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The Service of Solidarity with Palestinians
held in St George’s Cathedral on 23 August was debated
extensively on CPSA.chat and Iindaba received various letters
expressing displeasure with the Service having been held in an
Anglican Cathedral.
A special Chapter meeting was called by the
Archbishop of Cape Town, Njongongkulu Ndungane, and Iindaba prints
the statement released after the meeting. A copy of the Lambeth 1998
resolution is also available from the Bishop’s office as there
is not enough space in Iindaba to print it as well.
Palestinian service at St
George's Cathedral
Response to concerns about the service of
solidarity with Palestinians held at St George’s Cathedral on
Thursday 23 August 2001.
Several people have written to the Archbishop and
the Dean to express concern about various aspects of this service.
The matter was discussed at some length at a meeting of the
Archbishop, the Regional Bishops and the Dean together with Diocesan
Chapter, held at Christ Church, Kenilworth, on Wednesday 19th
September 2001. The Dean was asked to give some background to the
service itself. Chapter also discussed some of the wider issues involved.
It is clear that a number of people were angered,
distressed and embarrassed by what they saw of the service as it was
reported on TV. Diocesan Chapter acknowledged the strong feelings
that have been expressed and the concerns that were raised with
regard to this service.
The Dean gave the following information:
-
The Dean was approached by the National Coalition
of NGOs to host an interfaith service in solidarity with the
Palestinians, prior to the World Conference Against Racism.
- The co-ordinator of the service, Ms Mercia
Andrews, asked for and was given the name of Rabbi David Hoffman as a
possible Jewish leader.
- The service took place in St John’s
Chapel because the Cathedral was covered in scaffolding. About one
hundred people attended the service.
- No flag was draped over the Altar. The
Palestinian flag was placed in front of it (The Cross still standing
in its place).
- No anti-Semitic speeches were made by any of
the speakers which included a Palestinian academic on his way to the
conference in Durban.
- One man held an anti-Israel poster on which,
it appears, the TV camera focused.
The following comments were also made by members
of Chapter:
It is not possible to have “editorial
control” over what is said by others at a service of this nature
- any more than one can “control” the contents of a funeral
eulogy or tribute. Nor is it always possible to tell the TV cameras
what to use or what to ignore. This is not the first time that TV
viewers were given a particular interpretation of events. Most people
appear to have based their response to the service by what they saw
on TV.
Flags, banners and posters representing
particular political parties or groups have frequently featured in
church services over the years. This does not indicate the
church’s support for or allegiance to this or that party or
standpoint. The church has a ministry to all who come to it.
The Cathedral is one of the few places of worship
where people of various faiths can find one another round issues of
common concern. This point was addressed at some length during the
debate on interfaith worship at Diocesan Synod last year. At that
Synod, a number of speakers appealed for the unique ministry and role
of the Cathedral in this regard to be recognised.
More recently, a very well-attended interfaith
service was held in the Cathedral the day after the September 11th
terror attacks on the USA. Many would recognise that it was
appropriate for the Cathedral to hold that service as part of its
ministry to the wider community of Cape Town. The Cathedral does have
a unique role in the life of the Diocese and the nation, and is in a
position to explore issues of faith and justice in ways perhaps not
always available to parish churches. One of the dangers of our
current situation is the increasing polarisation of Christians and
Muslims round a number of issues. While there are several ways in
which this can be addressed, interfaith services can help to
encourage those who believe that dialogue and engagement with others,
not confrontation, is the way forward.The CPSA has not taken sides in
the complex Middle-East situation.
However, we would affirm the right of
Palestinians - among whom a number are Christians - and Jews to live
together in peace. We draw people’s attention to the call by the
Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem for the implementation of UN Resolutions
with regard to land for the Palestinian people. There is great
suffering on all sides in the Middle East. There cannot be peace
without justice for all, Jews, Muslims, Christians and others,
whether in the Middle East, in South Africa, in the Sudan, or
anywhere in the world where people of different faiths must live together.
This is an issue of human rights. Chapter
believes that the Dean acted with integrity and without mischievous
intent in agreeing to host the service. Please pray for the Dean and
the Cathedral in their efforts to engage with all sectors of our city
and community. Please pray for the Archbishop in his prophetic
witness to the wider community on national and international issues.
“To him who by means of his power working
within us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or
even think of: to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
for all time, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Eph 3:20-21). 24
September 2001
ASF mourn death
The Anglican Students’ Federation (ASF)
are mourning the death of their very popular Field Organiser.
Francisco Zandamela and his infant daughter
Denice-Bertha were killed in a car accident 20km from Grahamstown
early on the morning of Sunday 23 September. Travelling in thick
mist, the car left the road and rolled.Francisco’s wife Eliza
was in hospital in Port Elizabeth where she was given constant
pastoral care by our Bishop and Diana Nkesinga, the Chaplain to the
University of PE and the Technikon.
At the service held in PE, students shared that
since Zandmela’s appointment at the end of 1999 they had looked
up to him as a role model and responsible leader. He was a gentle,
but firm, Godly man who set high Christian standards for them to
follow. Richard Shorten, Provincial Chaplain of the ASF, said,
“We have lost a gentle servant of God and a dearly loved child.”
Zandamela came from the Diocese of Lebombo where
Portugese is the language and he learnt to speak English within a
year of being involved in the ASF and in 1997 he became the Student
President. He was the brother in law of Bishop Dinis Sengulane. His
sister was Bishop Sengulane’s late wife who also did not survive
a car accident about three years ago.
Notice to anybody involved with
young people following a tertiary education at Rhodes University now
or next year:
I am part of a team who look after the students
on Rhodes University campus, Grahamstown. This university has grown
tremendously over the years and we find that particularly 1st year
students and even 2nd and 3rd year students get lost in the fray.
Although we run an ANSOC group and are connected to ASF, it takes
quite a long time to connect. We would appreciate it very much if you
could forward names of young people intending to come to this
university and their home details so that we can have immediate
contact with them and make them feel at home and welcome. It’ll
also be a contact for families, if necessary. It’s always a
daunting first few weeks and often new students need a little tender
loving care.
The Revd Cynthia Webbstock (Assistant priest at
the Cathedral)
Answers to Bible Quizz
The following books are contained in the puzzle
which appeared in the last Iindaba:
Acts, Amos, Chronicles, Daniel, Ephesians,
Esther, Exodus, Ezekiel, Ezra, Galatians, Genesis, Haggai, Hebrews,
Hosea, James, Job, Joel, John, Jonah, Joshua, Jude, Judges, Kings,
Lamentations, Luke, Malachi, Mark, Matthew, Micah, Nahum, Numbers,
Obadiah, Peter, Philemon, Philippians, The Preacher (an alternate
name for Ecclesiastes), Proverbs, Psalms, Revelation, Romans, Ruth,
Samuel, Song of Solomon, Timothy, Titus.
Other Bible names contained in the puzzle are:
Abel, Abraham, Adam, Alexander, David, Eve, Herod, Isaac, Joseph,
Mary, Moses, Noah, Rachel, Seth, Simon, Solomon (by itself).
AIDS: Let's trouble the waters
Lindile Somandi, our student at the College of
the Transfiguration, is very concerned about the church’s
response to the AIDS pandemic and has written this thought-provoking comment.
As we journey together towards the reign of God,
let us take a closer look at HIV/AIDS. Although we would not find
mention of HIV/AIDS specifically in the Bible, we might hope to find
help in knowing how God regards sickness in general. Guidance about
sexuality or about broken human relationships might be found in the
Bible although it was written in a different era/time, as well as
culture that is way different from ours, but there will be inferences
to be drawn from parallel scriptural guidance.
Details within the story of the paralysed man at
the pool of Bethesda make it more than just a healing miracle for
those of us who come to it with questions about HIV/AIDS on our
minds. It is very clear for us, that, before the pool could be an
effective place of healing, something needed to be done, the water
needed to be “troubled” first (John 5:7). It is also clear
that this paralysed man had no friends to get him to the water in
time. This then evokes two themes of thought. Healing will not happen
if we avoid turbulence and preserve calm. Healing involves changes in
relationships or attitudes of the church to different forms of
sexuality, which quickly causes turbulence.
We tend not to ask questions about prostitution
or sexuality but choose to be compassionate to people living with
HIV/AIDS, which could take the church along the ministry of HIV/AIDS
without controversy. We block the way to healing by fearing to
“trouble” the waters.
In this gospel reading we see a man who is
friendless, therefore unless we befriend people living with HIV/AIDS,
they remain with no one to encourage them to come for the necessary
and available help. They evoke fear which causes them to hide their
pain and suffering (which is called denial). In John 5:7-8 Jesus
becomes the man's friend. The friend of the friendless encourages
this man to seek healing. Jesus with this act incurs the wrath of the
authorities. In this story there’s certainly a point which which
implies that by healing this man Jesus “troubled” the
waters. “For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to
kill him” (John 5:18). As a community of God’s people this
means we have a duty to perform regardless of how unpopular it may
make us, to side and care for those living with HIV/AIDS. So, as we
journey towards International AIDS day on 1 December, we are faced
with the obligation of “troubling” the waters in order to
eradicate the margins that divide the body of Christ.
Breuggerman says, “Compassion constitutes a
radical form of criticism for it announces that the hurt is to be
taken seriously, that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and
natural but is an abnormal, unacceptable condition for humanness.”
All of us within the church have a need to recall
the church to its true identity and vocation. Therefor for us
HIV/AIDS should be seen as God’s way of challenging us to care
for one another, to support the dying and above all to appreciate the
gift of life. Caring for those who suffer, even as a consequence of
their own foolish-ness, helps us to be compassionate, to support as
well as warn, to care as well as to criticise.
The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture,
nourish and evoke a consciousness and perceptive alternative to the
consciousness and perception of dominant culture within our church.
Wanted
Laptop / Notepad
by the Editor (to enable her to do some Iindaba
work during her lunch break at work).
iindaba@journalist.com
Tel/fax (041) 360 6808 (evenings)
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