iindaba Homepage | Diocese of PE Homepage
 

Vol 17 No 4 May 2006 ONLINE The official gazette of the Diocese of Port Elizabeth: Church of the Province of Southern Africa

Quick Links: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Top | Homepage PAGE 2  •  Pretty as a picture at AWF AGM  •  AWF chaplain instituted  •  AWF Provincial Conference to be held in PE  •  Lighting a fire for Israel  •  What is ‘Spirituality’?  •  A party for 200 children  •  Emerging Churches Pretty as a picture at AWF AGM Past diocesan presidents of the Anglican Women’s Fellowship were honoured at the recent AGM with plates bearing a photo of themselves and the date they had held office. The beautiful plates were the work of Sylvia Frans, the Diocesan President. The AGM was held at Holy Spirit Church in KwaZakhele on Saturday 11 March. With the Bishop on sabbatical and the Dean unavailable, the meeting was chaired by newly appointed  AWF chaplain, Sharon Nell. Opening the meeting, Sylvia Frans welcomed Sharon and members from the new branch of St Mary’s in Graslaagte. Branches reported on all the work they had done during the year, and on the functions they had held or were involved in. All the branches had contributed baby packs which were distributed to various hospitals in the diocese. All were involved in some way in outreach to people living with HIV/AIDS and ongoing wellness management training, and all had been involved in the Women’s World Day of Prayer. Some of the other outreach being done by individual branches is: • working members adopting a non-working family; • growing vegetables which are distributed to the sick and needy; • holding prayer meetings where every member takes a turn at leading, so encouraging leadership skills. Sharon thanked all the members for their wonderful contribution to the work of the Lord. Pic: Picture perfect - Proudly displaying their beautiful plates are Myrtle Koen (left) and Lillian Daniels with Sylvia Frans, who made the plates. AWF chaplain instituted Pic: At the close of the service of institution as rector of the Parish of the Zwartkops River Valley, Sharon Nell was also instituted as the chaplain of the Anglican Women's Fellowship. Provincial President, Lillian Daniels (left) and Diocesan President, Sylvia Frans, were there to present her to Bishop Bethlehem. AWF Provincial Conference to be held in PE The Anglican Women’s Fellowship will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The Diocese of Port Elizabeth will host the Provincial Conference. The conference runs from 27 September to 1 Oct-ober, and it is the first time it will be held in our diocese. It will be residential at Dower College in West End. Up to four delegates from each the 19 dioceses where there are branches may attend - about 76 people, together with the 10 members of the Executive committee. These are all paid for by their dioceses and the provincial fund. Observers who wish to attend pay their own expenses. The metropolitan, Njongonkulu Ndungane, has been invited to attend, as have other guests. In order to entertain the visitors and provide transport for them, the diocesan AWF are looking at a budget of R40 000. Each branch has been asked to contribute R3 000, and parishes within the diocese are being approached to help with donations. Parishes or readers wishing to contribute towards the costs can contact Hazel Braun 041 581 1981 (evenings are best). The dioceses of Lebombo, Niassa and Angola do not have AWF branches at present. Lighting a fire for Israel Rebecca Brimmer, the International President and CEO of Bridges for Peace, visited Port Elizabeth for a few days at the end of March and spoke of ‘lighting a fire for prayer and support for Israel’. Speaking to a packed room at Seaview Guest House on Sunday night 26 March, Rebecca said, “The answer to people who ask why Christians should be interested in Israel and the Jewish people is that God chose them, so we are standing with God when we do so. In Jeremiah 31 God made a promise to them that he would never forget nor forsake them, and he doesn’t forget his promises.” She spoke of the hurt the Jewish people feel from nearly 2 000 years of rejection by Christians, who worship a Jew, yet reject his people. Rebecca has lived in Jerusalem for 17 years and has worked for Bridges for Peace for 14. She gave an overview of the work being done by Bridges for Peace in Israel, and also in Russia and other European countries where Jews are still being persecuted. She encouraged Christians to become involved with practical help for Israel and, quoting from Daniel 9, she exhorted Christians to start praying and fasting for the land and its people. In reply to many questions from the audience she  gave an overview of what is happening in Israel at present. For information about Bridges for Peace contact the PE representatives Charles and Laura Charlewood at 041 581 2610. Pic: Meeting the CEO - Retired priests Roy Snyman tssf and Eric Kleb met Rebecca Brimmer (centre) of Bridges for Peace after her address to a group of supporters. Laura Charlewood is on the left. What is ‘Spirituality’? Many people have asked Barry Sendall, Diocesan Co-ordinator for the Centre of Christian Spirituality, to explain what “Spirituality’ is. His reply is that a simple definition of ‘Spirituality’ would be: The nature of our relationship with God and how this relationship impacts on our daily lives. The vision statement of the Centre says that the Centre seeks to provide: “Space to meet with God and to be led into a deeper knowledge and experience of his love and presence”. Clearly, other faiths find expression for their spirituality through other means, but as Christians all that we do focuses on and promotes Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour! A party for 200 children Pic: Anthea Kammies reports that the MU Christian Family Life members of St Michael and All Angels in Schauderville treated 200 local children to a Christmas Party on 8 December. The MUCFL members run a soup kitchen as part of their outreach programme in the Schauderville area throughout the year. Emerging Churches Howard Lancaster reports on a pastors’ breakfast which he attended recently, at which Brian McLaren spoke on the ‘Emerging Churches’ movement’. Christians from other parts of the world should tell American Christians how much they oppose what America is doing on the world stage. This was one of the remarks made by Brian McLaren, an American author and the pastor of an independent church, speaking at an informal pastors’ breakfast in Port Elizabeth about the ‘Emerging Churches’ movement. The movement seeks to address the issues facing Christians in a changing postmodern culture. It involves everything from how we understand and communicate the gospel to the way we “do Church”. He quoted a Congolese theologian, Mabiala Justin-Robert Kenzo, who equates post-modernism with post colonialism. McLaren feels that South African Christians have an added advantage because of the paradigm shift that the struggle taught us. Brian McLaren was a college lecturer in English who saw in his discipline in the 1970s, how current philosophy was changing, and feared what it might do to the Church if it really caught on! He portrayed himself as reluctantly drawn into this shift in our thinking from modernity, which dealt with absolutes and deductive thinking, to what is happening now, where all is questioned and the areas left untouched by modernity’s way of being Church are now receiving attention. We have to learn to address the way the world now thinks. He said that the Reformation had left Christians to draw their theology primarily from the epistles. There needed to be a re-focusing on the story of Jesus as the gospel. He described the letter to the Romans as a reaction to the gospel, rather than being the gospel itself, because it sought to address the issue of how to accommodate Gentiles in this new Christian faith. It is the story of Jesus that connects with the stories of the people of today, and this is what we need to focus on as we proclaim the Good News in the 21st century. He spoke of how big business had captured both politics and the church in the USA, so that it now wrote the agenda. Thus issues of personal morality, human sexuality, abortion, and stem cell research grab the attention of Christians, rather than the fact that Jesus spoke about loving enemies, and tackled religiosity that led to a lack of concern for the outcast and poor. All in all, it was a stimulating experience with a healthy exchange of thinking, and though there are still more questions than answers, there were at the same time even more ideas for the future and an excitement at how the Lord is leading the Church in a world that is undergoing huge social change. Quick Links: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Top | Homepage