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• For richer, for poorer
• Bishop of Rochester visits AMSA and CESA
• Not in our name say Anglicans
• Our God is a Missionary God, says Egyptian Bishop
For richer, for poorer
 The 'face' of Anglican Students
Federation (ASF), Odwa Gonya, tied the knot with Bulelwa Gobe on the 28
April, reports the ASF Media Project Officer, Masande Sinethemba Mango.
The wedding ceremony took place at St Saviour's in East London and the
ASF provincial chaplain, Russell Blassoples, who is based in the
Western Cape, officiated at the service of the two love-birds.
Among those who were present to witness the marriage were delegates
from Swaziland, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KZN, Western Cape, Limpopo, HOPE
AFRICA and the Anglican AIDS office.
Odwa and Bulelwa grew up in Eastern Cape. "Odwa grew up having
ambitions of having his own family. My prayer to almighty God is that
he protect them in their young marriage until it becomes older and
older", said Phumelele Gonya, his big brother. "As a young man, Odwa
had a dream of becoming a good leader." He began building his
leadership qualities at Port Rex high school. He moved to Cape
Peninsula University of Technology (then Pen-tech) where he served as a
General Secretary of Anglican Students Society (ANSOC). As a student,
he also served as ASF regional chairperson of Western Cape region for
two consecutive years. He was elected unopposed as 43rd ASF president.
Currently Odwa is an ASF organizer for the Anglican Church of Southern
Africa. As for his wife - Bulelwa served the Anglican Church as AYF
(Anglican Youth Fellowship) secretary to the Diocese of Cape Town. She
is an electrical technician and a businesswoman.
Everyone was delighted and rejoiced when Odwa and Bulelwa sang with
their sweet, beautiful and harmonious voices. The reception took place
at East London harbour.
The various speakers touched a lot of the guests, both married and
single. Even I felt the Holy Spirit tell me something about getting
married - which is hard to believe!
Bishop of Rochester visits AMSA and CESA
Gavin Mitchell reports on the
visit of Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester to Anglican Mainstream
South Africa and the Church of England in South Africa (CESA) during
April.
The visit of Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali to Anglican Mainstream
South Africa in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa seems to have
been graciously timed, as many in the Anglican Church worldwide ponder
the common life of our communion and the future as well. The visit to
AMSA after Easter in a whirlwind timetable of 10 presentations in five
days was a blessing to all who come to listen to Bishop Michael, who
also met with Bp Peter Lee (Christ the King) and Bp Martin Breytenbach
(St Mark the Evangelist).
Bishop Nazir-Ali addressed the issues of ‘The uniqueness of Jesus
Christ’, the ‘Centrality of Scripture to the faith’
and in Cape Town - ‘Christianity, Islam and world order’.
Good interest across the country indicates the lively condition of the
Anglicans in Southern Africa, while the questions indicated a great
interest and concern about the Church and the Gospel in this modern
era. A clear sharing of Bishop Michael’s views of the currents
and trends in the worldwide communion has helped and encouraged people
and clergy alike.
Anglican Communion
Speaking in three of the larger evangelical churches around our
province, Bishop Michael and his wife Valerie were a blessing to us
all. In Natal Bishop Rubin Phillip was able to fit in an official
welcome to St Agnes Kloof, where a full church (500 plus) had gathered
to listen to the Bishop. Following a time of Spirit-led worship, the
muddy waters of modern religious debates were cleared away with the
Bishop’s clear declaration that the Jesus of the Bible is the
same today, to whom every knee shall bow.
In meetings with clergy from all racial groups - Indian, coloured,
black and white - Bishop Michael shared a clear exposition of 1 John 1,
about the need and nature of the ‘bonds of fellowship’ that
should hold a Christian Communion together. This provided a sound
platform for questions and concerns about our Communion as a whole and
what we on this extreme tip of Africa may expect to be the issues in
the months that lie ahead.
Throughout the visit the keen interest and concern for the integrity of
the gospel and the fellowship of the church from our guest has been
hugely encouraging to the clergy who met with him. Bishop
Michael’s open and sober comments about the pressures within the
Anglican Communion on Scripture and the current issue of homosexuality
were also helpful if not at all times comforting. He brought into clear
focus for many the realities of this period between
‘Tanzania’ and Lambeth 2008 or whatever the future holds
for us who call ourselves Anglican, informing that with clear reminders
of our historical roots and wonderful biblical exposition. The tension
between the correct canonical processes and the demands of the plain
reading of scripture clearly came through as the heart of the debate
within the Anglican Communion at this time.
AMSA was also pleased to agree to a request from The Church of England
in South Africa, for Bishop Michael to preach at St James Kenilworth,
one of the founding churches of CESA in Cape Town where 1800 people
gathered and Bishop Michael met with the leaders of CESA. CESA was part
of the original expression of the Anglican Church in South Africa,
superseded by the Church of the Province of Southern Africa through the
Anglo-Catholic movement of the nineteenth century.
Not in our name say Anglicans
Report by Trevor Grundy in The Zimbabwean 26 April 2007.
British Anglicans are almost as stunned as their counterparts in
Zimbabwe that the Archbishop of Canterbury’s attempts to knock
sense into the heads of church leaders in Harare’s much-troubled
province have come to naught.
Following a meeting of the Central African Episcopal Synod during the
week of ‘celebrations’ marking Zimbabwe’s 27th
anniversary of Independence, 14 Anglican bishops issued a message that
was broadly supportive of the Mugabe government, sharply contrasting
with an earlier call by Roman Catholic leaders for the disgraced 83-
year old head of state to step down.
“So called targeted sanctions aimed at the leadership of the
country have affected the poor Zimbab-weans who have borne the brunt of
sanctions,” the bishops said after their meeting. Prominent among
the signatories was the Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga who is
praised by ZANU (PF) as a “model Christian” but as a man
who puts nation before denomination by clerics from the Western world.
Last month, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, met Bishop
Kunonga along with the Archbishop of Central Africa, the Most Revd
Bernard Malango who is a friend of President Mugabe. No details of the
meeting
emerged.
President Mugabe is most anxious to neutralize the Christian church and
give the world the impression it sides with him against his critics.
On 11 March police crushed a prayer meeting that led to world press
publicity against the entrenched Mugabe regime. Later Catholics issued
a pastoral statement that infuriated Mugabe. Zanu (PF) ‘spin
doctors’ assert that “rebel” Catholics are led by the
Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube who (they claim) is in the pay of
Prime Minister Tony Blair and the British Government.
Reacting to the Anglican message, Eddie Cross of the MDC said that
Zimbabwean Anglicans are in a difficult position. “Perhaps they
should withdraw from all congregations that are led by Bishop
Nolbert,” he suggested. “Or join a church that is not so
myopic in its views.”
Meantime, Anglicans in the UK are waiting to hear from the Bishop of
Croydon, Nicholas Baines. He flew to Harare on Easter Tuesday and is
expected to inform Lambeth Palace about the situation in Zimbabwe.
Sources told The Zimbabwean that Bishop Nick was anxious not to meet Bishop Nolbert.
Our God is a Missionary God, says Egyptian Bishop
Report by David W Virtue www.virtueonline.org
The Church of Jesus Christ is growing faster now that at ay time in its
2,000 year history. Globally more than 90,000 new converts come to
Christ each day with 20,000 new Christians confessing Christ daily in
Africa, and 28,000 new Christians coming daily to Christ in China.
Bishop Derek Eaton, former Bishop of Nelson, New Zealand and now
Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Egypt, told more than 1 000
missionary-minded Anglicans at a New Wineskins for Global Missions
conference that despite Western timidity and a deconstructionist gospel
being foisted on the American Episcopal Church, there are 8 000 new
adult Anglican believers coming to Christ each day across the globe.
“We are seeing 400 new Anglican churches open each week around
the world. In the Province of Nigeria there are more Anglicans in
church on Sunday than all the UK, North America and Australasia put
together,” he told a stunned audience, many of whom live with
revisionist Episcopal bishops who no longer have a biblical gospel to
proclaim.
The newly installed Middle East bishop said mission is integral to the
Christian Faith, and without mission there would be no Christianity.
“We have a gospel for the whole world. Since Jesus is unique he
has universal and global significance and therefore he must be made
known to everyone in the world,” said Eaton who described himself
as New Zealand’s only evangelical bishop.
“Christian mission is rooted and grounded in the very nature of
God himself. Mission is indispensable to Christianity. It is rooted in
the triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God has created a
missionary church, and He is working towards a mission consummation. We
worship and serve a missionary God. If you want a biblical base for
mission it is not possible to choose less than the whole Bible. This is
the world God loves - our God is a missionary God.
“Mission is taking place whether we like it or not. The question
we must ask is, do I want to participate and be a part of the
global plan or remain parochial? In the Province of Nigeria they have
consecrated 20 new bishops and created 20 new missionary dioceses in
the past year. The Church is not dying it is growing, let us be
encouraged.
“We are called to be his missionary people ... The Holy Spirit of
Acts is a missionary Spirit ... The church of St. Paul’s letters
is a missionary church ... Each local church is to exhibit the
‘missionary’ character of the Church universal ... be his
missionaries ... Let us do it.”
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