News from New Zealand - 2

Sunday 28 October - I love cathedrals and organ music as well as choirs or orchestras, as most of you know by now. This morning’s opening service was held at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland, and led in Maori, English and Tongan by the three Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Archbishop of Canterbury preached. It all touched me deep in my love for cathedrals with all their aesthetics and well prepared worship. It was not a grand service as we might do in most of our cathedral services, but a meaningful service and just about the right tempo.

Archbishop Rowan broke the word for us, and with a beautiful choice of words explained the passage from John's gospel (Jn 15: 17-27) profoundly to us. He spoke about God’s undeserved love for us, that calls us as church not only to work to share this love, but to be it in the world. We should see the world as not a dichotomy of ‘us and them’ but as existing in us and within the church and deserving of the unconditional, causeless, love of God . This is the overwhelming, unreasonable, reckless love of God which pours into us in spite of ourselves and often we would rather wish it was not the case . The ACC was called and challenged in truth and love to wrestle with what was before us. (You can read Archbishop Rowan’s sermon at http://www.anglicantaonga.org.nz/Features/love-without-cause, or watch the podcast at http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/10/28/ACNS5217.)

This afternoon, we will get to experience first-hand the work of the networks, see the displays of information they are providing for us, and learn of the varied nature of the Communion’s engagement with mission. Communion networks include Health, Indigenous People, Colleges and Universities, the Environment, Peace and Justice, Inter-Faith, Families, Women, Youth, and the HIV and AIDS network of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa. I am proud that in a humble way, our Province contributes to these and the global life of the Communion, with Delene in the Peace and Justice network and Rachel in the Environment network. These networks are important, and I am sure you will see the parallels with ACSA’s 8 Provincial mission priorities that seek to give our Anglican identity "flesh" in context. Just as we seek to resource our Dioceses and Parishes through these priorities, so we too can be resourced from the Communion-wide work of the networks. Later in the programme there will be resolutions that will come from these networks, which will encourage the Communion to share the love of God, that Archbishop Rowan spoke about, in Gods world in practical terms.

The communications team has asked me to work with the local radio station to field some questions in an interview about what the Anglican Consultative Council is, and about our meeting’s programme. If there is a link, I will send it tomorrow after the interview.

This morning, I spent some time chatting with a judge from Kenya. He is positive about belonging to a bigger church and also found the sermon this morning affirming and challenging. As a judge objectivity and reasonableness are the tools of his trade. He felt able to sit back and engage with what the Archbishop of Canterbury said, rather than feeling disempowered because he was not a cleric, or sufficiently theologically trained. He also marvelled at how South Africa was able to avert a catastrophe through a negotiated settlement, instead of descending into war against the apartheid regime. This is a miracle that I continue to find that most people around the world still appreciate, while increasing numbers of us in South Africa either take it lightly or forget its enormity. I added that this was a living example of the underserved and reckless love of God of which Archbishop Rowan talked, which we experienced in reality in South Africa’s liberation.

Let me end on a personal note. I put through a call to home and spoke with Lungi and the kids, and shared with them that my room is on the third floor, overlooking Auckland harbour, where there are ships and actively working boats. I feel a bit like I am in Table Bay, in Cape Town, on a day when you can't see the mountain! There is a lot of bird life around the hotel, although I have not been able to identify what type of birds. Their singing and the sounds they make fill the heart with life. The flowers and hedged fence feel more familiar than foreign, and so does the weather with its high veld-type of spring clouds. These sufficiently shield the sun and calm the day, though hold a not so distant possibility of rain.

News from New Zealand - 1

Saturday 27 October - I arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, after midnight today (Friday night/Saturday morning) after almost twenty four hours of travelling, including a lot of waiting in airports – almost a day and a half after setting off, if you include the time difference. This is my first visit across the Pacific as up till now my travelling has all been trans-Atlantic. We landed in Sydney and from the sky I could see that this is a beautiful city. My son knows it better than just a view from the sky, having spent a term here on a school exchange last year. From Sydney it was a flight of 2hr 40min to Auckland, and by the time I arrived, I had technically lost a day.

It is always exciting to be at meetings of the Anglican Communion. Yes, there are concerns about money and the cost of travelling, but nothing can replace the importance of literally putting flesh on what communion is, in all its beauty, with its dignity of difference and yet unity of purpose in mission. This was the feeling this morning, as retired Bishop John Peterson welcomed us and gave us a dry run of the welcome we were to receive from the mayor and the host province. Our team of three ACC reps from the Anglican Church in Southern Africa (myself, Revd Canon Janet Trisk, and Louisa Mojela) has been joined by Canon Delene Mark, CEO of Hope Africa, who participates in the Communion’s Peace and Justice Network, and Revd Canon Dr Rachel Mash, our Provincial Environment Coordinator, who serves in the Communion’s Environmental Network. Together, we form what is possibly the most representative team of them all in terms of ecclesial and social labels.

We have had the most wonderful welcome, as you can see if you follow the news on the Anglican Communion News Service, or Episcopal News Service websites, Facebook or Twitter. I hugely enjoyed being part of a panel, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church, at a youth forum, where the young people asked us a whole range of questions about God, theology, ethics and Scripture. ‘What shoes would God wear and why?’ was, for me, a searching and beautiful question. One question directed to me specifically was what does an Archbishop do and am I happy with my pay?!

Following this, we gathered at the cathedral to be oriented about the program. It was a good start, with warm weather in this lovely, clean, bright, city. I love the architecture of the cathedral, which combines old and modern, using natural light, and chairs that can easily be moved to create an Indaba context for groups. Afterwards, I took a long walk into town and along the harbour, just to orient myself physically too.

In sum, Communion is about God's people sharing the love of God through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in them and in their context. It is less about structural issues, important though these are, and far more about ‘incarnation’: it is about an encounter with God and one another, at God’s chosen place.

Please keep us in your prayers, and follow our news via websites or twitter, and I will send more updates when I get the chance.

To the Laos - To the People of God, October / November 2011

Dear People of God

Once again, I must wrap two months into one! It is not always easy to find time, but I am grateful these letters make me pause and consider a wider perspective on my life and ministry. I was very encouraged last weekend, when a priest in Natal Diocese said ‘Please don’t stop writing! My sermons have improved a lot because of your letters!’ Certainly, it is my hope and prayer that in sharing my own reflections on God’s call on my life, I can help enrich your understanding of God’s call to you, and help inform your prayers for our whole Province. So whenever I am late in writing, please conclude that I am particularly busy and in even more need of prayer than usual!

When I last wrote, we were preparing for Synod of Bishops and Provincial Standing Committee. At Synod, we grappled with stretching questions of faith, culture, and ‘reading the signs of the times’. We affirmed that ‘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.’ We noted that ‘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 …’ Our discussions were enriched by the presence of Canon Grace Kaiso, General Secretary of the Conference of Anglican Provinces in Africa (sadly, Archbishop Ian Ernest, CAPA President, was unwell, and could not join us). The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church was also briefly with us, at the end of her short visit. We acknowledged many differences, including over human sexuality, but pledged to continue dialogue. Please pray her time here will have given her a better understanding of this part of the Anglican Communion. You can read the Synod’s full statement at http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/09/statement-from-synod-of-bishops-meeting.html.

PSC was up-beat, despite economic and other pressures, and enthusiastic planning for the future ranged from developing our Vision to renewing theological training. I came home feeling we are deepening our grasp of the identity into which God is calling us to grow, taking seriously our place both within Africa and globally as we seek to share his love, his redemption, his new life. You can read more at http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/10/anglicans-plan-for-future-with.html.

At the beginning of October it was a great joy to join Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu in laughter-filled the celebrations for his 80th birthday, and also Mama Leah’s birthday the following week. Tata, Gogo, we love you more than words can say, and pray that God may bless you richly in retirement.

After such happy celebration, it was sobering to travel with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to Harare, to express our solidarity with Bishop Chad and his Diocese, as well as Anglicans elsewhere in Zimbabwe, who have suffered all manner of outrageous persecutions at the instigation of the breakaway Bishop, Albert Kunonga. Do not believe press reports which say this is a disagreement over human sexuality – that is just a smoke screen for shameless political thuggery and self-enrichment. Even President Mugabe seemed surprised by the scale of events when we presented him with a dossier. Yet we also found great hope. Over 10,000 worshippers gathered on Sunday morning in the Sports’ Stadium, to hear our messages of support, and, as I said there, if God is on our side, who can ever be against us (Rom 8:31). (You can read my fuller reflections on the visit at http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/10/zimbabwe-visit-with-archbishop-of.html.) It seems to have been some improvements in conditions. Pray these will be sustained, and uphold our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe in your intercessions.

After Cape Town’s Diocesan Clergy School, and parish visits which are my usual Sunday fare, I was soon on a plane again – to Toronto, to deliver the Snell Sermon. A former Bishop endowed an annual lecture on ‘The incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ – his person and his message in contemporary theological thought’, a theme which is close to my heart. Jesus is at the heart of God’s mission, and so must always be our goal, our guide, and our model. You can read what I said at http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/11/snell-sermon-incarnate-jesus-christ-in.html, and the sermon I delivered in Toronto Cathedral, for the feast of All Saints, at http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/11/sermon-for-feast-of-all-saints.html. I also discussed the Anglican Church of Canada’s support to ACSA, e.g. through the Primate’s Fund, and the link between the Dioceses of Toronto and Grahamstown.

It is not just me who travels – as mentioned above, others come to us! It was a privilege to have the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall worshipping at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town during their visit to South Africa. In my sermon, I was able to speak about the ability of the Anglican Communion together to do far more than merely the sum of our separate actions, as we seek to respond to God’s call always to ‘stay awake’, ready to take every opportunity to let God’s ‘justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everlasting stream’. (You can read my sermon at http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/11/sermon-for-prince-of-wales-and-duchess.html.)

Finally, I have just made a busy pastoral and teaching visit to the Diocese of Natal. At the heart of this was the consecration, in a packed Cathedral, of Bishop Tsietsi Seloane, the new Suffragan. Pray for him and his wife Rachel in this new chapter of their lives. I also visited local community projects and presented Hope Africa awards for excellence; spoke with Prof Barney Pityana at a dinner raising funds for the redevelopment of COTT (http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/11/support-development-of-college-of.html); and shared reflections on the life and work of a priest at a Clergy Forum (http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/11/these-two-talks-were-delivered-at.html). On Sunday, I preached at on ‘Anglicans in Mission: Here am I, send me!’ (http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/11/anglicans-in-mission-here-am-i-lord.html).

It was also my privilege to deliver the Third Rubin Phillip Peace Lecture at St John’s, Pinetown (see http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/11/if-you-want-peace-you-must-work-for.html). This provided an opportunity to pay tribute to Bishop Rubin (and of course also to Rose), and his Diocese, for all that they do, not only in KwaZulu-Natal, but for the Province as a whole, through generous financial support, and in many other ways. We keep them in our prayers, in this, and in all their evangelistic and mission endeavours. Their ‘radical hospitality’ was shown also to the Synod of Bishops earlier this year, and later this month they will be deeply involved in the witness of faith communities to COP-17, as we call on governments to make binding commitments to safeguard our planet’s future. Meanwhile, I have asked Revd Canon Rachel Mash (who heads HIV and AIDS work for the Diocese of Cape Town) to coordinate the Province’s environmental work, and assist me in my new responsibility as chair of the Anglican Communion’s Environmental Network.

Please keep our Province and me in your prayers at this busy time! (And apologies to those who do not have internet access, for providing so many web links.)

Yours in the service of Christ

+Thabo Cape Town

Environmental Coordinator Appointed

The following press release was issued on 2 November 2011.

The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town today announced the appointment of the Revd Canon Rachel Mash as Environmental Coordinator for the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

Canon Mash, who will continue to head the Diocese of Cape Town’s HIV and AIDS programme, Fikelela, will be working to develop the church’s response to climate change and eco-justice. She will strengthen existing partnerships with SAFCEI, the Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute, and broaden global ties particularly through ACEN, the Anglican Communion’s Environmental Network.

Archbishop Makgoba said he was delighted by the appointment. ‘Rachel will serve the Anglican family across Southern Africa, coordinating our Environment Network, and enhance our ability to participate in inter-religious responses to critical questions of climate change. She will also provide me with invaluable resources in the new role I have recently taken on as Chair of ACEN.’ Explaining that ‘one of our immediate challenges through ACEN is to lend whatever weight we can to the call for governments to ensure a fair, binding and ambitious outcome at the COP-17 meeting opening in Durban later this month,’ he noted that Canon Mash’s appointment was particularly timely.

Dr Makgoba said that he hoped the Anglican Church in Southern Africa would deepen its dialogue with governments, and added that he anticipated engaging further with the Minsters of International Relations and Cooperation, MaiteNkoana-Mbashabane, and of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, following the conclusion of COP-17. ‘Climate change is a reality and we deny it at the earth's peril, risking the destruction of our children's future home,’ he concluded.

Canon Mash – soon to be Dr Mash, following recent completion of a doctorate evaluating the ‘Agents of Change’ HIV Peer Education Programme – said she was looking forward to the challenges of this crucial portfolio. Pointing out that ‘all countries are affected by environmental degradation and climate change,’ she went on to say that ‘the most vulnerable populations will suffer the most, so it is important that as Anglicans we stand together, especially with those of all faiths, in Southern Africa and globally, in support of those most affected.’ In consequence, she stressed, ‘this means a commitment from all of us to tread more lightly on God's earth.’

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. Inquiries: Ms Wendy Tokata on 021-763-1320 (office hours); and Revd Canon Mash at rmash@mweb.co.za.

More details of the work of SAFCEI are available at http://safcei.org; and of ACEN at http://acen.anglicancommunion.org/index.cfm and on the Facebook page ‘Green Anglicans’.