IINDABA  Vol 11 No 7 - September 2000  The official gazette of the Diocese of Port Elizabeth  - Church of the Province of Southern Africa

St Michael & All Angels USPG Officer visits PE AIDS training accessible Priest urges morality A most precious gift Editor's guest What has happened to Marriage Encounter ? St Alban's centenary AWF Arts & Crafts the edge Flood victimes helped The Bishop's letter Prayer initiatives 30 wonderful years The View from Pulpit & Pew Today's news - tomorrow's history Humansdorp church starts renew TEE courses prove to be popular Millennium Cross

Source: Frankie Simpson (Mrs) Editor "Iindaba", Diocese of Port Elizabeth, P O Box 34992 Newton Park, 6055, South Africa Tel/fax: +27 41 360-6808 (home/office) Previous issues Other Christian News More info about the C.P.S.A. Diocese of Port Elizabeth website

St Michael & All Angels And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough and he lost his place in heaven. Rev 12:7-8 back to top USPG Officer visits PE Mary Corish was impressed that many of the people who come to the Haven very ill actually leave well enough to go back to work. Mary is the Health Development Officer for USPG and co-ordinates the society’s funding support to health programmes run by partner churches. She visited The House of Resurrection Haven to assess their health care needs and to get ‘hands-on’ knowledge of the HIV/AIDS Training Courses that USPG sponsor. They have provided funding to subsidise the TEE course “The Church’s response to AIDS” and a grant to The Haven for their other training courses. Since taking up her position, this is the seventh country she has visited. She feels it is very important to see the nature of the problems the church is facing and to meet and develop personal relationships with the people with whom she liaises. “For instance, in Malawi the church provides 40% of the health care programmes and the position is almost the same in many other African countries I’ve visited,” she said. Mary hails from Dublin but is based in England. She trained as a nurse and midwife and after nursing for a few years joined a health-care program-me in Bangladesh. She was then involved in other NGO health programmes before being invited in October 1996 to take up her present position with USPG. She is looking forward to the celebration of the tercentenary of USPG next year. back to top AIDS training accessible What struck Mary Corish about the AIDS Training course she attended was that, although Jean Underwood is a trained nursing sister, she pitched the session so that it was ‘accessible’ to the participants. Mary told Iindaba that she felt that Jean has an in-depth knowledge of the lifestyle of the communities she works with. She said, “The training was practical, appropriate (cheap solutions to problems) and participative. For example, the group was asked to develop a suitable daily menu for people living with HIV/AIDS. It was also fun, with plenty of laughter!” The course Mary sat in on was held in Somerset East. It was attended by about 20, mainly young adults, and a few older people. There were two trainee nurses among them and the whole group is currently involved in community health, assisting with vaccinations etc. A very exciting aspect of this course was that many of the participants were men. Mary is the Health Development Officer for USPG (The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) and was on a visit to our diocese having attended the International AIDS Conference held in Durban during July. She visited The House of Resurrection Haven because USPG spon-sor some of the training programmes. Sharon Frood, one of the USPG mission-aries, accompanied Mary to Somerset East so that she too could sit in on the course Jean Under-wood was giving there. Jean had also attended the Inter-national AIDS Conference and, on returning to the diocese, left immediately for Lesotho where she ran a TEE "The Church's Response to AIDS" course followed by the community training course in Somerset East. Sharon had accompanied Jean to Lesotho, and commented about the training, “Jean’s aim is that the group articulates a solution to their problem and makes a concrete plan to implement it.” Mary commented that this was an excellent approach. Groups wanting training courses can contact Jean at (041) 481 1515. back to top Priest urges preach Morality An Anglican priest who is HIV+ said at the International AIDS Conference that sexual morality must be preached in churches. The priest who is working in Uganda at present said, “You can’t substitute safe sex for morality, but you can substitute morality for safe sex.” This was one of the many things said at the International AIDS Conference which particularly struck Mary Corish who attended as a representative for USPG. She said that it was emphasised that clergy need to be trained to handle and counsel people living with AIDS (PLA’s). As a monk from Thailand said, “We became committed to being involved because healing is one of our religious tenets.” Mary felt that because of the respect accorded to most clergy, Mothers’ Union members and others holding positions of authority within the church, they were in a wonderful position to reduce HIV by teaching, training and changing people's attitudes about the virus and the pandemic. In Senegal where programmes have been put into place, the level of the spread of HIV has been kept down. back to top A most precious gift Archbishop Bernard Malango writes about the bicycles his clergy received as a gift from our diocese. In the December 1999 issue of Iindaba an appeal was made for bicycles to help clergy in our link diocese, Northern Zambia, to be able to reach their congregations. Enough money was received for 12 mountain bikes to be railed to Archbishop Malango. The bicycles were distributed to all the clergy and Abp Bernard writes, “As you may see from the photographs, the smiling faces can tell that we have very beautiful machines. One priest from St James Church, Buchi, has written to me thanking me for the lovely machine because he is now able to conduct two services on Sundays. He said if there had been any gift from me to him, this one is the most precious gift.” Once again Archbishop Bernard has asked the diocese to accept the gratitude of himself and the clergy of the diocese. “They were saying if they had wings to fly they would have flown to Port Elizabeth to thank you,” he concluded. back to top

Page 2 Editor's guest This month the Editor's guest is David MacGregor who is a retired priest assisting at St Saviour's. King David in Psalm 25 prayed: "Show me your ways – Teach me your paths – Guide me in your truth." Perhaps it is especially when you retire, and inevitably look back on the fruit of your ministry, [for judgement sometimes seems very close at hand] that you realise how little we may have learnt of God’s ways, His paths and His truth, for all our preaching and teaching of others. That has certainly been true for me. In the institution called ‘church’ we tend, as priests, to get embroiled in the worldly pursuit of career success, fostered by ambition, endless committees, [a great enemy of the church] and about MY parish, MY ministry, MY ideas. We too easily see our parishioners as pawns advancing us towards success. We also frequently fail to realise how much we depend on money, and how little on God until a disaster strikes which rocks us back on our heels and then upon our knees. Let me tell you our story. I could tell you how ambition drove me to Pretoria, but that story is old hat! Rather tell a recent one. During our active ministry we become aware that, for those who entered the ordained ministry later in life, you may be faced on retirement with no home, no car, and a half pension that may cover the essentials and not much more. We are told that nine out of ten South Africans retire without adequate provision for old age – you may be sure that the tenth will not be a cleric! But we were fortunate. We saved funds from our New Zealand business which we invested to supplement our pension and buy our own home. How secure we were. And how complacent! Then one evening our broker visited us and said “Your investments have crashed” – in fact been stolen – a very South African experience. Numbed by shock, we sat and wondered where was God in all of this? Had we forsaken His ways, His paths, His truth? As we turn to the Lord in bewilderment, He says to us “Trust me - old as you are, you have much to learn” – And suddenly, beyond anger and grief, we submit to Him, and little miracles begin to happen, not least the miracle of peace which floods our minds and hearts. Within 48 hours our house is sold for the asking price. I ask God that a Christian should buy our home – missionaries move in. Where to go? A church cottage is made available next door to the church where we worship. Our handicapped son Michael then hears that the school in Uitenhage where he works is to move within walking distance from our new home. The high powered lawyers tell us the lost capital may be recovered. We don’t really trust them any more than we trust politicians and anyway God is saying “Trust ME”. His ways, His paths, His truth, are best – always. back to top What has happened to Marriage Encounter? Marriage Encounter weekends seem to have vanished from the Diocesan calendar. Iindaba interviewed Peter Bowen who, with his wife Val, are the National Clergy Couple for Anglican Marriage Encounter in the CPSA. Iindaba: Up until recently it seemed there were three or more Marriage Encounter (ME) weekends being presented annually in our area. However, I haven’t seen one advertised for months now. What’s going on? PB: Sadly, very little. We have reached a crisis point in terms of the number of qualified ‘presenting couples’ on our team. A weekend is normally presented by three lay and one clergy couple. Val and I have been the only presenting couple since the death of Dennison Smith, and of our three lay couples in the Eastern Cape, one has retired. Val and I have been on the job for fifteen years, and, while there’s life in us yet, we need at least one clergy couple to come on the team. It is a worrying situation because there is no doubt that ME is serving an exciting and valuable purpose - which is to strengthen and enhance marriages which are inherently good. Since we have been associated with ME, more than 500 couples in the Eastern Cape alone have enjoyed tremendous breakthroughs in communication between spouses and in re- experiencing each other. Iindaba: Is this unhappy situation unique to the Eastern Cape or SA? PB: Its not unique to us, although it is pretty bad! ME continues well in KwaZulu Natal, where it was started under the wise guidance of Bishop Philip Russell. But in the Transvaal and the Western Cape, Anglican ME has closed down and it was never really launched in the Northern Cape, Free State, Northern Province or Mpumulanga. But back to the Eastern Cape, the picture is bleak and I don’t believe that this is what God wants! We have a file of totally unsolicited thank you letters from countless “encountered” couples, while four figure donations have very frequently been received in gratitude for “blessings received”. People just don’t make voluntary contributions like this unless they have experienced a major difference for good in their lives. I speak as one who initially did not want to go on a weekend. I thought I knew it all. Internationally ME is strong and healthy in many countries around the world. I cannot accept that we should just stop here in the Eastern Cape. As it is we have several couples who really wish to go on a weekend right now. Iindaba: So, what are you going to do? Is there a kind of “quick fix”? PB: I think it is important to be able to present weekends when they are needed, even if we have to transport presenters to our region or couples to weekends being presented in Natal. It is from these early weekends that our eventual presenters came. But the change from encountered couple to presenting team member does not happen overnight, and very few couples who attend initially are clergy couples. So there is no quick fix - but in God’s work and ministry, is there ever one? What we have to do is to attract new presenting couples and the only way we can do that is somehow to present another weekend soon. If that is to be in our region we are gong to have to fly in at least one presenting lay couple and a clergy couple too, if Val and I are to have a break! Then, of course, we are going to have to pray very hard that a clergy couple will sign up for the weekend and, more, indicate their interest and desire to become more closely associated with ME after the weekend. Speak to your clergy In order to facilitate all this I feel it will be of immense benefit if previously encountered couples were to speak directly to various members of clergy in their parishes. Speaking for myself, my own ministry has been very widespread; I have worked in towns, cities, rural parishes, as school chaplain and in diocesan positions, but absolutely nothing has been as satisfactory to me and my wife as the radically changed lives that we have seen going home from a weekend such as ME is able to offer. Sadly, I shall not live forever, and so it is my prayer that a few clergy couples ring to say, “Here we are, send us on a weekend” and lay couples as well! Then this most rewarding and exciting chapter in the Church’s ministry need not be contemplating closure in our region. Readers wanting to know more about Anglican Marriage Encounter weekends can contact Peter at (046) 648 2347. back to top St Alban’s Centenary Next year the congregation of St Alban’s, Draaifontein, are due to celebrate the centenary of the building of their first church. The chapelry council is busy making plans to observe this commemoration. They would like anyone who has anecdotes or reminiscences about the life of the congregation please to submit them as they compile their history. They can be sent to the congregation via All Saints’ Church. Alternatively, please phone Frances Beckley, the council secretary at (041) 372 1516 back to top AWF Arts and Crafts "Should I buy this little jersey?" asked Norah Fantileki of the Iindaba photographer. Sitting behind the table are Geraldine du Plessis and Eileen Bambrough. On the table are some of the arts and crafts that were on sale at the AWF Mary and Martha Day celebration held on 29 July at St Paul’s. The sale of goods was followed by the Thanksgiving Service before lunch. During the afternoon a uMjikelo (a brining in of money) was held and Lilian Daniels and Edna Plaatjies spoke about their recent trip overseas. back to top the edge Journal/magazine of cutting edge southern african ministry A 'journal' because it is not aimed at 'popular, 'mass' appeal. A 'magazine' because it is 'chatty', 'inspiring' and 'motivational'. It is a journal/magazine for every Christian who is serious about being a "little Christ"/Christ-follower. Edited by Graeme Codrington Cost R20 or 4 issues (1 year) R72 Box 9664, Edenglen, 1613 back to top Flood victims helped The Diocese of St Mark the Evangelist has been able to help 64 families who lost their homes in the Parish of Sibasa during the floods earlier this year reports Bishop Martin Breytenbach. Over R40 000 donated by individuals and parishes in and beyond South Africa, has been allocated to the families in the form of vouchers to buy cement and wire nails. Members of Diocesan Trustees worked with the Deacons in the Parish of Sibasa to evaluate applications, which were received through local congregations. A local hardware store is delivering the materials free of charge. We give thanks to God for the faithful people who have contributed so generously to this effort, and ask for continued prayers for Deacons Johannes Ngobeni and Jacob Ngobesi who are overseeing the work. All of those who are being helped are also receiving pastoral support from the church, and none of them has received help from the government at this stage. back to top

Page 3 The Bishop's letter The Bishop writes ... My dear people of God, Tell your story of God's love Among the many wonderful stories in the Acts of the Apostles is the one in Chapter 26 where Paul stands before King Agrippa and Bernice. When King Agrippa says to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself,” Paul gives a beautiful account of God’s intervention into his life and of his conversion on the road to Damascus. From the response of King Agrippa (vs 28) it would seem that he was very moved by what Paul had shared, so much so that he asked if he (Paul) thought he could persuade him (Agrippa) in such a short time to become a Christian! I find it fascinating to think that on such a very important occasion, when Paul was invited by the King to speak he didn’t preach a sermon, nor did he teach about the person and work of Christ, or complain about being unlawfully held in detention, he simply told his story, or rather, a very small part of his story. So I want to encourage you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to prayerfully reflect on how and when you can tell the story of your encounters with the living God so that others are moved and encouraged by what you have to share with them of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Of course, there are dangers in this approach as you could, in your story, focus on yourself and not on the Lord, and that wouldn’t be helpful at all. Or you could tell your story at the wrong time or in such a way that it doesn’t glorify God, but discredits the Lord whom we serve. But I believe that if we prayerfully wait upon God, he will give us the openings to tell of our experiences of the love of God in such a way that others will be helped and pointed to Jesus. I know that we all feel reticent about telling our story, but if we tell our story in the light of His story, then I believe the focus will be on Jesus and not on us and people will be blessed. Share special experiences People are being fed so many stories of horror, pain and sadness in our community, that there is a very real need for them to hear of the love of God and I believe that you have your own very special experiences of the Good News to share. The Bible, as you know, is full of wonderful stories which point, not only to the grace and love of God but to the devotion and commitment of great men and women of faith. Think of Abraham, Ruth, Elisha and Daniel; of John the Baptist and Paul, the list is endless and remember too how you have been blessed through His story reflected in them. But more than that I would ask you also to find out about some of the great saints of the church and, as you get to know their stories, then be ready, when God gives you the opportunity, to tell their stories as well. I have been thrilled in recent years to read about Patrick, Columba, Aidan, Cuthbert, Hilda, Brigit, Benedict and many others and have been captivated by their stories. They have spoken right into my life and given me enormous encouragement. Now I want to share with others, not only how God has touched and blessed me, but what I see of his love in the lives of wonderful Christian men and women who have gone before us. In all the difficulties and struggles around us there are so many stories of God’s goodness and love to be told and I believe that you also have those stories to tell. Don’t keep them locked up inside yourself as God is wanting them to flow from you like rivers of living water into a thirsty world. With every blessing. Yours in Christ, Bishop Eric Pike back to top Prayer initiatives Jacqui Brill of St Katharine’s writes about two prayer initiatives she is starting in Uitenhage. The first initiative is called “Mothers who care” - taken from Lamentations 2:19, “Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lif up your hands to Him for the lives of your children.” Do you care about your children and the school they attend? Start a “Mothers who care” group and dedicate yourself to praying for, and providing spiritual, moral and emotional support for your children, their teachers and their school. (Two Moms can be a group - Matt 18:19) Pray that all the children and teachers will receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour and stand boldly in their faith. Pray that Biblical values and perspectives will prevail. Second initiative “See you at the Pole” is a student initiated, student organised and student led initiative. Students world-wide meet regularly at their school flagpole to pray for their school, friends, teachers, government and nation. See www.syatp.com for more information. For more details and guidelines Jacqui is available at the New Life Crisis Pregnancy Centre on 083 721 5606. back to top 30 wonderful years Iindaba congratulates Johannes and Kathy Hardnick on 30 years of marriage. Kathy writes about their special celebration. On Tuesday 6 June we got up very excited and just praising God all the time. He has blessed us with 30 years of life as husband and wife. The greatest of it all is that we can still do every physical thing for ourselves. The ‘cherry on the top’ is that the priest who married us at Christ the King, Philip Jourdan, could bless us as we renewed our vows in the beautiful little chapel in St Margaret's, Summerstrand (with the kind permission of John Dunn). Photographer Norman Govin, who had taken our wedding photos, was present once again to take photos of this special service. Afterwards he accompanied us to Tiffany’s Coffee Shop where we enjoyed a light lunch. Mary Jourdan in her wisdom had booked the perfect place! Johannes’ older brother John and his wife Dalene joined us for this special occassion. back to top The View from Pulpit and Pew Iindaba congratulates Tom Horne of Holy Trinity who was promoted, by Her Majesty the Queen of England, on 19 June to Knight of the Order of St John. Iindaba records with sadness the death of Marie Heath, widow of Canon ‘JG’ Heath, and mother of Lionel. Marie was on holiday in Cape Town with her other son, Michael, when she died very suddenly. Her funeral was held at St Martin’s in Bergvliet, and was conducted by Fr David Beyer, who had been a Lay Minister at St John the Baptist, Walmer. A memorial Service for Marie was held at St John’s - Marie lived in one of the Cottages there. Iindaba extends its condolences to Lionel, Maureen and their family. Condolences also to the families of: - Albert Taylor, father of Fr Richard and Glenda. Albert was for many years a Lay Minister and Senior Churchwarden at St Barnabas. He had been in frail health for some time. - Cecelia Dumezweni, the widow of Fr John Dumezweni. Her funeral took place at the Church of the Annunciation, Bloemfontein Diocese. - Marge Alexander, a long-time member of the AWF and on their Diocesan Executive Committee for many years both in Natal and then in this diocese. Iindaba congratulates Robin Peterson from All Saints’, Kabega, who celebrated his 21st birthday in Sri Lanka as part of the Proteas team. Also to be congratulated is a former All Saints’ son, Calvin Marlin, who was part of the Bafana Bafana squad when they played in PE at the end of July. v Three of our Clergy are convalescing at present. Fr Jack Bramwell of Christ- the-King is making steady progress after his second heart operation, whilst Fr Ben Durham, rector of St Paul’s is now upright after back surgery. Likewise Fr Rory Middlecote, rector of the Parish of the Karoo, is recovering from surgery. Fortunately he has an able chauffeur in Lin, who has been driving him around the largest Parish in the Diocese! What an experience for volunteers! Linda Gin, Churchwarden of St Francis Xavier, and Michelle Fun Sum went to Greenacres to sell tickets for the House of Resurrection Haven Toyota Conquest Draw. Just as they reached the table, Linda heard a loud noise coming from the ceiling, and seeing a huge crack move steadily across the foyer, yelled to Michelle to step back. As she said this, the whole ceiling crashed down with a thunderous roar! Although some people were hurt, fortunately their injuries were not serious. Needless to say, the sale of tickets was cancelled! Fr Zwelidumile Tom had a narrow escape recently when his house was broken into in the early hours of the morning. He heard footsteps in the house and, on investigating, was confronted by three men. God’s gracious protection was with him, as he chased them away empty-handed. His wife, Tembeka, who is expecting their third child at any time, was taken to her mother’s home for a few days. Please pray for God’s continued protection on their home and family. Deacon Lee-Anne Minakium has moved from St Cuthbert’s to St Luke’s in Palm Ridge. At present she does not have a telephone, and will be moving to new accommodation soon. If needed, please contact her via her rector, Fr Michael Julius at (041) 481-0542. back to top

Page 4 Today's news - tomorrow's history Last month Iindaba reported on the need for the Diocese to have archives and this month we hear from the archivists. The wish to preserve what has gone before is that motivated Warren and Gloria Morris to offer to sort all the papers and books for the Diocesan Archives. As Warren said, “Today’s news is tomorrow’s history. As one browses through the parish registers one sees so much of the history of local families and their places of worship. “Some priests, particularly in the earlier years, took the trouble to record much of the history of Port Elizabeth and its surrounding areas. Archdeacon Augustus Theodore Wirgman of the Collegiate Church of St Mary the Virgin was a noted historian. He was meticulous with marginal annotations in his Service Register recording all major events in our city, and indeed, the world events in his time. He embellished these notes with press cuttings. The Revd Canon CE Mayo was inclined to do the same as his predecessor. One of the most poignant papers preserved is the letter written by Archdeacon Wirgman on his deathbed, saying he is ‘finding it difficult to carry on.’ I wish subsequent generations had found the time to record the history of their parishes in their times. “Another wonderful example of careful preservation is that of Holy Trinity Church on the Hill. In this parish every single document appears to have been saved and some are over 100 years old. The earliest is dated 1863 and is a Subscription List for the founding of the church. Attached to it is the architect’s sketch of the proposed building. All the documents were rolled up and tied with a piece of string. Each item had to be carefully unfolded and ironed flat with a low heat iron as this was the only way to get them into our files. “We are compling a comprehensive and detailed invetory of the holdings in the Archive, and indexing, as time permits, all church registers. This is to limit the use of the original, and fairly often, frail documents. We still have to collect documents from many parishess within the diocese, but now that the ‘walk-in safe’ and suitable shelving has been installed, we can proceed with the project. If anyone wishes to avail themselves of the material in our Archives, we would welcome bona fide visitors by arrangement.” Iindaba hopes the Morris's enjoyed their UK visit and have returned home refreshed. back to top Humansdorp churches start Renew St Mark’s, Humansdorp, and the Methodist Church, Jeffreys Bay, are combining to do Renew reports Dennis Bowers. A well attended workshop was held on Saturday 22 July to introduce Renew to leaders from both congregations. Anthony Sutton, the Methodist minister brought a large contingent from his church. Ronnie Allwright, Rector of St Mark's, did the presentation and probing questions about the process were soon coming from the enthusiastic audience. Gauging from their response Renew was favourably accepted and the first 'Sign-up Sunday' is set for 26 August. back to top TEE Courses prove to be popular Learning to Preach - writes Howard Lancaster The lay ministers of St Mary Magdalene Church in West End are learning to preach! Recently, the group decided to embark on some study to equip themselves for their ministry. Preaching was the course that took their fancy and as Iindaba went to press, they were sweating over their first assignment! All were caught up in the excitement of learning and believe that they are being helped greatly by the course material. They are doing the TEE Award course on Preaching. back to top Millenium Cross Thank God for the opportunity of coming together under the banner of the Cross, writes Barry Sendall. The Diocesan Millennium Cross was received at St Cuthbert’s during a joyful Service on Sunday 30 July. The St Augustine’s choir and several of their elders stunned us with their beautiful singing, and good food was enjoyed by all in the hall after the service. The following Sunday the Cross was taken to St Peter's, Zwide reports Welile Kani. The rector of St Cuthbert's, together with about thirty of his congregation, arrived with the Cross. Barry Sendall handed over the Cross to the rector of St Peter's, who accepted it on behalf of his congregation. Barry preached and there was a con-celebration at the Eucharist. After the service tea and snacks were served and people were able to meet and share. Old friendships were renewed and new ones made. We the people of St Peter's thank God for the service and fellowship. back to top