Cott this Christmas. You can send it to Canon Charleen van Rooyen, the Diocesan Administrator. Also, you don't have to be selected and paid for by a Diocese to study at Cott; anyone with an interest in getting a sound theological training – for example, a retired layperson wanting to study further – is free to apply to study at the college, even if it is not with the intention of being ordained.

Also as we went to press, the sad news came in that Mrs Tobeka Mzamane, wife of Bishop Sitembele Mzamane, formerly Bishop of Mthatha, Dean of the Province and in retirement Vicar-General of Mzimvubu, had collapsed and died. Also, Bishop Stephen Diseko, currently Dean of the Province, lost his sister, Elizabeth. Please hold them and their families in your prayers, and we send our condolences and messages of comfort to them.

In the Diocese, you will by now know that Bishop Garth Counsell retires at Easter next year. He will be on sabbatical from December until February, so I will be appointing a Vicar-General in the interim. I am already suffering “termination anxiety” at the prospect of his retirement; I have really loved working with Bishop Garth and have felt upheld and supported by his ministry and leadership. I hope that God will send us another servant as loving, faithful and able. A number of farewell functions are being planned to thank him and Marion for their love and service to this church and Diocese. His annual end-of-year dinner for the clergy turned into something very special – a kind of going-away dinner for the Counsell family. Thank you to those who arranged it.

As we wind down for the year and Christmas approaches, my warm thanks to everyone on the staff of the Diocese and at Braehead House and Bishopscourt for their dedicated service to the Diocese and Province this year.

I wish you all a peaceful and merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. May our New Year's resolutions be about loving God and our neighbours as ourselves, and treating the environment with care and compassion.

God bless.

†Thabo Cape Town

St Helena's weekly flight attempts to land.... a 3rd time

Friday morning in Jamestown.

Friday November 30:

Last night we had dinner at Wellington House and Bishop Dale came to assure us that the plane was on schedule for today. After a good tuna steak and rum-and-raisin ice cream, we walked home. 

This morning was a bit warm and up until 10:30am we had a bit of sunshine.

Town is buzzing with people, reminding me of the little town of Grahamstown on a Friday, full of energy. The numbers of people are far lower here but the spirit is the same.

We walked up Main Street and along the Jamestown harbour and met more people wishing us well with our flight today. The news is that flight has left Windhoek on its way here and we hope in the next four hours there are no dramatic weather changes.

The rest of our story can be told in photos I took, and from St Helena-related websites:

Packed at our hotel and ready to go.

To the airport - it's cloudy, but not too windy.

St Helena's runway is exposed to what pilots call "wind shear".

We're at the airport. 

The prospects look good. 

Checking in. 

Alleluia! The plane has landed.

We landed at OR after 10 pm tonight... Now back to Cape Town to sort out my disrupted schedule and reconnect with my family. 

Exploring St Helena - and getting exercise...

Brother clergy climb Sister's Hill.

Archbishop Thabo continues to blog from St Helena as a result of repeated postponements of the flight taking him, Bishop Stephen Diseko, Bishop Allan Kannemeyer and Fr. Mcebisi Pinyana back to Johannesburg after the consecration of Bishop Dale Bowers:

Wednesday November 20:

At 7:30 we joined the weekly Mass at St James, celebrated by Bishop Dale, then had breakfast. I had run out of hypertension medication so my chaplain, Mcebisi Pinyana, and I enjoyed a walk through light drizzle to the hospital pharmacy. On our way back, an old lady ran across the street and said Eric had books I was looking for. This is how news travels on the island.

The books were piano lessons for beginners. I borrowed them and went to St James to practise the piano. Joy, my teacher in Cape Town, will be happy to know that I fitted in about 30 minutes' practice! I know it's a schlep for her to teach an adult but she is the best teacher for me.

Back at my room I continued to read “Justice” by Michael Sandel, a recommended read indeed. Then I dozed off; I did not l know that I had so much sleep in me! My siesta was disturbed by a call from my university friend and brother-come-businessman, who had heard that we are stuck on St Helena and wanted to send a private plane to fetch us. I assured him that the islanders are hospitable and perhaps God is willing us to rest.

I fell back into siesta again and at 13:55 the reception called and woke me up. Joy – another wonderful ‘deacon’, not ordained but diaconal in her varied services – came to check if we wanted any help. She also brought us lovely thank-you notes. Jamestown and the island are small and we are now “known” around town. It takes longer to move from place to place than when we arrived, as everyone wants to say a word or two and inquire how we are.

Jamestown, with Jacob's Ladder in background.

The four of us re-grouped and decided to climb Sister's Hill as brothers. Sister's Hill is the hill on the opposite side of the Jamestown valley from the hill which we use Jacob's Ladder to climb. We walked to the top and could see the new Rupert's harbour not far from us in the adjoining valley. Our aim was to walk to Rupert's valley from Jamestown but at a dilapidated watchpost we decided to enjoy views of the ocean and the different view of Jamestown.

In the area - Munden's Point - three Bahraini dissidents were held by the British at the request of the rulers of Bahrain from 1957 to 1961 - the last prisoners to be exiled to St Helena.

After some while we descended. We had hoped to get something from the stores on our way back but they close early on Wednesdays, so we went to one which was still open and bought what we could. It has been cooler and the wind is gone.

Talk is that we might leave on Friday but I suspect it might be Saturday – or whenever!

We each have meal vouchers from the airline for 20 pounds a day. We eat sufficient breakfast for the day and use our vouchers at dinner. Lunch is siesta. For Wednesday dinner we across the Castle Gardens to eat at Anne's Place, where we had a delicious home-cooked meal. I enjoyed the yellowtail and vegetables. (Scrolldown the Castle Gardens page)

After  dinner, I still needed about 1430 steps to complete my aim to walk 10,000 steps a day on my mobile phone Stepz App. It monitors my daily activities and since being on St Helena my walking is in the green area on the App, meaning 10k or above. So I went up towards the Post Office and back towards the harbour and around the fountain at the gardens and reached my goal for the day.

More photos from our walk - and the vouchers which give us sustenance....

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Stranded in the South Atlantic!

Bishop Dale braais fish for us.

Our goodbyes to the Saints were delayed last Saturday when the weather forced the cancellation of our flight home, resulting in an avalanche of cancellations.

So we were here on St Helena for a second Sunday. My chaplain, Mcebisi Pinyana, preached at St James' Church, Jamestown, and instead of being at St Mary's in Orlando East in the Diocese of Johannesburg, I celebrated at St James, accompanied by great music and the choir. (The church is alongside a prison! See photo below.) 

Bishop Allan Kannemeyer preached at another parish, while Bishop Stephen Diseko celebrated, and Bishop Dale Bowers went to St Paul's Cathedral. It is a rare happening on the island that you have so many bishops in so many parishes on one Sunday.

For lunch we joined Mrs Penny Bowers' parents, Bobby and Pat, and their family as they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. (Also see a photo below.) Larry the churchwarden and Ivy Ellick, the Diocesan Registrar, continued to pamper us with attention, for which we are most grateful.

On Monday, the four of us visitors took a long walk after breakfast, choosing a new route and covering about 10 km in total, according to my phone App. We walked up the Jamestown valley inland as if going to the next valley, Rupert's, and then at Constitution Corner we came down again past St John's Church and through an area called Maldivia. 

We were tracing Maldivia Lodge (see photo), where Dinuzulu lived during his exile on the island, but we were also just enjoying this safe island on foot. I dedicated the afternoon to admin and correspondence with the office via WhatsApp. 

On Monday evening, we joined the Bowers for a fish BBQ. It was a good opportunity to say thank you to this generous family for hosting us and spoiling us. 

It is windy and cloudy but we are assured that the flight from Johannesburg will land and that we will be able to depart for South Africa. A number of people have said their goodbyes and some said they will also come to the airport. St Helena's cricket team is coming in from Botswana on the flight.

The extra days have been relaxing and reminded me to firm up the dates for my pre-Advent retreat soon. Until we meet again, thank you Saints and all who prayed for our visit here.

Subsequent to the Archbishop writing this, the following tweets on Tuesday from the St Helena Independent:

St James Church backs onto Her Majesty's Prison!

Celebrating Penny Bowers' parents' 50th wedding anniversary.

Maldivia Lodge in 1903. (Acknowledgements: St Helena Island Info)

A delayed goodbye to St Helena by visiting bishops

From left, Bishops Stephen, Dale and Allan on
a school visit with Archbishop Thabo.

From an unseasonably windy day on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, Archbishop Thabo wraps up his daily blog account of his visit to the Diocese with Bishop Stephen Diseko and Bishop Allan Kannemeyer: 

Friday November 16 

On my last scheduled full day on St Helena, I walked once again – alone this time – up and down  Jacob's Ladder to look out over Jamestown and surrounds. The wind didn't exactly blow me up, but it got windy during the day and the talk was of whether the weekly flight will be able to land on Saturday or not. As a frequent traveller, I have flown in cantankerous and inclement weather before but only time will tell...

After breakfast we had Morning Prayer, followed by an official visit to the Governor's office at the Castle in Jamestown. Governor Lisa Honan gave our team an audience and shared her journey and vision, as well as her love for the the island.

We then went to the Prince Andrew School, where the primary and secondary school children of the island were all together. The Secretary of Education was present too. Mrs Penny Bowers is the head teacher of the school. They convened a great assembly, the first where all the learners congregated in one hall to worship with us. We sung, read a text, and Bishop Dale and Fr Musgrave of the Roman Catholic Church did a sermon demonstration.

I taught the school Miriam Makeba's “Click Song” and we danced together. I shared briefly my education story, as in my book, Faith & Courage, stressing its importance and relating how some in Africa still struggle to attend school. A young Afrikaans boy came up to me after assembly, asked me, “Waarvandan kom die biskop” and gave me a high five. It took me on an emotional journey home. He was touched too and I glad that he stepped out to greet me.

After school, I went to the Saints FM and SAMS local radio stations to share our experiences of the island. Leigh and Cyril at the respective stations were such a joy.

We had our last meal and lunch with our ecumenical partners and said our thanks and good byes. We were meant to have a boat trip to see whales but it was cancelled due to the wind and very choppy seas. This meant we had our only nap of the week today!

Tonight we will have our last meal with the Diocesan Council and clergy, then come back to the hotel and pack. Tomorrow weather permitting and God willing we shall depart. I have my boarding pass at hand. Thank you all for carrying us and the Saints in your prayers. I now pen off my reflections. Do visit st Helena to retreat, recoup and reflect.

LATE NOTE FROM BISHOPSCOURT: As we prepared the Archbishop's blog post for publication, news came that the weekly Saturday flight had been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. The party is now expected to return on Tuesday, resulting in a number of cancelled engagements, including the Archbishop's participation in London in preparation for the Lambeth Conference.

More notes on slavery:

Slaves were transported to and from St Helena before the trade was abolished in the British empire. After its abolition, a British naval brig, the Waterwitch, was deployed to suppress the trade, and a naval court was set up on the island to try slavers captured by the navy. 

Notice of a sales of slaves.

An account of what happened to freed slaves.

A memorial to the crew of the Waterwitch.

Homily preached at the Consecration and Installation of Dale Arthur Bowers MBE as 16th Bishop of St Helena

Bishop Dale and Archbishop Thabo
(Photo: ‘What The Saints Did Next’)

Homily by the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, PhD, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa at the Cathedral of St Paul on Sunday, 11th November 2018:

Readings: 1 Kings 17:8-16; Ps 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mk 12:38-44

May I speak in the name of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Your Excellency Mrs Lisa Honan and Mr Dave Honan, Members of the Legislative Council, ecumenical partners, my brother Bishops,  other distinguished guests, esteemed clergy of this Diocese, and People of God, sisters and brothers all:

St Helena's graves show the pain of war

Archbishop Thabo at the graves of Dinuzulu's infant sons.

Archbishop Thabo continues his account of a visit to the Diocese of St Helena:

Thursday November 15 - later in the morning

After climbing Jacob's Ladder together with our visiting party, I joined Bishop Dale and the Canon for Morning Prayer. Then our episcopal team joined Dale and me for another Bishops' peer training session.

We concluded the session on the issue of Church governance and the Bishop's role as the main liturgist in the Diocese. We addressed the question of how scripture, self-knowledge and your response to God's mission enables you as a bishop to create structures in the Diocese that breathe life and release others for mission.

Bishops climb Jacob's Ladder - and visit oldest St Helena resident

Bishop Stephen Diseko reaches the top.

Thursday November 15 – Morning

Today all four of us visitors – including Bishop Steve, Bishop Allan and Fr Mcebisi - made the early morning climb, 699 steps up Jacob's Ladder!

See more photos below... 

Wednesday November 14

We continued with our Bishops' peer training today, devoting a session to the Bishop in scripture as we shared our experiences.

Then we visited Plantation House, the official residence of the Governor of the island, for a special tour in which we learned a lot of history and background. St Helena being a British Overseas Territory, it has its own Legislative Council and a governor who represents the British monarch. We were glad the current governor has opened the residence for the public to visit.

Also at Plantation House, we met the oldest resident of St Helena, Jonathan the Tortoise, who at an estimated 186 years is also reputed to be the world's oldest known living terrestrial animal. Then we went to visit Longwood House, the house in which Napoleon Bonaparte lived from 1815 to his death in 1821 after the British had defeated him and sent him into exile. There we refreshed our knowledge about the ravages of war in history.

Of Dinuzulu, Boer prisoners and the slave trade - Blogging from the South Atlantic

Travelling inland on St Helena (Photo: Archbishop Thabo)

Visiting the Diocese of St Helena with Bishop Stephen Diseko of Matlosane, Dean of the Province, and Bishop Allan Kannemeyer of Pretoria, for the consecration and installation of Bishop Dale Bowers, Archbishop Thabo writes: 

Tuesday November 13:

After Morning Prayer at St James' Church in Jamestown, we started our Bishops' peer training at St James' Vicarage with Bishop Dale, touching on the bishop as a person and caring for oneself.

The three of us - Bishops Stephen and Allan and I - shared our own varied experiences, which was very fruitful for all of us.

To the Laos - To the People of God, May 2012

Dear People of God

This year is my fifth as Archbishop of Cape Town, and also sees the tenth anniversary of my consecration. All who are able are invited to share in celebrating this decade at a special service in St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, at noon on 26 May!

Since becoming Metropolitan, I have continually been struck by the wonderful sense of common life shared across the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and the great distances between us – not just in geography, but in some of the human realities that we experience. I pray we can sustain this sense of togetherness by sharing news from around our church and praying for one another. St Paul wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonians, ‘We always give thanks to God for all of you, and mention you in our prayers …’ (1 Thess 1:2). Let us bear each other up in the same way!

A particularly urgent and important prayer request come from Bishop Adam Taaso, who asks for our intercessions for Lesotho’s elections on 26 May. In recent weeks, there has been a lot of tension within and between different parties, with outbreaks of violence, even murder. The churches are working with others to promote peaceful, free elections, and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu – himself Bishop of Lesotho from 1976 to 1978 – visited at the end of April. He appealed for an end to violence, and invited all the political parties to sign a pledge to pursue peaceful elections and to respect the results in due course. Please pray that these promises may be kept.

Another topic for prayer is the diocesan synods of Namibia and Port Elizabeth, on 24-26 May. May they be times of fellowship, planning and renewing diocesan vision and mission, and also of commitment to mutual accountability in the things of God.

Our most distant Diocese is the mid-Atlantic Island of St Helena. Last month Bishop Richard Fenwick and his wife Jane spent a morning at Bishopscourt. They were on their way to the UK, for well-earned holiday, as well as a busy programme of visits to congregations and others who support the Diocese. Jane – whose birthday it was – showed us a wonderful slide show of Island life, and Bishop Richard spoke about the church’s priorities. Work is due to begin soon on St Helena’s first airport, and this will mean major changes to nearly every aspect of Island life. Building work will bring a large influx of workers, and further challenges will follow when it opens, making travel and tourism to and from St Helena far easier. Please keep ‘the Saints’ in your prayers.

One of the joys of travelling around the Province and meeting Anglicans is that again and again I feel my heart lifting, as we recognise one another not only as brothers and sisters in Christ, but as sharing something very special within the family of ACSA. It is a precious, holy, gift, to know that we belong together, held in the embrace of God’s steadfast love. It is as if well-springs of joyful encouragement overflow when we meet – an encouragement that strengthens and inspires us, whatever challenges we face.

Yet meeting together over such big distances is difficult and expensive. This is why Provincial Synod is held every three years, with Provincial Standing Committee in intervening years; and though all Dioceses are represented, only relatively few people participate. So we must ensure ACSA ‘meets’ in other, more comprehensive, ways, and nurture our fellowship in Christ, and partnership in the gospel. These letters are one way of contributing to this goal. Social media can also help, like my Facebook page (‘Archbishop Thabo Makgoba’) and blog (http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org) and there are other FB pages for Provincial organisations, as well as Dioceses, Parishes and other groups. Please use what you can, and, whatever else, do pray!

But while all these are great for sharing news, they are not so good for in-depth reflection or debate. So let me first commend Southern Anglican: through its pages ACSA members can offer views on important questions that face the church, or face us as Christians engaging with the world around. Please do take the initiative to contact to the editor, Revd Loraine Tulleken, offering pieces for publication. This is our magazine, open to all, so let’s make it work by addressing what matters to us most, in its pages.

Second, I invite you all to join me at the Anglicans Ablaze Conference, ‘A Generation Rising Up’, from 3 to 6 October, in Johannesburg. With the backing of the Synod of Bishops, and supported by Growing the Church, this conference will help us celebrate together and explore more deeply our Provincial Vision – that we are ‘Anglicans who ACT: Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God’s mission, Transformed by the Holy Spirit’. For more information, contact GtC on office@growingthechurch.org.za or 021 712 0408, or see www.anglicansablaze.org. I look forward to meeting many of you there. If you cannot come in person, please ‘be present’ by praying. And whether you can come or not, I encourage your parish to follow the 6-week sermon series, with material for Bible studies, on the Vision and Mission Statement. Download this at www.growingthechurch.org.za/events.aspx.

Last month Lungi and I and our daughter Pabi were in London, where I preached at St Martin in the Fields at a service celebrating the silver wedding of Pabi’s godmother, Tricia Sibbons and her husband Douglas Board. We got to know Tricia when she was a warden at St Martins, which has historic links with St Marys’ in the City Cathedral, Johannesburg, where I was curate. Tricia was the first Director of the Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre, and now chairs its Board. She and Douglas arranged for me to address a group of London lawyers and business people, challenging them not just to help such initiatives by donations, but to use their influence to change the politico-economic systems that continue to place politics and profits before people and planet.

I was able to pursue the same argument a fortnight later at the World Economic Forum Africa Summit in Addis Ababa, where I was a panel speaker in sessions on ‘Fostering Political Stability’ and ‘The Future Role of Civil Society’. Please keep praying that such opportunities continue to arise for me to make the voice of the church heard, promoting gospel values, moral living, and priorities that reflect God’s justice, among those who shape how our world is run. They need to hear the clear message that the current world order creates poverty, damages the planet, and puts all our futures in jeopardy. I have asked Prof Gerald West to compile Bible studies for 2013 to help us reflect theologically on economics. I am also working to promote initiatives that particularly help tackle youth unemployment – I shall say more about these next month.

Scripture says, ‘Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another … ’ (Heb 10:24-5). Let us work hard at doing this, in person, and in prayer.

Yours in the Service of Christ,

+Thabo Cape Town