From the Rectors Desk 21 Oct 2011

To the Beloved in Christ:
Now that I am over 40, I wait the wisdom that they say comes with age. Last year they told me that life begins at 40 and I must say that that that is not far from the truth. In fact life begins each day when we are prepared to face it,
accept the challenges and look for the good that God has install for us. Change and challenge never stop confronting us and it is my prayer that you will seek God’s will in every aspect of your life and with every challenge that comes your way. I am still very much a “work in progress” but my faith gives me hope that I am not alone and that God’s grace is sufficient for me.
Two exciting things have developed this week and I ask you to pray for the HABSR project in Kinross where we are rolling out the vegetable gardens as phase one, we have started teaching at Thistlegrove every Tuesday and Jackie Musuku and I will be doing education on food security, the methodology of the gardens, the environment and through this inspiring the young people and their parents to take education seriously and hopefully develop their life skills in a meaningful way.
In Evander we are in the early stages of setting up a new community based
organisation to address the needs of the Evander community.
At present at least as an interim measure I will need to take responsibility for the ISIBINDI sites at Kathorus and Standerton and ask you prayers and support ( I could really do with an admin assistant a few days a month to help me with this).
May you have a blessed week—Fr.

Evander -for Christ

I was enthused by a meeting in Evander this afternoon (16 Oct 2011) in which the issues of the social needs of Evander were discussed. God is calling his church to rise up and look after his people. When I see how people are comming up with the same ideas and priorities - them I know that God is speaking. Eco - Congregations are going to be a reality - communities of peopel caring for each other are going to be a reality - praise God.

I officiated at a wedding today with the Roman Catholic Priest and two Greek Orthodox priests - God be praised the church is coming together, image that - Roamn Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox around the same altar at the same sacrament - doing the work of God in beautiful harmony - it was an honour.

From the Rectors Desk 11 Oct 2011

To the Beloved in Christ:
I am being challenged at present by Eugene Petersons book “living the Resurrection!” A very Apt book to be reading as I start to think of the ministry of the church for 2012. He referred to Pope John Paul II who said something along the lines of “ Don’t look to western culture for models in development. They know how to make things, but they don’t know how to live with them. They have acquired mind boggling technology, but they have forgotten how to raise their children.”
Now isn’t that the truth. In my exam last week I had to write an essay on “an Authentic Spirituality for Modern South Africa.” In that essay I focused on the fact that we need to take responsibility for our own spirituality but live it out in the context of living with others. It is a central Christian principal that we are responsible to each other and for each other, but it begins with each individual taking responsibility for them selves and for making the world the place that we want to life in. I cannot stress it enough—we share in the task of creation, we have the ability to speak (act) good things into being or bad. The choice is ours will we be participators in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the work of salvation of the creation, or will we be destructive and rob the earth, our children and the society of life, through our actions. A spirituality that is applicable for our time is one that liberates us from complacency and inspires us to urgency. We need to be leaders in our time. We need to be leaders in our communities we need to be the change that we desire. And we need to desire change! We need to fight against injustice, poverty, environmental degradation, and we need to be the agents of moral regeneration. We need to take charge of our lives and seek out the goodness of God, the mystery of God the challenges of God!
We need to create a new culture in our community a culture of respect for each other, a culture that treasures its children, a culture that respects the earth. We need to study the exilic (Babylonian) period and find ways to be as transformative as they were, and bring the love of Christ into the world. This is our calling.

In last weeks Gospel (Matthew 21:33-43) I found a wonderful truth, in the story of the King who called the people off the street to share in the banquet—we are among them the unworthy called to the feast—the challenge is that we need to respect the banquet hall we need to respect the king...Are we?


I felt God reminding me that we are invited to hos banquest fo life. A life that we do not deserve but recieve by grace. But very often we are not clothed correctly ( as teh man who was not wearing a wedding robe). When we are not clothed in compassion, when we are not clothed in righteousness that comes through repentance, when we are not clothed with mercy - then we are like that man. Happy to be there to enjoy the banquet- feasting on the goodnes of teh KIng but not appreciating our supproundings. Not appreciating , not preapriung ourselves not doing what is worthy of one in a banquet hall.
So I urge you brothers and sisters, do not live as one who does not know the significance of your calling from death to life. Clothe yourselves in the righteousness of Christ and feast at his banquet table. And remeber that we all who feast at the table of the Lord the gift of life, are here by grace and grace alone.

A prayer for climate change

God of light and life, we see you in the rising sun,
the wind blowing through the fields of maize,
and the feel of a life-giving shower of rain.
Help us to see your light reflected throughout creation.

God of compassion, you are there with those people
who are facing the effects of a changing climate,
and are affected by floods, droughts and famine.
Show us how to be there with them too.

God of truth and justice, you hear those people around the world,
who struggle to make their voices heard.
Open our ears and the ears of those in power
to hear the cries of those living in poverty.

God of hope, we see you in people who refuse to give up,
who will not lose faith and keep on fighting,
for your earth and for your people.
Lift us, so that we may never lose hope.

Amen

Adapted from Michaela McGuigan/CAFOD

From the Rectors Desk 09 October 2011

Grace and Truth from our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Southern Africa’s Anglicans are planning confidently for the future. This was the clear message from the Provincial Standing Committee of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA).”
“There was a willingness not only to ‘talk the talk, but also to walk the walk’ and to get involved in God's mission across all sectors, working in such areas as theological
education, health, environment, leadership and finance. “
“On climate change, delegates endorsed a call for the whole church to engage as fully as possible in promoting significant agreement at COP-17, and to promote care for the environment at every level from liturgy to the practical life of parishes and dioceses, to pressing government and business to engage as urgently as had been done for the HIV pandemic.”

I am very enthused by the work being done in the Anglican Church to address a wide spectrum of contemporary issues and encourage you to get involved in dialogue on issues that affect us. In the Parish I am looking for “champions” who will work with me in setting up work groups to implement the Provincial Vision at Parish Level. I’d like to see some new faces interacting on issues of Environment, Social upliftment, Theological Education, protection and nurturing of youth, and health. Drop me an email should you wish to get involved. I am also still looking to set up a political analysis group that monitors and holds Government accountable and the parish informed. God Bless—Fr Andrew.

A Call to Responsible Citizenship

My prayer is that you have benefitted from the season that we have just concluded in which the Lay Preachers taught on a variety of topics to broaden our thinking and theology and to inspire us in our service of God and in our lives in this place. Between now and Advent I am going to focus on the Season of Creation – a series of messages with a liturgy focusing on our environment.
I am passionate about building a society that takes responsibility for its existence – as God has called us to do.
The Church is called to lead society in this action of mobilization of human capital in addressing the issues of our day. Until we as the people, the everyday you and I begin to engage with the realities of life and live up to our God given potential and mandate to take dominion of the world and care for it, nurture it and rule it in righteousness ... we are not living up to the great commission which states that we are to go into all the world and baptise it – which means saturate it in the love of God and the righteousness of God and the grace of God and the will of God...
This is our calling as His people of his kingdom:
• Joseph saved the world from drought by storing the surplus in the good years;
• Moses led the people out of Egypt by performing signs and wonders in the name of God;
• Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem;
• The disciples took the Good News of the Resurrected Christ into all the World;
• Augustine, taught the faith;
• Luther and Tyndale brought the bible to the common man and women...
• Tutu... brought a nation to reconciliation...
What will we do?
What is our moment of Glory for God what is it that God requires of us to do and to be ? For we are not called to be spectators of life... we are called to have life and to live it as living sacrifices to the Glory of God.
It is said that with great power comes great responsibility, if we live in the power of the Holy Spirit then we have great power, will we take the responsibility that comes with being a Child of GOD?
Noah, built and ark and the creation was saved, Jonah preached to Nineveh and the whole city was saved, Christ hung on a tree and the world was saved!
What will you do to save the world? Do not think that you are not called to this task; it comes with the territory. The Good News of salvation is our mandate – saving the world is our legacy, it is the work of Christ and it is the work of His church.
I am convinced that as Church we are called to two areas of action in our generation, actually it is really one thing! “Responsible citizenship” and this involves two things:
One – we need to lead the way in being active members of Civil Society and taking our rightful place in this democratic nation and
Secondly we need to champion sustainable development and care of our environment for this basic activity has far reaching implications for civilization.
The destruction of the environment and global warming are symptoms of the failure of people to adhere to God’s will. It is greed and it is selfishness and it is unrighteousness and it is lack of care for others and it is worldliness that leads to unsustainable practice, environmental degradation, destruction of habitat and global warming and pollution of the ecological asset which makes life on this planet possible. There are two things that our planet has that others don’t that make life possible – water and breathable air; and we are destroying both.
We need to do something about it!!!
We have been blessed in this nation with the opportunity to lead the world in a new way of living, we have overcome many things in our history and we are a special people a unique people called by God to be his people in this generation and to turn this nation around into the nation that we are supposed to be.. We have experienced a great many miracles for all the world to see and right now we need a miracle if we are to continue to inhabit this planet.
Climate Change is not a rumour, it is not a merely a possibility, it is a reality and while the nations argue and jostle with political wrangling, the people of this world are dying.
We need action and we need it now!
The Global economic crisis is not a rumour, it is not something coming our way – it is here. The US Debt is so big that effectively ( I am Told) every child in the USA is born into a debt of in the region of $87,000. Crisis? What crisis???
But we, the Church, have the resource that will see us through, famine and pestilence and sword:
And that resource is HOPE and FAITH...and LOVE.
Faith that we are not alone, faith that we have a saviour, Faith that we will not be destroyed but will be restored! Hope that we will see the salvation of our God.
But our Faith our Hope calls us to action, to a life of being and doing and living out God’s will on earth.
Jonah summed up the whole story when he said “ I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
And so I appeal to you today to join me in preaching Jonah’s message that we need to repent, I love the Zulu term “Penduka “ (turn around). We need to change course and get off this collision course with destruction from misusing the gift of life. We need to take responsibility for our lives, we need to take responsibility for the earth, we need to mobilize ourselves and be the change that our society needs.
Stand up against corruption, hold government accountable, hold business accountable, hold each other accountable and be stewards of the earth!
This is not some pipe dream or wild idea: it is our calling it is our mandate it is our duty!
In South Africa we have some of the best legislation in the world, we have the most progressive and sound constitution on earth, what we lack is people who are passionate about making our democracy work. People who put others first and are not just out to get as much as they can as quickly as they can.
We need to be those people, fighting for the rights of people, being the voice of the voiceless, the champion of the weak and marginalised, the orphans and the widows and the victims of HIV/AID’s, TB and malaria; the victims of greed and unfair labour practice, the victims of inequitable policies that keep people impoverished, the victims of ignorance and deception that prevent people from seeing the truth.
I did a memorial service on Thursday for the miners who died at Harmony and was stuck again by how the political parties make funerals about them, they champion their cause showing that the life of an individual is seen as a pawn in their objectives – but God spoke to me through a communist at that service. He said that we had changed government but while we are still under a capitalist system freedom was not truly possible.
I tend to agree Capitalism is a problem but if it were applied fairly and equitably and if there was concern for more than just profits – it is workable.
You see as Christians what we are demanding is that people respect each other, is that companies pay all of their production costs and not externalise cost – pollution is nothing other than doing just that. By companies and (I add) municipalities not treating waste / sewerage adequately they do not incur the expense associated with waste management; but we pay – in disease, that affects our people, elevates our medical bills both private and state. We pay because our climate is being affected, the natural assets of the country are being affected.
Capitalism is not evil – it is just a financial system of free trade and it is profit driven which demands results; but there is no doubt that it too is being abused – worldwide. What we need to do is ensure that profits aren’t made by exploiting people as labourers, gaining business through corruption, gaining profits by externalising costs: The question begs asking: who does this – who monitors the capitalistic system? We seem to want to leave it to someone else – some world body or trade organisation or the State.
I have mentioned our legislation and it is there to provide you and me with the tools to address these issues. The state is the custodian of our resources but we are the stewards we are the ones who need to demand justice, sustainability we are the ones who must rally against corruption and misadministration.
That is what God put us here for – to remind everyone that it doesn’t have to be this way.
We need to speak truth we need to take action we need to be the people of God, ambassadors to this world; Preachers of righteousness!
Who will go and work to God’s praise and Glory?
Who will join the mission of taking the light of Christ into the world into the whole world and submerging the world in the Love of Christ?
I am following Christ and I believe that He is calling us to this mission in our time– and I invite you to join me on this pilgrimage.