Easter Vigil at St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

The following sermon was preached at the Easter Vigil Service at St George's Cathedral, Cape Town, on 7 April 2012.

Romans 6:3-11; Mark 16:1-8

Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Sisters and Brothers in Christ, may all the fullness of Easter resurrection life be yours!

I was reflecting earlier that this is my fifth Easter with you, and I realise that I am more than well settled, because I am now finding that the sort of questions I get from journalists at this time of year are beginning to sound all too familiar.

So, for example, I’ve had one journalist asking what my Easter message would be to MTN, given the accusations that they are undermining South Africa’s values, in their relationships in Iran; and another asked me what I thought of the Red Bull advert; and then there was the question about ‘halaal’ hot cross buns – where, perhaps a little flippantly, I answered that Christians should take this as encouragement to share them with their Muslim neighbours!

And then came the Sunday Times, asking for my response to the news that Pastor Ray McCauley’s Rhema Church is planting a congregation at Silverstar Casino on the West Rand. Well, I hope they carry that part of my answer in which I say that the Holy Spirit leads God’s people to proclaim the gospel anywhere and everywhere, and so if the Holy Spirit has led Rhema to open a church at the casino, well, I hope they won’t gamble, but I also hope they will persevere in preaching the good news of Jesus Christ as I’m sure people there need to hear it!

For this is our Easter good news: Jesus, who was crucified, has been raised! And we who have been united with his death in baptism, are united within him also in his risen life! Yet what does it mean for you to be united with him in his risen life? What does it mean for me, and in my responding to the sort of questions I’ve just outlined?

The gospel of St Mark, probably the oldest account we have in Scripture, tells us of how the women learnt that Jesus had been raised; a whole new way of life has begun – but it does not tell us what happened next. There is a lesson here for us. We know Jesus has been raised, and so we have been raised too. Yet it is for us to find out what this resurrection means for us, here and now.

The young man points us in the right direction. He says to the women at the tomb ‘He is going ahead of you.’ Jesus leads us on, on whatever life’s journey has in store for us. All of us must be ready to be led onwards in our spiritual pilgrimage. Some of us will do that through actual physical pilgrimages, for example to the Holy Land. Perhaps coming to the Cathedral tonight is a step on your journey of faith.

Outer journeying is often accompanied by inner journeying. It may just be to a quiet day with the Centre of Christian Spirituality, or for a weekend away. Some go on longer retreats. Perhaps earlier this week you walked the ‘Stations of the city’ in the company of others – from other churches, even from other faiths. Companions on the journey are often important in helping us seek the face of God – as the two disciples found on the road to Emmaus, when they realised that it was Jesus with whom they had walked.

Our gospel reading reminds us that Easter has come to us all – and yet we are also called forwards, into new life, by Jesus who goes ahead of us. What might this mean for you, together, as the Cathedral family. You too are at a point where a whole new way of life has begun. It is less than a year since I installed your Dean, and here is he now with a completely fresh clergy team. A new way of life has begun for the Cathedral and its people – but, like the first disciples, we too are still finding out what this will mean for us.

Some of you may know the group development model described as ‘Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing’. This lays out helpfully the sort of stages that people go through, when some new chapter is begun. Let me explain. First comes ‘forming’ – when a new reality is created, with all its exciting hopes and expectations! People get to know one another, but are all still on best behaviour as we start to consider the challenges ahead from our new perspectives!

And there are certainly plenty of challenges – not least, the roof! But there are also questions about what it means to be at the heart of the city, at a time of so many political and socio-economic changes. And what of our role in the Diocese, the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, and within the world-wide Anglican Communion, where we have so many friends, such strong ties – and yet where there are also many changes happening. We must not forget what is perhaps the primary calling – as a Christian community, which must be nurtured in its life of worship, witness and service.

You may have noticed that I am using the words ‘we’ and ‘our’ rather a lot! For I too have a spiritual home here – not only on festivals, but also often at the 8am Sunday service, when, if I am not busy elsewhere, it is a joy to slide quietly into my seat, and be fed through being part of this family of God. And therefore it is my commitment to help you in discovering and living out God’s vision for your lives. So I share with you, in this process of wrestling with the questions of the Cathedral’s new calling.

And alongside all these challenges come the other questions, of what new beginnings come with this new Dean, to whom God has given many different gifts, different experiences and skills, a different personality and character, to his predecessor – and the same is true of the full time clergy team.

There is much promise of newness of life – but such change can be very unsettling, once the honeymoon period is over. And so then comes the storming! All the different ideas about who we are and what we should be doing come into the open, where they compete for consideration. This needs to happen, if we are to go forwards. At best it is constructive brainstorming – but sometimes it can be more tempestuous, as it stirs up unspoken assumptions, and forces us to look more radically at who we are and where we should be going.

Yet we should not be afraid. As the young man at the tomb said to the women, ‘Do not be alarmed.’ For the risen Christ may well be deliberately leading us on a more profound journey of reflection and discovery than we had anticipated. We can be confident that – by his grace, and holy trust, tolerance and patience growing among us – God will help us take on this deeper task of discernment, and find his way forward for us together.

As we seek the face of God himself, we will come to see in him a shared vision and common goals, and so develop shared understandings of how we should pursue these. This is called the ‘norming’ stage. We establish a ‘new norm’, a common view of our vocation and how we will give expression to it, within our walls and in engagement with the community around.

And the better we can establish such a new norm, the better we are likely then to do in ‘performing’ – in actually achieving this vision – in living it out in fruitful lives. For we know that our ultimate calling, in following Jesus, is to abide in him and ‘bear the fruit that will last’.

Yet following Jesus can be demanding – for, as he tells us, this means taking up our crosses. As we go forward, there may be aspects of our old life that we have to leave behind: which we have, so to speak, to put to death. When this happens, we should not be surprised to find ourselves grieving. This is natural. But God comforts those who bring their griefs to him – as Jesus promised in the beatitudes. The sorrow of Good Friday gives way to the joy of Easter. And the joy of Easter flows through us to the world – it is the basis of our ‘performing’, bearing fruit wherever we are called.

So let us share in reflecting on how to make the Easter message tangible within and beyond these walls. Please pray with and for me too, as I consider how to share the good news that Christ is risen in concrete ways some of the areas to which I am called. Easter people, like the Old Testament prophets, are to be a prophetic and consistent voice in our land: a voice of prayer to God, and of conscience to our leaders. We are both to intercede, and to demand justice and mercy for all. Informal settlements are especially on my heart – from Khayelitsha’s water and sanitation needs, to the people of Langa, or Kennedy Road near Durban, following devastating fires last month, last week. Therefore let us pray, and work, for proper housing, safety, sanitation and water for everyone, as part of the abundant life which the Risen Jesus Christ offers.

So, finally, dear people of God of St George’s Cathedral – may all the fullness of Christ’s resurrection life be yours! And do not be alarmed, if new life is unsettling. Know that the risen Christ is going ahead of you – and as you follow him, you will find that all he has told you, all his promises, are true.

Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Sermon for the New Dean - To your Name, Lord, Give the Glory

This sermon was preached at the Induction and Installation of the Very Revd Michael Weeder as Rector of the Cathedral Parish of St George the Martyr and Dean of Cape Town, on 22 May 2011.

Psalm 115; Leviticus 8: 1- 12; Matthew 7:7 -14

Alleluia, Christ is risen – He is risen indeed, Alleluia

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

Dear people of God, dear people of the Cathedral Parish of St George the Martyr, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, dear friends from near and far, I greet you in the name of the God who delights to give good gifts to his children.

What a joy and pleasure it is to share today with you all. Thank you for being here. [Further words of welcome and thanks.]

As my text this afternoon I am taking the first verse of our Psalm, which reads, in more modern translation: ‘Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory’ (Ps 115:1).

One thing that Cathedrals are very good at doing, is putting on a show! This is true of days like today, and the great feasts of the Church, like Easter and Christmas, as well as the many other special events that happen here for people and organisations from across Cape Town or farther afield.

Archdeacon Michael – soon to be Dean Michael – you will find that, whatever the occasion, you will be there, at the heart of it all, a focus for everything the Cathedral stands for. It is a responsibility that you will also shoulder on far quieter occasions, at the early morning Eucharists; in the pastoral care of individuals; and through passing conversations with the many visitors to this wonderful place. Whether events are great or small – whether directed inwards to the life of the Church, or outwards to city and beyond – these all illustrate the immense breadth that is typical of the ministry of our Cathedrals and their Deans.

And yet, the show that we put on is not about the place, nor about the person. It is not for our own benefit. It is not intended to draw attention to ourselves and the Anglican Church, nor to advertise the splendour of this building (though I must admit, we are keen to advertise the appeal for much needed repairs to the roof!).

But what matters most is this – that in all that a Cathedral and its Dean are called to be and do, above everything else stands the call to follow the Psalmist’s words: ‘Not to us, but to your Name, O Lord, give the glory.’

Cathedrals occupy a very particular place in the life of the Church, one that is both alike, and unlike, that of parish churches. You are like our parish churches, in that this is the home of a faithful Christian community, who – day by day, week by week – offer prayer and praises. You gather together so that, feeding on the Word and Sacraments, you can build one another up as the Body of Christ centred upon this place; and encourage one another in the lives of worship, witness and service to which you are called, and to which you pledge yourselves, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in Confirmation. You have all manner of groups and projects – from the choir and book-club, to the shop and outreach activities, especially in support to the homeless of the city centre, and to those infected and affected by AIDS and HIV.

All this is much like any other parish. For this is the Cathedral Parish of St George the Martyr; and you, Michael, are, first of all, to be its Rector. So draw on all your years of experience in the many parishes in which you have served. It is wonderful to have them all represented here today. Remember, Michael, that it is first of all, as Rector that I institute you; and it is as Rector that you are to serve the people of this parish – and to serve those to whom you and they together are called in ministry and mission. So, in the life of this Cathedral parish, may your motto be, ‘Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory.’

But Cathedrals, as I said, are also very much unlike most parish churches. The Diocese of Cape Town looks to the Cathedral as our Mother Church. The seat of the Diocesan Bishop is here. And we look to the Dean as our Senior Priest, sharing in the collaborative leadership at the heart of our Diocese. As Dean, and as Cathedral Parish, we ask you to exercise this position of leadership in the service of the Diocese. We come to the Cathedral for the major events of Diocesan life – particularly consecrations and ordinations – and we will look to you, as our Dean, to be our host. We also look to the Cathedral to provide both a central focus, and a place where every member of our Diocese can come, and feel that they belong here, and feel welcome and at home. So my prayer too is that in the life of the Diocese, God’s name will be glorified through the life of this Cathedral.

While Cathedrals are at the heart of the life of the church in a way that no other parish is, they are also on the edge of the church in the way no parish is. For Cathedrals stand in that ambiguous place where the church meets the world and the world meets the Church. This has been especially true of St George’s, which has played such an enormous part in the life of our city and our country, over more than a century.

Everyone who comes within these walls should encounter the active presence of God. Here people should find the dramatic embodiment of the mysteries in which we believe and trust, and by which we live. They should know themselves to be in a place made holy by the habitual prayer of a faithful Christian community. Those who enter this building must hear it declared, and not necessarily in words: ‘Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory.’

But we do not proclaim ‘our God is God of all’ only within these walls. This Cathedral has a proud history of taking the initiative and proclaiming the lordship of God loud and clear to the city and nation. Giving glory to God is the starting point, and the context, for the Cathedral’s ministry and mission to the world around. This was the basis on which it stood firm during the struggle years. This is the place from which it speaks to the world today.

Whatever circumstances face us, whatever the situation that we find in the city around, it is God’s message that we must declare, in words and actions. This is illustrated in our first reading. Moses received the command of the Lord, and he called the people together, and declared God’s command, and carried out God’s command. We too pass on what we have received from God. And so we preach the gospel of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and declare the Kingdom in his name.

And in giving glory to the name of the Lord, we declare God’s character.

• He is the God of love, we proclaim to those who feel marginalised, excluded, rejected.

• He is the God of hope, we proclaim to those who despair, who fear, who think their life has hit a dead end, or their problems are insoluble.

• He is the God of healing, we proclaim to the suffering, the wounded, the broken-hearted.

• He is the God of forgiveness, we proclaim to those burdened by their own wrongdoings, their guilt, their shame – as well as to those who bear anger and hatred.

• He is the God of freedom, we proclaim to all who feel trapped – perhaps by circumstances, or drugs, or alcohol, or abusive relationships.

• He is the God of peace, we proclaim to all who are troubled, anxious or in turmoil.

• He is the God of justice, we proclaim to those who suffer discrimination, oppression, prejudice, unfairness.

• He is the God of judgement too – and we are not afraid to proclaim this also: wherever there is injustice; wherever the rich exploit the poor, or the strong exploit the weak, or the powerful exploit the marginalised, the voiceless, the excluded.

God stands in very particular solidarity with people who are in any sort of need; and this Cathedral has a long history of being unafraid to stand where God stands. This is why it has won the title of The People’s Cathedral. May you continue to earn it.

This election week, we are particularly aware of the call to serve others with justice and dedication, that comes to all who bear elected office. So, let me say to all those who are newly elected – we have you in our prayers as you take up the reins of office; and we will continue to uphold you in prayer in the months and years ahead.

But we also say to you, never forget that this power and responsibility is given for the service of the whole country. It is especially to be used for those in greatest need. It is not for the benefit of those who are elected, their friends or family, nor is it to be used to advance the interests of one’s own political party. It is to be exercised with honesty, truthfulness, and hard work. Promises are to be kept. Services must be delivered. And there must be accountability – the voices of the people are to be heard, not only at election time, but always.

This is the justice that the Cathedral will, I am sure, continue to pursue – often working together with other Christians, our brothers and sisters of other faith communities, and with other civil society organisations and individuals. We pursue this, because this is a task we have received from the Lord.

And we know that what God calls us to do, he also equips us to do. Our second reading spoke of how he delights to give his good gifts to his people, as they call on him. Reliance on God’s call, and on God’s gifts, directed and empowered the Cathedral in the primary role it played in the struggle years. Reliance on God’s call, and on God’s gifts, has directed and empowered the Cathedral in pioneering a ministry to those infected and affected by AIDS and HIV.

And now I say to you, Dean Michael, and to the people of the Cathedral: follow the lessons of this reading from St Matthew’s Gospel. Ask, and you will be given, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.

Today a new chapter begins in the life of this Cathedral Parish, and in the life of its calling to serve God’s church and God’s world. Let God write that chapter for you. Let him direct you. Let him empower you. Ask his leading, seek his guidance, knock that he may open the door of the narrow gate – and be ready to walk through it, knowing that it is the pathway to life: life for the people of the Cathedral community; and life for the people to whom he sends you. The gate is narrow, and the path may sometimes be strewn with challenges, difficulties and setbacks. But be confident that as you journey with the Lord, he will give you all that you need. For everyone who asks, receives; everyone who searches, finds; for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

May it be so – for you, Dean Michael, and to everyone who has ears to hear these words. Amen

Installation of New Dean of Cape Town

The following statement was issued on 19 May 2011.

On Sunday 22 May 2011, at 3pm, at the Cathedral of St. George the Martyr, the Most Revd Dr Thabo Cecil Makgoba will institute the Very Revd Michael Weeder as Rector of the Cathedral Parish of St George the Martyr and install him as 15th Dean of Cape Town. Various dignitaries from all walks of life are expected, including from the political, civil society and diplomatic worlds, and representatives of other faiths.

Further details of the appointment, together with the new Dean’s CV are available at . A note giving some background information on the service is appended below.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. Inquiries: Wendy Tokata on 021- 763-1320 (Bishopscourt, office hours); St George’s Cathedral 021 423 3371 (office hours); Revd Terry Lester 073 402 0064 (Cathedral Sub-Dean); Very Revd Michael Weeder 083 384 4854 (Dean-elect)

A note on the Service of Induction and Installation

The service reflects the continuity of the past in the life of the Church today. It is made up of two distinct rites: the Office of Evening Prayer, in the form found in Book of Common Prayer (South Africa), with the canticles sung to the form found in the Anglican Prayer Book of 1989; and the Service for the Institution of a Priest to a Pastoral Charge. The South African Book of Common Prayer is based on the English Book of Common Prayer of 1662, which itself drew on ancient Latin liturgical texts. The continuity of the prayer life of the church is shown through these forms of service, from different ages, being used as a harmony.

We are a church in Africa, so the lections for this service are being read in Arabic and Nama, declaring the continuity we share with the oldest cultures of both our continent and our country. One of the processional crosses used today gives witness to the oldest Christian Church in sub Saharan Africa – the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

On Friday the 23rd May, 1958, Fr Ted King was instituted and installed as Dean of Cape Town. One day short of 53 years later we celebrate a further point in the continuing story of the Cathedral and Anglicans in Cape Town. When Fr Rowan Smith was instituted and installed as Dean, on the 13th October 1996, the Precentor was Fr Christian Hartnick. Archdeacon Hartnick plays that role on Sunday.

Within the service we celebrate today, there are also those elements which show that we are a church living and bearing witness in the third millennium of the Christian era. We hold these things together as we serve our God, who is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

The Magdala Cross: The Processional Cross used for the Archbishop’s procession is usually kept in the Cathedral Treasury. It was found on the battlefield after the destruction of Magdala in Abyssinia in 1868, and was presented to the Cathedral in 1898. It is believed to be over a thousand years old. This is the first time it has been used in over a century.

Sermon at the Service for the Renewal of Vows

The following sermon was preached at the Service for the Renewal of Priestly and Diaconal Vows of the Clergy of the Diocese of Cape Town on Maundy Thursday, 21 April 2011.

Isaiah 61:1-9; Psalm 89:21-27; Revelation 1:4b–8; Luke 4:16-21

May I speak in the name of God, who anointed His Son High Priest of the New Covenant. Amen! Dear colleagues, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our Collect boldly claims that “we are consecrated to share as faithful witnesses to Christ’s saving work”. What might this mean, as we renew our vows today?

Before I turn to this, let me first say what a delight it is to be here, and to see almost all the clergy of this diocese and some retired clergy as well. Thank you all, for your ministry and our partnership in what God is up to in the various communities that we serve and in the world. A special thanks to Bishop Garth for his leadership among us – to Chapter and all the various bodies and ministries within the diocese. Archdeacon Karl Groepe, Fr Isaac Haynes and your parishioners, thank you for opening St James’ parish for us today and for all the preparatory work for this service. On the 22nd May 2011 at 15h00, we will be instituting Moruti Michael Weeder as Dean of our cathedral of St George. You are all invited. Pray for Michael, Bonita, and their children Chiara, Andile and Khanyisa, as they assume this specialized ministry. Please pray for us as we prepare for our diocesan Synod, to be held from 25 to 27 August at St Cyprian’s Retreat. The Summons for Synod has been sent and I hope you have elected or soon will elect your representatives to synod.

What might it mean being consecrated to share as faithful martyrs to Christ’s saving work, as we renew our vows today? It might mean that we are renewing our commitment to serving: renewing our identity in serving, as well as deepening our understanding of why we are serving. We serve for Christological reasons, because Scripture says “the Son of man came to serve and not to be served”; and our ecclesiological understanding is to build the body. The Anglican Prayer Book and the introduction in today’s liturgy, just before we renew our vows both say that the body is built when we show forth in his name the sacrifice of our redemption, as we set the Eucharist before God’s family – that is, through the paschal meal; as we lead His Holy people in love, nourishing them with His Word; and as we help strengthen them with the sacraments. This is an enormous responsibility that gives us a new self-understanding: an understanding that our (human and often feeble) work and will, through the grace of God can and do mediate the work and will of God. We, thus, are rededicating ourselves anew to the continuation of the mystery of the Incarnation, and our role in these mysteries. We gather as those “consecrated” or set apart to share as faithful disciples of his saving acts and as priests of the New Covenant. St John Chrysostom says “if you are renewed, you can’t remain the same.” We too cannot remain the same.

Anglican Archbishops Ramsey, Fischer, and Williams, as well as our own Archbishops Tutu and Ndungane, in their writings and ministries provide a helpful context within which we can understand ourselves as we continue this faithful work of service, worship and witness. Their work and theological understanding of God in the public space, endow us with sound biblical, ecclesiological and Christological bases for self understanding as we renew our vows. Their work is aptly summed up in a very readable book by Ramsey – The Christian Priest Today – when he refers to the ‘4 in 1’ unchangeable marks of a priest. That is, a priest is: a minister in teaching; a minister for reconciliation; a minister for prayer; and a minister of the Eucharist. Put in missiological terms, in these tasks we recognize what Bosch described as the three dimensions of the Church, the body of Christ, namely the ministries of kerygma – proclamation, preaching and teaching; of diakonia – serving; and of koinonia – communion with God and the rest of God’s community.

With this understanding, it makes theological sense to combine the renewal of the priestly vows and the vows of those called to the diaconate. By doing so, we are affirming that all of us are able to exercise the ordained ministry because, through our baptism, God befriended us. We too befriended God. Through his Son’s atoning and redeeming work, we continue as His disciples in spite of ourselves and who we are, and of what we may want to become. Through his saving grace and his Holy Spirit, our dismembered body (that is, our identity) is healed, formed into His likeness and made whole.

However, today, I want to focus on our role as ministers of the Eucharist: those who show forth in his name the sacrifice of our redemption, as we stand before God’s family; and on our role as ministers of reconciliation. Of course both of these roles are undergirded by prayer and scripture. As ministers of the Eucharist, each time bread and wine are sanctified, we too are sanctified. We are made one body with Him and, as we always pray, we are one with his people of this and every age. Thus, in celebrating the Holy Mysteries, the Mass, the historical – with its anamnetic and epicleptic realities – is renewed and turned into the “now”, into how we are called to be and ought to be. As someone said, a human being is a human being and must be a human being; and so we catch a glimpse of what is “to come”, that is, the eschatological perspectives. Together with those that the Eucharist is offered for, present and not present, we become incorporated into this mystical union and catch a glimpse of the “grace and peace from Him who is and who was and is to come ...” Rev 1:4b

As we receive the Word and Sacrament, the incarnate God – in the Father’s incarnate Son – dwells in us. The Holy Spirit gives us a new identity, in their likeness. In this way, we cannot and dare not privatise faith. When God, who is community, dwells in us or when the Spirit of the Lord God is upon us, (Luke 4:16ff / Isa 61:1), as the Spirit was also upon Jesus, the impact is felt beyond us. Our neighbours feel it too.

What impact does our neighbour feel when the “unrestricted presence of God, the creative and life giving Spirit” is upon us? Our hymn today reminds us, the hands that Holy Things have taken are “strengthened for service”. For where the incarnate word of God – the incarnate Christ – is, there is His scarred and wounded body: healing the sick, comforting the sad, accepting the excluded and marginalised, and driving demons out through his Word and his closeness to God the Father. Surely, this is what we are renewing ourselves for! We are recommitting ourselves to peace-building in his steps; to reconciling others after his example; to bringing hope and dispelling fear following the demands of his Word; to renewing the face of the world; and to building His body.

When we preside over the paschal meal, God’s family meal, the meal for all, we are showing forth the sacrifice of our redemption. We are made in harmony with a God who transcends race, sex, class and all artificial man-made divisions. We are renewed by the Spirit of the Lord God, sparing (or empowering?) us to continue to challenge individualism, arrogance, corruption, greed, self-serving or serving only friends and family at the expense of the poor. When the Spirit of the Lord God is upon us, we are called and sent, over and over again, to make Christ’s being real in our world and to share the implications of the paschal meal in our world. Being fed and nurtured by this meal in transformative worship constantly sends us into the world to build communities of love, compassion, and fearlessness, because we are not doing our will and work, but continuing in the will and work of God.

After celebrating a lunch-hour Eucharist on Monday at the Cathedral, I confirmed the invitation to go to Ficksburg on Tuesday. I went there to visit the Tatane family, following the brutal murder of their loved one, Andries, by our police. I went as the Anglican Archbishop, but also as patron of the Election Monitoring Network and chair of the Eminent Persons’ Group. Please join me in praying for our poor communities like Meqheleng, and Khayalitsha and our informal settlements in particular, and support them in their call to have their human dignity respected and their basic needs met. Join me in loving our neighbour as ourselves, including the police who killed Andries, even as we challenge their disproportionate use of force and their militarized approach that ‘shoots to kill’ even an unarmed Ficksburg civilian. Let us affirm and call for a renaming of our police services back to ‘safety and security’ and not a police ‘force’, for this force seems to maim and kill rather than offer safety and security.

St John Chrysostom says “what plunges us into disorder is not so much our sins as our despair”. Therefore, as those set apart and consecrated to witness to His saving acts, and strengthened for service, we cannot shy away from becoming signs of the divine, of the hope we find in the broken and risen body of Christ in the world. As ministers of the Word and Sacrament who “take, bless, break, and give” in remembrance of his saving act, we must will and work for Christ’s atoning and redeeming work; remembering that when one suffers, we all hurt. We thus cannot afford to leave any area without witnessing to Christ’s liberating presence.

The list is long but let me mention a few examples as I end. We cannot allow Julius Malema, and his gun-wielding theatrics, to compromise the space where justice is perceived to be uncorrupted. We cannot fear to raise the ethical/moral dilemmas of our day, even as unworthy servants: issues such as drug abuse and related crimes; abuse of power and state resources; and the cancerous greed of the elite in South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, to mention but a few. We cannot remain silent in the face of wars and killings in Libya, Afghanistan, and elsewhere; or the illegitimate development and use of power; or the post-election burning of Churches in Nigeria. We can’t be indifferent in the face of inequality; or at the marginalisation of religion and morality in schools; or where the environment continues to be polluted and energy wasted by a few in the world.

The Spirit of Lord God is upon us, refreshing our tired bodies and restoring our true identity in Christ; in alleviating the hurt, pain and suffering among His people through us; and in continuously consecrating us as faithful martyrs of His saving acts. May you be blessed this Good Friday and have a good, and joyous Easter. And please don’t forget to vote – and vote responsibly! Amen.

Announcement of New Dean for Cape Town Cathedral

This statement was released on 11 January 2011

I am delighted to announce publically that we have appointed the Venerable Michael Weeder to succeed Dean Rowan Smith as the Dean of the Cathedral of St George the Martyr, Cape Town.

Fr Michael is currently the Rector of St Phillip the Deacon and St Bartholomew, Woodstock, and Archdeacon of the Groote Schuur area. A son of Cape Town, he is one of our most senior priests, with over 25 years in ordained ministry. Alongside extensive parish experience, he has a longstanding interest in social responsibility, community organisation, and the role of the church in the public arena – not only in this country but around the world. For example, he has conducted workshops in democracy across this continent, and been an election observer as far afield as Pakistan and Romania.

Closer to home, he is a founder member of the December First Movement, which has considered the impact of slavery’s legacy on questions of contemporary identity. He also has a longstanding interest in working with young people, within and beyond the church, and in encouraging and mentoring those moving through the process of ordination. Fr Michael brings together a deep spirituality, rooted in Jesus Christ, with a wide awareness of God’s world and its needs. There’s even a bit of the Barack Obama about him – in his experience of community mobilization, especially on behalf of the wounded and marginalised!

I am sure he will continue the great tradition at St George’s, of being ‘the people’s Dean’ – both serving the Cathedral community, and encouraging the Cathedral in its calling to serve God’s world. I am sure he will be a courageous and spiritual leader, who will take the Cathedral forward into a new chapter in its significant life within our church and city.

It is my intention to install him as Dean on 22 May. Between now and then, may I ask you all to pray for him, and his family – his wife Bonita, and children Chiara, Andile and Khanyisa - as they prepare to take this new vocation and ministry.

+Thabo Cape Town

Issued on 31 December 2010 by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. For further information contact Ms Sisanda Majikazana on 021-763-1320 (office hours)

Fr Michael’s CV follows below, together with some ‘Reflections on being Dean-Elect’ which he has written in response to various questions that have come to him, since his appointment was announced to the Cathedral community in December .

Curriculum Vitae – The Venerable Michael Ian Weeder

C/o St Phillip the Deacon, 101 Roger Street, District 6, Cape Town, 8001. Tel/fax 27-21-462 6355; cell: 083 384 4854; e-mail: mweeder@icon.co.za.

Personal Information: Born in District Six, on 30 October 1957 (53 yrs old); South African nationality; married to Bonita; three children, Chiara (23 yrs); Andile (20 yrs); Khanyisa (19 yrs).

Summary of Qualifications: Matriculation from Good Hope High, Kuilsriver, 1975; Dip. Theology at St Paul’s Seminary, Grahamstown, 1981, 83, 34; BA (Hons) in History, UWC, 2002; MA (cum laude), UWC, 2006.

Employment: Anglican Diocese of Cape Town, in the following Parishes: St Philip the Deacon, District Six in plurality with St Bartholomew, Walmer Estate, 2008; St Michael & All Angels, Observatory, April 2007; St Philip the Deacon, District Six in plurality with St Bartholomew, Walmer Estate, 2000; St Michael & All Angels, Ottery, 1997; St Francis, Zweletemba, 1995; St Columba, Guguletu, 1994; The Parochial District of Ashton & Montagu, 1989-91; The Cathedral of St John’s, Portland, OR, USA, 1988; St Timothy’s, Factreton, December 1985; St Clare’s, Ocean View, December 1984.

Extra-parochial responsibilities from 1997 until 2007 included the Diocesan Post-ordination Training Programme (facilitating the ongoing formation of newly ordained clergy) and the Diocesan Vocational Conference (assisting in the selection of candidates for the priesthood).

Project Vote (PV): Served as Director from 1993 to1997, seconded from the Anglican Board of Social Responsibility (BSR) to PV, established to research South Africans elections readiness; and to develop and coordinate a national voter education programme for the 1994 elections.

The Board Of Social Responsibility: served as Director, 1991, to co-ordinate the social justice programme of the Diocese of Cape Town, as part of the staff of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Community Organiser In Mitchells Plain: 1980, employed by the Parish of Christ the Redeemer, Westridge to work with young people in the church and the community.

Young Christian Students (YCS): Schools’ Organiser, 1979, employed to promote formation of action-reflection groups at schools. Extensive use was made of an analysis that integrated the experience of race into a class perspective on South African society.

The Department Of Coloured Affairs: Clerk, 1978.

Some Indicators Of Interest And Influences:

Lebanon & Nicaragua: To study the role of religion & revolution, 1982; A Faith & Order Commission of the WCC visit to Nicaragua, 1988; Election Observer to Romania & Pakistan, 1994; Elections Consultant for the US based National Democratic Institute in Lesotho, conducted workshops on democracy in Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi and Ethiopia, 1995/6; Peace & Solidarity Tour to North Carolina & Chicago as guest of the Quaker American Friends Services Committee, 1997; Co-produced Lydia Williams: A Fervent Simplicity, a documentary on slavery, 1998; A founder member of the December First Movement: a socio- cultural deliberation on identity, established to explore the impact of slavery on consciousness and practice, 1997; Organiser for the ANC - Eastern Boland Region, 1992; Secretary of the Black Anglican Clergy Fellowship, 1986; Co-ordinator of an ANC unit in the Western Cape and de facto chaplain to members of the underground in my care, 1986-88.

Some Reflections on Being Dean-Elect, Prompted by Questions put to me.

Background

My mum was an Anglican from the Parish of St Athanasius, Garden Village, my dad was Catholic, a member of Sacred Heart, Somerset Road, Green Point. The paternal part of my origins is well rooted in Cape Town and my DNA reflects the history of a port-city: slavery and nineteenth immigrants personified in our case by one Louis Evon, my great-grandfather. His death certificate identified him as a “French Creole from Bourbon”, the present day island of Reunion. He was a fisherman. My mother’s lineage tells a similar story prefaced by the proud insignia of the San. We lived in District One, till I was about 5 years and then we moved to Kensington via a brief stint in Bridgetown.

Calling, the City and the Cathedral

My mother and I would often commute into the city on a Sunday to worship at St John’s on Waterkant. It was there that I had my first sense of being called to the priesthood. I remember seeing the priest, sub-Deacons and altar-servers, haloed by the luminous early morning light, processing along the aisle … the smell of the incense, its rising smoke garnishing their way. That memory still speaks to the presence of God in my life then and now. When St John’s was de-hallowed and closed down in June 1970, I was thirteen years old and we were living in Elsies River. The Cathedral, the new home of many of the ex-St John ‘s parishioners, was too far and we made our new spiritual home at St Andrews, Eureka Estate.

The eighties found me part of a generation of young people who had grown up in the Cape Flats and found new meaning in Christianity, refracted as it was through the biblical values of justice and by our experience of the struggle against apartheid. In the hey-day of this period our faith was tested by our experience of our Mother church. The occasion was in October 1982 when Vernon Peterson and I stood outside the Cathedral Vestry door. The previous week or so the SADF has invaded Lesotho and South Africans and Basotho nationals had been killed in the attack. I was part of a group of Mitchells Plain activists who had secured permission from the Cathedral leadership to observe a 48-hour fast in its precincts, to register our protest against this atrocity on the part of the Apartheid government. That Friday a local daily carried an article under the heading ‘ANC fast at the Cathedral”, or words to that effect. We hurried to the Cathedral in the belief that I, a first-year seminarian, along with the quiet diplomacy skills of Vernie, could convince the Dean of our faith-based intentions. One of the then Wardens, firmly and without malice, guarded the Vestry entrance with the words, “the Dean is not available”. We relocated our action to the Church of the Good Shepherd, Kensington. One of the ways the love of God is expressed is the manner in which he raises us up from defeat and the often accompanying emotion of despair. But in a similar manner he tickles our fancy-stoked egos. Maybe our God of perfect timing and humour is suggesting, “Okay, okay … Here’s the Cathedral and its doors are open to you. Djy wil mos hie’ gebid het … nou daar! (You wanted to pray here … so here it is!). Get on with it.”

To be Dean of this great Cathedral has been beyond my imagination (or desire) and I will embrace the ministry here with delight and happiness, and, I pray, with a good dollop of humility. A comrade and brother-priest, Fr Austin Jackson, notes that “the Anglican Cathedral in South Africa has evolved into a post ecumenical space in the religious and sociological imagination of the nation (in) …. the way in which its liturgical tradition has over many years served as a refracting instrument for the different social and political pathologies and blisses in our society”. I recognise therefore that inasmuch that my life as a priest has resonated with the best practice social justice tradition of our Cathedral, my election as Dean also has a collective component to it. I sense that, given the history of our city, people and country, that a person such as I am is representative, perhaps in a small way, of the many communities exiled from its bosom and alienated from their legacy. The cathedral provides a distinguished and hallowed space for the projects and the loves that viscerally motivates us.

My Family

I have been married to Bonita for 26 years and we have been blessed with three children, Chiara (23), Andile (21), Khanyisa (19). Bonita is director of the District Six Museum.

The Liturgy

I am Rector-in-Plurality of St Philip the Deacon in District 6 and St Bartholomew in Walmer Estate. I was instituted here in 2001 but subsequently did a stint in St Michael and All Angels, Observatory (July 2007-March 2008). This re-awoke in me an appreciation of liturgy and reminded me of the extent to which we have sometimes been negligent of our specifically Anglican tradition in our haste to embrace the new. I have never experienced the sheer joy of the Sung Mass and the majesty of worship as I did many a Sunday at St Michael’s. It is a special place. I am more inclined to a contemporary liturgical expression of Anglo-Catholicism but my township upbringing (and later priestly ministry in those areas) socialised me in the spirituality of the mid-week bid-uur, the mission outreaches of the many evangelists who graced our lives with koortjies and the necessity of personal piety, and the blessings of the charismatic movement. Evensong remains the most beautiful service in our tradition.

The Heritage/Tradition of the Cathedral

The Cathedral by virtue of its place in the continuum of South Africa’s history from its colonial inception to its gradual and active response to the injustices of society has achieved a significant visibility and a related value-associated place in the life of the city. It is where the Archbishop has his parish home and it is the custodian of his Chair, the symbol of his authority and hence the place he would often declare the mind of the Church in matters of our faith and contemporary issues of concern. Given its locality in relation to the Houses of Parliament, the Cathedral has a coterminous role as the indicator to government of our faith-based understanding of the needs of our people and a listening post for the nation. It is thus also a national asset. It is also a parish, a spiritual home to which people travel from all over the Peninsula and the Cape Flats Sunday in and Sunday out. It is also a place of faith for those for whom Cape Town is a seasonal domicile – diplomats, parliamentarians, business people and a regular influx of professional tourists associated with various philanthropies, entertainment industries service sectors and so on.

You were strongly involved in the struggle against apartheid. Can you share with us a moment in that period that marked you for life?

Meeting Aunty Ivy, the mother of Ashley Kriel, at her home in Bonteheuwel and listening to her account of how she learnt of the death of her son. It was a Thursday evening as she travelled on the bus home from Mowbray. She read in the SOUTH of how he had been shot and killed and that he had actually been in Cape Town for a while, unbeknown to her. The callous reference to Ashley by her fellow passengers as “a terrorist vark”. For me she represented the quiet strength of the many, many mothers of children who never lived to see this New South Africa. I remain grateful to them, our country’s young martyrs.

Are you proud of the Anglican Church's role in the struggle against injustice or do you think it should do more?

As a Church we have benefitted from our colonial past and with that privilege comes a special responsibility to correct the compounded, accumulated, systemic injustices that bedevil our country. We can never be smug about our esteemed status. We could have done more and we should be clear-eyed about our selective response to apartheid. Given that Diocesan property such as its churches and schools were white-owned, the Group Areas Act could not have devastated our communities to the extent that it did without a measure (albeit without malice) of co-operation from our then leadership. Leliebloem Children’s Home; Walmer estate; St John’s, Waterkant; All Saints, Robertson; St Mildred’s, Montagu … all speak of either our silence or our acquiescence. But the roll of honour of those who defied and led by examples of solitary and sacrificial courage is immense. They opened the way for the many who came into the fold of the resistance to apartheid. Present day examples include the involvement of Hout Bay Parish, its Rector, Fr Godfrey Walton; Archdeacon of the Waterfront, Fr Karl Groepe; and Jessica Fortuine, a Churchwarden. I recently read a comment on Facebook which bewailed the fact, it said, that Anglicans would rather support other causes and neglect those of their own Church. The response of a friend of mine, Belinda Jackson, sums up our true stance: “The causes of others are the causes of Anglicans”.

How do you relax?

I love Jazz, a music form distilled by timing and rhythm. Spirituality likewise is about proportion and perspective. Over time I have come to a better balance between my calling as priest and as husband and father – my family, and my children in particular, help me not to take my seriousness too seriously!

The previous Cathedral Dean has played an important role in reaching out to the gay, lesbian and transgender community. What will you do to uphold that tradition?

My experience as a priest informs me that new beginnings must be located in prayer. In the accompanying listening (mostly to God but also to the faith community and to the needs and blessings of society at large) one must try and find what is your place and role in God’s agenda. My calling is to serve and contribute to my and the collective quality of life. I hope and believe that in doing that we make God happy.

Sermon at Midnight Mass, St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

Isaiah 9: 2-7, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-20

May I speak in the name of the living God, who is born this day in the city of David: our Saviour, who is the Messiah, Christ the Lord. As we celebrate once again the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, let me be the first to wish you all a Very Happy Christmas! May it be a time of peace and joy, of promise and hope, of shared love with family and friends!

And let me, on behalf of everyone here, thank the sub-Dean, Fr Terry Lester, the Canon Precentor, Fr Bruce Jenneker, Bishop Anthony Mdletshe and the rest of the Cathedral leadership team, together with the Director of Music, Mr David Orr, and everyone else who works so hard to sustain the varied life and ministry of the Cathedral, throughout the year, as well as in these wonderful celebrations of Christmas.

Though I risk being a little premature, let me also look forward to the New Year, and in particular to the coming of the new Dean. Regular Cathedral worshippers know this already, but let me announce to the wider Cape Town community that we have appointed the Venerable Michael Weeder to succeed Dean Rowan Smith. Fr Michael is currently the Rector of St Phillip the Deacon and St Bartholomew, Woodstock, and Archdeacon of the Groote Schuur area. A son of Cape Town, he is one of our most senior priests, with over 25 years in ordained ministry. Fr Michael brings together a deep spirituality, rooted in Jesus Christ, with a wide awareness of God’s world and its needs. There’s even a bit of the Barack Obama about him – in his experience of community mobilization, especially on behalf of the wounded and marginalised!

I am sure he will continue the great tradition at St George’s, of being ‘the people’s Dean’ – both serving the Cathedral community, and encouraging the Cathedral in its calling to serve God’s world. I am sure he will be a courageous and spiritual leader, who will take the Cathedral forward into a new chapter in its significant life within our church and city. It is my intention to install him as Dean on 22 May. Between now and then, may I ask you all to pray for him, and his family – his wife Bonita, and children Chiara, Andile and Khanyisa - as they prepare to take this new vocation and ministry.

But let me now return to our celebration of Christmas! What, for you, is the heart of Christmas?

In the famous passage from St Luke’s Gospel, just read to us, we heard how the shepherds came into Bethlehem from their fields, in order to find the baby Jesus; and how they told Mary and Joseph of their miraculous encounter with the Angel of the Lord. They repeated the words the Angel had said to them – words which held the key to understanding these strange and wonderful events. The Angel said ‘Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’

And then we heard that ‘Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.’ In the days, the years, that followed, Mary pondered those words in heart, and wondered about what it all meant. So - what does it all mean to you?

For many of us, a lot of our Christmas preparations has been about hunting for the right presents. When you get home tonight – or perhaps when you wake up in the morning – you will find them waiting for you: under the tree, or at the end of your bed: presents like this: [placing a large, beautifully wrapped, Christmas present on the side of the pulpit].

Lovely, isn’t it! So beautiful to look at! Aren’t I lucky to have such a gorgeous present! And, you know – perhaps it would be a shame to open it – because then I’d have to tear off the ribbons and rip the paper, and spoil its beauty. Well, let me just leave it there for a moment and tell you a story.

There was once a man, a god-fearing man, who went to church regularly, and knew that the Christmas story is all about God the Father sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour. One day, terrible rains came – it just kept raining and raining and raining. The nearby stream began to rise, and rise and rise. The man began to get concerned, and he prayed ‘Lord Jesus, come and save me.’ And the man’s neighbour came by in his big 4-by-4, and said ‘Let me rescue you, before it is too late – come with me.’ Yet the man replied, ‘Thank you – I’ll just stay here – I’ll be OK. Jesus will save me.’ And he prayed some more, ‘Lord Jesus, come and save me.’

But the rain kept on falling and the waters kept on rising. The man was now sitting on the window-ledge, because the flood waters were inside his house, up to his ankles. And a policeman came past in a boat, and said ‘Let me rescue you, before it is too late – come with me.’ Yet the man replied, ‘Thank you – I’ll just stay here – I’ll be OK. Jesus will save me.’ And on he prayed ‘Lord Jesus, come and save me.’

And still the rain kept on falling and still the waters kept on rising. By now the man was standing the roof of his house, because the flood waters were way up the walls. And the emergency services’ helicopter came and hovered above him and one of the crew leant out, with his loud hailer, and shouted ‘Let me rescue you, before it is too late – come with me.’ Yet the man replied, ‘Thank you – I’ll just stay here – I’ll be OK. Jesus will save me.’ And he kept on praying ‘Lord Jesus, come and save me.’

Still it kept on raining, still the waters rose, and finally the man was swept off his house, and he drowned.

Being a god-fearing man, he found himself in heaven, though he remained perplexed that Jesus had not saved him as he expected. One day, he had the chance to speak to Jesus. ‘Lord’, he said, ‘May I ask you a question?’ ‘Go ahead’ said Jesus. ‘Lord’ he said, ‘when the flood came, why didn’t you answer my prayers and come and save me?’ ‘Well,’ said Jesus, ‘I sent a 4-by-4, then a boat, and then a helicopter – what more did you want?!’

What then is the moral of this story? God our Father’s greatest gift to us certainly is his Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. But we cannot merely receive him as the sweet story of a baby in a manger, and leave it at that. To do so is to keep hold of a beautiful present, but never open it, and discover the treasures within. Such a faith will be of little use to us. We need to unpack our faith – and get to know what it means for Jesus to be our Saviour and Redeemer – the one who calls out to us ‘come with me’ to us, every day of our life.

This can be a challenge. First, we have to let go of any beautiful romantic ideas about faith, and take up Jesus’ invitation to ‘follow me’, not knowing where he may lead us. His call is to follow his example – to live according to his standards – to turn our back on all that is destructive in human behaviour, and to strive for all that is good. We have to give up selfish living, doing things our own way, and do things God’s way instead.

This is not always easy – but there is good news for all of us who dare to put our lives into the hands of the living God. For, as we heard in our first reading, he promises to be to us a Wonderful Counsellor – guiding us in our choices about how we ought to live – so that we may be, as our second reading put it, ‘zealous for good deeds’. He will be the Almighty God, who encourages us with his own strength, to live the lives to which he calls us, so we do not have to do it on our own. He will be our Everlasting Father, who loves us and cares for us, far more than we can ever imagine – whose infinite love is for every single one of us here. And he will be our Prince of Peace, so that whatever life brings our way, we can have that deep assurance that he will see us safely through, if we hang on tight to him.

In these, and many other ways, we will find him meeting us, not only in churches and on Sundays, but – as my story, though a joke, illustrated – in the every-dayness of our lives. This is true, whatever we face in the world. Jesus will meet the people of Makhaza, as they seek dignity, health, safety through the toilet saga; he will meet the people of Sudan as they prepare for next month’s referendum; he will meet each of us, in every aspect of our personal, and communal, lives – if we will open our lives to him, and make him welcome, as we sung earlier.

This is a Christmas present worth unpacking – and, I can assure you, that no matter how long you live, you will keep on finding new treasures, as you ponder the meaning of those words of the Angel, in your heart. ‘Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’ May this be to you the best Christmas gift of all. Amen.