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• The
Bishop writes .....
• Raising funds for mission
• The view from
Pulpit and Pew
• Tag lines
The
Bishop writes ...
GAFCON Jerusalem 2008
My Dear People of God,
All praise to
him who reigns above in majesty supreme; blessed be the name of the
Lord! Greetings to you all in the name of Christ, our Lord and Saviour!
It has been a great privilege to attend the Global Anglican
Future Conference (GAFCON), held in Jerusalem from 22-29 June 2008. A
statement has been produced by the conference. The Archdeacons are to
share it with you for study and comment. Gafcon is a spiritual movement
which seeks to preserve and promote the truth and power of the gospel
of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Holy Scriptures and Tradition of the
Anglican Church. It affirms that we have received a transforming gospel
which changes character and behaviour of human beings, and brings them
into conformity with the demands of the gospel, in obedience to God
through repentance and faith in Jesus who died our death (Gal 2:20-21).
Reason and Experience are only to be verified and tested in the light
of the God’s Word written for whatever is to be ordained or decreed
(Article XX). This is the cherished Anglican heritage of the Anglican
Communion and the Gafcon participants have no intention of departing
from its principles.
There were 1 148 lay and clergy
participants - including 291 bishops - from among many faithful
Anglican Christians who still look at the Bible as the Word of God, not
just a 'primary source', as some are led to believe by liberal
revisionist theology. Gafcon believes that Anglicanism has a bright
future for as long as we are obedient to the Lord's Great Commission
"to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching and
training them to observe what the Lord commands."(Matt 28:16-20;
Eph.2:20). Gafcon is a movement in the Spirit and a fellowship of
confessing Anglicans. Please read the statement on the Global Anglican
Future. There is nothing divisive about it. The Global South and the
Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa are affiliated to it. Pray that
the unity of the church be preserved. "Can the two walk together,
unless they are agreed?" (Amos 3:3). Continue to pray for Lambeth so
that we may have common mind in obedience to God's written Holy Word in
all our deliberations. Lambeth is not only about the issue of
homosexuality, it is also about how the poor are held ransom as the
rich dictate terms and power, in order to continue to subdue the
colonized with shackles of hunger, want and misery. It is my wish to
remind you that what the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind
justifies. May God's kingdom come, and his will be done on earth as it
is in heaven.
During the Jerusalem pilgrimage the group had a
chance to tread where Jesus walked during his earthly ministry. We
first visited the Mt of Olives, Gethsemane and the Kidron Valley. One
afternoon we worshipped at the Temple steps where Jesus used to teach -
and Peter preached the Pentecost sermon for the salvation of many. We
visited the church of Mt Calvary and the purported grave of Jesus. Due
to the long queue we could not get close to the grave. I was very
privileged to be among the eight delegates to visit the church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem where we had a private audience with his
Beatitude, Archbishop Theophiletus, the Greek Orthodox Bishop of the
Jordan Valley. We were grateful for his hospitality. Galilee was very
moving and inspiring. We went there in buses with tour guides. We drove
past the town of Tiberius along the Galilean Sea to the Mt of the
Beatitudes (Mtt 5, 6 & 7). After visiting the church, built on the
site where Jesus had fish and bread after his resurrection, we sailed
into the middle of the Sea of Galilee, where we had an inspiring
worship session; then we went over to the other side in Capernaum. I
was very moved by the site of the synagogue ruins where Jesus taught
with authority (Lk 4:31ff) and the ruins of Simon Peter's home where
Jesus healed his mother-in-law (Lk 4:38f). I was comfortably
accommodated and held in high esteem by Gafcon. To all the organizers
and participants, I am so grateful. May the Lord indeed add blessing in
the preaching of his Word.
May the God of peace and unity
spare us the pain of schism. Kindly pray the Litany, at least every
Sunday, page 73 - 77 of APB, and God will redeem us.
Yours very sincerely in the service of Christ,
Raising funds for mission
Once
again St John's, Walmer, is hoping to send a mission team to Egypt and
the Sudan to encourage the Christians in these countries, and on
Saturday 28 June they held a fête to raise funds for this.
Rose Anderson reports on the fête:
Whoa
what a buzz! It may have been a chilly 16º outside but inside St John's
Parish Hall the temperature was a very comfortable 22º. Our friends
from Gqebera arrived early to make sure they did not lose out with the
best items on the White Elephant stall. Mark and Debbie Derry were back
to look after the book stall, and son Matthew gave a hand, as did,
Jenny Fletcher and Zanelle Xuba.
Rob and Glen Butler had a very
quiet start until Holy Trinity, Thornhill, arrived with beautiful
bunches of Proteas, a crate of cheese, 2 litre bottles of full cream
milk, and large tomatoes. The cake stall was looked after by Ross and
Yvonne Harker with Patsy Stevens keeping an eye on the sweet stall,
while The Centre of Concern ladies used the opportunity to sell craft
items made by the women of the Training and Development Group. The
Amery sisters ran the games stall and Sharon also kept the youngsters
busy with a Treasure Hunt during the morning.
 On
the Village Green, despite the cold, the boerewors rolls braai fires
and the egg and bacon rolls kept everyone well nourished. The
youngsters on the Jumping Castle didn't seem to feel the cold wind.
Talbot Cox quietly sketched anyone who could sit still for 20 minutes,
and the Tea Room, ably manned by Geoff and Angela Brown's house group,
kept customers supplied with hot tea and coffee and a selection of
delicious cakes and tarts.
Pictures: 1)
Enjoying a cup of tea with Mary Enslin (right) were retired priest
Michael Gale and his wife Joy. 2) Talbot Cox was there to sketch
some of those, like Jenny Tainton, who enjoyed the morning at St John's.
The
view from pulpit and pew iindaba congratulates: Eric Kleb, who was awarded a Paul
Harris Fellowship by Rotary last month. This is given as recognition
for his many years of living the Rotary ideal of 'Service Above Self'.
Eric, a much loved priest, assists at St Cuthbert's, and in spite of
having 'retired' many years ago, continues to fulfil an active and
inspired ministry; our respected and loved Diocesan Registrar,
Roger Schärges, on his achieving his LLM. Roger, who recently suffered
from bad health is looking and feeling much stronger; Katharine
Holmes, daughter of Christopher and Susan, who has been chosen as a
Rotary Exchange student for next year. At this stage, Katharine is not
sure where she will be going, but the USA is the most likely. Her
father is the rector of St Hugh's, Newton Park; The Bishop's PA,
Mark Derry and Jenny Cowling for producing the latest Diocesan
Directory. One useful change is that all the clergy names - whether
priests, deacons or retired - are in alphabetical order.
We continue to pray for those of our diocesan family undergoing treatment, including: David Kiviet, rector of St Andrew's, KwaNobuhle; Nicolette Leonard, assistant at St John-the-Baptist, Walmer, who has
been told by the specialist she must wait a month or two before a
bone-marrow transplant (from her sister); Jenny Cowling, the bishop's secretary. At the time of preparing Pulpit and Pew, Elroy Damon had just been
discharged from hospital after a short spell there, but was due to
return for treatment the next week. Please keep them in your prayers.
David Grobbelaar, archdeacon of Tsitsikamma, is having knee surgery and we ask for prayers for him too. Our condolences are offered to Charles Jacobs, self-supporting priest
in the Parish of the Good Shepherd, whose mother, Nancy, died last
month. May she rest in God's eternal peace. Incidentally, for those who
didn't know, Charles is the nephew of Dennis Jacobs who served in this
diocese many years ago. On the move are David Molema who
will be moving to assist Sharon Nell at Zwartkops River Valley Parish
and Thembeka Tom who has been transferred to correctional services in
Cradock. She remains assisting the team at St Barnabas and St Philip's.
Retired priest Peter Evers has been appointed to care for the
Parish of St Francis Xavier during its interregnum. He and Maureen are
in for a treat with all those tasty Chinese meals! Previously Peter
cared for St Michael and All Angels in Schauderville during their
interregnum. Last month Maranatha Frail Care in Newton Park
took leave of their first matron, Doidee Heron, who retired after 20
years. Much loved by residents, staff and trustees, Diodee will be
missed, and iindaba wishes her and her husband Keith many years of
happiness as they allow their wanderlust to dictate their travels for
the future. At a farewell dinner, the trustees presented her with a
beautiful digital camera so that she can show that she has "been there,
done that"! Edith Stock of St Hugh's is very proud of her son,
Colin, and his wife and a few colleagues, who drove three Morris Minors
from Port Elizabeth to North Africa, and after being ferried to France,
drove to England to join in the 60th 'birthday' celebrations of the
Morris Minor.
Oops! Last month when iindaba printed the review of the book
'Losing my balance' by Carrie Brown we forgot to say it is available
from the diocesan office at only R100 a copy. We are sure many readers
who know women who have breast cancer will want to buy them a copy. 
Tag
lines
Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
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