"A space that speaks of our shared worship, shared dreams..." - St Paul's Chapel, New York City

A sermon preached on the Fifth Sunday of Easter at St. Paul's Chapel in the Parish of Trinity Church Wall Street, New York:

Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148:1-3, 7, 9-11, 13; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35

We hear these incredible words of possibility in our foundational texts today in a wonderful space, in a chapel and a parish that have towered over the city’s and the nation's history, whose graveyards hold the bones and the memories of some of its founding parents; a parish located in an area that once boasted a barrier, usually described as a wall, to keep out those seen as “the other”; a parish that witnessed the struggle to establish your democracy; and a chapel in which your forebears and your founding president thanked God for his inauguration. [Continues below the video...]




And of course more recently the inner sanctuaries of the churches of this parish provided refuge and ministry during and after that fateful day when the Twin Towers were attacked and then collapsed, a day forever etched in our memories as evil was let loose. Today, at a time when there seems to be a renewed threat of war involving this nation, I count it a particular privilege to be preaching here in St. Paul's, which in the difficult months and years after nine-eleven represented to the world the best of American values – values of hope and healing as you brought to your city and nation a ministry of pastoral care, of reconciliation and of peace.

Speaking of your contributions to the nation and the world, I cannot continue without referring to what you have meant to us in the church in Southern Africa, and indeed across the whole continent of Africa. We too were colonised by the Dutch, and people of my heritage were kept out of the suburb where I now live by a barrier – in our case an impenetrable hedge – by the Dutch. In our case too, the church has played a part in bringing about democracy, and you made a direct contribution to the inauguration of our own founding president, Nelson Mandela, by responding 30 years ago to the pleas of Archbishop Desmond Tutu to divest from companies which did business with apartheid South Africa. Responding to our plea for help probably ran counter to the instincts of Wall Street financiers, but you put your relationship with us, your partners, first and for that we are deeply grateful. I see in the congregation an honorary canon of our Province, Canon Jamie Callaway, and acknowledge the role he played in supporting us.

It is with pride and pleasure that I can report to you that the young democracy you helped us establish is  flourishing. It is true that until 15 months ago, we had a president whose influence badly corrupted the executive branch of our government, and that our legislature failed to hold him to account. But the combined power of the media, civil society and the judiciary forced his party to remove him from office before the end of his term, and our new president has begun to clean up our government. So we have faced huge challenges in recent years.

Beyond your contribution to our liberation, you have enabled and continue to enable important ministry in dioceses of the church in Southern Africa, and in other Anglican provinces in Africa. As the longest-serving Primate on the continent, I make bold to speak on behalf of all of us, and to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you have enabled the church in Africa to be and to do. By sharing your resources, you demonstrate that you are following Jesus' new commandment.

Returning to the witness of this chapel and of Trinity –   through the unfolding of the layers of history, amidst the contestation of ideologies and memories of walls, this place has continue to maintain its rhythm of prayer, to contextualise the sense of the Holy, to explore God's words and to discern its echo in the community of lower Manhattan. Above all you hold out, day in and day out, the promise of God which we pondered today: “See, I am making all things new!” “To the thirsty I will give water…” and “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

What an awesome sacred space! I feel that deep emotion that Jacob felt when he sensed that despite the limitations of his own history, he had a dream of a God who promised a new beginning, crying out: “Surely the presence of God is in this place, it is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven!” It is for that reason, as well as the shared elements of our histories and of your sharing in love that I feel at home here today, in this space that speaks of our shared worship, shared dreams and a shared commitment to the work of making all things new.

The implications of our faith are that you do not need to engage the secrets of heaven, or fathom out deep theological propositions, or speculate endlessly on eschatological nuances. That won't help us see and understand God. It is much easier than that: experiencing God, to the degree that we humans can do so, is quite simply done in acts of love, even just in random deeds of kindness.

You carry in your parish's name a commitment to live out practically and contextually our Christian understanding of the Trinity. At the heart of that understanding is the abiding truth about three persons in every way equal. It is the metaphor that the Gospel writers seek to express in different ways, but always by returning to a fundamental notion of “self-gift”. As that great African saint, Augustine, argued time and again, God loves because that is the divine nature, not because creation deserves it. In parable after parable, statement after statement, the “meaning of God” is revealed as the “One who is perfectly self-giving”. Thus the Trinity is also the story of self-giving in love and of belonging in love. We become more fully what we are meant to become by entering into loving and life-giving relationships. In Africa we express this in what we call ubuntu, or in the languages to which I am closest, botho. We hear this at the very heart of the Gospel today.

The Lutheran theologian, Samuel Torvend, asks the question that we who gather for prayer must ask. He asks: “Who is hungry at the feast?” and then answers it for himself. “To be honest,” he says, “I think I am. I yearn for, I am hungry for the word, the image, the lyric and the prayer that will invite many others and me to redress the terrible injustices, deprivations and imbalances that surround us.” “Who is still hungry at the feast?” he asks again, and answers for himself: “The many who will never hear this sermon or read this text because they must work two or three jobs each day, six days a week in order to feed their children in a society that rewards the wealthy and stigmatises the working poor.” Who is still hungry at the feast? “The people of this world deprived of food, capital employment and land.”

One could and should add to that litany the victims of domestic violence, the women and children who suffer abuse, refugees from conflict in places such as Bangladesh, and – as we have seen in our own sub-continent of Southern Africa in recent months – those who are refugees as a result of the devastating effects of climate change.

In the last few years, the people of the three dioceses of our Province which lie in neighbouring Mozambique have been hit alternately by drought and by flood. Twice during April, I had to pay emergency visits to two of the dioceses and witnessed  the aftermath of Cyclone Idai. Homes, churches and schools in settlements and towns across the countryside were destroyed, people's crops were swept away and families had to climb trees to escape the water and wait for helicopters to rescue them. Hundreds died, many of them people who survived the hurricane but not the wait for rescue. Swathes of rural countryside were turned into vast lakes, and scattered rural villages have been replaced by concentrated tent townships to which people have been relocated. These agrarian communities are at risk of losing their identity and their way of life. Those who are worst affected by climate change are not the citizens of the materially wealthy countries who contribute most to it; no, it is those who are already poor and vulnerable.

Wherever we are in the world, in our churches every Sunday, let us remember that our worship is not merely an act of forgiveness, a spiritual sacrifice, a moment of thanksgiving, an intimate union with Christ, but that it is  an ethical practice that expands outward into the world, offering life in the midst of diminishment and death. St. Theresa of Avila captured this call to love, to be about the business of making all things new and providing fresh water, when she wrote: “Christ has no body but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassionately on the world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, the feet, yours are the eyes. You are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” That’s the challenge of love.

The key moment in the post-Resurrection story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus came when, after recognising the Lord, they were faced with the choices that we all face. They could have sat back, finished their meal and congratulated themselves on the special epiphany they had received from the Lord. They could have created a safe, comfortable, spiritually warm place of personal intimacy and memory. Or they could have taken fright. After all, the Jesus whom they had just encountered was a wanted man in Jerusalem. It was a very dangerous moment and they might have decided to run away.

But no; instead they got up straight away and returned to Jerusalem, to the place where their dreams had been shattered, where hope was in short supply, and where their friends were locked in the Upper Room, imprisoned by fear. It was to Jerusalem they returned with their word of hope, with their testimony of new possibilities, with their vision raised beyond the exigencies of the moment, to proclaim that something new is possible. They did not have a blueprint and could not provide firm assurances but they could keep the good news alive.

Each of us can do that much. We do not know precisely who all those who are hungry at the feast are, and we certainly cannot do everything. Maybe like those disciples in Emmaus, all we can really do after every service of worship is go back into the city and look upon it and our fellow human beings with new eyes, so that our perceptions of generosity, humanity, justice and mercy become clearer and freer. For when that transpires, slowly will we become known by our love for one another.

God loves you and so do I. God bless each one of you. God bless America, and God bless Africa.

Amen.

Mission of Mercy, Hope and Solidarity to Mozambique - A Report

MISSION OF MERCY, HOPE AND SOLIDARITY TO MOZAMBIQUE (LEBOMBO AND NIASSA DIOCESES) AFTER CYCLONE IDAI

A report for Archbishop Thabo Makgoba by Mrs. Matlotlisang Mototjane, Provincial Executive Administrator and a former Manager in the Lesotho Disaster Management Authority.

Download here (PDF-15 pages) >>

Networks share the lifeblood of the Communion today

Archbishop Thabo blogs on his Friday at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Hong Kong:

Today we had a salad and were able to choose which presentations on the Anglican Communion's various networks to attend. (An authorised Network of the Communion connects Anglicans globally and creates a cluster of energy around a particular area of mission, ministry and concern.)

The sessions started with an input on communication in the Communion, raising the questions of what we communicate and why, after which we viewed a video on what networks are and what they do. 

This was followed in turn by a video on our response to the cyclones in Mozambique, made from Bishopscourt through the help of the Revd Rachel Mash of Green Anglicans and Frank Molteno of St George's Cathedral in Cape Town, which you can see below and on our Facebook page.

Then I joined the session of the International Anglican Women's Network, followed by the Youth Network and lastly the Anglican Church Planting Network. (See photos below the video.) Amazing work is done through these, showing that even when we disagree on some issues, at the heart of the Communion we are all involved in God‘s mission and as his broken body we are doing all through his grace.

Later we passed resolutions and I was moved to pray in isiXhosa when I felt the love and deep concern ACC members had for those countries affected by natural disasters or which were in conflict. I remembered and celebrated why am an Anglican – because of our ability to recall that even as the broken body of Christ, the Communion is called to offer others who are broken to God in Jesus Christ so that we are all healed.

This evening I will swim, have dinner and just enjoy the view from my room as I connect the dots. (Also below, see where we are staying.) And talking about the Health Network, I am sending my prayers to Bishop Adam Taaso of Lesotho, who was admitted to hospital yesterday. We wish him a speedy recovery. 

Displaced and living "like wild animals' – a neglected place where only the Church is visible

Delivering supplies

Archbishop Thabo travels to an isolated area in the Diocese of Niassa where there are no NGOs, no post-Cyclone Idai assistance and where the plea is for "comido" (food):

DAY THREE: At 6:40 am Bishop Vicente gathers eight of his clerics and church wardens to join us for Morning Prayer. We are later joined by two cathecists, and afterwards pay a courtesy call on the district governor, as has become the norm.

Then we drive to the marketplace to buy seed and rice, as we did last week in Sofala Province when I visited the Diocese of Lebombo. As in Sofala, I learnt that solidarity has to be accompanied with food. The marketplace is busy and when the vendor realizes we are buying in bulk and for what cause, he gives us a good discount.

Bishop McKenzie’s grave has drowned

Archbishop Thabo continues his visit to the Diocese of Niassa in northern Mozambique, visiting the Bishop, the Right Revd Vicente Msosa, and his people after Cyclone Idai:

DAY TWO: After breakfast and Morning Prayer – and reading Jeremiah 28:17ff – at our Quelimane guest house, I return to my room to catch up and study the disaster intervention plan from Niassa Diocese. As intimated yesterday, this diocese has dealt with flooding, food and health disasters before. They are amazingly well organized and deserve all the support they can get.

Our departure to a district 30 km outside Quelimane city is delayed because of past conflict in the area, which means we need special permission to travel and a dispensation from the Governor. We get this and it commends us to the three district governors whose areas through which we will travel.

'Archbishop, we are hungry' – An appeal from Mozambique

Engaging people, via a translator, on their experiences.

Archbishop Thabo blogs on the final day of his visit to the disaster-stricken area around Beira in the Diocese of Lebombo:

Wednesday April 3: The words, “Archbishop, we are hungry,” stayed with me overnight as I battled with sleep even after a long day on Tuesday. The instruction from Jesus replayed in my mind, especially during Compline – “Feed my lambs,” and “Feed my sheep,” (Jn 21:15-17), as did Jesus's words in Matthew's Gospel that when we feed those who are hungry, we feed him. (Mt 25:37-40).

Visiting the hidden and forgotten in cyclone-devastated Mozambique

With Bishop Carlos Matsinhe, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba is visiting areas of the Diocese of Lebombo hit by Cyclone Idai. Transport is being provided by a helicopter of the South African National Defence Force, which is helping Mozambican authorities with relief efforts. Also in the party were the SANDF Chaplain General, the Revd Brigadier General Monwabisi Jamangile, and Matlotly Mototjane of the PEO's office, formerly a senior disaster management official in Lesotho. The Archbishop continues his blog: 

Tuesday April 2:  We started the day with breakfast together and said a shortened Morning Prayer, reading from Jeremiah 17:19-27. The dining hall was full of all sorts of NGOs' reps and rescue people.

How to help the people of Mozambique >>

Visiting Sofala Province, Mozambique in the wake of Cyclone Idai

St. George's, Beira, on Monday

 Archbishop Thabo blogs from Mozambique, where he is visiting Bishop Carlos Matsinhe and the Diocese of Lebombo: 


Monday April 1 - After waiting for four hours to get clearance to enter Mozambique airspace, we left Pretoria for Beira, accompanied by the SANDF Chaplain-General and the Administrator in the PEO's office, Matlotlisang Mototjane (who is also a disaster management expert).

We were received in Beira by a representative of the governor of Sofala Province and Col Zurich of the SANDF, and then were whisked into St George’s Anglican Church, where Bishop Carlos Matsinhe was leading Mass.

Archbishop appeals for donations after Cyclone Idai hits Mozambican dioceses

Message from Archbishop Thabo Makgoba to the People of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe & Appeal for assistance

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and on my own behalf, I offer our deepest condolences and express our heartfelt pain at the loss of life and property caused by the destructive effects of Cyclone Idai across Southern Africa.

We want to assure the affected Dioceses in Mozambique - the Diocese of Lebombo led by Bishop Carlos Matsinhe and the Diocese of Niassa led by Bishop Vicente Msosa - of our prayers. Please pray also for the Dioceses in Malawi and Zimbabwe in our neighbouring Province of Central Africa which were affected.

I appeal to Anglicans across Southern Africa to donate generously to ACSA's Disaster Relief Fund in order to provide relief to those in devastated areas.

(NASA PHOTO shows the cyclone sweeping across from Madagascar to hit the Mozambique coast.)

Bank details 

Bank: Standard Bank of SA Ltd
Branch: Thibault Square
Branch code: 02 09 09
Account number: 07 007 8394
Account name: Disaster Relief Fund

To the Laos – To the People of God, Lent 2015

Dear People of God

Your bishops started 2015 with a busy meeting, just before Lent, of the Synod of Bishops, the highlights of which you can read about in the statement we issued afterwards. One agenda item of particular note was the workshop we had on the comprehensive revision of the Anglican Prayer Book, the working title of which excited us: Under Southern Skies: In an African Voice. Bishops Mark van Koevering and Carlos Matsinhe gave us moving accounts of the floods in Mozambique, where many have been displaced, and we are appealing to you all for help for them. We wrote to King Letsie III of Lesotho, expressing our concern at tensions in the country and the hope that the elections at the end of the month will be peaceful, free and fair. We also said farewell to the Bishop of Namibia, who is retiring, and confirmed elective assemblies to choose new bishops for the dioceses of the Highveld, Namibia, Natal and Pretoria.

From Durban, I travelled to Sweden, where I took part in the Uppsala Festival of Theology. The main reason I was there was to join an international interfaith panel to discuss “Human Dignity In Relation To Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity”. On the panel, Jewish, Muslim and Christian scholars and practitioners shared rich insights on a deeply challenging issue facing people of faith. The debate resonated with me especially because the Synod of Bishops had just agreed to ask all Dioceses to consider in the months ahead a set of draft pastoral guidelines regarding Civil Unions in our Province. Both in our own church, and again in Uppsala, I have said that this is a sensitive issue which calls for patience and tolerance as we seek to discern together God’s will for the way ahead. Our Province has shown the Anglican Communion in the past that we can hold together as we work through potentially divisive issues, and I pray that we can set an example to the world again on this matter.

Also in Uppsala, I held a bilateral meeting with Archbishop Antje Jackelén, elected in 2013 as Sweden’s first female archbishop, and her team on the issue for which she is best known: climate justice. This too resonated, since in the coming days a number of Anglican bishops from dioceses impacted by climate change will meet in Cape Town. These “eco-bishops” from around the Communion face challenges ranging from the rise in sea levels on Fiji in the Pacific to deforestation in Argentina, droughts in Namibia, tsunamis in the Philippines and storms in New York.

After concluding the Uppsala festival by taking part in a transformative Mass, I returned to OR Tambo and dived straight into the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Diocese of Christ the King. This kicked off with visits to St Martin’s School and to Orange Farm — where we saw an Early Childhood Development Forum, Lesedi la Kreste School and Masibambane College. The state of Orange Farm says that much has been done in South Africa to bridge inequalities, but much more still has to be done. However, I was very proud of the growth in the Diocese and of its work in education and development, and was particularly touched by a diocesan worker who is looking after immuno-compromised children. We also celebrated a combined Eucharist in the Parish of Evaton on the Sunday, and – in the liturgical highlight of the opening of a year of celebration – a glorious Anniversary Eucharist at the Church of the Transfiguration in Eldorado Park. Congratulations to Bishop Peter Lee and the whole Diocese!

I have recently been re-reading a book which helped shape my spiritual journey as an ordinand: Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. In the book, the protagonist, Christian, hears a conversation between two fellow pilgrims, named Faithfulness and Talkative. Afterwards, Christian remonstrates with Faithfulness about Talkative’s views, impatient of those who talk eloquently about Christian ideals and virtues but do not practise them. Christian reminds Faithfulness that the heart of true religion is living it out in practice, and cites James 1: 22-27 in support:

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

I found the insights provided by Bunyan profound when applied to our situation in South Africa today, faced as we are by corruption, the undermining of good governance, and political and racial controversies and divisions. I have been writing and reflecting recently in the public media on the values of God’s Kingdom, and the need for incorruptible leaders who assume their moral duty to fight to overcome inequality to help bring about social cohesion.

The picture is not totally bleak. Not all our leaders are corrupt; many of them, and most of our people, are doing their best in difficult circumstances. But we need to be courageous and, as Christian urges, ensure that we are faithful in acts more than in words. So as we begin the year and go into Lent, I urge all to be “doers of the word, and not merely hearers...” Let us re-commit ourselves to pleading, to marching in the streets if necessary, for the cause of justice, to demanding that all are treated equally, regardless of race, gender or class. This is what I have called “the new struggle” – to rekindle the message that we are called not to live in fear but, as those who share in Christ’s life, death and resurrection, to breathe this hope and belief into every aspect of our lives.

Finally, as we go into Lent, we are taking the next step in the fledgling audio ministry we have started at Bishopscourt. Beginning this weekend, four articulate interpreters of our faith will join me in giving a series of short reflections – between four and six minutes – for each Sunday in Lent. I will begin on the first Sunday, and on the other Sundays we will hear from Dr Vicentia Kgabe of the College of the Transfiguration, Bishop Raphael Hess of the Diocese of Saldanha Bay, Bishop Rubin Phillip, Dean of the Province, and Canon Janet Trisk of the Diocese of Natal. So come either to our SoundCloud channel or to my blog to listen online, or download each reflection for listening to later.

May your Lenten observances be blessed!

God bless you,
+Thabo Cape Town



Photo: The Archbishop reading the Gospel in Uppsala

Post by Teologifestivalen.

Pastoral Letter from the Synod of Bishops

To the People of God,

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (Luke 2:22)

As your bishops we met at the Glenmore Pastoral Centre in Durban from 2nd to 5th February 2015. As always, our time together was characterised by a rhythm of worship and prayer, word and sacrament, formal meetings and informal fellowship, wrestling with issues, and receiving ongoing training for leadership and ministry.

In our opening Eucharist we commemorated the presentation of Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:22-40), when Simeon recognized and blessed him as the promised Messiah and the prophetess Anna praised God for this child who would bring about the redemption of God’s people.

We are deeply aware of our high calling from God as well as our human frailty. We shared the joys and pains of seeking to live, with our families and in our communities, as disciples of Christ in these challenging times. Our time together was enriched by reflections on Paul’s theology of the body, led by Canon Janet Trisk. This teaching has deep implications for the way we see and relate to one another and how we understand the church. Mr John Brand introduced us to a process of conflict resolution through mediation and began to train us for this ministry.

We recognise that our society, and often the church as well, needs to learn more creative, life-giving ways to resolve conflicts – rather than the destructive, violent and litigious approaches we often experience. We call on all the people of our nations to turn away from violence, abuse and destruction, and to seek constructive ways to address our differences and challenges. We also reject the rampant evil in many parts of the world that kidnaps, massacres and persecutes defenceless people in the name of religion.

Dr Isaias Chachine presented a paper on ethical considerations around death and dying. We  reflected in particular on the excessive amount of money spent on funerals, and the exclusion of some people from funeral services in church are a great concern. We learned of, and condemned, the practices of a funeral parlour that allegedly kidnaps bodies and releases them for burial at prices which are exorbitant for poor families.

We also heard accounts of the suffering as a result of the floods in Mozambique, and each of us committed money from our Dioceses towards relief work there. We invite our people, parishes and organisations to work with Hope Africa or the ACSA Disaster Relief Fund.* We were saddened to hear of renewed conflict and shootings in Lesotho and have written a letter of support and concern to King Letsie III.

Turning to internal church matters, members of the Liturgical Committee led us in a creative and energising workshop to take forward the process of revising the Anglican Prayer Book. We were excited by the working title, Under Southern Skies: In an African Voice. We commended a planned consultation with Diocesan representatives in June this year and the ongoing process in regions. We look forward to the publication of an experimental resource for Sunday worship in the near future.

We also agreed on a way forward for the pastoral guidelines regarding Civil Unions in ACSA, which we now have in draft form. All Dioceses are asked to consider these issues of mission and ministry during 2015 and the first part of 2016. The aim is to present a resolution on them to Provincial Synod in 2016.

We welcomed the arrival of Dr Vicentia Kgabe as Rector of the College of the Transfiguration. We affirmed Theological Education Sunday on 23rd August this year, and encourage all our people to give generously to “the Great Collection” for theological education. As bishops we noted with joy the progress being made by the Anglican Board of Education and the appointment of Mr Roger Cameron as Chief Executive Officer.

We also heard about progress in the training of “Pioneer Ministers” for Mission Shaped Ministry and the development of Fresh Expressions of Church. We will continue to monitor our progress and reflect on our experiences.

We bade farewell to the Bishop of Namibia and confirmed elective assemblies to elect new bishops for the dioceses of the Highveld, Namibia, Natal and Pretoria. We sent our congratulations to Bishop Libby Lane of the Church of England on her consecration as a bishop in the church of God.

Finally, we noted and give thanks for the 25th anniversary of Madiba's release from prison.

We pledged to be God's instruments, as God equips and empowers the Church to be a source of life and healing for the people and nations of Southern Africa.

* Please contact the Treasurer’s office for details of how to donate: terry [ at ] anglicanchurchsa.org.za

Synod of Bishops
February 2015

Statement from the Synod of Bishops meeting at Benoni in the Diocese of the Highveld, 21-24 September 2014

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.  (John 3:16)

To God be the glory:

The Synod of Bishops met for its bi-annual meeting at the Lakes Hotel and Conference Centre, Benoni. Bishop David Bannerman, in his farewell speech to the Synod, aptly described the spirit of this gathering and the past fellowship of the Synod of Bishops as “a place of grace”.  We experienced this sense and God’s redemption as we gathered daily, immersed in worship and prayer and being fed through the Word and Sacraments.  The homilies at the Eucharist each morning, which sought to remind the Synod of our identity in Christ and our vocation as Shepherds in the midst of the ethical challenges of the day were delivered by Bishops Ndwandwe, Wamukoya and Marajh. Steeped in prayer, worship and reflection on Scripture, we were able in love and frankness to confront the pastoral challenges that we are currently experiencing in the Province. 

    We evaluated the minimum canonical qualifications required for ordination. Prof Barney Pityana of the College of the Transfiguration and the Revd Craig Dunsmuir of the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) College provided vital input in this regard and Bishop Peter Lee facilitated this session. 

    Advocate Ronnie Bracks, the Provincial Deputy Registrar, gave an animated presentation on the need for good governance.  John Brand, a South African mediation expert, gave a presentation on mediation and the need to use it as the first resort rather than using mission money on litigation.

    We agreed to establish the Archbishop’s Award for Peace with Justice, in which we will acknowledge people who live and contribute in their communities to the virtues espoused in Micah 6:8:    

    He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
       and what does the Lord require of you
    but to do justice, and to love kindness,
       and to walk humbly with your God?

    We also celebrated the news of Bishop Nathaniel Nakwatumbah being recognised with the Namibian Award for Building Democracy, “First Class”, for building democracy in Namibia.  We bade farewell to Bishop David Bannerman, who retires at the end of 2014.  We will miss his deep, quiet spirituality.  We wish him well in his retirement. 

    We also congratulated Bishop Martin Breytenbach and the Revd Trevor Pearce, as well as the group of volunteers who organised the recent Anglicans Ablaze Conference.  The group from the Diocese of Johannesburg and staff at Bishopscourt were also thanked for their part in organising the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs Welby.  Mrs Lungi Makgoba was acknowledged and thanked for her hospitality when the Archbishop visited our Province.

    Earlier this year, each bishop was given Fr Michael Lapsley’s book, Redeeming the Past, to read.  We spent some time reflecting on the book and how it touched us, helping to deal with our own hurt and pain, either currently or in the past, and to expose these to the loving embrace of Jesus.  This sharing enabled the bishops not to be only cerebral, but “to do” theology through their own personal experiences.

    We prayed for the Mozambique Peace Accord and coming elections as well as the situation in Lesotho.  A number of the bishops, including the Archbishop, will visit Lesotho to offer solidarity with and prayers for Bishop Adam Taaso and the people of Lesotho.  Please hold the bishops in prayer during the visit to Lesotho, scheduled for 1st October 2014.

    The Synod of Bishops expressed its appreciation to Bishop Peter Lee for his leadership of the Anglican Board of Education and the development in this portfolio.  He was acknowledged also for his pivotal role as Chair of the Provincial Trusts Board Management Committee as he hands over the reins to Bishop Brian Marajh.

    Theological Education and the Liturgical Renewal for Transformative Worship initiative remain top priorities for the Synod of Bishops.  We received with joy the news of the appointment of the Ven Dr Vicentia Kgabe as the first woman Rector of the College of the Transfiguration (COTT). We also congratulated Bishop Raphael Hess for the 2013 Theological Education Sunday effort which raised almost R1 million.  In 2015, Theological Education Sunday will be on the 23rd of August.

    A Leadership Conference is planned from 27th-30th October at St Philomena, Durban.  We invite all who are interested in reflecting and planning for leadership development in our Province to attend or contact Fr Duncan Mbonyana at COTT.

    We want to say to all God’s people in the Province, in the midst of the challenges and issues of this mortal life, “Hold onto the Resurrection hope and may the grace of God be revealed through you, wherever you may be.”

    After formally dissolving the Episcopal Synod, the Archbishop burst into song:

    “To God be the glory, great things he has done, so loved he the world that he gave us his Son”.

Address to Graduates of the College of the Transfiguration

An address to the Graduation of the College of the Transfiguration, delivered at the Cathedral of St Michael and St George, Grahamstown, on March 19, 2014:

Lessons: Sirach 1:1-10; Psalm 19; and Matthew 28:16-20

I greet you all in the name of God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.

Dean of the Province and Chair of Council, Bishop Rubin, members of Council, the Rector, the Revd Canon Pityana, staff and students, the Bishop of Grahamstown and other bishops present at this historic milestone in the life of our Province and the College, graduates, your family members, invited guests, ladies and gentleman: Greetings!

What an honor and privilege it is to be here as Visitor of Cott to speak at this graduation ceremony and at the Inauguration of the college as it begins a new life as a duly registered higher education institution and with an accredited qualification. As a teacher and pastor who is striving to be a theologian one day, this is one of the greatest moments in my archiepiscopal journey. I just want to say out loud, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious and ever faithful. He has carried us over the years and during the application phase and he will carry us into the future.” Today, we come together to celebrate and rejoice at God's wonderful mercies.

So, thank you’s are the correct place to start this address, which after all is about gratitude and a deep sense of appreciation. Let me start with you, Professor Pityana, for your robust leadership, your pragmatic spirituality and your reckless belief in God's purposes for you and the church. Without your firm hope and love for this church as well as your courage to affirm and yet to challenge, we could not have arrived at this milestone. When I approached Prof during a rugby match at Orlando Stadium shortly after your retirement from Unisa, I said the task would take a year to complete and was embarrassed that I didn’t even have a stipend to pay you. Your humility, especially against the backdrop of what others were offering you at the time, and your acceptance of this life of sacrifice and poverty, have stayed with me. I am eternally grateful for your role and hope to learn from it too. Thanks also for our friendship and those emails or SMS interventions that always come at the appropriate time.

The task has taken longer than I anticipated, and each time you have raised the succession debate, I have pleaded that I am not numerate and asked you, “Why are you raising the issue in your first year?” – even if it was your third year! In this way I have avoided the fact that one day I will have to face the prospect of appointing a successor to you. Thank you, Barney and Dimza, for serving the college, this city and the Province with such distinction. Thank you, Prof and your staff in your various capacities for enabling Cott to arrive at this stage. In my Charge to the 2013 Provincial Synod, I said that it is my dream that Cott should eventually be an Anglican university, dare I add that I pray it will happen sooner rather than later. Please join me in applauding Prof Pityana for his efforts.

To the Council, the Executive and the Chair of Council and all our benefactors, partners and students who make this institution succeed, thank you and please continue to be ambassadors of Cott, especially as it enters this new and untrodden path for the ACSA. We are writing church history and I hope someone will research and publish an account of this new phase of our witness and service to both church and society. May this place be a well from which we can draw true wisdom and where many will be formed to be sent to all nations to make disciples of them.

In our self-understanding of our identity as ACSA, we share publicly our vision that we seek to be:

Anchored in the love of Christ,
Committed to God's Mission, and
Transformed by the Holy Spirit.

We further commit in our mission statement that we will heed the Matthean command to grow communities of faith that form, inform, and transform those who follow Christ. In our list of stated priorities, we unpack how we propose to do this at Provincial level by identifying seven priority areas. There, theological education is second only to liturgical renewal for transformative worship. In fact, if you look at all the priorities, they boil down to the theological formation of all members of ACSA.

I can thus paraphrase today’s lessons by saying that at a Provincial level, ACSA holds that true wisdom comes from obeying the command to make disciples for Jesus Christ and to fashion our lives in his likeness; that this starts with theological literacy and the formation of all ACSA followers; that true wisdom is nurtured by transformative worship, wrestling with God as we seek to interact with our context through his ways; and that this will be expressed through acting for the marginalised, taking care of the environment and being good stewards. These are the key priorities of our Province, which we hope will enable each one of us to be a disciple who is anchored, committed and transformed.

As we respond to the times we live in, what tools do we need to address the issues we face? What wisdom do we need, and how can we apply it as we make disciples of all nations in our secularising world? Are we to “baptise all cultures” and end up with a flawed syncretism? When can we say boldly as those formed for mission, “This is wrong,” and “This is correct”? Does our wisdom teach us to be extra-sensitive to mission contexts, either so that we are afraid of pronouncements or that we are so dogmatic that we are afraid of engaging with difference? I guess the question is: do we have what it takes to fulfill our sent-ness as anticipated in the Matthew story?

Today, as I address these questions as they relate to what kind of priest we are training at Cott, and what our understanding is of the contexts in which they will be ministering, I want to share with you three broad issues that have occupied me over the last few months -- and some for longer than that. Addressing them, I believe, requires a relevant, disciplined and contextual spirituality, prayerfulness, wisdom and the courage to be humble.
I have taken from what’s on my desk, as I said, three areas: theological education and education more broadly; the coming political elections; and Uganda’s new anti-homosexuality law.

Let me begin with theological education and formation. Now that Cott has passed a new milestone, a new set of questions is emerging, or perhaps old ones with a new impetus. Globally, the cost of theological education and formation is unaffordable. There is a call to review our model of dioceses funding theological education. The current "full stipendiary" model is proving unsustainable and may need to be reviewed. The drop-out rate, especially of women clergy who are identified for stipendiary ministry within dioceses, is increasing.

Prof Pityana is exploring ways in which we could establish an endowment to fund theological education and formation and assist dioceses. Cape Town, for example, has established the Archbishop’s Theological Education Endowment Fund because theological training and formation comprises the second-highest item of expenditure in our budget. We also need to explore how we can encourage families of ordinands to help in the training and forming of our clergy, and to explore options for funding training, including partnerships and ecumenical formation. For South African students, and with Cott’s registration almost done, might student loans and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) be another option?

In terms of pedagogy or the modes of delivery, should we be exploring using practitioners in the field without requiring them to be present at Cott? The stipend that we pay lecturers inhibits us from attracting the young and recently-qualified. I am conscious that this is a life of sacrifice but the reality is that young people’s sense of vocation is tied to material reward. Is this perhaps not another area in which we should be modelling and teaching selflessness and sacrificial giving among our clergy?

We need to explore the best that information technology can offer us, of course noting that nothing can or should replace human contact in the art of formation, for we are more than the acquisition of facts -- we model wisdom, which has at its core love, respect and using knowledge for the extension of the Kingdom. But we must make the theological education of all accessible beyond our site of delivery. Recently I launched at Bishopscourt the E-reader project in collaboration with Cott. This was a particularly exciting development, because it builds on a long tradition of educational pioneering at Bishopscourt: not only was it the place where Bishops School began, it was also the first home of Zonnebloem College, where the sons and daughters of leaders such as Maqoma and Sandile of amaRharhabe and Moshoeshoe of the Basotho studied. Later, Bishopscourt established one of the country's first electronic bulletin boards, used by Archbishop Tutu during the anti-apartheid struggle and it was there too that Archbishop Ndungane conceptualised and started the Historic Schools Restoration Project.

It is my firm belief that theological education equips us to embody and proclaim the message of God's redemptive hope and healing for people and creation as well as to honour God in worship that feeds and empowers us for faithful witness and service. The modalities may vary due to our differing contexts but in spite of these contexts, we are all formed and sent to proclaim these eternal, changeless truths to all and to feed on and be fed by them. As you gather by now, for me theological education is not to create a band of the elite who are invisible in the week and audible on Sunday, nor is it a sanctuary for those who do not have the courage to face life's challenges. Quite the opposite. It equips us with wisdom, God's wisdom to be loving pastors and shepherds of all, fervent in prayer and seeking God, and dedicated in pursuing peace with justice without fear or favour. Equally, it equips us to know when not to act but to be present in a context of need and to hold God's people together as they seek God' s wisdom themselves.

The next area that I want to reflect on is the coming elections. We have elections this year in three countries of our Province – South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia. This graduation is occurring in Lent, I can’t recall the rationale, perhaps we should review this tradition and move graduations to November or December. But seeing that this is currently the case, what can we learn from the discipline of Lent as we approach these elections? Well, first, just as we spend time on Bible studies, we could go deeply into party manifestos and make choices on the basis of what will help people to flourish. We could also drink from our spiritual wells, engage with our consciences and be guided by these rather than by fear and blind loyalty when we make our mark on the ballot paper. And vote we must: too many people have suffered and died for you to stay away from the polls out of apathy.

In South Africa, we are seeing sporadic violence and the looting of property as political parties introduce a new and unacceptable mode of campaigning: that of physically confronting their opponents. We are also seeing disturbing signs of those who have tasted power using race, culture and ethnicity to manipulate voters, treating God's people as pawns to maintain their power and wealth. And we are seeing a lot of mudslinging as parties and their supporters accuse one another of failing to deliver services or create jobs. Last week, the Human Rights Commission released a report in which they confirmed that poor provision of water and proper sanitation, especially for the poorest of the poor, is a legitimate "service delivery" concern. Without discounting the legitimate concerns of communities and while yearning for redemptive solutions that are hope-filled, I pose the challenge: Wouldn’t it be wonderful in this wonderful country of ours if, instead of pointing at what others can do for us, we could focus on what we can do to make South Africa succeed? If instead of looking for what we can take, we could explore what we can give to make our country work?

As proclaimers of redemptive hope, we are called to understand our context at a deeper level. We have the responsibility of giving real life to God’s world and to God's people. Are we in our different countries sufficiently equipped to engage with policies and programmes of the political parties, the strategies of wealth makers and the cries of those denied access to most resources? In the coming elections, as those graduating today are sent out to make disciples, how might this disciple-making pan out? How do we make the task of encouraging all registered voters to go to the ballot box part of making disciples? In Cape Town, I am part of the Electoral Code of Conduct Observer Commission – known as ECCOC -- whose task it is to act as referees to ensure that parties adhere to the code and that politicians are held accountable. Are you willing as Cott or in your ministers’ fraternals to start something like ECCOC to help our followers to understand how to hold their elected officials accountable and thereby to enable us to make South Africa the best it can be?

In South Africa, we have prided ourselves on our free and fair elections. But now a cloud has been cast over our Independent Election Commission by an alleged conflict of interest involving the chair of the commission and a business partner from a political party. I hope that we will demand that this be dealt with urgently, to avoid the credibility of the IEC being eroded. And while I am talking about institutions created by our Constitution which play a vital role in our democracy, let me tell you what I said in the media yesterday in defence of South Africa’s public protector, Thuli Madonsela.

We deeply regret that certain clergy have in the past week ganged up against the Public Protector in the name of the church, attacking her for her investigations into the IEC and the SABC. They have done so without adequate knowledge of her reports and their intervention only serves to undermine the fight against corruption. It is also shameful to see the dirty tactics being employed by politicians against the Public Protector. There is clearly a coordinated campaign by those implicated in her reports to denigrate her office and its work. This threatens to undermine the legitimacy of an institution established and protected by our Constitution. We welcome the Public Protector's reports on corruption and mismanagement. We thank her for making the country accountable and transparent. Her office's work helps to develop our democracy, and I call on civil society to join the churches in defending it against the current assault.

Much has been achieved in a democratic South Africa over the past 20 years against the backdrop of apartheid, but much still needs to be achieved by all of us. Our political and business leaders and civic organisations also have a duty go into the mission field, as it were, and to serve others. There are huge disparities between the wealthy and the poor, and there ought to be less of the social distance which that creates. There should also be less lining of pockets by those who are connected with wealth and power, and less lecturing to the poor that they should be patient, work hard and not expect government to do things for them. Yes, I agree that people need to do things for themselves, but there is nothing stopping us as voters from letting them have our taxes as resources to do something with!

As we dig into our scriptures and walk more closely with God this Lent, let us pledge to serve our neighbour, to be courageous in speaking out where our elected leaders are corrupt, and to alleviate poverty by sharing more of our resources. As we develop theological insights and deepen our spirituality, let our love for God be evident in our intolerance of discrimination.

Let me now deal with the third and last area, one that has been with us for a long time and will continue to be until we have reached a godly consensus on the matter. I am referring to the debate around human sexuality. In this debate we as Anglicans in Southern face the same tensions within our own ranks as the Communion does internationally. We have two polarities: those who believe that homosexual relationships are not permitted by the Bible and others who believe that we should treat same-sex unions in the same way as we do heterosexual relationships. In addition, in South Africa – although not in other southern African countries – our Constitution permits same-sex marriage and protects the rights of gay and lesbian people in just the same way as the rights of others are protected.

Our challenge therefore has been to respond to positions within the Church which are diametrically opposed and, in South Africa, to provide pastoral care to members whose rights to express their sexuality are protected by the Constitution. We have responded to this challenge by adopting the same approach as we did during the apartheid era in South Africa, when our Church was deeply divided on a range of issues, ranging from the ways in which we fought apartheid to questions such as whether to ordain women as priests. We have taken the position that our differences over human sexuality are not such basic issues of faith and doctrine that they should be allowed to divide us. We have maintained a strong commitment to talking through the issues over which we differ. People who experience their sexuality as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered are God’s people, created in God's image, just as heterosexual people are, and in our Church we are committed to dialogue with one another over how we respond to the challenge of ministering to all of God’s people.

The approach, however, of many of our sister churches on the continent is different. Now, I have to say that as Africans we have over the past two centuries been subjected to Western attitudes of cultural superiority, and I have no desire either to perpetuate such attitudes or to promote new attitudes which assume that we in Southern Africa have a monopoly on the truth. We should as a Province, therefore, be hesitant to preach to our brothers and sisters elsewhere in the continent. We should instead be offering them – and the Anglican Communion – our own model of dealing with difference: patient dialogue in which we wrestle with difficult issues for as long as takes to reach consensus on them. This must simply be an offer to act as a bridge -- we cannot, neither should we wish to, impose our model on anyone.

In 2010, the Synod of Bishops recorded its concern at Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill and said it saw the Bill as a gross violation of human rights. We said that as bishops we believe that it is, and I quote, “immoral to permit or support oppression of, or discrimination against, people on the grounds of their sexual orientation, and contrary to the teaching of the gospel; particularly Jesus’ command that we should love one another as he has loved us, without distinction.” In that context, we cited John 13:34-35. Although the Bill was amended – in particular by removing the death penalty as a punishment– the law which President Museveni recently signed in Uganda continues to brand homosexuality as an offence. In its definition of the offence, it includes not only homosexual sex but says a person “commits the offence of homosexuality if... he or she touches another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.” And touching is defined as including touching “(a) with any part of the body; (b) with anything else; (c) through anything...” Under this section of the law, offenders are liable to imprisonment for life. Moreover, a person who attempts to, and I quote “commit the offence of homosexuality” or anyone who aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage in acts of homosexuality is liable to imprisonment for seven years.

As Anglicans in Southern Africa, we are calling for an intensification of the dialogue over our response as Christians to the debate over human sexuality, both within Africa and in the wider Anglican Communion. And as we wrestle with the theological, moral and legal issues of the debate, our behavior towards one another must be modelled on the imperative to love our neighbour. The persecution of anybody, including minorities, is wrong. All human beings are created in the holy image of God and therefore must be treated with respect and accorded human dignity.

Finally, it only remains for me to congratulate those who are graduating tonight, as well as your families who have given you such love and support. Congratulations too to Cott on reaching such a great milestone in our time.

May God the Holy Spirit transform us, and lead us as well as equip us for the journey ahead into the mission fields into which he sends us. May we be gentle like doves and wise like serpents. May God’s concerns be our concerns, and may God’s pain be our pain until we find one another and the fulfillment of our humanity in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

+Thabo Cape Town

Church of the Province of Africa - ‘Ad Laos’ – To the People of God – February 2014

As has become my practice over the last six years, this February letter is the first for the year, so let me start by wishing you all a blessed New Year.

Some of you may have read the latest Synod of Bishops' statement in which the Bishops share briefly the salient points of their February meeting. These meetings form the cornerstone of governance in faith and doctrine matters in our Province, over and above meetings of the Provincial Synod, the Provincial Standing Committee, the Provincial Trusts' Board and of course Diocesan structures. Of particular note was that the Synod expressed its joy at the approval by the South African Qualifications Authority of the Diploma of Theology offered by the College of the Transfiguration in Grahamstown, as well as at the provisional accreditation of the College as a private higher education institution.

Following the meeting of the Synod of Bishops, Lungi and I travelled to Lagos, Nigeria for a meeting of Anglican Primates and their spouses organised by the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA). This was my first CAPA meeting as Archbishop, as Bishop Jo Seoka of Pretoria is our episcopal representative to CAPA and has previously attended meetings on my behalf.

In our time together in Lagos, we as Archbishops from the different Anglican Provinces around the continent shared both our common and our differing contextual challenges. We shall continue to have different understandings on matters of human sexuality, whether legally, theologically or because of our different experiences, so we cannot paint everyone with the same brush. This applies even within provinces, as we see within our own Province, where only South Africa has legalised same-sex unions. For me, love and respect for all who are created in the image of God remain key. The Synod of Bishops affirmed this, as well as the importance of seeking justice and reconciliation on this issue – the differences over which we do not regard as being so serious as to be church-dividing.

Human sexuality was not, however, the central matter in our deliberations in Lagos. We were deeply concerned at tensions and conflict in places as varied as South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique, as well as the conflict between Muslims and Christians and the terror created by the followers of Boko Haram in Nigeria. Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and his deputy welcomed us, and stressed the need for a critical solidarity by the Church with those called to serve through a vocation to politics.

Immediately after Lagos, Lungi and I were joined by our daughter, Paballo, to travel to Xai-Xai in Mozambique where I was blessing a new church, Salvador do Mundo (Saviour of the World). This was a wonderful occasion, with the Diocese’s largest parish packed to capacity. The worship was so joyful and moving as Bishop Dinis Sengulane and I moved around the church, sprinkling water amid clouds of incense, accompanied by the choir all singing in unison in Mozambique's unique alto voices. The choirmaster had a small school bell and rang it harder and harder the more we sprinkled holy water around the building! Coming from an urban diocese, dedicating new churches is not what one does frequently, especially in Shangaan and Portuguese and wearing full vestments when the temperature is 30 degrees. We are grateful for Bishop Dinis, who will retire soon after four Lambeth conferences and 38 years as a bishop in the Church of God. We are grateful for his ministry not only in the Church but in highlighting the scourge of malaria and the need for peace in the world, particularly in Mozambique. We can only say, while +Dinis is still alive, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

After Mozambique I chaired an ecumenical meeting at the Wits Business School. Ecumenical witness has seen many challenges and changes in post-apartheid South Africa, where we are experiencing the declining influence and identity of previously-strong ecumenical bodies and the rise of new ones which readily support state theology and loathe prophetic and liberation theology. It is as if we are regressing into what the apartheid government achieved through its grip on the Dutch Reformed Church, only this time it is South Africa’s current ruling party which is coercing interfaith and ecumenical bodies to align with it and thereby benefit materially or from their proximity to power and influence. However, in South Africa today the Church is called upon to support the State in this democratic dispensation when it does what is godly and serves the needs of all God’s people, but to be critical if it does not. And we cannot just sit back and point at what is wrong, we need too to work to bring about justice, equity and a sharing of God’s abundant resources. The meeting in Johannesburg highlighted these issues and reminded me of how easy it is to forget our primary vocation because we want government resources even to the point of compromising the prophetic word.

Finally, I attended a church leaders’ consultation with the South African Christian Leaders’ Initiative (SACLI), where we looked at how to strengthen the unity of the ecumenical voice in being courageous and prophetic. We looked at organisational as well as moral issues in our country, we planned for the forthcoming SACC triennial meeting and we considered how we could encourage SACC member churches to adopt education as a priority missional issue. We also noted that, welcome as the birth of SACLI is, it has created confusion and tensions at a time during which the SACC is ailing. Bishop Zipho Siwa, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, has been asked to chair a subcommittee to look at aligning the ecumenical bodies in our country so that we can all act together in tackling the challenges faced by our country, especially in the upcoming elections. As chair of the church leaders’ consultation, I find these meetings edifying – stretching but fulfilling too as we face the challenge: How do we maintain our prophetic voice in a constitutional democracy when legitimate leaders are robbing the land and ignoring the cause of justice?

I have headed this letter the Church of the Province of Africa, to highlight the need for us to strive, whether in our Anglican Communion in Africa or ecumenically, to bring God’s real shalom, peace, justice and equity to the continent. There will be differences in theology, in matters of sexuality and in politics – let us face these and deal with them, and not pretend we don’t encounter them. Let us adopt a Pauline understanding of our vocation and build the body of Christ, recognising that it has different parts and abilities, but that they can all work together towards a common purpose. In this way we will have a deeper appreciation of the presence of the incarnate Christ at work within the body, pointing us to the realised Eschaton which at the same time is yet to be realised. This tension should not divide us, instead it should help us appreciate that we are of the same coin, bringing quality and equality to all.

This year, God willing, we will see the election of two new bishops suffragan, of Niassa and Mthatha. We are thankful to God that in spite of the challenges we have in a few dioceses, our Province is healthy and continues to witness to what God is up to in this part of God's vineyard. As we prepare to observe Lent, let me once again encourage you all to use the Bible study material that Professor Gerald West and his team have prepared for our Province.

I end on a note of thanksgiving – even if it is tinged with sadness. The “Masite Sisters” – the members of the Society of the Precious Blood in Lesotho – who provided a home away from home for South African political refugees as well as spiritual refugees over many years, will close their house in Maseru at the end of this month. The sisters have planted the seeds of faith for many but the remaining sisters are ageing, so although their Chapter says they may resurrect their ministry differently one day, for now we wish them well and give God deep thanks for their ministry in building the body of Christ in our Province.

As we enter this Lent, let us continue to build the body of Christ, in our relationships with one another, in our places of worship and in our different nations in this Province.

God bless you all in your Lenten observances,
+Thabo Cape Town

Joyful celebrations in Niassa and Angola

Let us join in joyful celebration with the Diocese of Niassa, as the first two Mozambican women are ordained deacons within the Anglican Church, on 21 July 2013. Their ordination will take place during the inauguration of the church dedicated to Yohannah Abdallah, the first Mozambican to be ordained into the priesthood 122 years ago. This follows the Diocesan Synod (held once every 3 years), and the celebration both of Diocesan Family day and of the 10th anniversary of Bishop Mark’s consecration. For all this, we praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

Please hold Claudina Cabral and Albertina Mucona, and those who will be ordained alongside them, in your prayers this weekend.

We also congratulate Bishop André on the tenth anniversary of his consecration, thanking God for his life and ministry in the Diocese of Angola. And we pray that God may continue to bless him and make him a channel of blessing to others.

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

Dear People of God

'Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing which has taken place’ say the shepherds to one another – and in doing so, invitation us all to come with them to the manger and kneel before the tiny infant who becomes our Saviour and Servant King. Babies and children move our hearts in special ways, putting us in touch with something within us that we do not want to lose – perhaps that ‘childlikeness’ which Jesus says is necessary for entering the kingdom of heaven.

Once again, I have been touched by the Christmas party which Lungi, Nyaki, Pabi and I hosted, for the third year, at Bishopscourt, for 200 girls and boys from Anglican orphanages and children’s homes. It is always a day full of fun and games, as we join ‘children being children’ in spite of the harsh realities they have faced.

Thanks to generous sponsorship, we have now bought a trampoline for use every year. We also had a clown, volunteers from the City Council's Childline, and St Johns Ambulance on stand-by for bumps, scratches and other first aid. The Anglican Students’ Fellowship lent a hand, as did the stalwarts of the Church Men’s Society, and many of the ‘mothers’ of the diocese were here to give home carers a break. Hope Africa has also become a key supporter and board members enjoyed interacting with the children. We are always grateful to the Science Centre for sending their mobile laboratory, with complex, stimulating, games. I tried a science puzzle on eye-hand coordination: tracing a maze while looking at your hand only through a mirror. I founded I needed more ‘flexibility’ in my thinking, to move my hand as I wanted!

The children love the swimming pool, so girls from Anglican schools, Herschel and St Cyprians, acted as life guards. Others offered face painting. St George’s and Bishops schools’ boys could not attend but sent generous donations of food and Christmas parcels. Nyaki lent a hand, even though he had to leave early for an Art examination that afternoon, and so Pabi joined her mother and her team, doing ‘double duty’ for them both. It is always a delight to see the parking area full of mini-buses from the homes and other cars, and children taking over the whole estate.

The kids are great theologians and philosophers, asking questions with a curiosity and directness that adults never match: ‘Archbishop, why do you wear such a big ring?’ ‘Why did you invite us here – I thought only important people came to Bishopscourt?’ One little child asked, ‘When Father Christmas arrives here to collect the presents, where does he park? Do you keep the addresses of all the Christians in Cape Town for him?’ They certainly made me laugh at their vivid imaginations! Yet the sense of appreciation from the kids is always humbling. God willing, we will meet again next year. Some of the children will have moved on – do pray the older ones can establish a settled life – and others will have joined them. Please keep them all in your intercessions. Perhaps you can make a donation to children in need either through Bishopscourt or Hope Africa, or in your own diocese or parish.

As we ponder on the mystery that the vulnerable Christ-child was also the incarnate Son of God, we can let our hearts be touched by all children in poverty and need. Pray especially for those who suffer systemic oppression, particularly through such abuses as child slavery and militarisation. We thank God for all NGOs and others who work with children, and pray for them to prosper, and bring genuine tangible hope, and new beginnings to the boys and girls they seek to serve.

I also strongly commend to you the ‘Promising Life’ campaign of the Micah Challenge: Christians supporting the Millennium Development Goal of dramatically reducing mother and infant mortality. See http://www.micahchallenge.org.za/.

Ten days later I travelled to Maputo for Bishop Dinis Sengulane’s wedding to Lina Valoi. First, we attended the funeral of Fr Germano, giving thanks to God for this faithful pastor and PSC rep, who had died two days earlier, as custom dictated we deal with death before turning to celebrate life. We then went to bless the new house that +Dinis and Lina are building; and on to Lina’s home to complete the lobola process. It was a fascinating ‘indaba’ process, as representatives of the two families engaged in dialogue. Finally the bride-to-be was called from her bedroom to check the groom was indeed the right chap, and that she was prepared to marry him. There was great rejoicing at her affirmative answer – celebrated with a wonderful lunch!

‘Everyone’ was at the church wedding the next day, from ACSA, ecumenical interfaith partners, state, business, labour, every part of the nation and with many international guests. The church was packed, and the fans struggled to produce a cooling breeze. We rejoiced as the bridal couple chanted psalms and joined the choir in song and dance. +Dinis used the opportunity to launch a new hymn book and a guide to Christian living – ‘excellent resources’ said one guest, a convert from Islam, on scanning the booklet after the service. The vibrant, colourful occasion was even broadcast live on TV! Afterwards, around 700 of us were entertained at the reception, including the president’s wife, prime minister, and current and former cabinet ministers. It was a multilingual party, with representatives from the US, the Church of Norway, partners ALMA and MANNA, and French and Portuguese speakers too.

On Sunday, the bishops who were present (including five of us from ACSA) were sent for ‘mission experience’! I preached, presided at the Eucharist, and baptised a baby, for an English service, attended by +Dinis and Lina, and two other newlywed couples. We also had prayers for a widow, 30 days after her husband’s death, and marked the 30th anniversary of the Portuguese and English congregations joining. The context was truly of life and death, from baptism, birthday and wedding celebrations to grief and mourning. The tiny church was packed: if we had been in Joburg, fire inspectors would have banned us from meeting because of fire hazard!

We then travelled to +Dinis and Lina’s new home, for the traditional welcoming of the new bride. Further family negotiations then took place, to confirm assent to the lobola, while we ate and chatted. Then there were smiles and we knew all was well, the process was complete, and they were legally, theologically and culturally married!

This is my last letter until March, as, from late January I shall be away, to follow the ‘Full Spiritual Exercises’ of St Ignatius of Loyola, which involve a 30-day retreat. I’m looking forward, with anticipation, and some apprehension, to this stretching spiritual journey, and discovering how God wants to meet me and deal with me. I’m praying that in my personal walk with him, and in my ministry, it will be a time of refreshment, fresh focus, and, I’m sure, deep challenge and new calling.

Before I leave, it will be my great joy to preside at the consecration of the Ven Margaret Vertue as Bishop of False Bay on 19 January. In March the consecrations of the Revds Dintoe Stephen Letloenyane and Stephen Moreo, as Bishop of the Free State and of Johannesburg, will be in my calendar, together with a Synod of Bishops meeting. Provincial Synod also meets this year, in October. Please begin praying about this too, and considering motions you wish your diocese to bring before us.

Let me end with the traditional Christmas blessing, which reminds us that God in Christ meets us each of us just as we are, and touches us with love that is tailor-made: May the eagerness of the shepherds, the joy of the angels, the perseverance of the wise men, the obedience of Joseph and Mary, and the peace of the Christ-child be yours, this Christmas, and may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you always. And may you also have a happy and blessed 2013.

Yours in the service of Christ

+Thabo Cape Town

Statement from the Synod of Bishops' Meeting

“The Signs of the Times”

“… Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called ...” (1 Tim 6:11-12)

28 September 2011

We, the Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, gathered from 26 to 28 September, 2011, at the Kopanong Conference Centre, Benoni, East Rand, for a time shaped by prayer, and by theological and pastoral reflection.

Presentations were made by Professor Denise Ackerman and Dr Nomboniso Gasa, which provided a context for reflection upon, and dialogue and engagement with, our formal agenda. We became aware of the need for a more contemplative spirituality, given expression in diaconal service in and to the world. We were also challenged to become interpreters of the signs of the times, analytically discerning the course of events in Southern Africa and the wider world. In this respect, we noted the challenges the media pose, through rapid and effective communication, which sometimes causes the churches’ voices to be drowned out.

True expression of the Gospel of Jesus Christ within our cultures must be exercised graciously and with great carefulness, for example, in the pastoral care given to those claiming to have a call to Isangoma training – recognizing that these two worlds, of Christianity and this aspect of African traditional life, will never meet. Other inherited cultural values (such as giving honour to God; respecting grey hair; virginity testing for young people; upholding honesty, and the values enshrined in the philosophy of ubuntu) need to be vigorously debated as Bishops continue to speak to society.

The theme of leaders as enablers of the people of God entrusted to them was a thread running through the presentations. This means enabling through assessment, discerning and auditing gifts, and putting these gifts at the service of God’s mission. We were reminded of Jesus’ leadership, shown in taking a towel and washing his disciples’ feet. We also acknowledged the challenges that leadership poses for exercising episcopacy, management and vision.

We received with great regret the news that Archbishop Ian Ernest of the Indian Ocean and Chairperson of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa could not be with us, incapacitated by illness. Our prayers are with him at this time, and we wish him speedy recovery and the Lord’s anointing healing. Our relationship with other Anglicans in Africa was nonetheless reinforced by the welcome presence of Revd Canon Grace Kaiso, the General Secretary of CAPA. We hope that CAPA will be more fully informed about us, and how we pursue our life and mission, as Bishops of ACSA. For our part, ACSA must give expression to its heritage and historical connection with the Church in the rest of Africa. We need constantly to bear in mind our role within the African continent as a whole.

We were encouraged and energised by the presentation from the Most Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, centred mainly within the USA. She shared insights emanating from the colonising history of the Episcopal Church, which gave rise to the continuing re-expression of the phrase ‘We do not have Missionary Societies – we are a Missionary Society.’ While we acknowledge some differences between TEC and ACSA (for example, with respect to human sexuality), nevertheless we affirm the value of ongoing dialogues, exercised through truthfulness and sensitivity towards one another.

We also welcomed Mrs Jeanette O’Neill, the first woman and layperson to be appointed General Secretary of USPG, the Anglican mission agency based in Great Britain and Ireland, which this year celebrates the 310th anniversary of its founding.

The situation within Zimbabwe continues to pose a great challenge to our engagement with and support of Christians there. Canon Kaiso affirmed that this is also a priority for CAPA. We are praying for our Archbishop as he accompanies the Archbishop of Canterbury to Zimbabwe next month, as part of Dr Rowan Williams’ pastoral visit to the Church of the Province of Central Africa.

Through all these discussions, we were reminded again of our vocation to be apostolic in our ministry and to be pastors in the Church of God. As we joined in worship together, daily homilies brought the Scriptures to life and shed light on our deliberations. We shared the need for prayers for Angola and Swaziland, as well as Zimbabwe.

The Synod of Bishops is a unique opportunity for Bishops to gather to engage in dialogue to foster the deepening of relationships which sharpen the focus for ministry, recognising the call always before us to energise mission and ministry in our Dioceses and Province. We noted that our understandings of ecclesiology and episcopacy are being appreciated, strengthened and celebrated in all that is happening in Mozambique to extend God’s kingdom, sometimes despite the heat of the day. We applauded the growth of the Province, and considered the possibility of additional Bishops to provide episcopal ministry through new episcopal areas, as a necessary act of faith, despite envisaged financial constraints. We were also inspired and encouraged by the presentation of a Lent Study for 2012 from the Diocese of Johannesburg, focussing on discipleship.

It has been very satisfying to see the depth of gifts amongst our clergy and young laity. The role of believers in leadership within Dioceses, particularly participation in diocesan administration, needs careful consideration. Another challenge is to look again at clergy stipends, and to explore further the new system which the Diocese of Pretoria has put in place. We note with love and appreciation that our understanding of the call to serve God’s church has recently been vindicated again, through the CCMA affirming that all licensed clergy are servants in God’s vineyard, rather than employees as such, in terms of the law within South Africa. Other pastoral matters we considered included baptism; pastoral guidelines in relation to civil unions; lawsuits involving clergy; and vocations and theological education.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town

Inquiries: Ms Wendy Tokata on 021-763-1320 (office hours)

Note to editors - The Anglican Church of Southern Africa encompasses Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, St Helena, South Africa, Swaziland and Tristan da Cunha.

To the Laos - To the People of God, June 2011

Dear People of God

I am writing to you on my return from a visit to the Diocese of Niassa, in northern Mozambique. Having had the privilege of working in the mainly rural diocese of Grahamstown, where I encountered both the rawness of poverty and the generosity of people, in many ways it felt like coming home.

Bishop Mark and I travelled around the three Mozambican provinces of his diocese. In some places the roads were non-existent, and at one point we had to find a route across a river, with no bridge, to get to the Cathedral! We began my visit by going to the grave of Bishop Charles Mackenzie, who was first Archdeacon of Natal, and then consecrated in 1861 as a missionary bishop to the peoples near the Zambezi river. He died within a year – and yet today people still speak of his faith and his courage for the gospel. His grave is in a marsh, on a fertile banana plantation between the Rue and Shire rivers. We celebrated the Eucharist under a plastic yellow tent hoisted on sticks, and I felt deeply conscious of the joy of being ‘made one with all God’s people of every age’ (both the living and the departed), and, indeed, ‘all the company of heaven’, as we say in the Eucharistic prayer

After 2 hours’ drive we met parishioners who praised God, with many testimonies of church growth; and then after 4 more hours reached the coastal town of Quelimane, where we ate and slept, after sharing messages of encouragement with the faithful, in a church built by a couple from Nigeria. This small bicycle-filled town has lots of potential to grow beyond the current single parish.

We then flew in a 4-seater plane to Nampula, a more developed town, where, as indeed was so everywhere, we were greeted with joyful singing and dancing. Our theme at the Eucharist, held in an indoor sports hall, was ‘Developing the Journey’, and we focussed on our unity in Christ, building peace, and courage in the face of poverty, disease, and syncretism (being sucked into local, non-Christian, cultures). You may remember that the Mozambican wars of liberation began in the north, and many are still scarred, spiritually, physically, and emotionally, by those times. Yet this is an area of high literacy, forward looking, and with a vision for growth – not only numerical, but growth that is ever-more deeply rooted in our Lord (without which any church risks becoming merely some social organisation).

We then flew to Lichinga, the northern province’s capital, and Bishop Mark’s home. The church is larger and more established here. Near the airport, we visited the diocesan farm (much in need of development), and drove in convoy with truck-loads of parishioners singing joyful songs of welcome, to see two churches currently under construction. We held a service to celebrate St Bernard Mizeki (himself a Mozambican) in an indoor sports stadium. The theme was hospitality, courage and love, reflecting both Bernard Mizeki’s example and the readings of the day. The local mayor – a Muslim, married to a Mothers Union member – and the Provincial President, who is a parishioner, brought greetings, and praised Bishop Mark and the Diocese for their involvement in social justice issues. We had supper with the local clergy and the mayor, and I realised that like Christ and his disciples, so much of the deep fellowship of the visit was experienced through sharing meals together.

On Sunday we took a 2-hour drive to the Cathedral at Messumba. The beautiful lake-side region reminded me of parts of South Africa’s Wild Coast, and areas around Port St John in Mthatha diocese. The vast lake appears much like the sea! It was an amazing day, starting with crossing the bridge-less river, and then we walked – hundreds of us – in procession to the Cathedral, walking fast to avoid the dust and the scorching sun. When we arrived the large Cathedral building was already packed to capacity. We celebrated Trinity Sunday with four exhilarating hours of joyful celebration, singing and dancing, with radio and TV to witness us. Among the overwhelmingly generous gifts that were given to me were 2 doves, 2 fresh eggs, rice, and many crafts. The Bernard Mizeki society sang while we shared lunch. Driving home (accompanied by a bakkie-load of singing, praying, members of St Agnes’ Guild), we saw more churches under construction, and I thank God for the good land with which the diocese is endowed.

The next morning I flew to Lilongwe in a tiny 4-seater, with just the pilot, whose chatty conversation dispelled my great nervousness at being in such a tiny aircraft. He let me sit in the co-pilot’s seat, and it was an amazing experience to cross the vast lake at 20,000ft. Even so, it was a relief to land in Lilongwe and transfer to a larger plane for the next leg of my journey home!

Though the Diocese is 150 years old, I found Niassa to be, like Mozambique itself, full of the vibrant life of a very youthful population. I saw how critical is the role of catechists, in evangelism and building up young congregations so that they learn how to mature and stand on their own feet. Music and storytelling are key in communicating who Jesus is, all that he offers, and the life to which he calls us – which people are hungry to learn. I was also struck by the poverty of the diocese, reflected in the Bishop’s elderly Toyota that I feared might break down at any point and leave us stranded! Yet I saw how great God’s grace is, in challenging circumstances, and came home feeling refreshed and enriched by my visit – feeling the paradox of the kingdom that is, and is yet to come, as I both saw 150 years of history, and felt so much new life that is on the point of being born afresh.

‘Youth’ seems to be my theme this week, writing between meetings of the ANC Youth League and our own Provincial Youth Council. I returned to find the press full of Julius Malema’s statements on reforming land, mines and the whole economy. What he has raised is not new and we should not be alarmed. We need to engage him, and all young people, on what it means to make democracy work. As I discussed in a telephone conference with SACC church leaders, we must have educated public debate on today’s very different sort of ‘struggle’ – the commitment to rightly-focussed hard work that delivers economic justice, and tackles the needs of poverty, education and opportunity which (and Malema is right on this) particularly affect young people so adversely. There is hope, but we must not be afraid of rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty. As my visit to Niassa showed, dedication and perseverance, even in very difficult and uncertain times, can deliver new life. So we must go forward with joy and resolve, and speak up for the poor, the fearful, the despairing, in the true hope of Jesus Christ.

Yours in the service of Christ

+Thabo Cape Town