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• Lambeth Conference
• Hearts on fire in a chilly Bloemfontein
Lambeth Conference
The Bishop writes ....
My Dear People of God,
The bishop’s talk indaba
Greetings from Canterbury in the name of Christ our risen Lord who
reigns supreme as Saviour and Redeemer!
About 600 Bishops of the Anglican Communion and their spouses assembled
at Canterbury in the University of Kent, England, from 16 July to 3
August 2008 at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Thanks be
to God for one another as we share together the privilege of the
leadership of a Bishop in the Church of God! Two themes were
deliberately considered, namely: “Equipping Bishops for Mission”, and
“Strengthening Anglican Identity”. The Bishops met at a sensitive time
in the life of the Communion as you may envisage. For this reason the
Archbishop of Canterbury wrote in his invitation letter that acceptance
would consequently mean willingness to participate in working the
Windsor Report and the Covenant as tools by which the fellowship of the
Communion could be shaped. Regrettable was the absence of some 200
Bishops who could not be there for various reasons, particularly those
who, out of conviction, could not accept the invitation.
 As we began the Conference with a three-day retreat in Canterbury
Cathedral led by Archbishop Rowan, a tense and suspicious atmosphere
could be sensed. As the challenge of the word continued for what it
meant for the bishop to be a person in whom God reveals Jesus Christ as
a Christ who “gathers and unites”, we could feel God’s presence in us in
drawing us closer to one another in fellowship. The opening Eucharist
was an eye catching “holy display” of God’s worship, full of Anglican
cultural diversity – with a song and dance from the Melanesian sisters
and brothers as the Book of the Gospels was carried through the ancient
precincts and the choir screen area of the Cathedral which is standing
Canterbury as a silent spectacular silent witness for the last 1 000
years. Archbishop Rowan presided from the Chair of St Augustine and the
sermon, which was preached by the Bishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
Pic: Bishops walk of witness in London to highlight MDG's
The programme had at its centre times of prayer - from the early morning
at 06h30, followed by morning Eucharist, then midday to afford a pause
from indaba groups and Evening Prayer and concluding with Compline with
the chaplaincy team. Bible study would begin at 09h15, with the “I Am”
sayings each morning, prepared by our own Professor West from Natal
University. The booklet is a good resource to borrow from the Bishop.
(Do not forget to return it after use). Indaba groups would take place
at 11h00 in different lecture rooms. Both in Bible study and indaba
groups, the bishops were afforded times of free reflection and frank
talk with one another. This helped defuse deep seated anger, hurts and
frustrations to some extent. I am inclined to think though, that for a
complete trustworthy fellowship to be realised a lot of time needs to
pass, for as long as the indaba process will continue to take place
between Anglicans of the Communion. For the rest of detailed
information, I wish to commend to you through the archdeacons the
Lambeth Indaba document to read along with the Gafcon one for your
reflection and comment. You can also get it on website
www.lambethconference.org.
Many thanks for sustaining the Lambeth Conference in your prayers. The
Anglican Communion is no “homosexuality church”, as some have labelled
us. We have demonstrated both in Jerusalem and Canterbury that the Bible
should continue to speak to us as the written Word of God (Article XX)
to direct our mission to the world and our teaching. If the gospel of
Jesus Christ continues to bear the power to transform situations and
people, then let us live that gospel both at home and in the market
place. Having experienced homosexual orientation, directly or indirectly
does not make it right. Jesus never turned anyone away, but people chose
either to stay with him and be transformed/renewed (Zacchaeus, Lk
19:1-10), or to go away for the choice and love of earthly possessions,
wealth, status (The rich young man, Mtt 19:16ff et //s v.22). Let us
live the love and embrace of Jesus to transform people to be like him,
including ourselves. The Anglican Church is mostly respected by many of
our sister churches for facing the truth and grappling with problems
head on.
Homosexuality is going to continue to linger around. Yet this is not so
much a social or political issue as some seem to think including the ANC
government. This is a moral issue which is far from being biological. It
is a sinful condition which the love of Christ should transform like any
other sinful condition (1 Cor 6: 9- 11). “And such were some of you,
…but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”(Read also: Transformed by an
Encounter with Christ, The Zacchaeus Fellowship Publication - Anglican
Church of Canada 2006). We must understand that some of our sisters and
brothers are struggling with this kind of orientation just like any
struggle within us against sinful nature. We should continue to pray for
one another with a compassionate and pastoral, loving heart. It is only
the gospel of Christ that will free us form the shackles of sin in this
post-modern world. When we accept Christ and be “in Christ” we
experience transformation within inclusiveness and become living
witnesses for a “new creation” and ambassadors of God’s kingdom.
May God continue to make you true witnesses of his transforming gospel.
Hearts on fire in a chilly Bloemfontein
[ Gill Bowman
]
A chilly Bloemfontein couldn’t freeze the Spirit, as the eight delegates
from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Ansoc Branch, accompanied by
their chaplain, Gill Bowman, experienced a blessed time at the 48th
Annual Anglican Students Federation (ASF) Conference.
This year the conference was held in the lovely facilities of St
Michael’s School, with students attending from around the Southern
Africa Region, making this an international conference. Although
temperatures outside plummeted, the worship in the hall and lovely
chapel warmed many hearts. The theme of the conference was “Each One,
Reach One, Teach One”, and highlights included a day of o utreach in
local communities, a healing service to remember and give thanks for, a
“Graduate Alive” presentation on coping as a young person with peer
pressure in the wake of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and a fun afternoon of
ASFlympics. Zimasa Groom comments, after the outreach at St Paul’s
Parish, “The students worked really hard on the outreaches, and it was
wonderful to see how much the people appreciated what they did. They
were so happy.” The students not only worked hard weeding and doing
maintenance work, but had time to meet some of the local people. Mostly
it was all good clean-ing fun! Other outreaches were held at the
Mosamaria Aids Centre and St Albans. All the students have returned
having been filled spiritually and ready to contribute to the work done
in their local ANSOC branch. A special thanks to St Margaret’s Church,
Summerstrand, for their generous giving which helped the students to be
able to attend the conference, as well as the Diocese for support.
Those who will still be studying at University next year are already
looking forward and planning towards the 2009 conference which will be
held in Swaziland. Pic: Asavela Sitole, Thobani Mvila, Gcinani Mbatha, Thando-kazi Madyibi, Gill
Bowman - the chaplain, Zimasa Groom, Phila Jolobe, Sandisiwe Siswana and
Siya Mzantsi.
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