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• The Bishop writes ...
• The view from pulpit and pew
• 1857 revisited
• Tag lines
The Bishop writes ...
My dear People of God,
Living with tension
Greetings in the name of the Lord!
It
is a matter of fact that there is some tension in our lives. There is
always the dark side and the bright side. These two bring conflict,
thus tension is borne within the inner self. Take this a little
further. Biblically speaking there is tension between the flesh and the
spirit (Gal 5:16ff); theologically, the profane and the holy; secular
and sacred; darkness and light etc. Interestingly, for St Paul it is a
tension between the "now" and the "not yet" in terms of the two realms
Christ has ushered in (2 Cor 5:6-9; Rom 14: 7-9).
The bottom
line in this tension is to take sides. This depends on our choice
between the good and the evil, in Greek the àgathon and kakon. The
solution is towards God. God is God of transformation. Change is
brought to our sinful nature to be that of righteousness provided we
are "in Christ" (2 Cor 5:17). God changes attitudes. By his broken
flesh and his blood poured out for us we are healed. We are set free
from any bondage by his Spirit to enjoy life, and so in its fullness.
The way from the kakon(evil) is through the gate of repentance and
conversion, a process of transformation, until our lives are wholly
lost in God and his perfect will. Thus the idea of the holy is
instilled in us, and we are enabled to cope with the tension. Then we
constantly live in the recognition of the presence of God in us, and in
everything that surrounds us despite the consistent tension. It saddens
me deeply to learn that most of our theologians today seem to speak
light of the Bible as the Word of God, and therefore a rule for our
life. If the Holy Writ were to be disregarded by all of us, what guide
would we have to uplift our moral life and keep intact our values? May
God save the Church as promised in the gospel (Matt 16:18).
Paul
the apostle, writing to the Roman Church about governing authorities,
sees them as agents of promoting good and not evil. This is the
intention of the Creator. I am writing this letter at a time when
tension is high between the civil workers and the government. It is a
sad state of affairs. The strike itself is justifiable when you compare
their earnings with those in government. The percentages of increment
between the two are not a fair comparison. However, in a democracy we
should also be sensitive to those whose voices may hardly be heard yet
they have dire needs. Essential services need to be provided still in
health care services. Diplomacy and sensitivity should be exercised on
all sides. Serving letters of dismissal and abandoning the sick are
both like rubbing salt on the wounds. We need a fair balance.
I
am inclined to think that the ANC government should remain true and
committed to its Freedom Charter. Such disparities should be addressed
as soon as is possible. Pray for our State President and government
constantly in the Litany. Good government cares for its citizens as a
priority over and above other foreign programmes. It seems as though
there is no projection into the future so as to address these problems
timeously. I only hope that this is not triggered so much by the
leadership succession wrangling.
People of God - continue to pray for good governance in our land and nations.
May God bless and save Africa. We believe!
Yours in the love of Christ,
Bishop Bethlehem Nopece
Pic: Getting
to know you - Enjoying fellowship, mulled wine and eats in the marquee
after the service at Holy Trinity were Charlotte Smith, Bishop
Bethlehem, Helma Jackson and Mazoe Nopece.
The view from pulpit and pew
- There were not enough seats in the Cathedral on Trinity Sunday when
†Bethlehem ordained four new deacons. They were Lynn de Doncker
(Self-supporting Christ-the-King, Gelvandale), Angela Hambury
(Self-supporting, Saint Katharine's, Uitenhage), Joshua Koening
(Stipendiary, Saint Mary Magdalene, West End), and Vincent Mdidimba
(Self-supporting, stipendiary from January 2008. God's praise rang out
as the worship was led by a combined choir. iindaba commends these new
deacons and their spouses to the prayers of the diocese as they begin
their ordained ministry.
- iindaba is sad to report the death of
Angelina Makwela, widow of Fanico Makwela, who served as a priest in
this diocese. Angelina's death was unexpected, and she visited the
Diocesan Office a few days before her death. The staff remarked on how
well she looked. iindaba extends condolences to her family.
- During May Rudi Marais, who began this month as priest-in-charge of St
Michael and All Angels, travelled to Grahamstown with his wife Dolores
to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood
in the Cathedral. On the Sunday closest to the anniversary, he presided
at the Eucharist in the morning. Rudi served as assistant dean at the
Cathedral some years ago. iindaba congratulates him on his Silver
Anniversary!
- Mario Hendricks will take up residence as
priest-in-charge of St Mary's, Graslaagte, in the Parish of the Good
Shepherd in the Humansdorp region. We wish him and Hester a happy and
fruitful ministry there.
- Many clergy from the Alexandria
Archdeaconry travelled to Sunlands for the institution of Zwelidumile
Tom as the new rector of the Parish of the Sundays River Valley on 16
June. iindaba wishes him a happy and fruitful ministry as well.
- The South African yacht, Shosholoza, did extremely well in the 9 events
in Portugal recently. Proud parents of one of the crew, Michael Giles,
are Vaughan and Judy Giles from the Parish of the Zwartkops River
Valley. Congratulations Shosholoza and Michael.
- Praise be to
God for His protection of Dennis and Ruth Burkinshaw, whose cottage was
broken into at 03h00 one morning. When Dennis confronted the man, he
said "Please help me find my son's ball!" When Ruth appeared on the
scene, the man grabbed their VCR, but was unable to pull the plug out,
so he left empty-handed. What could have happened to this much-loved
couple does not bare thinking.
- Sharon Nell, rector of the
Zwartkops River Valley Parish, recently recovering from a badly-torn
cartilage, was, when iindaba went to print, in hospital for tests for
an unrelated problem. Iindaba wishes her a speedy recovery.
- It
is commonly held that some women use the excuse of having a headache as
a reason for not doing this or that. Last month, Valerie Heath from the
Diocesan office stayed at home as she had a headache. However iindaba
has it on good authority that this time it was genuine - the tailgate
of her car banged her on the head necessitating stitches. Fortunately
the scar is hidden as it's above the hairline!
- Peter and
Maureen Evers recently returned from a holiday in the UK, where Peter
had the honour of baptising his newest grandchild. They also spent some
time in the beautiful Lake District. Peter has been the caretaker
priest at St Michael and All Angels, Schauderville.
Remember, you saw it first in iindaba!
iindaba
has landed a scoop! The Weekend Post contacted Jogra Gallant about
doing a follow-up story to last month's iindaba story about St Alban's
Prison!
1857 revisited
A special Jubilee 150 Celebration Service was
held at Holy Trinity in central on 1 June where guests were greeted at
the door by Adele Nolte and Ros Holderness in period clothes and after
the service they warmed themselves with mulled wine and eats.
The
service moved from the old to the new - with hymns and music from the
150 year period culminating in isiXhosa songs of praise and dance
accompanied by the marimbas, presentations of photos and anecdotes by
Dapne ffolliot and Bill Holderness and another presentation by Daphne
on the stained glass windows in the church. One learnt of the
beginnings of Holy Trinity, of the terrible fire and the rebuilding of
the church, of the various priests who shepherded the flock and of some
of the 'older' parishioners who were present, the oldest being Audrey
Simms at 94, and of the vision Holy Trinity has for the future.
A
highlight was the singing of the Jubilee 150 Hymn written by Daphne
ffolliot, music by Wayne Hughes and with Xhosa translation by Kwezi
Mabandla. Richard Cock will be including the hymn in next year's 'Songs
of Praise' programme.
Pic: Charmed,
I'm sure - Charlotte Scott, Audrey Simms (94), Christopher and his
mother, Avril Nolte and Ros Holderness, at the entrance of Holy Trinity
Church.
Tag lines
Everything has been figured out, except how to live.
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