[VIDEO] Reflections on keeping a balance in a time of coronavirus

Speaking from the chapel at Bishopscourt in Cape Town, Archbishop Thabo shares his thoughts on the principle, learned from his experience of centring prayer, of balance in processing what is happening to us. He reflects on four broad categories of applying balance. He also explains his focus on providing midday prayers in as many languages of the Province as possible.

To the Laos - To the People of God - Appeal for the people of South Sudan

Dear People of God

The suffering and challenges of the church elsewhere in Africa turned my schedule upside down for a week last month. Returning from a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council in London, I had to urgently fly to Nairobi at the request of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA).

There I joined other church leaders at the headquarters of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) for an emergency meeting on the situations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Both countries have been plagued by instability and strife in recent years, and both face huge challenges in the coming months. In the DR Congo, President Kabila has at last agreed to step down and hold elections in December, and now unity and reconciliation are an important priority of the church.

When I first became a bishop, I did my month-long “baby bishop” training course in Malawi with the person who now leads the church in South Sudan, Archbishop Justin Badi Arama. Ever since, I have prayed for him, his church and for the freedom of his country. I rejoiced when they attained independence in 2011, but the promise soon evaporated. Two years later, after they had only tasted freedom and independence, two factions of the ruling alliance fell out, and I have previously mentioned the civil war which broke out as a result.

Anglicans in South Sudan (Photo: Jesse Zink, Montreal Diocesan Theological College) 

A few days before we gathered in Nairobi, the national youth coordinator for the Episcopal Church of South Sudan was shot and killed when his vehicle was sprayed with bullets. At the meeting I listened to stories of interventions by local dioceses to try to end the conflict in this resource-rich country. The refrain was that all those born after 1955, when the first of the civil wars started, are children of war, that they have lived in war but they are determined not to die in war. As we met, peace talks had resumed in Addis Ababa and there was great expectation that a new agreement would be signed. This indeed happened soon after we wrapped up our meeting but in the past agreements have come unstuck so there is still great trepidation – there are international, regional and local actors who do not want peace, because conflict has better dividends for them. At our meeting in Nairobi, we looked at ways in which the region could accompany the church in South Sudan and how the AACC can help the county understand and live in freedom. 

Upon my return to Cape Town, I asked clergy – and now through this Ad Laos I ask you as parishioners: please help me put together prayers, Bible verses and pictures as a resource for daily prayer for peace and freedom in South Sudan, beginning at Advent and running for a full year through to Advent 2019. You don’t need to be a professional, or ordained, or a leader in your parish to contribute: whether it's a line, a poem, a sentence, a song or a picture, just write it down and help your archbishop to pray effectively for this country.

The Ven Terry Lester is ACSA's official representative on South Sudan, so you may want to arrange a special meeting or day of prayer with him or others. Since I arrived at Bishopscourt, I have had a group of intercessors who join us regularly for worship – you may also want to also explore having a group of intercessors from the Diocese to pray for peace, justice and progress in South Sudan in their and our lifetimes. Yes, we have our own unresolved social issues of poverty, land, racism, unemployment, inequality of opportunity, crime and others, but I am asking that we also focus on and include these children of God in our prayers. Prayer enables peace within and then we can share this with South Sudan.

At a personal level, I am happy to have Manala, my wife Lungi, back after she did a 30-day individually guided retreat with the Jesuits at their retreat centre at St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal. I have burnt a couple of her pots as I attempted to cook whilst focused on reading, answering emails etc at the same time. I now appreciate her ability to multi-task without burning things!

Please continue to pray for our church and its response to what God is up to in his world. Also pray not only for South Sudan and the DR Congo, but for other conflict areas as well, and especially Syria.

†Thabo Cape Town

[As published in the October issue of Good Hope, newsletter of the Diocese of Cape Town]

Appeal for prayer for South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo

Dear Fellow Anglican

Friday February 23: Pray for South Sudan and the DR Congo

After Sudan became independent in 1956, it suffered decades of civil war. Just over six years ago, South Sudan broke away from the north amid great hopes that at last it would find peace. But a little over two years later, South Sudan suffered a new outbreak of civil war and it has not known true peace since. Under pressure from their neighbours, the opposing sides began new peace talks earlier this month, but at present they stand adjourned for an undetermined period.


The Democratic Republic of Congo has also not known permanent peace, in their case for the past 20 years. Armed rebel groups proliferate in the east. More than four million people are displaced from their homes. The President has served his two terms but has delayed a new election for two years. A former United Nations humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, said a few days ago that right now the country faces one of the worst crises on earth, yet no one seems to care.

Pope Francis and a number of Anglican leaders, including Archbishop Peter Munde Yacoub in South Sudan, have issued a call to prayer for the people of both nations on Friday February 23. In his appeal the Archbishop said:

“Jesus says if we pray faithfully, the mountains can fall into the sea. We have mountains in front of us: the evil war and the killing of innocent people. Pray that Almighty God will remove this evil war and bring us peace, and remove the suffering of South Sudanese people.”

Friday is an Ember Day in our Province. Please add to your prayers for that day the following prayer as well. You might also use it on the Second Sunday in Lent too:


Loving God, Prince of Peace, we pray today for our sisters and brothers in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo;

We pray for the victims and survivors of violence in those nations,
We pray for refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries, and for the millions of people crowded into camps for displaced people,
We pray for their politicians, that they will learn how to become servant leaders, dedicated to the interests of their people.

Lord Jesus, you are our hope,
Our faith in you grounds us in hope,
It gives us certainty that peace can be made,
It strengthens our resolve that peace must be made,
And hope helps us to triumph over all.

We pray that the people of the DR Congo and South Sudan,
Will focus on the hope that you inspire,
Hold one another's hands,
Look upon one another, eyeball to eyeball,
And resolve to build united, peaceful nations.

This we pray in your precious name,

Amen

†Thabo Cape Town

Archbishop Thabo's prayer at the interfaith funeral of Kathy Kathrada

Prayer at the funeral of Kathy Kathrada at West Park Cemetery, Johannesburg

Let us pray:

Loving and compassionate  God of the Universe, Triune God, Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer,

Whose arm bends the arc of justice towards the poor and the oppressed,
 and whose ear is ever inclined to the cry of those who are burdened under the weight of injustice,

Archbishop Thabo's lament for South Africa

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba led a prayer vigil on the steps of St George's Cathedral in Cape Town on Wednesday November 2. He ended the silent vigil, held under the theme "A lament for our beloved country”, with this prayer.

Let us pray:

Lord, where are you in these trying and challenging times and amidst these great developments in our country?

Shakespeare said: “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”

Lord, we are living through a time of acute misery, amidst an unprecedented political crisis.

Lord, we know though that South Africa is not broken;

Call to Prayer as South Africa debates the State of the Nation

Hear the prayer - Read the full text below: 





Archbishop Thabo Makgoba is calling for prayers for proceedings in Parliament in the coming days, when MPs will debate the state of the nation.

Global prayer for Primates Meeting

Archbishop Thabo will be one of those attending this meeting, together with other archbishops from across Africa and the Communion:

[Anglican Communion News Service] Christians around the world are praying for next week’s Primates Meeting taking place in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral.

Corruption entrenches inequality in South Africa, says Archbishop

Remarks by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba to the Anti-Corruption March in Cape Town:

My heart leaps with joy to see so many here who not only share our anger, but mostly our sadness.  Sadness that we have to express our universal frustration for the absence of moral leadership in South Africa by harnessing our collective voices to say, "enough is enough!".

I ask that we now observe a moment of silence, as we recall to mind our various journeys as South Africans, that have lead us here, as individuals, as a community of communities, and as a country.

It's time to stop marching against corruption. 

Yes, you heard me right. 

It's time to stop marching, having discourses and debates, writing and repeatedly speaking about being anti-corruption. Why?

Bishops pray at site of Marikana mine killings

Eleven bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa visited Marikana Mine in the North-West Province of South Africa on September 11, 2015. At the scene of the killing by police of striking miners in 2012, they were briefed by officials of Lonmin, the company which owns the mine.

After the briefing, the bishops gathered at the foot of Wonderkop, the hill on which miners were killed in the first fusillade of police bullets. A number of bishops prayed for the miners, their families and the police, and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba ended the prayers with a blessing.

[Communicators: downloadable photos available here: http://bit.ly/1QvsV8e ]

Prayer for Refugees and Migrants - by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

On the feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2015

O God, give us tender hearts and restless minds,

to pray and act with open hearts and discerning minds.

O Christ, move us to ask profound questions,

about the plight of your people.

You know each one of them by name,

they are all yours.

Our hearts are torn Lord, because

some are running from fighting and violence,

some are running from hunger,

some are running from political persecution.

Why do you seem far off from them?

Holy Spirit of God,

help us to pray and act for refugees and migrants everywhere.

You know each of their situations,

whether forced to flee their homelands,

or displaced within the countries of their birth,

You care equally for every one of them,

whether from Syria or South Sudan,

Afghanistan or Zimbabwe,

Eritrea or Nigeria,

Burundi or the Central African Republic

You call upon us to extend Your embrace to all people,

Guide us, Lord, in opening ourselves to their plight in practical ways,

without fear or prejudice.

For your tender mercy's sake.

Amen

Archbishop Thabo asks Archbishop Emeritus Desmond about prayer and God

This week we are praying for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Bishop Emeritus Charles Albertyn of Cape Town, who are both ill.

Ahead of a special service for our two much-loved bishops in Bonteheuwel, Cape Town, on Sunday I asked Archbishop Desmond for a message for those who have been praying for and thinking of him and his family.

Please click on the link below to hear our chat.

If you are in Cape Town, please join us at the Church of the Resurrection in Bonteheuwel at 3 pm on Sunday September 6 to pray for them both. More details here >

Archbishop Thabo

Call to Prayer for Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Bishop Charles Albertyn

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba calls on Anglicans in the Diocese of Cape Town to say special prayers for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu at their Sunday services on August 30.

The Diocese is also arranging a Prayer Service for Archbishop Tutu at the Church of the Resurrection, Bonteheuwel, at 3pm on Sunday September 6.

The service will enable people to gather in a public act of worship to support Father Desmond and the Tutu family as he recovers from infection and to celebrate his continuing ministry and presence among us.

It will also give us the opportunity to offer prayers for our deeply-loved former Bishop Suffragan, Bishop Charles Albertyn, who is very ill at the moment.

Choirs, poets, brass bands and the Bonteheuwel-based Jazz Academy are all being asked to showcase their talents at the September 6 service.

The Church of the Resurrection is at 24 David Profit Street, Bonteheuwel.

GPS: 33°56'45.0"S 18°32'38.3"E

Google maps: http://goo.gl/maps/swWMp

Anglicans called to join worldwide Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

Anglican Communion bishops beat the drum for climate justice
(From the Anglican Communion News Service)

The Primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, has called on Anglicans everywhere to join Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran and other Christians in a World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1 September.

Prayer for those bereaved by the tragedy in Lagos

All Anglicans, Christians, people of faith and of none, are asked to use this prayer until the bodies of all those who died in Lagos have been repatriated for burial at home:

Lord God, creator of all life,

We come before you filled with hope but distressed by the plight of the traumatised families of those who died in the church guesthouse in Lagos.

We offer our intercession and supplications for a swift end to diplomatic difficulties; for completion of the unduly prolonged process of identifying and repatriating bodies.

We ceaselessly intercede for the bereaved, and assure them that even at this time of trauma, as Jesus says:  “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”.  

Lord, we are created in your image, may your dignity and the dignity of the dead be respected in this process.

Finally, Lord, we ask that each South African and all your people pray for an end to this agony for the families, and to commit to call for its end.

For Jesus Christ's sake,

Amen

Archbishop's Message to Confirmation Candidates at Anglican Schools

A sermon preached at a Combined Confirmation for Anglican Schools at Bishops Memorial Chapel, Cape Town, 7 September 2014:

Readings: 1 Kings 2:1-4

When David’s time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying: “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’

Ephesians 6:10-20

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.
Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Mark 7:1-23

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
    teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God)— then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

May I speak in the name of God, who calls us all to a life of worship, witness and service.  Amen.

I acknowledge the presence of all the heads of schools and chaplains here this morning. A special thanks to Mr Guy Pearson, head of Bishops, and the chaplain, the Revd Terry Wilkie, for hosting us. It is as always a joy for me to come to Bishops for confirmations.

May I welcome you all here today – most especially all who are being confirmed today; but also to parents and guardians; families and friends; as well as educators, learners and the wider communities of these three great Anglican schools, Bishops, Herschel, St Cyprian’s and St George’s Grammar.  It is a joy to have you all here.

This week on the 1st September, Anglicans in Southern Africa celebrated the life and ministry of Robert Gray – the first Bishop of Cape Town. As I follow in his footsteps I continually thank God for the great foundations he laid, in so many areas of life, and from which we continue to benefit. When he arrived in Cape Town in 1848, he set himself three tasks: to preach the gospel, build churches, and plant clergy. Well, he did all these, and far more besides.

Education was one of his great priorities – with both Bishops and St Cyprian’s owing their establishment to him, and Herschel and St George's Grammar following in the same strong tradition of Anglican commitment to excellence in education. So we thank God for Bishop Robert Gray and for the lessons we learn from his life of witness.

To all of you who are to be confirmed today, I encourage you to let your confirmation be the foundation of your future as you journey in life and follow in the traditions laid by Bishop Robert Gray. One can imply such a foundation to be a lifestyle of worship, witness and service as God invites us to embark on the journey of life.

Confirmation is a rite of passage on our Christian journey and it is like receiving a passport, so you are ready for travel, ready for adventure! You are responding, saying, ‘Yes, I am ready for the path ahead – and my allegiance is to God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.’

Confirmation is not the end of a process – it doesn’t mean that you have "arrived"; that you have somehow become "fully a Christian" and can now put your feet up and relax and wait for heaven! Not at all!

From today onwards, you are making your choice to follow God’s way which is the best way for yourselves. Take responsibility for your own life, for your choices about how you will live, what you will do and where your life will take you. We are on a journey of discovery, trying to explore:  What do I want to do with life?  Who am I really?  How shall I become that person?

Tap into the yearning that God has placed deep inside of you:  a yearning to live an authentic life, a meaningful life; a desire to "be real", to be "connected".

Our first reading is about the advice King David – very old, about to die – gave to his son Solomon, on how to live well. "Follow God’s commands, obey him, and you will prosper in all you do," he said. Following God, and the prosperity God offers, are a far less superficial, a far more profound way of living. This is what our Gospel reading is all about. Jesus taught that it is what is inside us which makes us who we really are. Our attitudes, our thoughts, our dreams, our imagination – these are what shape our words, our actions, and the sort of person we become.

One may ask the question. Now how do we get it right? What if we make the wrong choices?
We are to be in regular Christian training which will help us live a life of worship, witness and service, to which you pledge yourselves today.

Worship means coming regularly to chapel or Church:

• to learn about God’s amazing love, and experience it for yourself;  
• to hear Scripture read and explained, so you can grow in knowledge of God and of how to live the Christian life 
• to encounter the holy mystery of God’s presence; and be fed, and strengthened, in the deepest core of your being, by receiving the body and blood of Christ.

This also means regularly reading your Bible for yourself – preferably daily. Regular prayer is keeping in touch with God, by speaking to him about all that we are doing in our lives; and being open to learn from him.

It is also good to spend a little time each day, just being quiet before God. If we just calm down, and wait, and tell him we are listening, often an idea will come into our heads – often a solution to a problem or sense of encouragement – and because it connects so deeply with us, we learn to recognise this is God’s way of speaking to us.

We need God’s guidance so that we can live the lives of witness and service. A witness is someone who gives evidence about what they have seen, about what they know. Our lives – through our words, actions, and attitudes – should give evidence that we follow the most wonderful and amazing God of love, who created the whole universe, and who cares for us more than we can ever imagine, and who wants to lead us to be the best we can be!

The closer we come to God, the more clearly our lives will reflect him, as true witnesses. Service is about demonstrating God’s love and care in very practical ways. Some of us are called to do this through ordination and special ministries. But actually, all of us are called to serve others, in every part of life – by being loving and honest and generous-hearted, in all our dealings with other people.

This is true of our relationships in the home; in relationships in the church, the neighbourhood and the community. It should also be true of our work relationships – being honest, fair, and trustworthy, with our colleagues and with those with whom we do business, as well as with our employees. There is no room for corruption, and no room for cutting corners, or cheating in any way.

And all of us can strive to bring greater social justice: we can throw our weight behind initiatives that promote fairness and the good of all.  Perhaps we are called to do something particular – and I know your schools have various programmes through which you can develop community involvement.

In Dr. Sylvia Rimm's book See Jane Win, which reports on research on the success of over 1,000 women, she says:

"Expect the best from all children, including post-high school education.
- Encourage the exhilaration of taking risk...    
- Learn from the success of others.
- Don’t let birth order get in the way of giving our daughters leadership opportunities and responsibilities.                                              
- Spread the wealth resources you have.
- Set a good example.”

Mark Shuttleworth is the first African to travel to space and he is from Diocesan College. Jonathan Shapiro, the South African cartoonist is from St George’s Grammar. These are but some of the successful people of our schools who have made a difference.

Around the world, let's be conscious of the situations in which others live. There are the continuing senseless killing and violence in Gaza. There are tensions in the Ukraine. We continue to say ‘Bring back our girls’ kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria. And with the Primate of the Church of the Province of West Africa, let us pray for God’s blessing and healing of those afflicted by Ebola, which has killed almost 2,000 people in Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Also, in the year when we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, we need to find innovations and new applications to stop war in the future.

As you contemplate God's call to you, the key question is: What one action inspired by one value, constitutional and biblical, will you pursue to make your world safe and equal after your confirmation? I pledge to be a disruptive leader as I advocate for a renaissance of trust in order to build a just and equal world. What about you?

Pray that God will help us discover what his particular call is to each one of us, as we take time to walk closely with him and listen to what he has in store for us. Like sport and study and music and everything else worthwhile, it takes effort to get to do that effortlessly.

Our second reading tells us something of what that effort looks like. It tells us to develop good habits that shape our imaginations, attitudes, thoughts, dreams – it tells us to set our hearts and minds on the good things of God. Then they become foundational for us – like a soldier’s armour and equipment, says St Paul. Or we might say like the tools in a toolbox; like the ingredients for the recipes from which our lives feed and we feed others; or like the software on which we run, like God’s ‘apps’ for living.

Base your lives on truth, on love, on faith, on trust – and do it with prayer and reading the Bible.
Get into the habit of having a conversation with God about all you do – it is better than talking to yourself inside your head!

Focus on the good stuff.  That’s God’s message.If we let problems shape our lives, we will always be dragged down. If we focus on all that is best, it will shape our lives. So find time in your life to converse with God.

Dear confirmation candidates, may God give you the gifts of the Holy Spirit as I lay my hands upon you. May you walk before God in faithfulness with all your heart and with all their soul, as you keep on journeying.

May you grow in faith and in the love of God, as you obey his commandments to be faithful servants within his church and in his world, the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Appeal for prayer for Gaza and Ukraine

I am at present on sabbatical, but I cannot be silent in the wake of developments the Ukraine and Gaza in recent days. Both situations need urgent and intentional intercessions, and I urge you to uplift in prayer those who have been devastated by war.

The blowing apart of a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine, the aggressive killing of God's people -- so soon after the disappearance of another over the Indian Ocean -- is almost unpardonable. We pray for the souls who died in this unnecessary conflict, we extend our condolences to the families of those who died, and we pray for the safety of airline passengers and for an end to this costly war.

Similarly, the conflict in Gaza is a senseless, unnecessary conflict. No war will bring peace and security to Israel and Palestine, in particular not when it involves the heartless use of brute force which has been deployed in the past week. I condemn the killings and the occupation, and join those who are calling for a conversion of brief suspensions of hostilities into a permanent ceasefire.

We pray for those who have died and send our condolences to all who have lost loved ones, and we pray also for the international leaders and diplomats who are seeking long-term solutions. The Israelis and the Palestinians can find a solution -- now they must find one, and the international community needs to bring maximum pressure to bear on both to ensure they do.


God bless you,


+Thabo

An Appeal for Renewed Prayer for Platinum Miners

Please join us in renewed prayer at this delicate stage of consultation and negotiation to end the dispute in the platinum mining industry: 

RENEWED PRAYER FOCUS ON THE PLATINUM MINERS' STRIKE

We continue to pray in this week after Pentecost Sunday

For the spirit of truth to prevail in resolving the dispute in the platinum mining industry

And that God will guide and lead the labour union, AMCU, and the mining houses to reconciliation.

We pray for the parties to return to the talks and find lasting solutions to the social and wage problems they face at this time.

May each put themselves in the shoes of the other and move forward together for the sake of the common good and the safety of all, especially the employees.

Lord, we are confident that there is a solution, that a compromise can be found, and that these will be attained.

The journey has been long, Lord, and each party has flexed its muscles but now each has to help carve out the way forward as they return to the collective bargaining table.

Lord you are creator and owner of all that there is: mines, minerals and all your people, employer and employee,

Act now, Lord, through these so that your glory may be revealed,

For your name's sake,

Amen

 +Thabo Cape Town

A Prayer for Platinum Miners

A Prayer for Platinum Miners

Lord, we have travelled this journey before,
We have seen and tasted death, anguish and despair,

Lord, we are still mourning and grieving,
We are still searching for the full truth about Marikana.

Lord, we cannot go there again,
We can't kill and maim to sustain inequality,
Nor can we allow the fight for equality to kill others.

Lord, there is something amiss in this economic system and we know it.
Help us to uphold the dignity of all involved in the current dispute,
Give us the courage to stand for all, especially for the miners,
Let us hold before us a vision of fairness and accountability as we pursue what makes for peace.

May owners, investors and shareholders feel the pain and longing for peace,
May workers and mine-owners find one another,
May further hurt, pain and killings be averted, and
May politics serve the people for the sake of peace.

Amen

‘Ad Laos’ – To the People of God - December 2013

My dear People of God

A blessed and joyful Christmas to you all! I am writing this letter in Advent, mindful that most of you will read it now, some of you around Christmas and some, perhaps, after Epiphany. My message will attempt to straddle these seasons in our church’s calendar.

Advent and Christmas, and Epiphany to some extent, are opportune times to look back, and also to look forward – to Christ’s first coming, as a precious and vulnerable baby, and to his coming again, as saviour and liberator, when God’s glory shall be manifested and all his purposes fulfilled.

Of course, there is the “here and now”, coupled with looking back and looking forward in order to complete the “gestalt”. How are we then to respond to Emmanuel – God with us (now), to God’s gift of himself in our earthly pilgrimage?

The celebration of Christmas offers part of an answer to his holy longing – for Christmas is not about wasteful consumerism. It is an echoing of God’s declaration that he loves us so much, our fallibility, warts and all, that he willingly sacrifices himself for us; he forgives our failings, heals our despairing souls, comforts us in our grief, and ushers fresh hope, Jesus Christ, the hope of Glory (Col 1:27).

Christmas then is God’s billboard that declares that we are never alone – God in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit knows what it is to be human, to laugh, to dream, to hurt, to be disappointed, to be betrayed, to be tended to, to be scolded by parents and even to face murder. God the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us and helps us grow in faith, love and peace. Past every milestone until we find rest in our heavenly home, he carries us in the palm of his hand.

As we ponder on the mystery of this vulnerable Christ-child, the incarnate Son of God, let our hearts be touched and transformed by the love of children, and also by the plight of those who suffer: women in abusive relationships, those who suffer as a result of xenophobia and those who are refugees because of war. Let our love and our deep yearning for peace, especially for those in Syria and South Sudan, lead us to commit to action to do all that we can to bring an end to militarisation.

I want to thank God for the outpouring of love and condolences from across our Anglican Communion after the death of Nelson Mandela. I was humbled to receive messages of love and support from the Archbishop of Canterbury, individual parishioners, many bishops and primates from around the Anglican Communion. Your love, prayers and messages of support showed how caring we as Anglicans are and that when one is ailing, we all feel the pain together. Thank you on behalf of ACSA and the Mandela family. (See on my blog the prayers that I shared with the nation and at the Valedictory Service that I led with his family in Mr Mandela’s home just before the public funeral service.)

Looking forward, I commend the Lenten Bible Studies produced by Prof Gerald West, which will be posted both on our Province’s website and on my blog. It is my hope that every diocese and parish will use these Bible studies in 2014, allowing God to speak to us afresh as a Province through these scriptures.

Congratulations to Prof Barney Pityana and the staff and Council of the College of the Transfiguration (Cott) for successfully registering Cott as a Private Higher Education Institution in terms of South Africa’s Higher Education Act of 1997, and for the accreditation of its Diploma in Theology. This is the greatest good news of my archiepiscopacy so far, for which I give thanks to God.

As we ponder this Christmas on the awesome and precious gift of God himself, may the love of God overflow in you and in all those you love; may this love transform all that is unloving in us, in our community and the world over – even as we bring God’s peace to reign in all.

May you have a blessed Christmas as you also find your deepest wants and needs are met in Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate.

Yours in the service of Christ,

+Thabo Cape Town

Revision of the Prayer Book

A further report from Provincial Synod

THE PRAYER BOOK FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA TODAY

Provincial Synod endorsed plans for the comprehensive revision of An Anglican Prayer Book 1989.

In September 2012, the Synod of Bishops decided that revision of the prayer book was a necessary part of taking forward the commitment in the ACSA Vision to ‘Liturgical Renewal for Transformative Worship’ as one of the Provincial Priorities. This was affirmed by Provincial Standing Committee, meeting later the same month.

This work is now being taken forward under the auspices of the Liturgical Committee, and steered by Revd Canon Bruce Jenneker. He gave a detailed presentation on the programme of work that will now be taken to develop ‘An Anglican Prayer Book for Southern Africa Today’.

The details of this are set out in the Resolution which Synod subsequently passed (text below).

Archbishop Thabo, in his Charge at the opening of Synod also underlined the vital nature of this undertaking, saying, ‘I’d also like to highlight the work underway to revise our Prayer Book. I cannot overestimate the importance of the centrality of worship that draws us ever closer to our Lord and Saviour.’


The text of the Resolution follows below

This Synod,
1. Noting the decisions taken by Synod of Bishops in September 2012 and endorsed by the Provincial Standing Committee in September 2012, and

2. Encouraged by the response of the Synod of Bishops in March 2013 to the Workshop setting out a programme for the revision of APB ’89;

3. Affirms the decision to ask the Provincial Liturgical Committee to develop ‘A Prayer Book for Southern Africa Today’ as a vital element within the overall vision of Liturgical Renewal for Transformative Worship as set out in the Provincial Vision for the Anglican Church of Southern Africa;

4. Notes that to carry out this work effectively, the Provincial Liturgical Committee will require:
4.1 additional members to be appointed to the Provincial Liturgical Committee;

4.2 a second meeting of the Committee each year during the development of the Prayer Book;

4.3 a series of Liturgical Consultations to be arranged approximately every three years starting with the first Consultations in July 2014;

4.4 a re-launching of Translation Committees to work with the Provincial Liturgical Committee throughout the process to ensure that material is available in the languages used in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa;

5. Respectfully requests that Provincial Synod receives the attached budget that will be required to support the work of this project, and recommend it to the Provincial Finance Committee for possible inclusion in the budget of the provincial liturgical committee.

6. Affirms that this process of development provides an excellent opportunity to identify and train a new generation of liturgists who will ensure the ongoing development of suitable liturgies for the “unfolding tradition ... of our liturgical heritage.” (APB ’89, General Preface);

7. Thanks the Provincial Liturgical Committee for accepting this responsibility and for undertaking to make regular reports to the Synod of Bishops, Provincial Synod and Provincial Standing Committee throughout the period of development of the new Prayer Book.