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• Quilter's interest growing
• Country church celebrates centenary
•
The Enquirers' Week
•
Religious Life Council
•
RSCM Summer School Prospectus
•
Contact Online Weblog
Quilter's interest growing
The growing interest and
commitment of the quilters from Marselle and Ekupumleni townships in
the Parish of Alexandria is growing as they gather on two Tuesday
afternoons each month to learn more of the art.
The 25 quilters are brought together by the St David’s Life
Skills Support Group, and last year they won first prize at the
National Quilt Festival in the Outreach category. The degree of
excellence can be attributed to several factors – the expertise
and dedication of Hennie Delport, the multi-skilled principal
instructor, the presence of a number of the women of St David’s,
Bushmansrivermouth and the leadership and quiet enthusiasm of Pam
Goodwin, the self-supporting deacon.
At the opposite end of the church building the children gather and sit
at three long tables where Joan Grisdale, Shirley van Rensburg and
Denise Duffield instruct, guide and encourage them. During their break
they go outside for exercise and as other children watched their fun
they too asked to join and so a retired teacher watches over their
games of football etc.
At the beginning of winter food parcels and winter garments were handed
out. Each child received a jersey knitted by members of the Anglican
Women’s Fellowship and the food parcels were made up from
contributions brought to Sunday services at St David’s.
The beginnings
Pam Goodwin said of the group, “The Life Skills Support Group had
its beginnings with a small group of women sitting around a table in an
empty church building. Some of the women were HIV+. The aim of the
group was to provide a centre of friendship and care, including
counselling, teaching and prayer.
 At
that time – the late 1990’s – there was still a very
big stigma attached to HIV/AIDS so we hid behind the guise of a church
sewing and knitting class. We worked hand in hand with the local
clinic and, as I am a qualified nurse, we did our home visits to people
living with HIV/AIDS as nursing check-ups - blood pressure etc. We
still only reach a fraction of those in need, but we are there and
available.”
Crisis Home
Just over a year ago the Life Skills Group became the focus point for a
project to build a Crisis Home for abused children. With many
contributions in kind and money, in ideas, work, organization, and
prayers, a model foster home now stands proudly across the road from St
Matthew’s, a symbol of what can be achieved when people work
together.
St David’s Life Skills Group is aptly named. Quilting and sewing
are undoubted skills, but life is much bigger – the
companionship, mutual support and love are worthy of the workplace, St
Matthew’s Church of God.
Walter Grisdale
Pic: Two of the quilters show off some of their work
Country church celebrates centenary
The centenary service at St
Andrew’s United Church in Pearston was a very moving service with
Peter Bowen preaching and Ruthell Johnson celebrating the Eucharist.
Of the original families who founded the church, three still
continue to worship on a regular basis – Peter and Connie
Davenport, David and Verity Hobson and Alex and Mariaane Palmer –
which is not bad for a small town! Also among those present at the
service were two families, Mr and Mrs Paisley and Sally Solomon and her
friend Peter, who used to worship in Pearston and now live in Graaff
Reinet, Jack and Cameron Davenport from Somerset East, Alex
Palmer’s sister Mary and her husband, and John Roberts all the
way from East London. We were also joined by Dominee Gideon Aggenbach
and members of the NGK – a testimony to the
‘samewerking’ that has been apparent through the years.
Peter Bowen, now living in Bushmansrivermouth, is a former rector of
All Saints’ in Somerset East and was accompanied by Val, his
wife. Ruthell Johnson, rector of St Paul’s in Parsons Hill, used
to stay in the Pearston Hotel during his days as a sales
representative, and later conducted services in the church when he had
been ordained. He was accompanied by his wife Pam.
A memorial stone was unveiled by Dudley Greenshields, the present incumbent, to commemorate the occasion.
Although records show that a wedding was held in 1873 and services in
1882, with regular monthly services (and six candidates being
confirmed) in 1905, the foundation stone to the present building was
laid by the Bishop of Grahamstown in August 1907 and the church was
dedicated in January 1908.
The celebrations concluded with a really superb meal at the local
restaurant, ‘Blik sms lekke’, run by one of our members,
Karen Oosthuizen. We encourage the people of Somerset East to make the
trip to Pearston to enjoy an excellent meal with Karen.
Dudley Greenshields
Pic: Church with congregation at centenary celebration
The Enquirers' Week
20 – 25 November 2007
Have you noticed young men in your church/diocese who seem to pray
deeply or who have a particularly strong interest in their spiritual
development? Do they ask soul-searching questions about
themselves? Do you know of a young man who has a longing to seek a
deeper knowledge of himself and of God? Perhaps this man has a vocation
to the monastic life.
We would like to alert all of you to a special programme that the
monastery is hosting in October. We invite all single men who are
seeking a life of prayer to come to Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery in
Grahamstown for a week of exploration of the Benedictine monastic life.
The participants will experience the daily round of prayers of the
community as well as its work and ministry. They will learn some of the
wisdom offered by St Benedict as expressed in his Rule. They will also
have opportunities to speak to the members of the community, getting
first-hand accounts about monastic life and how it is lived today. And
perhaps one young man will find his vocation as a monk of the Order of
the Holy Cross at Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery.
There is no fee for the week. Three meals a day and all accommodation
are provided by the monastery. All one has to bring is comfortable and
work clothes, a Bible and one’s desire for God. We will provide
the rest.
For more information or to make a reservation please contact : Br John Forbis or
Br Andrew Colquhoun
Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery
PO Box 6013
Grahamstown 6141
046 622 8111
Fax : 046 622 6424
Andrew@umaria.co.za
John@umaria.co.za
Religious Life Council
Brothers of the Benedictine
Order of the Holy Cross (OHC), hosted the annual Council at their
monastery at Hill-and-Dale (Grahamstown) in August, welcoming
representatives of thirteen Religious Orders in our Church Province.
It seems that few Anglicans know that we have Brothers, Sisters, Monks,
Nuns, and Tertiaries in the ACSA. The September Embertide has always
been set aside for prayer for our Religious and for the fostering of
the recognition of new Vocations to this dedication.
Also present was a Friar from Zimbabwe, who has been
‘released’ to help a group of men in the Diocese of
Zululand seek the right route for establishing a new indigenous Order
there. This was exciting news, indicating that there are still
Vocations to the celibate Communities which need directing to an Order
in which they can best express their talents, for the glory of the
Lord. Another joy was news of a new Order of Sisters in Madagascar.
Fr Roy Snyman tssf
Is the Lord calling you?
In the November iindaba there will be more about the various Orders there are within the Religious Life.
RSCM Summer School Prospectus
The Prospectus is now available and can be obtained either from your choir leader or from our secretary:
Judy Laine: 041 365 3756 (h).
Preparations are well under way for the Summer School which is being held in Port Elizabeth from 2 - 9 January 2008.
With Gordon Appleton coming from the UK, we are looking forward to a
strong representation from our Port Elizabeth members to make him feel
welcome!
Contact Online Weblog
Contact Online Weblog at http://contact-online.blogspot.com
Do visit the blog and check out what all the news and views - and the simple way it works.
If you have any suggestions or comments to make, please email David MacGregor at davemac@wol.co.za
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iindaba
Editor: Frankie Simpson
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Email: iindaba@anglicandiocesepe.org.za
Tel/fax +27 041 360 6808
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iindaba is the vehicle for sharing
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