Monday 29 October – The cloud could not contain the rain today. So after lunch I walked to a shop and bought myself a purple umbrella. The choice of colour, I hasten to add, had nothing to do with episcopal concerns. It was just the most practical the store had.
The cathedral is about 7 minutes, a gentle uphill walk, from the hotel we stay at. So we are not only nurtured spiritually with the word of God and daily Mass, we are also being kept fit. We walk the route at least twice a day, from the hotel to the cathedral and back. And if you want a siesta, like I did today, succumbing to jet lag, you walk four times 7 minutes, up and down to the cathedral.
I have enjoyed walking with Louisa Mojela ,our lay representative, and catching up on Anglican Global South matters , as she also represent our Province in this structure. I also walked with the Bishop of Ceylon and began to understand some more about his context. On another occasion, I walked with a bishop from Tanzania, and really enjoyed connecting with him. Last night, I also spoke to a retired bishop from Tanzania , who, like Judge Albi Sachs and Fr Michael Lapsley, was sent a letter bomb by the apartheid forces and he too lost his hand. He was an amazing man, who talked with no regret nor bitterness for the atrocious act of the past, but spoke fondly of his time in Lesotho, Swaziland and Lusaka as an Anglican chaplain with Umkhonto We Sizwe. I remain grateful for all those who sacrificed their lives and, literally, body parts for our liberation.
This transformative and redeeming spirit was expounded by Archbishop Rowan, when he started today’s morning session with a quiet time and an exposition of 2 Cor 2:14-17. He said the context is that of Paul seeking to respond to his own challenging context, which may have been both similar and uniquely different to that faced by those I mentioned, with its pain, anger, suffering, and marginalization. Paul seeks to respond in a gospel shaped way. This takes the form of acknowledging our deep-seated emotions: in Paul's case his blazing anger in his letter to the Corinthian church. He then has to step back to critically reflect on these emotions. We must ask ourselves too, is our anger at a thing, a person, or a community? Acknowledging that God is faithful to both us and to others, is to reveal God' s passionate faithfulness in us, in that ‘while we were still sinners’, he sent his only son to liberate us, rather than to condemn us. And so we are challenged to ask ourselves whether our anger is more about passionate self-righteousness than faithfulness to God and God’s communion with us and who or whatever is ‘the other’ in our anger. Archbishop Rowan then called for critical faithfulness: critical because we believe in God’s redeeming presence, and faithfulness because ‘He who calls us is faithful and he will do it.’ He is faithful and will not go away, but will always be there. And so the church is called to ‘be there’ in God’s world, not to run away but offer this presence for all in need. This comes at a cost. The fragrance of death of which St Paul writes is an indication that something has to die in us, and the fragrance of life indicates that we are being transfigured into the likeness of Christ as we critically and faithfully serve God in the other.
The Anglican Communion’s Secretary General, Kenneth Kearon, in his opening address, took a similar line to the above reflection while speaking independently. He drew the analogy of the ACC and communion members as glass. We are required to cooperate and work with one another as we radiate, reflect, refract what communion is about. Doing this, like having stained glass windows in our cathedrals or parish churches, comes with a price. The cost of belonging requires transformation, which entails death to stagnant positions, because none of us can fully capture the whole picture of who God is and what communion is about. He concluded, ‘We each bring our own piece of stained glass and add it to the window alongside that of others, and so reveal the fullness of the glory of God in our broken and hurting world.’
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is in effect a unity of three churches, or three ‘Tikanga’ as they call them: the Maori, Pakeha (ie of European descent) and Polynesian. Even in their negotiated settlement, there is this cost and this value; and so their fuller picture should be seen as a bright collage which is distinctive in its differences and yet one. So tonight we ended the day by having dinner at the Maori church, which displayed its traditional food, lovingly served for the good of the communion and extension of God’s mission. We sat and ate together and shared sweet fellowship. I found myself reflecting that if this is possible, in this place which also faced past divisions, yet came to acknowledge their pain honestly, then it is possible for South Africa to stay on course with reconciliation in spite of the current mining sector and other challenges. In the same way, it is also possible for our Communion, and even the world, with each bringing our unique pieces into forming this picture that is open, loving, transparent, and able to serve God with critical faithfulness, confidently knowing that he will never abandon his church or his world. He is faithful and this is the reason for my joy. What about you? If you examine yourself, what emotions do you have which need to die and be replaced with the aroma of Christ? And what about our church and our country?
God bless, Arch Thabo
Monday, 29 October 2012
Sunday, 28 October 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, 27 October 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
To the Laos - To the People of God, October 2012
Dear People of God
‘To God be the glory, great things he has done …’ This song rang in my heart at the beginning of this month, when, with 1400 of you, I was at the Anglicans Ablaze Conference in Johannesburg. It was a remarkable time together, deeply spiritually moving, and stirring heart and mind with profound teaching from wonderful speakers.
Though we come together in far larger numbers in our Dioceses, this was the largest pan-ACSA gathering anyone can remember. It was all I hoped it might be, and much more – for God never ceases to surprise us, even if we know in our heads that he delights to do ‘immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine’ (Eph 3:20). I have longed for us to find ways to celebrate the best of our traditions, including in liturgy, alongside other forms of faith and worship which equally exemplify authentic Anglicanism; all accepted as part of our legitimate diversity. Well, we certainly enjoyed this, as you will know if you’ve seen pictures of Bishop Martin Breytenbach playing his guitar while wearing a cope! Our worship was both properly dignified, and yet lively and exuberant in our response to God’s love poured out upon us.
It was an amazing celebration of the goodness of God, and of our distinctive though challenging Anglican calling. For it seems to me that our ability to hold together in love, and overcome barriers (whether ‘secular’, of politics, history, race, language and so forth, or ‘church’, of styles and traditions) can be an icon, modelling the societies God calls us to promote across the Province. I left Bryanston a changed person, and believe our church has also been changed, by God’s grace. It was as if God gave us a taste of the holistic renewal he desires to bring to us – across every aspect of the life of faith, from evangelism to discipleship to mission to social justice to the environment. ‘The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it’ says the Psalmist, and there is no aspect of human living that God does not want to redeem and renew.
How shall we take forward this excitement, this teaching, this inspiring sense of newness of life for us all (which feels like a personal challenge of ‘re-evangelisation’ to each of us, to take our faith ‘to the next level’), and share it across our Province? I am sure that those who were in Johannesburg will already have begun to do this. The celebration of the Anglicans ACT Vision (at the heart of Anglicans Ablaze), on 25 November, is another opportunity. I also invite you to read, prayerfully and reflectively, the ‘Message to the Church’ in which the Listening Team summed up so much of what God did for us during our time in Bryanston. This follows on below my letter.
By the time you read this, I shall be heading for New Zealand, to the Anglican Consultative Council, for which I ask your prayers. The ACC is, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, and the Primates’ Meeting, one of our ‘Instruments of Communion’. Meeting every 3 years, it brings together ordained and lay representatives from all 38 Anglican Churches, and so is the only body not made up of just bishops! Revd Canon Janet Trisk and Mrs Louisa Mojela are our other representatives. From 27 October to 7 November we will have a busy time discussing a great range of subjects in the life and mission of the global Anglican family.
The agenda includes the current state of the Anglican Communion, and the decisions made so far by churches on whether to adopt the Anglican Covenant, as well as looking at relations with other churches and the work of a host of global Anglican networks. One of these is the Anglican Communion Environmental Network (ACEN), which I chair, and there will be a major presentation around its work. Other major topics on the agenda include inter-faith relations, countering gender-based violence, communications, and Christian witness in contemporary contexts.
The environment has been much on my mind recently – not least the need to plant a growing number of trees to offset my extensive travel (I am fully aware of the irony of this, and the need, highlighted at PSC, to use technology to reduce our travel ‘footprint’). This planting is part of a radical overhaul of Bishopscourt’s gardens, in which, with the help of the South African National Biodiversity Institute’s ‘Early Detection and Rapid Response’ Team, we are steadily clearing out invasive alien species that threaten to overrun us, and to suck up all the ground water. I wish that my predecessors had realised 30 years ago how vital this task is. If it had been tackled then, it would have been a far easier and far cheaper job. I encourage all of you who have any gardens or land, to take special care in your stewardship of them.
Various speakers at an event this week to encourage such ‘weedbusting’ highlighted how poor care of our environment exacerbates poverty in direct and indirect ways. This is a theme in the seven studies ‘Sabbath Reflections: Capitalism and Inequity versus a Gospel Mandate’ which we will formally launch at ACC. In these, my predecessor as chair, Bishop George Browning, considers how contemporary societies must ‘address rapidly growing inequity and ... confront an economic system which operates as if resources are infinite and humanity can somehow exist as if it is not part of an unfolding ecological crisis.’ He explores how a fresh understanding and practice of the biblical concept of Sabbath can reconnect economics to ethics, and shape human society in a manner that is consistent with the creation upon which it depends. These are vital questions we must face, if we are to ensure that it is not ‘business as usual’ in our international financial structures. There needs to be a radical overhaul if we are to reverse the shocking trends of growing inequality and economic injustice through which a small minority can become ridiculously wealthy at the expense of the poorest, and even of the middle classes. If you are interested in downloading these studies, you will find them at http://acen.anglicancommunion.org/resources/documents.cfm.
Yours in the service of Christ
+Thabo Cape Town
Anglicans Ablaze: ‘Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God’s Mission, Transformed by the Holy Spirit’
Message from the Listening Group - Johannesburg, 3-6 October 2012
We came, close to 1400 of us, because we wanted to be, and wanted the Anglican Church of Southern Africa to be, Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God’s Mission, Transformed by the Holy Spirit – believing this is not just our vision, but God’s vision for us.
We came with excitement, anticipation, commitment; even if a little unsure of what to expect, perhaps a bit lost or fearful, or aware of obstacles in our lives and in our church. But we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and has done far more than we could ever ask or imagine! God is love, and has met us in love, and called on us to abide in his love.
God offered us a turning point, and we have found it so: a turning point for many individuals, and for our church, which may also go on to become a turning point for our parishes, our communities, our nations.
It has been a time of renewal, of genuine renewal, as God sees it. It brings cleansing, healing, wholeness and newness of life for us, in every aspect of what it is to be human, made in the image of God, sharing in the body of Christ, loving our neighbours and God’s world. It is renewal that is about the abundant life which Christ promised. It is about evangelism and discipleship and integral mission and social justice. This is God’s comprehensive, holistic, renewal, far wider and deeper than we had expected, and he desires it to be at the heart of our church. He has come to us with power, yet he has also dealt with us gently and naturally.
We have been here to learn, and God has blessed us with some wonderful speakers. We have learnt that ‘the plural of disciple is church’, and that we need to move from being ‘welcoming’ to ‘inviting’ churches. We have learnt to have courage in God’s love not to minister from the damaged, wounded, places of our lives (which so often leads us to damage and wound others) but to live out of a brokenness that finds its place in the brokenness of Christ upon the cross, and shares in the weeping of God the Father for his children and his world. We have also learnt that power and authority belong to God, not to us, no matter what position we have. It is God’s gift. We must hold power lightly and share it.
We’ve also learnt that God will hold us, safe in his love, when life brings difficulties or obstacles, as inevitably happens. So we will not be afraid when everything seems to grind to a halt – if God says wait, then we will wait, but keep listening and ready to learn more. We will have courage to see the issues that we battle with as stepping stones not stumbling blocks, believing that God lets them come to us so that he can teach us what it means to take us through them to a better place. We’ve learnt that we should trust God to take us through our fears; to cleanse us from shame; to take our hardness and dissolve it in his cleansing waters of life. We have heard his call to let go of – or allow him to prune – all that holds us back.
We believe our time together has delighted the heart of God. God has given us a fuller vision, not only of being ‘Anglicans who ACT’, but of what we might become if we dare to live into the fullness of all that Anglicanism can be in Southern Africa, under God’s grace. In this way, he is calling us to become more, not less, Anglican! We have been the largest, and most diverse, gathering from across ACSA that anyone can remember: we have enjoyed being together as Archbishop and 12 more bishops and bishops-elect, as clergy, as religious, as laity, and as young people (we acknowledge that we have not had children among us, but affirm that the promise of God’s vision is for our children also). We have experienced God’s love breaking down the barriers of the social, political and historic divisions within our nations, and breaking down the differences of tradition, style, and labelling within our church. ‘God’s love is the glue that holds us together’ the Archbishop told us on our first evening, and we have come to know the truth of this for ourselves.
We believe this holding together in joyful, celebrated, diversity is a precious gift which God calls Anglicans to model to the world around us. It is as if we have experienced a foretaste of what the societies of our nation have the potential to become. For we have found ourselves enriched by one another, and know we have more to learn from each other. We have been delighted to experience something of what it means to live with this ‘mixed economy’ of church identity (as we heard Archbishop Rowan has described the best of our historic traditions alongside authentically Anglican newer forms of worship and church life), as we share together, anchored in the love of Christ. We have heard a clear call to hold on to the new links we have forged across old divides, as we go from here to our homes.
We thank God for the great blessing he has brought us through our times of worship (including our early morning Eucharists), and through our praying with and for one another. We have especially enjoyed having so many young people with us. As was said, their passion and energy, when joined with the wisdom of experience, is a winning combination!
Our time together has been significant. It has truly become a turning point. We have been changed, and our church has been changed. We have received a wonderful vision from God for our future, ‘a vision for the appointed time; and if it seems to tarry, we will wait for it, for it will surely come, it will not delay.’ We know we will face many challenges when we go home, even within ACSA. We are also more than aware of the enormous challenges in our communities and nations, and of the huge and ever faster changes our world is experiencing. But we are not daunted. We know that our calling is to keep listening to God, and to be faithful and obedient, and open to God’s leading, and then to leave it to him to ‘do his bit’, recalling that ‘Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.’
We also believe that God is calling us ‘to bless and not to curse’: to step back from the critical habits of contemporary society and stop complaining about our church, our societies and our governments. Where we see faults and failings, we should instead be beacons of light and hope, and bearers of God’s redemptive promises. ‘Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise’ we will let our minds dwell on, and our mouths speak of, such things.
Deep within us, our spirits speak in the words of the song that has been so significant during our time together: ‘It is well, it is well, with my soul.’ In our listening, praying and speaking, we have felt God offer images of holy fire and living water: flames that blaze, with flying sparks that spread the fire, and a flaming arrow pointing the way ahead; and waters that cleanse like wetlands, or dissolve hardness, or well up in unquenchable life-giving springs.
We are learning we need to be increasingly anchored in the love of Christ. We have learnt not only to say ‘God is good, all the time’, but also ‘God is love, all the time’ and ‘God loves us, all the time’ and ‘God loves me, all the time.’ And, having learnt this lesson, we have heard the voice of God coming to us as it came to Moses and the ancient Hebrew people, ‘You have been in this place long enough – it is time to break camp, and move on.’ Amen.
Some Bible Passages
Deut 1:6 – We have been here long enough: now is the time to break camp, and move on.
Habbakuk 2:3 – ‘… a vision for the appointed time … If it seems to tarry, wait for it: it will surely come, it will not delay.’
Haggai – Rebuilding the Temple
Luke 5:38 – new wine in new wineskins
John 15 – ‘Abide in my love’ …
Romans 12:2 – ‘…be transformed by the renewing of your minds’
I Cor 3:6 – ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.’
Phil 4:6-8 – ‘Whatever is true .. honourable … just … pure … pleasing … commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things’
1 John, especially 3:14–4:21 – ‘God is love’ … ‘We love because he first loved us’ …
Some Quotes from Speakers
Bishop Graham Cray: ‘Mission will never be effective without authentic discipleship; and discipleship will never be taken seriously unless we engage in mission’ and ‘Renewal without mission is self- indulgence; mission without renewal becomes legalistic or triumphalist or disillusioned.’
‘Our theology would improve if we thought more of the church being given to the Spirit, than of the Spirit being given to the church.' John V Taylor
‘To God be the glory, great things he has done …’ This song rang in my heart at the beginning of this month, when, with 1400 of you, I was at the Anglicans Ablaze Conference in Johannesburg. It was a remarkable time together, deeply spiritually moving, and stirring heart and mind with profound teaching from wonderful speakers.
Though we come together in far larger numbers in our Dioceses, this was the largest pan-ACSA gathering anyone can remember. It was all I hoped it might be, and much more – for God never ceases to surprise us, even if we know in our heads that he delights to do ‘immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine’ (Eph 3:20). I have longed for us to find ways to celebrate the best of our traditions, including in liturgy, alongside other forms of faith and worship which equally exemplify authentic Anglicanism; all accepted as part of our legitimate diversity. Well, we certainly enjoyed this, as you will know if you’ve seen pictures of Bishop Martin Breytenbach playing his guitar while wearing a cope! Our worship was both properly dignified, and yet lively and exuberant in our response to God’s love poured out upon us.
It was an amazing celebration of the goodness of God, and of our distinctive though challenging Anglican calling. For it seems to me that our ability to hold together in love, and overcome barriers (whether ‘secular’, of politics, history, race, language and so forth, or ‘church’, of styles and traditions) can be an icon, modelling the societies God calls us to promote across the Province. I left Bryanston a changed person, and believe our church has also been changed, by God’s grace. It was as if God gave us a taste of the holistic renewal he desires to bring to us – across every aspect of the life of faith, from evangelism to discipleship to mission to social justice to the environment. ‘The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it’ says the Psalmist, and there is no aspect of human living that God does not want to redeem and renew.
How shall we take forward this excitement, this teaching, this inspiring sense of newness of life for us all (which feels like a personal challenge of ‘re-evangelisation’ to each of us, to take our faith ‘to the next level’), and share it across our Province? I am sure that those who were in Johannesburg will already have begun to do this. The celebration of the Anglicans ACT Vision (at the heart of Anglicans Ablaze), on 25 November, is another opportunity. I also invite you to read, prayerfully and reflectively, the ‘Message to the Church’ in which the Listening Team summed up so much of what God did for us during our time in Bryanston. This follows on below my letter.
By the time you read this, I shall be heading for New Zealand, to the Anglican Consultative Council, for which I ask your prayers. The ACC is, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, and the Primates’ Meeting, one of our ‘Instruments of Communion’. Meeting every 3 years, it brings together ordained and lay representatives from all 38 Anglican Churches, and so is the only body not made up of just bishops! Revd Canon Janet Trisk and Mrs Louisa Mojela are our other representatives. From 27 October to 7 November we will have a busy time discussing a great range of subjects in the life and mission of the global Anglican family.
The agenda includes the current state of the Anglican Communion, and the decisions made so far by churches on whether to adopt the Anglican Covenant, as well as looking at relations with other churches and the work of a host of global Anglican networks. One of these is the Anglican Communion Environmental Network (ACEN), which I chair, and there will be a major presentation around its work. Other major topics on the agenda include inter-faith relations, countering gender-based violence, communications, and Christian witness in contemporary contexts.
The environment has been much on my mind recently – not least the need to plant a growing number of trees to offset my extensive travel (I am fully aware of the irony of this, and the need, highlighted at PSC, to use technology to reduce our travel ‘footprint’). This planting is part of a radical overhaul of Bishopscourt’s gardens, in which, with the help of the South African National Biodiversity Institute’s ‘Early Detection and Rapid Response’ Team, we are steadily clearing out invasive alien species that threaten to overrun us, and to suck up all the ground water. I wish that my predecessors had realised 30 years ago how vital this task is. If it had been tackled then, it would have been a far easier and far cheaper job. I encourage all of you who have any gardens or land, to take special care in your stewardship of them.
Various speakers at an event this week to encourage such ‘weedbusting’ highlighted how poor care of our environment exacerbates poverty in direct and indirect ways. This is a theme in the seven studies ‘Sabbath Reflections: Capitalism and Inequity versus a Gospel Mandate’ which we will formally launch at ACC. In these, my predecessor as chair, Bishop George Browning, considers how contemporary societies must ‘address rapidly growing inequity and ... confront an economic system which operates as if resources are infinite and humanity can somehow exist as if it is not part of an unfolding ecological crisis.’ He explores how a fresh understanding and practice of the biblical concept of Sabbath can reconnect economics to ethics, and shape human society in a manner that is consistent with the creation upon which it depends. These are vital questions we must face, if we are to ensure that it is not ‘business as usual’ in our international financial structures. There needs to be a radical overhaul if we are to reverse the shocking trends of growing inequality and economic injustice through which a small minority can become ridiculously wealthy at the expense of the poorest, and even of the middle classes. If you are interested in downloading these studies, you will find them at http://acen.anglicancommunion.org/resources/documents.cfm.
Yours in the service of Christ
+Thabo Cape Town
Anglicans Ablaze: ‘Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God’s Mission, Transformed by the Holy Spirit’
Message from the Listening Group - Johannesburg, 3-6 October 2012
We came, close to 1400 of us, because we wanted to be, and wanted the Anglican Church of Southern Africa to be, Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God’s Mission, Transformed by the Holy Spirit – believing this is not just our vision, but God’s vision for us.
We came with excitement, anticipation, commitment; even if a little unsure of what to expect, perhaps a bit lost or fearful, or aware of obstacles in our lives and in our church. But we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and has done far more than we could ever ask or imagine! God is love, and has met us in love, and called on us to abide in his love.
God offered us a turning point, and we have found it so: a turning point for many individuals, and for our church, which may also go on to become a turning point for our parishes, our communities, our nations.
It has been a time of renewal, of genuine renewal, as God sees it. It brings cleansing, healing, wholeness and newness of life for us, in every aspect of what it is to be human, made in the image of God, sharing in the body of Christ, loving our neighbours and God’s world. It is renewal that is about the abundant life which Christ promised. It is about evangelism and discipleship and integral mission and social justice. This is God’s comprehensive, holistic, renewal, far wider and deeper than we had expected, and he desires it to be at the heart of our church. He has come to us with power, yet he has also dealt with us gently and naturally.
We have been here to learn, and God has blessed us with some wonderful speakers. We have learnt that ‘the plural of disciple is church’, and that we need to move from being ‘welcoming’ to ‘inviting’ churches. We have learnt to have courage in God’s love not to minister from the damaged, wounded, places of our lives (which so often leads us to damage and wound others) but to live out of a brokenness that finds its place in the brokenness of Christ upon the cross, and shares in the weeping of God the Father for his children and his world. We have also learnt that power and authority belong to God, not to us, no matter what position we have. It is God’s gift. We must hold power lightly and share it.
We’ve also learnt that God will hold us, safe in his love, when life brings difficulties or obstacles, as inevitably happens. So we will not be afraid when everything seems to grind to a halt – if God says wait, then we will wait, but keep listening and ready to learn more. We will have courage to see the issues that we battle with as stepping stones not stumbling blocks, believing that God lets them come to us so that he can teach us what it means to take us through them to a better place. We’ve learnt that we should trust God to take us through our fears; to cleanse us from shame; to take our hardness and dissolve it in his cleansing waters of life. We have heard his call to let go of – or allow him to prune – all that holds us back.
We believe our time together has delighted the heart of God. God has given us a fuller vision, not only of being ‘Anglicans who ACT’, but of what we might become if we dare to live into the fullness of all that Anglicanism can be in Southern Africa, under God’s grace. In this way, he is calling us to become more, not less, Anglican! We have been the largest, and most diverse, gathering from across ACSA that anyone can remember: we have enjoyed being together as Archbishop and 12 more bishops and bishops-elect, as clergy, as religious, as laity, and as young people (we acknowledge that we have not had children among us, but affirm that the promise of God’s vision is for our children also). We have experienced God’s love breaking down the barriers of the social, political and historic divisions within our nations, and breaking down the differences of tradition, style, and labelling within our church. ‘God’s love is the glue that holds us together’ the Archbishop told us on our first evening, and we have come to know the truth of this for ourselves.
We believe this holding together in joyful, celebrated, diversity is a precious gift which God calls Anglicans to model to the world around us. It is as if we have experienced a foretaste of what the societies of our nation have the potential to become. For we have found ourselves enriched by one another, and know we have more to learn from each other. We have been delighted to experience something of what it means to live with this ‘mixed economy’ of church identity (as we heard Archbishop Rowan has described the best of our historic traditions alongside authentically Anglican newer forms of worship and church life), as we share together, anchored in the love of Christ. We have heard a clear call to hold on to the new links we have forged across old divides, as we go from here to our homes.
We thank God for the great blessing he has brought us through our times of worship (including our early morning Eucharists), and through our praying with and for one another. We have especially enjoyed having so many young people with us. As was said, their passion and energy, when joined with the wisdom of experience, is a winning combination!
Our time together has been significant. It has truly become a turning point. We have been changed, and our church has been changed. We have received a wonderful vision from God for our future, ‘a vision for the appointed time; and if it seems to tarry, we will wait for it, for it will surely come, it will not delay.’ We know we will face many challenges when we go home, even within ACSA. We are also more than aware of the enormous challenges in our communities and nations, and of the huge and ever faster changes our world is experiencing. But we are not daunted. We know that our calling is to keep listening to God, and to be faithful and obedient, and open to God’s leading, and then to leave it to him to ‘do his bit’, recalling that ‘Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.’
We also believe that God is calling us ‘to bless and not to curse’: to step back from the critical habits of contemporary society and stop complaining about our church, our societies and our governments. Where we see faults and failings, we should instead be beacons of light and hope, and bearers of God’s redemptive promises. ‘Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise’ we will let our minds dwell on, and our mouths speak of, such things.
Deep within us, our spirits speak in the words of the song that has been so significant during our time together: ‘It is well, it is well, with my soul.’ In our listening, praying and speaking, we have felt God offer images of holy fire and living water: flames that blaze, with flying sparks that spread the fire, and a flaming arrow pointing the way ahead; and waters that cleanse like wetlands, or dissolve hardness, or well up in unquenchable life-giving springs.
We are learning we need to be increasingly anchored in the love of Christ. We have learnt not only to say ‘God is good, all the time’, but also ‘God is love, all the time’ and ‘God loves us, all the time’ and ‘God loves me, all the time.’ And, having learnt this lesson, we have heard the voice of God coming to us as it came to Moses and the ancient Hebrew people, ‘You have been in this place long enough – it is time to break camp, and move on.’ Amen.
Some Bible Passages
Deut 1:6 – We have been here long enough: now is the time to break camp, and move on.
Habbakuk 2:3 – ‘… a vision for the appointed time … If it seems to tarry, wait for it: it will surely come, it will not delay.’
Haggai – Rebuilding the Temple
Luke 5:38 – new wine in new wineskins
John 15 – ‘Abide in my love’ …
Romans 12:2 – ‘…be transformed by the renewing of your minds’
I Cor 3:6 – ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.’
Phil 4:6-8 – ‘Whatever is true .. honourable … just … pure … pleasing … commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things’
1 John, especially 3:14–4:21 – ‘God is love’ … ‘We love because he first loved us’ …
Some Quotes from Speakers
Bishop Graham Cray: ‘Mission will never be effective without authentic discipleship; and discipleship will never be taken seriously unless we engage in mission’ and ‘Renewal without mission is self- indulgence; mission without renewal becomes legalistic or triumphalist or disillusioned.’
‘Our theology would improve if we thought more of the church being given to the Spirit, than of the Spirit being given to the church.' John V Taylor
Weedbusting at Bishopscourt and Promoting Biodiversity
The following media release was issued on 25 October 2012
Weedbusting Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Promotes Biodiversity
The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) yesterday jointly hosted a party to celebrate ‘weedbusting’ in his Bishopscourt garden. Dr Thabo Makgoba welcomed representatives from conservation community of Cape Town and the Western Cape, as well as from the faith communities and others who, as he put it, ‘share my belief that we are called to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the earth’. To this end, he said, more than R200,000 has already been spent clearing invasive aliens from his large, historic, garden, and work still remains to be done. ‘If this had only been tackled 30 years ago, the work would have been far easier and cheaper’ he added, saying that he hoped others would learn the lesson not to let the problem worsen.
The Archbishop has been working with representatives of SANBI’s ‘Early Detection and Rapid Response Team’ to rid Bishopscourt of a number of invasive alien plant species, ranging from the spreading ground cover of morning glory to pines that deplete ground water.He also told the invited guests how much he used to like morning glory, with its large purple flowers, until he realised it was taking over vast areas of the garden and suffocating all the other plants it covered.
Speaking of the need to be a good steward of the property, the Archbishop underlined the need to plant alternatives that are not only beautiful, but are good for the environment. SANBI’s EDRR programme agreed that a team will be dispatched to assist the Archbishop in his endeavour to weed out the alien plant species.
Carmel Mbizvo, SANBI’s Deputy Director General applauded the Archbishop, and called on others to emulate him, especially in the Bishopscourt area, where tributaries which flow into the Liesbeek are being invaded by the purple loosestrife. SANBI, the City of Cape Town, and the Friends of the Liesbeek are now battling together to eradicate this. Louise Stafford, Head of Invasive Alien Species Management at the City, described some of her department’s work, and said their Early Detection and Rapid Response Team would be glad to assist the Archbishop and any other gardeners who wanted to follow the Archbishop’s example.
Ms Mbizvo also noted that invasive alien plants cover an estimated 10 million hectares of South Africa, and consume approximately 7% of its water resources, in addition to being high fire risks, promoting soil erosion, reducing agricultural productivity, and disturbing the natural balance of ecosystems. This impacts not only on biodiversity, but also on human livelihoods. Bishop Geoff Davies, Director of the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute, also drew attention to the link between environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and poverty.
‘Going “green” isn’t merely something that is fashionable to do’ said the Archbishop. ‘It has to be more than words on paper or a status symbol, but be exemplified in how we live, if we are to save our planet from human-induced destruction.’ Dr Makgoba will be taking the same message with him later this week, when he goes to an international Anglican Consultative Council meeting in New Zealand. ‘As chair of the Anglican Communion’s Environment Network, I shall be reminding our churches around the world that care for our planet is not optional. It is part of our calling to be faithful Christians, and good stewards of God’s creation.’
Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman 021 763 1320 (office hours);
and Ms Alex Marsh, SANBI EDRR communications manager (021 799 8743 ,a.march@sanbi.org.za), who can also supply pictures.
Weedbusting Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Promotes Biodiversity
The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) yesterday jointly hosted a party to celebrate ‘weedbusting’ in his Bishopscourt garden. Dr Thabo Makgoba welcomed representatives from conservation community of Cape Town and the Western Cape, as well as from the faith communities and others who, as he put it, ‘share my belief that we are called to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the earth’. To this end, he said, more than R200,000 has already been spent clearing invasive aliens from his large, historic, garden, and work still remains to be done. ‘If this had only been tackled 30 years ago, the work would have been far easier and cheaper’ he added, saying that he hoped others would learn the lesson not to let the problem worsen.
The Archbishop has been working with representatives of SANBI’s ‘Early Detection and Rapid Response Team’ to rid Bishopscourt of a number of invasive alien plant species, ranging from the spreading ground cover of morning glory to pines that deplete ground water.He also told the invited guests how much he used to like morning glory, with its large purple flowers, until he realised it was taking over vast areas of the garden and suffocating all the other plants it covered.
Speaking of the need to be a good steward of the property, the Archbishop underlined the need to plant alternatives that are not only beautiful, but are good for the environment. SANBI’s EDRR programme agreed that a team will be dispatched to assist the Archbishop in his endeavour to weed out the alien plant species.
Carmel Mbizvo, SANBI’s Deputy Director General applauded the Archbishop, and called on others to emulate him, especially in the Bishopscourt area, where tributaries which flow into the Liesbeek are being invaded by the purple loosestrife. SANBI, the City of Cape Town, and the Friends of the Liesbeek are now battling together to eradicate this. Louise Stafford, Head of Invasive Alien Species Management at the City, described some of her department’s work, and said their Early Detection and Rapid Response Team would be glad to assist the Archbishop and any other gardeners who wanted to follow the Archbishop’s example.
Ms Mbizvo also noted that invasive alien plants cover an estimated 10 million hectares of South Africa, and consume approximately 7% of its water resources, in addition to being high fire risks, promoting soil erosion, reducing agricultural productivity, and disturbing the natural balance of ecosystems. This impacts not only on biodiversity, but also on human livelihoods. Bishop Geoff Davies, Director of the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute, also drew attention to the link between environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and poverty.
‘Going “green” isn’t merely something that is fashionable to do’ said the Archbishop. ‘It has to be more than words on paper or a status symbol, but be exemplified in how we live, if we are to save our planet from human-induced destruction.’ Dr Makgoba will be taking the same message with him later this week, when he goes to an international Anglican Consultative Council meeting in New Zealand. ‘As chair of the Anglican Communion’s Environment Network, I shall be reminding our churches around the world that care for our planet is not optional. It is part of our calling to be faithful Christians, and good stewards of God’s creation.’
Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman 021 763 1320 (office hours);
and Ms Alex Marsh, SANBI EDRR communications manager (021 799 8743 ,a.march@sanbi.org.za), who can also supply pictures.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Global Anglican Meeting, with Environmental Emphasis
This media release was issued on 23 October 2012
Archbishop heads for New Zealand, to a global Anglican meeting with Environmental Emphasis
The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town heads for New Zealand on Thursday, to take part in a global gathering of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Consultative Council, which meets every 3 years, brings together lay and ordained representatives from each of the Communion’s 38 member churches, for ten days of discussions around their global structures, mission, and other shared issues. ‘All Anglicans, around the world, are asked to hold us in their prayers, as we grapple with questions of what it means to be faithful and obedient Christians in our various contexts, at this time’ said Dr Thabo Makgoba. He noted that this will be the last meeting of the worldwide Anglican family at which Dr Rowan Williams will preside as Archbishop of Canterbury, before his retirement at the end of the year. ‘We are so grateful to Dr Williams for his dedication to the global Anglican family’ he said. ‘He has had a very rough ride, and been forced to spend too much time and energy on issues that, though divisive, ought not to be seen as church-dividing. We give thanks to God for the way that he has nonetheless kept his eyes firmly fixed on the question of who we are called to be, in Jesus Christ, and encouraged us all to do the same.’
The agenda includes review of Anglican relations with other churches, and of the work of a host of global Anglican networks. Among these is the Anglican Communion Environmental Network (ACEN), which Dr Makgoba chairs, and there will be a major presentation around its work. Dr Makgoba recalled that the Network recently launched a series of seven studies, ‘Sabbath Reflections: Capitalism and Inequity versus a Gospel Mandate’ in which Dr Makgoba’s predecessor as chair, Bishop George Browning, considers how contemporary societies must ‘address rapidly growing inequity and ... confront an economic system which operates as if resources are infinite and that humanity can somehow exist as if it is not part of an unfolding ecological crisis.’ He explores how a fresh understanding and practice of the biblical concept of Sabbath can reconnect economics to ethics, and shape human society in a manner that is consistent with the creation upon which it depends. Dr Makgoba said ‘these are vital questions we must face, if we are to ensure that it is not business as usual in our international financial structures. There needs to be a radical overhaul if we are to reverse the shocking trends of growing inequality and economic injustice through which a small minority can become ridiculously wealthy at the expense of the poorest, and even of the middle classes.’ Other major topics on the agenda include inter-faith relations, countering gender-based violence, communications, and Christian witness in contemporary contexts.
The Archbishop said he was looking forward to enjoying robust debate with other church leaders around the key questions facing the Anglican Communion at this time. ‘All this is, of course, conducted within an atmosphere of prayer, and guided by rigorous engagement with the Bible’ he said. ‘We shall be rooting ourselves in the daily rhythms of worship, to ensure that our focus remains, above all, on listening to God and seeking to discern his good and perfect will for us, so we may faithfully serve the world he loves so deeply.’
Note for Editors: The Anglican Consultative Council is one of Anglicanism’s ‘Instruments of Communion’, alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference (the meeting of all serving bishops, that is held every ten years) and the Primates’ Meeting (of the heads of churches, which meets at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, generally every other year).
For more details on the Sabbath studies, see
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/10/9/ACNS5201.
Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman 021 763 1320 (office hours)
Archbishop heads for New Zealand, to a global Anglican meeting with Environmental Emphasis
The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town heads for New Zealand on Thursday, to take part in a global gathering of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Consultative Council, which meets every 3 years, brings together lay and ordained representatives from each of the Communion’s 38 member churches, for ten days of discussions around their global structures, mission, and other shared issues. ‘All Anglicans, around the world, are asked to hold us in their prayers, as we grapple with questions of what it means to be faithful and obedient Christians in our various contexts, at this time’ said Dr Thabo Makgoba. He noted that this will be the last meeting of the worldwide Anglican family at which Dr Rowan Williams will preside as Archbishop of Canterbury, before his retirement at the end of the year. ‘We are so grateful to Dr Williams for his dedication to the global Anglican family’ he said. ‘He has had a very rough ride, and been forced to spend too much time and energy on issues that, though divisive, ought not to be seen as church-dividing. We give thanks to God for the way that he has nonetheless kept his eyes firmly fixed on the question of who we are called to be, in Jesus Christ, and encouraged us all to do the same.’
The agenda includes review of Anglican relations with other churches, and of the work of a host of global Anglican networks. Among these is the Anglican Communion Environmental Network (ACEN), which Dr Makgoba chairs, and there will be a major presentation around its work. Dr Makgoba recalled that the Network recently launched a series of seven studies, ‘Sabbath Reflections: Capitalism and Inequity versus a Gospel Mandate’ in which Dr Makgoba’s predecessor as chair, Bishop George Browning, considers how contemporary societies must ‘address rapidly growing inequity and ... confront an economic system which operates as if resources are infinite and that humanity can somehow exist as if it is not part of an unfolding ecological crisis.’ He explores how a fresh understanding and practice of the biblical concept of Sabbath can reconnect economics to ethics, and shape human society in a manner that is consistent with the creation upon which it depends. Dr Makgoba said ‘these are vital questions we must face, if we are to ensure that it is not business as usual in our international financial structures. There needs to be a radical overhaul if we are to reverse the shocking trends of growing inequality and economic injustice through which a small minority can become ridiculously wealthy at the expense of the poorest, and even of the middle classes.’ Other major topics on the agenda include inter-faith relations, countering gender-based violence, communications, and Christian witness in contemporary contexts.
The Archbishop said he was looking forward to enjoying robust debate with other church leaders around the key questions facing the Anglican Communion at this time. ‘All this is, of course, conducted within an atmosphere of prayer, and guided by rigorous engagement with the Bible’ he said. ‘We shall be rooting ourselves in the daily rhythms of worship, to ensure that our focus remains, above all, on listening to God and seeking to discern his good and perfect will for us, so we may faithfully serve the world he loves so deeply.’
Note for Editors: The Anglican Consultative Council is one of Anglicanism’s ‘Instruments of Communion’, alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference (the meeting of all serving bishops, that is held every ten years) and the Primates’ Meeting (of the heads of churches, which meets at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, generally every other year).
For more details on the Sabbath studies, see
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/10/9/ACNS5201.
Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman 021 763 1320 (office hours)
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