Blogging from Busan - Of Anglicans, Aids, Pamphlets and Pickets at the WCC

At the World Council of Churches assembly in Korea today, we spent more time in a “business plenary”, “ecumenical conversations” and then a “theme plenary” as well as in regional groups. (See an explanation of the programme here>>)

Prior to these, I had the opportunity to meet privately with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi of Burundi with the head of UNAIDS, Mr Michel Sidibé.

We spoke of the need to address as an Anglican Communion some of the systemic issues that still cause new HIV infections when in general the rate is dropping. Inequality has robbed many of a voice in calling for access to treatment and the church is urged to speak up urgently on this. The concern is that epicentre of this crisis has shifted into stable heterosexual relationships and this is of great concern, says Mr Sidibé. We three archbishops agreed to collaborate with UNAIDS, particularly around the forthcoming 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence and on AIDS Day. We noted the growing marginalization of some groups, especially in homophobic countries, and how this may indirectly spread infection as people hide both their sexuality and their HIV status.

In the theme plenary, we listened to the church address its impact or lack thereof in the mission field. We heard of the isolation and pain of the Coptic Christians in Alexandria and of the need to come alongside them in this difficult time.

In our ecumenical plenary, I chose the the justice and peace session and was again struck by the notion of “just peace” and the reminder that "the strength of the powerful depends on the obedience and compliance of its citizens..." Citizens do have the capacity to use non-violent means to change a violent order, to give voice to the voiceless and accomplish reconciliation. The session enabled us to explore this notion of just peace in a little more depth.

Jape Heath, a priest from our province now working in Sweden, who is both HIV positive and in a same-sex relationship, is open these issues and shared with the Archbishop of Canterbury and me the work of INERELA+ – an organisation now comprising thousands of immuno-compromised religious leaders who are ready to share their redemptive stories on living with the HI Virus.

We ended with an Africa group regional meeting, sharing issues as they affected the continent and recommending candidates for election to the Central Committee of the WCC. I was so proud of how our continent, without compromising the process, performed in reflecting a gender balance in nominations. Pray for the candidates as nominations close.

Let me end with what we started with after morning prayer. We had Chung Hongwon, prime minister of South Korea address us and bring greetings. He spoke passionately and demonstrated the importance of church-state relations. Please pray for the ecumenical witness in our country. Today at the regional meeting, I was able to see colleagues from our country's ecumenical bodies and could at least "praat”, “khuluma” and “buwa” our country's languages. There are of course some who, as is customary at these gatherings, are picketing us, putting pamphlets in our faces because they like neither the conference theme nor the WCC. Pray for us all.

God bless
+ Thabo

PHOTO: Dr Wedad Abbas Tawfik from Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria speaking at the WCC assembly in Busan.

Blogging from Busan - Day One of the WCC Assembly in Korea

DAY ONE: After a long journey, we arrived at BUSAN in South Korea for the opening of the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on Wednesday.

Other South Africans from ACSA include Bishop Jo Seoka of Pretoria, Canon Nangula Kathindi of Namibia, Mrs Lungi Makgoba and Professor Bev Haddad of the University of KwaZulu/Natal, all attending in various capacities.

We had a good "reunion" with other bishops and Primates from the Anglican Communion, as well as some clergy and laity, but the auditorium was too full to accommodate everyone for the opening plenary so we had to sit in the worship space and follow proceedings on a screen.

Jet-lagged and finding screens too impersonal, we decided to go to the conference's market place, where we were struck by many of the exhibitions - but chiefly by the ecumenical work which is being done for the disabled. I don't think that is an aspect of ministry which we as a province have spent much thought on, or are doing much about.

Then to the first business of the assembly, when we listened to the general secretary, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the moderator of the Central Committee, the Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, and other programme directors present their reports or move for their reception.

What stuck out for me was the call by most for "Just Peace". The reports gave a synopsis of the work of the past seven years and the vision for the next under the assembly theme of “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.”

Parishioners at home should know of the longing by South Korea in particular for reunification with North Korea so that lasting peace is attained.

One objective of choosing Korea for the venue of the assembly was to support this longing, and to amplify the voices of the Christian minority to the majority, hopefully contributing to the achievement one day of lasting peace with justice.

God bless you,

+Thabo

THE PHOTO ABOVE shows a dramatic performance which narrated a history of the national and Christian mission in Korea.

Mayoral Inter-faith service at the Cathedral of St. George the Martyr, Cape Town

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, friends from the Western Cape inter religious group, dear people of this beautiful city, dear friends.

It is a great joy to be with you as we celebrate what we have termed the Mayoral Service.

Thank you, Mr. Dean and your staff for hosting this service and for the Western Cape Religious Leaders' Forum for coordinating this together with the city and the Cathedral: to everyone else who is here, who loves this city or who lives in the city or offers services to the city, feel welcomed.

The ancient Greek notion of the city implied that the polis is about citizenship and the body of citizens. In short, how space and resources are organized in service to the people of the city and how the people in turn engage to shape their destiny collaboratively.

So you, we all matter, for without you, we would not have the mayor to organize the affairs of this city, nor the mayor without the citizens.

May I also, on behalf of the Dean and his staff welcome all the other visitors here today.

Madame Mayor, Patricia De Lille: thank you, also for your leadership and presence with us and for your encouraging and challenging words; thank you for your welcome – we feel honored and humbled that you agreed to be here and to grace us with your presence, for without it we could not have a "Mayoral Service" as an inter-faith congregation.

In the Christian sacred text that was read this afternoon, John 10:10, the Johannine Jesus says, "I came so that you may have life and have it in abundance."

What is life in abundance? What is eternal life? It is about the flourishing of all human beings and not only some who are powerful and connected. It is the flourishing of us all or, put differently, it is about the common good or the public good.

The common good, simply put, is ensuring that what is good and beneficial for me, is also good and beneficial for the other who is my neighbour.

Put in a language understood by most religions, this is about doing what I would like done to me (love, respect, care, compassion) done to the other too. Yes, it is about respecting the dignity of each individual as reflecting the humanity of God and the divine in God.

The famous words are from the Christian sacred text, love you neighbor, with all your mind, soul and body, and love the Lord your God with the same mind as you love yourself and neighbor.

Life in abundance is life lived with a mentality of abundance and not a mentality of poverty; life lived mindful that it is not useful to amass riches, thinking that when your end comes, you will take these with you; it is life lived with contentment and generosity, wanting to make profit but not ignoring people or the planet that generates your wealth.

How might this life pan out in our beloved city? Our city is doing relatively well. You only need to look at the Currie Cup final, even though we are sorry the Sharks won. Visitors and tourists to this city bring a lot of revenue.

Or you can look at our status as world design capital or at the film industry, conferences, tertiary education, media, the financial sector, small grassroots enterprises such as B&B’s, NGOs, industry, including thriving and not so thriving small industries, and the large number of companies with head offices in this city. The economy is indeed thriving here in spite of challenges elsewhere, heralded by Minister Pravin Gordhan and his belt-tightening for ministers.

Economically, we are doing relatively well compared to the majority of the other provinces of our country and countries in our continent. For this, we are grateful to our city and mothers for the flourishing of the local economy.

However, as religious leaders, as we give thanks for this flourishing, we need to also ask deeper questions:

-- Who is benefiting from this economic flourishing?

-- Is it serving the common good or benefitting only some who are powerful, politically and economically well connected?

-- Is this result of this flourishing what Jesus envisaged in the passage from John: I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance?

-- Are the people without a voice in the city benefitting as well?

-- Are we reaching out?

-- Does the economic benefit bring joy and benefits to those on the margins, not just trickle to them?

-- Are the dividends of our democracy and freedom benefitting all, and are those who benefit helping others to have access to this boom?

In this past week, I did "huisbesoek" to Auntie Pat Gorvalla* in Durbanville, then licensed a new priest in Christ Church Claremont and visited Mfuleni. I could not help but feel torn by the feeling that this abundant life in our beloved city is still skewed in favour of those of us from a particular race and class and not for all as Jesus wished for, suffered for and died for.

The work is thus enormous. I must confess that we in the religious vocation often overlook these challenges. We are often tempted by the trappings of power, money and proximity to politicians and the potential for personal or denominational gain from such proximity.

Whilst we need to affirm the good that the city does, we equally need to raise critical questions about who benefits from the city’s flourishing, and why spatial apartheid for instance is so stubborn 20 years into our democracy. We need to raise these questions without fear, for ours is not a political mandate but a vocation to serve all in spite of power, status and political affiliation.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, friends from the Western Cape inter religious group, dear people of this beautiful city, dear friends.
Often, we are too aligned, or our mouths are too full of resources, personal or for our churches, that we are afraid to speak out clearly and prophetically for the cause of those marginalized and excluded, and plead their cause in attaining this abundant life in the here and now, and not only in heaven.

We confess our failures today and ask for pardon from God, from the poorest of the poor and all who are marginalized, be it materially, due to their sexual orientation, class or race. We say Lord have mercy on us and pardon us, our sins.

Two weeks ago at the National Church Leaders' Consultation, we confessed this sin of omission, the lack of coherence in our prophetic audibility and our courage to speak. We committed to being part of the solution, especially in education, and resolved to seek an audience urgently with SADTU and other teachers' unions as we look together at ways we can make education the tool of liberation it is supposed to be.

As we confess and acknowledge our own shortcomings in our city too, we should not be navel-gazing and becoming trapped by this sin of omission or our helplessness for not doing and speaking for the cause of the poorest of the poor.

We should equally engage with all for their sake as we plead for respect for their human dignity and for their true freedom. Let us re-commit to taking seriously our God-given mandate to serve others.

We commit to working as a collective with the city , the polis, in serving God's people and in bringing hope; hope that nothing will separate God's people from the love and care of God even in the midst of pain, suffering and squalor.

We commit to the ministry of reconciliation, reconciling communities and different faiths, rich and poor, and we encourage the spirit of generosity and cohesion amongst all people of this city and province.

We commit to walks of witness alongside the people of God to highlight: janitorial services gone wrong; poor school infrastructure; poor conditions of service and remuneration for farm and domestic workers; the need to investigate the effectiveness of policing in our townships; the impact which endemic corruption has on service delivery and social cohesion; as well as the many glaring economic disparities in our city.

We will continue to care for the xenophobically displaced, those trapped by drugs and the impact of gangsterism. We will continue through the Electoral Code of Conduct Observer Commission (ECCOC) to demand that our political leaders behave aptly as we all pray for, and ensure, a free, robust and fair context for electioneering and elections next year and beyond, as well as open the question of who funds political parties and demand transparency in this area.

Returning to the Christian sacred text as I conclude, the Lucan God, in Luke 4, reminds us as people of faith and in this city , that the spirit of the Lord God is upon me, he has anointed me and all of us to proclaim boldly without fear or favour good news to the poor....

Let us dare to do so.

May this mayoral service bring hope and courage to all in the city and a recommitment by us all to bring life in abundance for all especially those in the margins of the city?

Amen

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
27 October 2013

* A leading citizen of Cape Town and former president of the Anglican Women's Federation.

National Church Leaders' Consultation - Media Advisory

Media Advisory: 14 October 2013

National Church Leaders’ Consultation – Invitation to Media

A meeting of the twice-annual National Church Leaders’ Consultation will take place on 15 and 16 October 2013 at the Southern Sun Hotel, O R Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg.

The meeting will consider a report from the National Religious Association for Social Development (NRASD), which will address public health; education; economic and welfare policy, and the National Development Plan; and gender violence and human rights. Bishop Ziphozihle Siwa will lead further discussions on questions of education; and Bishop Malusi Mpulwana will head a session Towards a Rolling Church Action Plan for Social Change. The consultation will also hear presentations from Mr Pascal Paul Moloi, NDP Commissioner, and Mr Leo Makgamathe of BrandSA.

On Tuesday evening, His Excellency, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Health, will be in conversation with Dr Catherine Sozi, Country Director, UNAIDS. The Media are invited to attend this event, which begins at 18.45hrs.

A media statement will also be issued at the close of the Consultation, around 1300 on 16 October.

The National Church Leaders’ Consultation is currently chaired by the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman, 021 763 1320 (office hours)
Mr Sipho Mahokoto, Senior Program Coordinator, NRASD, 083 745 3405, sipho@cddc.co.za (during the Consultation)

Canon Law Council Established

A final report from Provincial Synod

Act to Establish a Canon Law Council

Questions of Canon Law were a major theme at Provincial Synod. A decision was taken to relaunch the Canon Law Society, and work was also done in revising the disciplinary canons.

Archbishop Thabo underlined the importance of having good canons and using them well in his Charge. He said

That we live by grace and covenant, and not by law, is at the heart of the rejuvenation of the Canon Law Society. This … is not about placing legalistic and legislative burdens upon us. Rather, it is for helping us to use Canon Law better: as our good servant, not bad master.
… In today’s world far too often the immediate response to disagreement is to rush to litigation as the first, not last, resort: whether in politics, business, or even running football clubs! Alas, Christians often follow the same path. The amount of time and money our church has spent in the last five years in secular legal processes is shocking. It pains me deeply that legal cases have consumed significant resources that should be devoted to mission and ministry. It also distresses me to see the church falling into ungodly practices of lobbying and putting on pressure, to get our own way, or to get our own back when we can’t get what we want through proper processes.
God calls us instead to wrestle with one another within the body of Christ, and together to wrestle with him, so we may discern his will in the complexities of our relationships in this complex world. Better understandings of Canon Law should help resource us to deal with difficult issues in more holy ways.
This is also the aim of revising disciplinary Canons: that these should bring us greater confidence and freedom in following our calling, just as the introduction of Pastoral Standards has done. God calls us to offer models of good and holy practice to the world – for those who long to find the Lord’s favour, as in our first reading; and even to those who think they know better, as in our second. We must follow good governance and best practice in all that we do, where necessary revising both structures and practices. We must be good stewards of our resources, for example asking whether the expense of meetings could be better handled through having our own Anglican conference centre.
As we live before the watching world, we should not fear difference, or even disagreement, because it is through wrestling together – as brothers and sisters who know our unity in Christ is greater than anything that can divide us – that we can be like rough stones polishing each other to become beautiful smooth gems. It is a demanding calling, but I am sure it is one to which God especially calls Anglicans, in Southern Africa and around the world.

The Provincial Registrar, Mr Henry Bennet, with input from a number of other members of Synod, led a session that explained about the background, development and use of canon law. This was extended into a second session, in place of group work, to allow fuller discussion and questions and answers. Various Measures were passed to amend the Disciplinary Canons to make them more workable, and better reflect best practice and good governance.

Later in Synod, a resolution was passed to establish a Canon Law Council as an Act of Synod. Elections were held for its membership.

The following people were elected to the Canon Law Council

Mr Henry Bennett - Provincial Registrar
Adv Ronnie Bracks - Deputy Provincial Registrar
The Revd Matt Esau - Cape Town
Justice Ian Farlam - Provincial Chancellor
Mr Lloyd Fortuin - Saldanha Bay
The Very Revd Andrew Hunter - Grahamstown
The Ven M Mariri - Pretoria
Adv Daryl Newton - Port Elizabeth
Adv Jill Oliphant - Johannesburg
Mr Roger Schärges - Port Elizabeth
Justice Leona Theron - Johannesburg
The Revd Charles Williams - Saldanha Bay

The text of the Resolution follows below

This Church accepts the thesis that while theology provides it with a vision and definition of its purposes and Christian values, these are implemented in the form of canon law, which provides the norms of action for their implementation. Thus, canon law has a theological basis, and theology works through canon law. In so doing it also accepts the need for the Church to exercise its leadership to ensure that its legal apparatus and procedures match its vision and purposes, and at the same time meet current needs and aspirations in relation to its members’ rights, responsibilities and freedoms.

To this end the Church establishes, as an Act, a faculty to be known as the Anglican Canon Law Council (the “Council”), the constitution of which will be as follows:

1. The Council will be an integral part of the Church, functioning under and reporting to the Provincial Trusts Board (the “Board”), but reporting also to Provincial Synod and Provincial Standing Committee, with a liaison bishop to be appointed to the governing body by Episcopal Synod.

2. The members of the Council will be:

2.1 All Provincial and Diocesan Chancellors and Registrars, ex officio;
2.2 Any Bishop currently in office or retired, on application;
2.3 Any Cleric, currently licensed or retired, on application; and
2.4 Any Confirmed Communicant, on application.

3. The purpose and objectives of the Council will be:

3.1 Collegial, namely, the sharing of information, creating the facility for those interested in canon law to meet (personally or by other means of communication) to discuss canon law issues and matters and to seek interactively answers where these are needed.
3.2 Opinions, namely, where possible assisting bishops and others in authority in the Church on issues and matters referred to it by them.
3.3 Publications, namely, to record and make available canon law studies and discussions relevant to the Church, its governance, rights and responsibilities.
3.4 Mentoring, namely, guiding Bishops, members of Chapters, Provincial and Diocesan Trusts Boards and newly appointed Chancellors and Registrars in their work.
3.5 Archiving, namely, as facilities become available retaining and storing in retrievable form, as may be submitted, judgments of Church tribunals, relevant judgments of Courts of Law of interest, and opinions of the Council, Chancellors, Registrars and diocesan attorneys and counsel.
3.6 Conferences, namely, creating opportunities for legal officers and others across the Province interested in canon law to establish or renew contact, to deliver papers and to discuss issues and matters of the day.

4. The Council’s governing body will be a Committee, comprising:

4.1 The Liaison Bishop.
4.2 The Provincial Chancellor and Registrar.
4.3 Three persons, clerical or lay, learned in the law elected by Provincial Synod.
4.4 Three persons, being Provincial or Diocesan Chancellors or Registrars, elected at the Annual Conference of the Council.

5. The periods of office of Committee Members will be for as long as their appointments a Liaison Bishops, Provincial Chancellor or Registrar last, in the case of those referred to in 4.1 and 4.2, and for three years in the case of those referred to in 4.3 and 4.4. Episcopal Synod or the Metropolitan shall appoint successors to fill vacancies that occur under 4.1 or 4.2, as the need arises; Provincial Standing Committee shall fill any vacancies that may occur between sessions of Provincial Synod under 4.3; and the Committee shall itself nominate persons to fill any vacancies between Annual Conferences that occur under 4.4. Committee Members under 4.3 and 4.4 may be re-elected after their periods of appointment have expired.

6. The Committee shall elect its own Chair, Deputy Chair and Secretary at its first meeting each year, at or after the Annual Conference. The quorum for Committee meetings shall be the majority in number of Committee Members in office at the time.

7. The Council shall have no financial powers independently of the Church. All income and expenditure shall be duly authorised, held and paid by the Church through the office of the Provincial Treasurer. It is not intended that the Council shall become a cost centre to the Church: members of Council are volunteers and as far as possible they or their Dioceses shall bear their costs (such as travel and accommodation, by way of example and without limitation), while the Church will bear such costs as are appropriately attributable to it (such as the costs of publications and archiving, and those of the Liaison Bishop and any other office bearer serving a Provincial function in relation to Council work).

8. The Committee shall make such arrangements for the Annual Conferences and the work of Council as it shall deem appropriate. It may also pass such rules of procedure or bye laws as it sees fit, and appoint such sub-committees as it deems necessary, Moreover, it may put forward to Provincial Synod such amendments to this Act as it wishes to recommend, after it has obtained the support for them from the Board on each occasion.

9. As an ordinary resolution of Synod, not an Act, this Synod resolves that all Resolutions of this Synod referring matters to the steering Committee of the Canon Law conference shall be deemed to be referred to the Board of the Canon Law Council.

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.