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Vol 16 No 8 September 2005 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 3  • The Bishop writes ...  • The view from pulpit and pew  • Tag lines  • In the steps of Nathaniel Merriman The Bishop writes ... Greetings in the Name of Christ, our Lord and Saviour! Our visit to the link Diocese of Northern Zambia has been exciting and revealing. We learned many things from them, much as they did from us. Those who thought of establishing a link between us and them, made a wise decision. We were met at Ndola airport with great hospitality. Kitwe, where our host Bishop Albert Chama lives, is about sixty kms from Ndola. We were very delighted to see him and Bertha his wife, and their family. Much more to our joy was to see a great improvement in Bertha's health. Our programme was full. Though it was winter the days were like our summer in many respects. The nights were cool, except for mosquitoes. Thanks to Bishop Albert who provided a mosquito net forour peaceful sleep. We visited the following places at which we both had to give talks - Mazoe mostly to women alone: Chingola and Mufulira Archdeaconries, St John's Anglican Seminary, St Michael in Kitwe, St James in Buchi and the AIDS Carerers Graduation, which was impressive and moving. Ladies, especially the priests' wives, enjoyed her addresses. We were unable to visit the Copper Mines, except to look from a distance, on account of strike action. Delighting was to see a women's project in agriculture on a Diocesan Farm. We had an opportunity of planting two banana trees with Mazoe. It is notable that they still remember Mrs Boniswa Kamba, and the Revd Fr Fumanekile Kula and Canon David Stansbury. The thrust of my addresses was basically around three areas of our life as the church, and on which our link could revolve - mission, evangelism and ministry. It would not be fair for me to commit ourselves on any activity or action as yet. We need to listen to the people of God themselves first, as to what your thinking would be. Mission and evangelism do not only entail  aiming to cause people to hear the good news of God's love, but would look at poverty and unemployment etc, while ministry would look at the welfare of clergy, lay training programmes, Theological Education, home-based care, orphans and vulnerable children (OVC's) etc. We therefore decided to set up committee of five, with powers to co-opt, to look at how the link could begin to function in our sharing of successes, difficulties and resources etc. As soon as possible we are going to have a chat with Mr Neville Lobb who is in charge of this link, and plan with him the way forward. The thought of the link comes from the fact that the apostle Paul awoke one morning with a  vision, "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9). This was not a one-way traffic, poor as Macedonia was. This is how Paul speaks of them to the Corinthian church:" … their over- flowing joy and extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity … they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability … And they did not do as we expected, but gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will." (2Cor 8:1-7). The CPSA calls us to link up with a diocese within the Province, then with African friends in Christ since we are in Africa ourselves, and also elsewhere in the Anglican Communion. Within the Province we have Namibia and St Helena. In Africa it is Northern Zambia. There should also be a link in the wider Communion, perhaps Derby? I still have to find out. Finally, I wish to thank all those who contributed generously to our appeal to purchase the vehicle for the Bishop of Angola, André Soares. We will hear soon from Bishop Peter Lee when the vehicle was delivered to the bishop.Once more thank you very, very much. God bless you, and increase your resources.  Remember the words of the Lord Jesus when He said: "it is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). Yours very sincerely in the love of Christ, Bishop Bethlehem Nopece The view from pulpit and pew Gill Deary, a lay minister at St Hugh's in Newton Park, and Ian McCleland have announced their engagement - both having been widowed. Ian is the great great grandson of the Revd Francis McCleland, first Rector of Saint Mary's (now the Cathedral), who resided at 7 Castle Hill, now a National Monument and Museum. When Bruce Puttergill built the extension to Holy Trinity United Church in Thornhill, he was sure the church was large enough for any service there. Bruce died last month, and even with the extension, the church was far too small, so great was the impact he made on the community, the church and beyond. Bruce, like Ian McCleland above, is a direct descendant of the Revd Francis McCleland -so there were many Puttergills and McClelands present, as well as members of the Triumph Sports Car Club, farmers and staff, and many others. Iindaba expresses condolences to his wife and family. On National Women's Day, 9 August, two prominent Anglican women featured in The Herald. Maureen Lamb, Deacon at St Saviour's in Walmer, had been nominated for The Herald Citizen of the Year award in the category of community service. We are proud of you, Maureen, the nomination in itself is an honour. - The other prominent Anglican woman mentioned on Women's Day is Peggy Calata, the public relations and development manager of the famous Port Elizabeth Opera House. Peggy is the daughter of Canon James Calata, who served for many years in the Diocese, including Cradock, and the sister of Fort Calata, one of the 'Cradock Four', who were brutally murdered by apartheid forces in June 1985. The Diocese has another new archdeacon and a new canon. Dudley Greenshields has been collated the Archdeacon of Cradock and David Grobbelaar, rector of St Barnabas, Sydenham and St Philip's, Centrahil, has been appointed a canon with the portfolio 'Family Life'. Sipho Tokota, who held the portfolio 'Family Life', has taken over the portfolio 'Environmental Education' from Zwelidumile Tom, who was appointed Archdeacon of the Zwartkops River in June. Dudley was collated at the cathedral last month together with Christopher Holmes, appointed Archdeacon of Alexandria in June. Elroy Damon, rector of St Francis Xavier, is waiting for a suitable kidney, as his remaining kidney is not working as well as it should. He has been told by the medical fraternity that he needs a transplant, so Iindaba asks all for prayer for a suitable donor kidney to be found. Our prayers are with all the  family. The Eagle has landed - well, Mario Hendricks and his family have returned to St Mark and St John's from Yanoun and Heidelberg. According to members of the parish, little Mark-John has not grown much in size, but definitely in wisdom. We trust the same can be said about his father! Congratulations to Robert Ball of St John's in Walmer who has taken over from Terry Herbst as the Beggar-in-Chief for The Herald Christmas Cheer Fund. Robert has quite a task ahead of him, as Terry successfully ran the Cheer Fund for many years. Iindaba is confident that Robert will be equal to the challenge. Another well-known Anglican, Rodney Gibson from the Cathedral congregation, is the treasurer for the Fund. Iindaba is sad to anounce the death of Fr Kingston Erson CR, in Gauteng. Many will remember his visiting this diocese on various occasions.   Tag lines A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out the years. In the steps of Nathaniel Merriman Iindaba asked Camilla Perks of St Andrew's College to tell us about the journey. Over 70 grade 11 learners from St Andrew’s College set off on 4 August for the mammoth six-day Merriman Commemorative Long Walk  from Uitenhage to Grahamstown. As part of the school’s 150th anniversary celebrations the group, led by teacher Mike Crampton, left from St Katharine’s Church in Uitenhage at 07h30 and successfully tackled the first leg of their journey (30kms) to Addo. In the foundation year, 1855, Archdeacon Nathaniel James Merriman, the first Archdeacon of Grahamstown, walked this route to participate in the founding ceremony of St Andrew’s College. Upon his appointment as Archdeacon, Merriman had instructions to expand the church in the Eastern Cape. He therefore travelled widely throughout the eastern frontier and preferred to go on foot to absorb the whole experience. The Merriman Long Walk symbolises the continuity of the values and educational vision of Merriman. The great-great-grandson of Merriman, Rob Gess, teachers and a few adults were part of the courageous group. Gess said that he was finding the walk particularly significant and recalled memories of Merriman: “Offered a fine horse in Grahamstown for his work, he declined and declared, ‘If this mission is to succeed the seeds of it must be sown in sweat and labour, not in luxury and comfort.’ He set out on foot, in shoes of his own crafting, energetically ranging over the entire territory with no more than a backpack. He covered huge distances and placed his faith in those he met. In this way he succeeded in meeting people eye to eye, with no demonstration of rank. He also enjoyed the time alone with his Creator, within a landscape whose beauty was not lost on him. His walk from Uitenhage to Grahamstown in 1855, to be present at the founding of St Andrew’s College was, in the words of one of his sons, 'a short ramble' to his father.” From Addo the group headed towards the heart of the Sunday’s River valley and then weaved along original roads adjacent to game reserves, passed through Sir Percy Fitzpatrick’s lookout, the historic Zuurberg pass, Alicedale, the Highlands hills, and finally to Grahamstown - a total of 200 kilometres. On Tuesday 9 August the group, in period dress and led by Gess (who acted as Merriman), endured the last section of the epic walk and joined the school for the Founder’s Day Ceremony celebrations.  They attended a special service led by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Bishop Thabo Makgoba of Grahamstown, in the Cathedral. Following the service a procession, led by the St Andrew’s Pipe Band, walked back to the school where the symbolic blessing and unveiling of the new Foundation Stone by the two Bishops took place. The rector of St Katharine’s, Craig Dunsmuir, said after the boys' departure, “We congratulate the College on their accomplishments of the past 150 years, and their celebrations. This walk particularly is a reminder of the foundations - spiritual and practical - all of us have inherited and continue to build upon in proclaiming Jesus to new generations.” Of interest - Gary Griffith-Smith, formerly rector of Alexandria Parish, is the chaplain at St Andrew’s College. Quick Links: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Top | Homepage