Page 3
The Bishop Writes ...
Greed - not a Christian value
My dear people of God,
Christmas comes again with its special appeal of self giving love,
joy and the hope of peace and I guess that for all sorts of reasons
we need those reminders right now. I must say that in recent months
with the advent of a new TV programme, Greed, and all the advertising
for that programme on both radio and TV, I have felt increasingly
bombarded by non Christian values and vices, that it is so refreshing
to be able again to meditate on the greatest love story every told,
that of the Lord Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God, did
not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made
Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant”
(Philippians 2:5-6). Not that there is anything inherently wrong with
the TV programme I mentioned, because it is essentially a quiz show,
but it is the promotion of greed as a desirable value that really
gets to me.
This year has seen the launch of the Lotto followed by the Boardwalk
Casino in Port Elizabeth and now the Greed programme on television
together with a host of scratch cards and other games of chance and
it seems that we are being encouraged more and more to be greedy, to
feed our wants and to risk our money in the hope of gaining millions.
It is all so contrary to the self giving love of Jesus and we can
only pray and intercede for the Spirit of Jesus to permeate this very
worldly and secular society in which we live. We as Christians have
to be ready to present the Jesus way of self giving love when greed
turns out to be a vice and not a virtue, and when the dangerous game
of gambling equally turns out to be a snare and not simply a harmless
game. All this says to me that it becomes daily more urgent for us,
in our lives and in our worship, to present and model Jesus in a way
which will hold out to our people a true and everlasting light amidst
all the superficial and transitory lights that are being offered by
the world out there. You will remember, of course, that Jesus said, “Watch
out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life
does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”. (Luke 1:12-15).
As the world increasingly presents the vice, the sham and the
transient, we have a different road to walk and an eternal Gospel to
proclaim which says that Jesus, the Saviour of the World, came to
live among us and to offer us, through Himself, a relationship with
the Father that gives not only treasures in heaven, but that restores
us to the very source of life, to God our creator Himself. Will you,
who have been battered so much in recent months, by the “so
called” values of greed and instant riches, take time out to
reflect on Jesus, the one who cuts across all the sham, the vice, the
self seeking and the superficial to present us with eternal values?
However, while those values, which Jesus is offering, come to us as a
free gift, they come at great cost, the cost of Jesus humbling
Himself to live among us and though raised in glory to be with us
always, even to the end of time.
I trust that you will have a truly happy and blessed Christmas.
Yours in Christ,
Bishop Eric Pike
The view from Pulpit and Pew
v Iindaba was amused to see the notice in the Herald last month of
the Conformation Service to be held at St Hugh’s in Newton Park.
In this day and age, it’s not so easy to get people to conform.
Perhaps the Rector could give a few tips to others!
v St Mary’s had a wonderful evening of song last month at the
choir prize-giving. The gentlemen of the choir, under the control of
Br Philip, sang the 151st Psalm! No, this is not a misprint - Leon du
Plessis, not King David, wrote the words which were appropriate to
the occasion.
v St Mary’s have had to bid a sudden farewell to the Assistant
organist, and doyen of Port Elizabeth’s organists, Gerald
Horner. Gerald, who lost his wife Maisie recently, is in poor health,
and has gone to live with family in Cape Town.
v Our condolences to Fr Christopher Holmes on the recent death of his
father, Peter, in Margate. Peter was one of the last surviving
grandsons of an 1820 settler! May he rest in God’s peace.
v Katharine Holmes, daughter of Fr Christopher and Susan, has made a
full recovery from an emergency appendectomy last month. Remarkably
with modern surgical techniques, she has no external stitches, and
the scars will disappear altogether.
v Chris Bell, who has served as a stipendiary Deacon at St Nicholas
in Charlo, is presently on long leave, and will not be returning to
St Nicholas. He and Gillian are seeking God’s will for them, and
Iindaba commends them to the prayers of the Diocese for new
opportunities for them.
v Courtney Pow Chong, 11, of St Francis Xavier, was due to undergo
further surgery for the removal of a further tumour on the brain at
the time of the publishing of this Iindaba. This brave young girl,
who has witnessed to so many, has now undergone eight such
operations. Iindaba commends her to the prayers of the Diocese.
v Some Parishes in the Diocese were blessed last month with ministry
from the SOMA Team members, who were in Port Elizabeth for the
Transformation Consultation. Chris Bell was kept busy as a taxi
driver, and introduced the members to the sights - and smells - of
animals at the Seaview Gamepark and the Addo Elephant Park.
v Once again the House of Resurrection Haven Carols by Candlelight
Service was a service of praise and great joy. The children of the
haven were the highlight with their Nativity Play - ably directed by
Jemma Geffen, who also wrote the script. The evening was blessed with
beautiful weather, and all who attended left feeling uplifted by the
warmth and happiness of the occasion. The "Haven News" 2000
is out. Do get a copy and give it to your doctor.
Lost years
You may be younger than you think, writes Howard Lancaster, on the
lost years of St Alban’s Chapel.
Most of us would like to lose a few years off our age. If you need
help with this, try contacting Warren and Gloria Morris, our diocesan
archivists for help!
A few months ago, you may recall an appeal from St Alban’s
church at Draaifontein, for photographs and reminiscences about their
congregation in the run up to their centenary, which they thought was
to be observed next year. A brief history of the church, which seems
to have been written in 1959, indicated 1901 as the date when the
first church was built. As the day and month was not mentioned, the
chapelry council asked the help of Warren and Gloria in tracking it down.
Nothing was found in the records of 1901, but they discovered in the
Vestry report of St Mary’s in 1905 that the Church was erected
and completed in 1904 and dedicated on 12 December of that year. So
the chapelry is a little younger than they thought and they have a
few more years to plan their centenary, and you have a little while
longer to send in any stories you may have! Please send these to
Howard Lancaster at All Saints’.
The record also states that the building, a wood and iron structure
capable of seating 90, was imported from England at the grand cost of
£190. We hope this doesn’t discourage anyone planning to
build a church!
Cats and dogs come in to pray
It would seem that both cats and dogs enjoy attending church and
various parishes in the diocese have those that come in to pray, or
should that be play, regularly.
-
St Mary the Virgin has Puppy who attends with his Mom, Margie
Flanders-Stevenson. Fr Roy Snyman TSSF blesses Puppy when he
accompanies Margie to the rail for communion and he is said to be a
very well behaved member of the Parish.
-
Mignonne Bryant of St John the Baptist in Walmer used to bring her
spaniel Ponto to church with her and she always took him up to the
altar rail with her. However, a couple of years ago Mignonne obtained
a German Shepherd dog and so Ponto has to stay home now to keep the
new dog company.
-
Misty the cat adopted the Lancasters when they were at St Paul’s
and moved to All Saints’ with them. Misty is not too well
behaved and has been known to jump on the communion table - during
the sermon, nogal! Being a cat, 'Misty will also decide to whom to be friendly.
-
The CR Sisters, when still at Hillandale, had a wonderful dog who
very often joined in the singing - much to their embarrassment - but
the joy of many a group gathered for evening prayer in the lounge.
Areas of concern addressed
Many areas of concern were addressed by a gathering of Sunday
School teachers and children who came together at St Stephen’s
on 16 September, reports Virginia Nguna.
The gathering was well attended by members from Anglican,
Presbyterian and UmziWasetiopiya churches, and ideas for activities,
songs and outreach were shared. “It was a real educational
exercise for the teachers, children and observers,” said Mrs Noholoza.
The guest speaker, Miss Sonjani, gave a conscience searching talk on
child abuse. She emphasised the problem of parents not being
supportive and increasing the trauma by instructing young children
not to expose their father when he is implicated. “Parents need
to pay more attention to what the children are doing, not be ‘too
busy’ watching TV. They need to follow up on what activities
their children are involved in,” she said. Other subjects
covered in discussion groups were the role the church can play in
alleviating poverty, how to use drama to illustrate Bible readings,
and how to fight crime.
The Year of the Ten Commandments
A Jew and a Christian were arguing about the ways of their religion.
The Jewish man said, “You people have been taking things from us
for thousands of years. The Ten Commandments, for instance.”
The Christian replied, “Well, it’s true that we took the
Ten Commandments from you, but you can’t actually say that
we’ve kept them!”
back to top
