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• Our Advent hope
• Have you prayed for your priest today?
• Book reviews
• Thank you
• Blues Wow
• Do you need chairs?
Our Advent hope
In preparation for World AIDS Day, the House of Resurrection Haven held their annual service on Sunday 30 November.
Bp Bethlehem spoke on our Advent hope - we need to be alert,
to watch and pray so that we are ready when the King comes. He said,
“We’re called to restore human dignity by having a
good relationship with God, with myself and with others.” He said
the Lord needs ‘you and me’ to touch others.
During the service Bishop Bethlehem baptised some of the Haven
children and lit the AIDS Memorial Candle - this was followed by a
minute’s silence in memory of all those who had died from
AIDS-related illnesses during the year.
Pic: A wee Haven patient waiting to be baptised.
Have you prayed for your priest today?
[ David Gwilliam tssf ]
The ladies of the MU Christian Family Life at St Matthew’s,
KwanonQaba, in the Parish of Alexandria, take the injunction to pray
for their priest seriously.
To emphasise this, each year they organise a special service of
thanksgiving at which prayers and blessings are offered for all the
clergy of the parish, full-time and retired, and their families.
This year the service was held on Sunday 19 October and all the clergy
and their wives were present. In order for him to be able to sit with
his colleagues, assistant priest Mxolisi Somandi, arranged for Velile
Quza, a priest from the Ethiopian Episcopal Church, to celebrate and
preach - a task he performed in a manner fully in keeping with the
spirit of the occasion.
The large and Spirit-filled congregation was greeted by Nkosazana
Gangqobe of MUCFL who welcomed, together with Mxolisi and
Nomfundo Somandi, the rector Terry Beadon and his wife Jeanne, Peter
and Val Bowen, Ewart Collett, John and Joan Davis, David and Margie
Gwilliam and Pam Godwin.
After special prayer and enthusiastic singing, the clergy and
wives were called forward to receive a blessing and were also presented
with most generous gifts by Lungiswa Clay leader of the MUCFL. A fellowship luncheon was enjoyed in the rectory afterwards.
Thanks to the congregation of St Matthew’s and especially
the members of the MUCFL from all the clergy of the parish for this
wonderful idea, born of their loving kindness and their obedience to
the Gospel’s call to us to love and pray for one another.
Book reviews
Cliff Richard: My Life, My Way,
Headline Review, London, 2008. ISBN 978 0 7553 1588 3 (hardback), 978 0
7553 1835 3 (paperback).
Reviewed by Geoff Booth.
Cliff Richard needs no introduction for most. This book marks the 50th
anniversary of his first record, and provides a fascinating insight
into the life of one of the most successful
pop idols of all time. It is not a strictly chronological history, and
the chapters cover topics, rather than time periods: he speaks
of his relationship with his band, the Shadows (once called the
Drifters, but forced to change their name because of copyright
problems), the influence of Elvis Presley (of whom he says “If
there had been no Elvis, there would be no Cliff Richard”), his
fans, his passion for tennis, and much more besides. In short, as the
author puts it, it explains “what it has felt like being Cliff
Richard”.
There is a chapter on Cliff’s conversion to Christianity, and his
faith journey permeates much of the book. One of the key players
in his conversion was Shadows bass guitarist “Licorice”
Locking, who advised him against trying to contact his recently
deceased father through a spirit medium. Interestingly, Locking is a
Jehovah’s Witness, as are several of his other
acquaintances, including Shadows’ guitarist Hank Marvin and one
of his sisters. In his journey into faith, he says he considered the
Witnesses, and other religions such as Buddhism and Judaism, before
settling on orthodox Christianity. He discusses how his faith has
developed over the years, describing himself currently as a
“solid, but nonjudgemental Christian”. His massive
contributions to charity, for which he was Knighted in 1995 are also
discussed, and he clearly considers these to be an extension of his
faith. Some might find his remarks on homosexuality controversial.
The topic is mentioned only briefly, and he poses the question, as have
many others, whether the church should accept faithful, committed same
sex relationships. Our lifelong “Bachelor Boy” is adamant
that his own orientation is nobody else’s business, and I agree.
Cliff is clearly pleased with his achievements, but there is a tone of
humility, and he is sometimes openly self-critical. For example, he
once turned down an opportunity to meet his idol, Elvis Presley, who
was then very overweight. He thought that the photos would be bad
publicity, and that it would be better to meet the King when he had
slimmed down for his next movie. This was not to be, as Elvis died
shortly afterwards.
Sir Cliff has shown the world that great pop music does not have to be
associated with drugs, sexual promiscuity and alcohol abuse. I have
long regarded him as a great artist, a great human being and most
importantly, a great Christian. This book reinforced all of that for
me. It is a “must-read” for all his fans, particularly his
Christian ones, amongst whom I am proud to count myself.
Frederick Brownell - Heraldry In the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. 1847 - 2000 ISBN 0-620-28606-7
Reviewed by Mike Oettle.
This is the first comprehensive survey of the coats of
arms of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (as it was until
recently, the Church of the Province of Southern Africa). Published in
2000, it was recently brought to my attention.
Brownell served as State Herald of South Africa from 1982 to 2002. His
interest in church heraldry goes back to his boyhood in Bethlehem, Free
State, where his family worshipped at St Augustine of Hippo parish
church, and was peaked during his schooldays at St Andrew’s
School, Bloemfontein, and his student years at Rhodes University,
Grahamstown. For a time he was chairman of the Anglican Club at Rhodes.
He first joined the Bureau of Heraldry in 1977, as Assistant State
Herald.
The arms of Southern African dioceses included in the book range
in time from Cape Town (1847) to Niassa (1999). Geographically they
extend from Niassa, in the north of Moçambique, to St Helena, in
the South Atlantic Ocean.
The dioceses covered include two that are no longer part of the
Province of Southern Africa, namely Mashonaland and Matabeleland
(in Zimbabwe, and since 1955 part of the Province of Central Africa).
The coverage is exhaustive, since Brownell was obliged to explore the
roots of Anglicanism in South Africa, and so includes the arms of
many overseas dioceses.
Also included are the arms of Angela, Baroness Burdett-Coutts, whose
generosity enabled the establishment of the diocese of Cape Town, and
whose own arms not only form part of the Cape Town diocesan arms, but
have been the source of considerable confusion.
Aside from the current arms of 21 dioceses, Brownell provides earlier
versions for several of these dioceses, including erroneous variants
that can be seen in St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town.
There are two entries for St Mary’s Collegiate Church (now Port
Elizabeth’s cathedral): one in the section on parishes, which
includes only one other parish church, and that in Pretoria; the other
entry is under the Diocese of Port Elizabeth. Brownell mentions it
there because Crockford’s Clerical Directory for 1973-74 showed
the parish arms as representing the diocese.
All Saints’, in Kabega Park, is mentioned as being in the process
of registering arms – the certificate was issued in 2002.
The arms of the Order of Ethiopia also appear.
Constraints of publication meant that the illustrations (aside from the
shields of the 21 dioceses on the cover) are all in black and white.
These arms can be seen in colour at
http://uk.geocities.com/kruisstaf/indexE.html These images will shortly
be joined by articles on all the dioceses.
Thank you
The editor thanks the Dean of the Province, Bishop Paddy Glover for his very encouraging telephone call.
Also the many readers from our diocese who have encouraged her at various times.
It helps to know that it is all worth while!
Blues Wow
Anthony (Ant) Keogh, a gospel
blues singer, walked onto the stage, sat down and began playing
‘Unsaved Blues’ and had all the blues fans at the Women of
Valour tea last August enthralled and blessed by this and the other
songs he sang. He is a ‘Man of Valour’ who has overcome
abuse and dedicated his talent of writing songs and of singing to the
glory of his Lord.
Ant has made a few CDs and the one I bought at the tea is ‘Blood
Line’ which is a compilation of some songs from the ‘Out of
the Blue’ and ‘Long Road Walking’ CDs, and is very
powerful.
Contact Ant on: 084 511 8095 or antleakeogh@gmail.com
Do you need chairs?
St Mark and St John, Parkside have 128 old chairs
- steel frame with wooden backs and seats - that they are willing to give to anyone who is able to make use of them.
Contact Anita Jacobs on
041 457 2292
Tuesdays to Thursdays
between 08h30 - 14h30
to arrange to collect them on a “first-come-first-served” basis.
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