Partnership with Anglicans in Sudan and South Sudan

This media release from Provincial Synod was issued on 4 October 2013

Southern Africa’s Anglicans Pledge Partnership with Anglicans in Sudan and South Sudan



The Anglican Church in Southern Africa has committed itself to form a partnership with the Episcopal Church in Sudan, with which it shares membership of the Anglican Communion.

The commitment to pursue a ‘partners in mission’ relationship was made by the church’s Provincial Synod, meeting this week in Benoni, South Africa.

It came in response to the address given by the Archbishop of Sudan, the Most Revd Dr Daniel Deng Bul, who has been a guest of the Provincial Synod, and of the Synod of Bishops which preceded it.

The Synod responded warmly to Archbishop Deng’s hope of building a closer relationship of mutual support, in particular around issues of post-conflict reconciliation and nation-building.

After the motion was passed, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba informed Synod that a placewas being offered at its residential training college in Grahamstown, the College of the Transfiguration, for a student from the Episcopal Church of Sudan. He further announced that money had already been raised to cover two years’ costs.

Archbishop Deng has invited Archbishop Makgoba to make a return visit to the Episcopal Church in Sudan.

Note for Editors: an earlier press release on the visit of the Archbishop of Sudan, and his address to the Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s Provincial Synod, is available at http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2013/10/welcome-to-archbishop-of-sudan.html

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman, 021 763 1320 (office hours)
The Revd Canon Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, 082 856 2082 (during Synod)

The text of the motion follows below

This Synod,
1. Gives thanks for the presence of the Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan as guest of honour at this Synod, and for his address and fraternal greetings from the church in The Sudan;
2. Commends the Archbishop for the important role he is playing in the healing of the Sudanese people, and assures him of our prayers.
3. Recognises the pain of the church in the Sudan after many years of conflict and war, and that the church continues to be confronted by the challenges of nation-building, peace, poverty and social and economic development;
4. Therefore, proposes that the ACSA pledges our commitment to a partnership in mission between our two Provinces to learn and grow from our shared history;
5. Now therefore respectfully urges the Metropolitan to engage with the Episcopal Church of the Sudan prayerfully to bring our two Provinces into a common bond of affection and mutual commitment for the sake of the gospel.

The Place of Religion in Public Life

This media release from the Provincial Synod was issued on 4 October 2013

Anglicans Affirm the Place of Religion in Public Life

A leading educationist now serving the Anglican Church has criticised the South African government for neglecting religion in public life.

The Revd Prof Barney Pityana told the Provincial Synod of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa that the latest South African census statistics failed for the first time to give data on religious affiliation and activity in the country.

“It is evidence if any was needed of how much officialdom desires to neglect religion and religious practices in national life,” he said. “It cannot be true that there is so much indifference about statistics on religion that an inquiry on religion should be left out altogether from the statistics design.”

Dr Pityana, formerly Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Africa, is now the Rector of the College of the Transfiguration, the Anglican Church's principal residential training seminary for clergy.

Criticising the promotion of secularism in South African public life, he said the words “secular” and “secular state” did not appear anywhere in the Constitution or legislation.

“On the contrary, religious and cultural and linguistic practices are protected in the Bill of Rights, and so are freedom of expression, belief and opinion.”

He said secularism “has a tendency of confining religious discourse and practice to the private sphere.” As a result, “the secular world view... is one that is unable to be addressed or corrected or challenged. It forecloses any argument or engagement.

“For that reason secularism is unable to engage with the spiritual and intangible and as such will always have an inadequate grasp of the human condition. Secularism is about the material, hence it givers rise to the cultures of acquisitiveness, greed, an insatiable desire for things or for those things that derive personal benefit or prestige.

“Over and above secularism results in corruption and criminality because it covets that which does not belong to one. It is about power and control of others.”

Dr Pityana remarks, made during an address on theological education, were warmly received by the Synod.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman, 021 763 1320 (office hours)
The Revd Canon Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, 082 856 2082 (during Synod)

Pastoral Response to Civil Unions

This media release from Provincial Synod was issued on 4 October 2013

Anglican Church considers Pastoral Response to Civil Unions

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa has urged its bishops to provide guidelines for giving pastoral care to same-sex couples who have entered civil unions under South African law.

The Church's ruling Provincial Synod, currently meeting in Benoni, South Africa, on Friday adopted a resolution urging its Synod of Bishops to finalise guidelines “as soon as possible”.

The Church neither marries same-sex couples, nor ordains or licenses priests or deacons who live in same-sex unions. This is in line with the practice of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

However, in the words of the Right Revd Martin Breytenbach, Bishop of St Mark the Evangelist, during a debate at the Synod, “civil unions are a reality, whether we like it or not.”

Proposing the resolution, Bishop Breytenbach acknowledged he was on the “conservative” side of the debate. But, he continued, all God's people needed pastoral care and “we have people in our church who are same-gender couples who regard themselves as married, even though I find it difficult to accept.”

The Right Revd Garth Counsell of Table Bay – from the diocese of Cape Town, which is seen as more open to recognising same-sex marriage – said the resolution was “not talking about same sex- marriage or whether we will do that or not.” It was rather about “confronting legal reality”.

“Within our membership we do have people who have exercised their right to be in committed civil unions, and the reality is that they are fully committed members of our church. We have a responsibility to be pastorally caring to people in our pews irrespective of who they are.”

Bishop Breytenbach said the guidelines being worked upon involved “living with tension”.

He referred to the church’s breadth of approaches to the issues it faces: on some, rulings might bind the whole church across Southern Africa. On others, individual dioceses could have discretion to adopt their own guidelines.

There might also be situations in which priests could exercise their own discretion, sometimes in consultation with their bishops, and some matters might be left to the individual consciences of church members.

He also highlighted the need to look at the guidelines within the wider context of the church’s approaches to marriage, divorce, polygamy and other related perspectives.

The Right Revd Jo Seoka, Bishop of Pretoria pointed to the human realities at stake. He referred to the pain expressed to him by a young man who wanted to marry his partner. The man accepted that a priest could not marry him, but he was hurt by the fact that his father, an Anglican parishioner, could not escort him down the aisle without breaching church norms.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman, 021 763 1320 (office hours)
The Revd Canon Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, 082 856 2082 (during Synod)

The full text of the resolution adopted by the Synod reads:

This Synod

1. Noting

1.1 The progress that has been made by the Synod of Bishops and various Dioceses in developing guidelines for pastoral ministry in response to Civil Unions, and to those who experience themselves as homosexual;
1.2 That we have accepted Resolution 1.10 of the Lambeth Conference 1998 as the basis for our engagement with the issues of human sexuality
1.3 That we are still not of one mind on these matters.

2. Affirms:

2.1 That God calls us to love and minister to all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, while at the same time upholding God’s standards of holiness;
2.2 That this is a highly complex and emotive area which affects many people deeply and has a far reaching impact on the mission of the Church.

3. Commits the Anglican Church of Southern Africa:

3.1 To journey together in humility and mutual respect as we seek God’s mind on the difficult issues of human sexuality;
3.2 To continue to engage in a process of listening to the whole variety of experiences and viewpoints so as to increase our understanding of these issues;

4. Resolves to

4.1 Respectfully request the Synod of Bishops to work towards finalising the Guidelines for pastoral ministry in response to Civil Unions as soon as possible.

Adoption of Anglican Covenant

This media release from Provincial Synod was issued on 4 October 2013

Anglican Church of Southern Africa completes Adoption of Anglican Covenant

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) has adopted the Anglican Communion Covenant.

Its Provincial Synod today unanimously voted to ratify the decision taken at its previous meeting in 2010 to adopt the Covenant. This completes the legal process.

The Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba, proposed the motion. Addressing the Synod, meeting this week in Benoni, Johannesburg, he emphasised ACSA’s commitment to being at the heart of Anglican life, often acting as a bridge-builder, and drawing on its own experiences of living with considerable diversity and wrestling with difference.

Seconding the motion, the Dean of the Province, Bishop Rubin Philip of Natal, quoted from the Introduction to the Covenant:
6. To covenant together is not intended to change the character of this Anglican expression of Christian faith. Rather, we recognise the importance of renewing in a solemn way our commitment to one another, and to the common understanding of faith and order we have received, so that the bonds of affection which hold us together may be re-affirmed and intensified. We do this in order to reflect, in our relations with one another, God’s own faithfulness and promises towards us in Christ (2 Cor 1.20-22).

With debate only addressing a minor wording amendment, the motion was passed without dissent.

The text of the motion is given below.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman, 021 763 1320 (office hours)
The Revd Canon Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, 082 856 2082 (during Synod)

This Synod

1. Notes the adoption of the Anglican Covenant at the Provincial Synod of 2010;

2. Recommits the Anglican Church of Southern Africa to playing the fullest possible role at the heart of the Anglican Communion, working to promote its unity in diversity and strengthening of bonds of affection, in a life of mutuality and interdependence, shared between autonomous churches, acting each as we are called in our own particular contexts and according to our own ordering, in response to this common gift and calling we have received in our Lord Jesus Christ;

3. Reaffirms its belief that this ordering of shared Communion life may be furthered as set out in the Preamble to the Covenant:

We, as Churches of the Anglican Communion, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, solemnly covenant together in these following affirmations and commitments. As people of God, drawn from “every nation, tribe, people and language” (Rev 7.9), we do this in order to proclaim more effectively in our different contexts the grace of God revealed in the gospel, to offer God’s love in responding to the needs of the world, to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and together with all God’s people to attain the full stature of Christ (Eph 4.3,13).

4. Resolves to confirm its adoption of the Anglican Covenant.

Challenging SADTU and Affiming Good Teaching

This media release from the meeting of Provincial Synod was issued on 4 October 2013

Anglican Church Challenges SADTU and Affirms Good Teaching

The Anglican Church of Southern Africa has called on church members who also belong to the South African Democratic Teachers' Union either to “transform the trade union into a body that truly serves the cause of education, or resign from SADTU.”

The Church's Provincial Synod, its highest legislative and deliberative body, adopted a resolution on Friday which also:
• Condemned “corruption and laziness which deprives our children of the education they deserve”;
• Called on SADTU “to refrain from destructive stay-aways”;
• asked Parliament to declare the teaching profession to be an essential service.

However the Synod said it also recognised “the care, dedication and commitment of many teachers all over southern Africa” and thanked “the dedicated officials in our various departments of education, at provincial and national level.”

The resolution was proposed by the Very Revd Andrew Hunter, Dean of Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, and seconded by the Revd Matt Esau of the Diocese of Cape Town. It was adopted with only a few dissenting voices.

The full text of the resolution proposed by Dean Hunter follows below.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman, 021 763 1320 (office hours)
The Revd Canon Dr Sarah Rowland Jones, 082 856 2082 (during Synod)

Full Text of Resolution

This Synod:

Noting the theme of the Archbishop’s Charge, “A Vision for Education – Education for a Vision”
1. Affirms the work done by our Anglican independent schools all over southern Africa;
2. Thanks our school chaplains for their ministry and encourages them in their work for the Lord
3. Welcomes the initiatives in a number of our dioceses, to partner with local public schools, and the efforts made to meet basic needs, particularly in our poorer communities;
4. Recognises the care, dedication and commitment of many teachers all over southern Africa;
5. Thanks the dedicated officials in our various departments of education, at provincial and national level;
Noting, at the same time, the appalling conditions in which too many of our children are expected to learn and thrive: absentee teachers, badly maintained school buildings, little or no sanitation, school books not being delivered,
This Synod:
6. Condemns corruption and laziness which deprives our children of the education they deserve;
7. Calls on Anglican teachers who are members of SADTU to either transform the trade union into a body that truly serves the cause of education, or resign from SADTU;
8. Calls on SADTU to refrain from destructive stay-aways
9. Calls on parliament to implement legislation that declares teaching profession to be an essential service;
10. Makes it clear to all education department officials that inefficiency and corruption is unacceptable – either do their job or resign
11. Supports firm action being taken against recalcitrant teaching or administrative officials
12. Calls on all School Governing Bodies to take ownership of our schools and hold staff and pupils to account
13. Urges Anglicans to do all in their power to ensure that our schools are places of learning, life, safety and discovery

'Give Education Privacy it Needs'

Education has been a key theme of our Provincial Synod. Bishop Peter Lee of the Diocese of Christ the King heads ABESA, the Anglican Board of Education for Southern Africa. Today he has the following letter printed in the Mail and Guardian:

Mail and Guardian, Letters to the Editor, October 4 to 10 2013

Give education privacy it needs

In their article “Privatisation vs the public good” (September 27)Salim Vally and Enver Motala rightly cite section 29 (1) of the Bill of Rights – “Everyone has the right to a basic education” – but appear to overlook 29 (3), which says “Everyone has the right to establish and maintain, at their own expense, independent educational institutions” (subject to certain conditions).

Anyone who studied for an HDipEd or equivalent in the 1970s would hear, in Vally and Motale’s article, an echo of the old case for comprehensive schools in the UK – plausible in theory but long ago abandoned, for entirely educational reasons, in favour of a more diversified and workable system.

Of course they are right to challenge the commodification and commercialisation of education; that understanding of ‘privatisation’ is hardly what the drafters of the Bill of Rights had in mind.

The education department is right to chase the sleazy pavement academies out of business. But it is a cheap shot to lump together “high-cost or low-cost private schooling” and state that these are all punted as “the solution to the problems of education systems”. There is a huge difference.

Most low-cost operations are costly non-profit experiments run by NGOs, churches or civil society groupings. They are not run as “the solution” but as one part of a mix which may be of help, both in adding to the stock of functional school places, and as possible upliftment models. These operations can demonstrate “another way” both academically and in other dimensions, of what schools might be in our struggling society.

The problem is that sometimes, and in some settings, independent models – and not just the elite ones – become educational lighthouses which show up the inadequacy of local public schools, and are then resented; hence the current efforts to “dumb down” independent education to the level of the lowest.

This is not about tooling up artisans to provide fodder for capitalist employers; it is about the right of our child citizens to an education adequate for survival in the global village.

And it is about having some respect for those child citizens in their own right – the very thing Bantu Education set out to destroy and which we have yet to set in place in our democracy.

Of course it would be ideal if the public schools were good enough to render independent education superfluous; that is why there are no independent schools in Canada.

But until the public system can fulfil its constitutional obligations to the great majority of our child citizens, we should all be bending our efforts to achieve that, rather than chipping at those entities that are already delivering this basic right to the children and their families – not for profit but for the common good.

We need a collaborative approach, not a hard-edged one.

Peter Lee, Anglican Board of Education for Southern Africa