IINDABA July 2002  The official gazette of the Diocese of Port Elizabeth  - Church of the Province of Southern Africa
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Previous issues Other Christian News More info about the C.P.S.A. Diocese of Port Elizabeth website	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)
Iindaba is the vehicle for sharing your parish news with the rest of the Diocesan family. Please send contributions and photos to the editor. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Bishop nor the editor. Articles may be reproduced but credit must be given to Iindaba.

Page 1 Hearing the voice of the women Eileen Bambrough reports on the CPSA Anglican Women’s Conference held from 12 - 16 May 2002 at Kempton Park. The theme was “Breaking the Silence” and in the light of the horrific statistics of abuse - rape and general lack of respect for South African women - speakers chose their subjects with the purpose of conveying some understanding of the situation and as a means of opposing it. Delegates shared their life experiences in small groups or from the podium. Among these were women who, ten years ago, were caught up in the debate and struggle to be ordained. One of the oldest delegates attending the conference was the first woman to be ordained a priest in the CPSA, Nancy Charton, who, though 82 and retired, still serves the Lord where able. Presently this is in hospital and prison visitations. Six delegates from each diocese, representing youth, students, community, MUCFL, AWF and church workers attended, resulting in a cross section of ages and ministry. There were also delegates from Japan and Canada who will report back to their Anglican communities. A panel of speakers rooted their deliberations in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as they shared their understanding on “Discovering my Spirituality”, a reminder that the issues faced are not insurmountable with Christ in us. The purpose and subjects of the conference were a sad indictment on the society in which women find themselves living. Social issues looked at in depth were Women's Economic Empowerment, Women's Vulnerability to AIDS, Women and Child Abuse - the Challenge to the Church. Several workshops were held which dealt with pastoral conduct for church workers, CPSA structures and transformation, women’s organisations for change and young women as agents for change. At the conclusion of each day delegates were invited to participate in the workshops and offer their personal creative response to all they had heard during the day. The poetry and art that emerged made them feel that God was in their midst and at work for a positive outcome. On the conference Torian Burgins said, “It was an enriching experience giving a deeper understanding of the social issues women face. I am grateful to the Diocese for the opportunity of attending. As the Diocesan AWF President I am committed to our members' meeting the challenges.” Thandi Mahangu, the Diocesan President of the MUCFL, had this to say, “Topics were heart-searching, the sharing of real life experiences. The worship was uplifting. The use of all languages was inclusive. Meeting and sharing with so many different age groups was empowering.” Deacon Sharon Nell of St Saviour’s said the highlight was “the Celebration Service of 10 years of the ordination of women to the priesthood in the CPSA, held at St Alban's Cathedral, Pretoria, with the Archbishop of Cape Town being the celebrant. It was a privilege to share in the experience, to see God using women for the extension of His Kingdom and to have His call upon my life reaffirmed.” The conference was a reminder that all the social issues we face are interrelated. The AIDS pandemic cannot be dealt with separately from poverty and lack of opportunity of economic empowerment. Meeting grandmothers struggling with the growing number of AIDS orphans and learning of the concern and financial backing other countries are willing to give in the fight against AIDS were other highlights. The Conference concluded with delegates committing themselves to future projects and with datelines to meet these. In Port Elizabeth the AWF will hold a gathering of women by 9 August (National Women’s Day)   A wonderful festival A tent near the Swartkops River at 08h00 on a cold Sunday morning was a very different place for worship, but on 26 May the tent was filled with people giving heartfelt thanks to the Lord for a beautiful day and many other blessings. The Communion Service was an ecumenical one arranged by the members of the Parish of Zwartkops River Valley as part of the Redhouse Festival. Archdeacon Christopher Holmes, the first rector of the parish, was the guest preacher and he and Solomon Nkesiga, the Rector, had everyone laughing at their banter about ‘poor preachers’ and things being done in ‘black and white’. It was a lovely service of unity with symbols, such as water (baptism), candles (fire) and a Bible (the Word) being brought in during the procession. For the first time this year the Redhouse Festival was organised by the parish with Nancy Goddard heading up a team from the parish, together with former members of the organising team who had made themselves available. The hope of a sailing world record was unfortunately dashed when the Mirror Class Yachts were becalmed during the Saturday night. They did manage to sail 87 km in the 24 hours in their bid to raise funds to send a team to the “Worlds' Cup” race in Tasmania. During the night members of the Redhouse Yacht Club built a large bonfire to encourage the yachtsmen who replied by shining small lights from their yachts. Members from the Baakens Valley German Shepherd Dog Club and the EP Dog Jumping Club were there to enthral the crowds, as was the 40-piece Pearson High School Jazz Band (directed by Graham Beyer son of David, formerly an Assistant Priest at St Saviour’s, Walmer). No visitors to the Festival could say they went hungry with the wonderful array of food and sweet stalls and there were many craft stalls with an array of items. To help keep the young ones busy there were also donkey rides.   Swaziland are grateful Jenny Lee of the Diocese of Swaziland was very grateful that Ben Durham, Rector of St Paul’s, responded to the note in the March issue of Iindaba - not with scraps of materials, as asked for, but with the real things, four full frontals that can be altered to fit the Lord’s Table in one or two of the parishes near Big Bend. back to top

Page 2 Comment on Transformation document CPSA Board of Transformation: Putting words into our mouths? Iindaba invited Andrew Symes, Assistant Priest at St John's, Walmer, to comment on the Board of Transformation document published in the last issue. Recently Iindaba published an article by Cathy Powell, which included a summary of the brief of the CPSA Provincial Board of Transformation (set up by the Anglican Church at national level) and the issues it has been mandated to address. Members of the Board had identified the need for "transformation" in the church in certain key issues. It was felt that there was a need to canvass the opinions of "grassroots" church members. Apparently discussion papers were sent out to Dioceses, which were supposed to be passed down to parishes, and feedback collected. The Board was troubled that this didn't happen. Cathy Powell concludes: "Does this mean that almost everyone in the church is perfectly content? Very often, a lack of response indicates apathy or hopelessness, and, if this is the case, transformation is needed in the church more than ever". She invited people to get hold of the documents and voice opinions. Intrigued, I sent off for them. The preamble to the discussion papers gives a rationale for the process. What is immediately apparent is that there is no mention of God or Christ at all in the first two pages. In fact in these documents it is difficult to find evidence to show that the writers see God being involved in the transformation of His church. Rather they seem to see it as something we do. The documents are also full of questionable assumptions, vague- sounding sentiments and plenty of hidden and not-so-hidden agendas, as we shall see. The preamble restricts the number of papers for grassroots discussion to three, namely: A Woman's Voice, Structures, and Vision and Mission of the Church. I ask myself: why the women's issue first? Surely in South Africa there are many issues more pressing and important than the supposed marginalisation of women in the church. Apparently though, according to the Board, women not only play a "minor role" within the church, but their voice has been deliberately "silenced". Women have been "excluded from the very language of the church's daily processes" (all on page 2). The tone continues in a strident and aggressive way: "The late entry of women to the priesthood, the prejudice they face within the church and their chronic under-representation at all higher levels of church governance are an insult to women and a denial of God's wish for them to fulfil their potential as human beings" (page 4). Hardly a statement designed to elicit a reasoned and rational discussion! Rather one that will have all participants in a discussion meekly agreeing, for fear of being branded a chauvinist or worse! This is such a pity, because the role of women in the church does need to be discussed and constantly re-evaluated in the light of Scripture and the giftings of each individual. The next target of attack is "a spirituality which is militaristic and judgmental and focuses on sin and condemnation" (page 4) - a "male" spirituality associated with Augustine and Luther, which should be discarded in favour of a "fundamental trust in universal salvation" as espoused by the medieval woman mystic Julian of Norwich. Now again, I would suggest that such statements, made without any qualification or supporting argument, constitute mere slogan-shouting and are clearly designed to intimidate. Also, such statements demand a reasonably sophisticated background in church history and theology to make sense of them, and so they exclude the very people (grassroots laity) who are supposed to be discussing them. As for me personally, I'm not afraid of discussing these issues in a calm and relational way (I was going to say "rational - but that's a "male" characteristic apparently!), but with this kind of writing it's not possible. Unfortunately, as the document continues, it reads like an angry and bitter rant against men and the church. In the next document, on "Church Structures", some of the questions about increased lay participation, use of finances and the abuse of power are, again, interesting ones that need to be discussed. But the feeling remains on reading these documents that the authors constitute a powerful and influential "inner elite" who have rejected the church's traditional understanding of itself and are groping towards something else. There is a complaint, for example, that the clergy use their "power" to exclude some "on the basis of gender, age or sexual orientation". The church should, apparently, "instead of seeing itself as guardian of public morality, be a place of welcoming acceptance for the broken and marginalised" (page 7). In plain language, this is calling for the church to reject traditional teaching that homosexuality is not God's will, that clergy should never speak about morality, and that the church should not only welcome all but positively endorse those with sinful lifestyles. The familiar liberal position of accepting and promoting homosexuality without question, and seeing people as broken and in need of therapy rather than sinners in need of salvation, is clearly visible here. The final document, on "The Vision and Mission of the Church", begins with an extract from the Founding Principles of the CPSA from 1870, and then seeks to "rephrase them &ldots;in a form which is accessible and all-inclusive". There is not any obvious heresy in this section, rather a muddle, a hotchpotch of religious ideas full of jargon and with no focus or clear suggestions for action, apart from believing in some kind of God (who may or may not have anything to do with the Bible), and being nice to people. These documents are supposedly the fruit of leading theological minds in the Province and have apparently been approved by the Bishops. Isn't it time that those of us who care about our church and want it to remain faithful to God and his truth wake up and say enough is enough? We desperately need transformation in the biblical sense of allowing God to renew our minds and hearts (Romans 12:1-2), but, on the evidence of these documents, the parishes are not going to find any guidance from those entrusted to lead the Province into Transformation. But all is not lost. I hope parish groups will read these documents and register their objections to the agenda that is being pushed. Then we can get on with the job of using the Bible to establish what it means to be a Christian, living holy and Spirit-filled lives, and reaching out in love into the community with a clear message and actions of love. Then God will transform the church and the nation.   Minister and Tour Guide When Dick Hills retired after seven years' ministry at Thornhill United Church, he started praying that the Lord would show him what to do. Dick soon felt the Lord leading him to study for two-and-a-half years in order to become a professional Satour Guide for the Eastern and Western Cape regions. He told Iindaba, "I love this area of our country and the people living here as most of my ministry has been here. I also realised there are a lot of lonely people who need fellowship and who would enjoy seeing the country within a Christian orientated group. On our tours we pray in the morning, and in the evening we have a time of prayer and fellowship. Yes, there are plenty of other tours but not many that have this ethic." Having received his accreditation, Dick is now able to offer congregations tailor made tours of these two regions. Among those he has already done for groups has been a very interesting "Historical Pilgrimage of our Roots" tour. This included visits to early mission stations and towns in the Eastern Cape area. The advantage of asking Dick to arrange a tour is that he can tailor it to the financial and time constraints of the group and he does all the arrangements for the group. He will even arrange a weekend tour if a church group wants that. Last month Iindaba advertised the "Fabulous Fun Filled Flower Tour" which Dick is leading from 2 - 11 September. The tour travels by bus along the Garden Route and up the West Coast taking in all the different types of flowers along the way. At a stop at Van Stadens Flower Reserve a Conservation Officer will introduce the tourists to fynbos and in Cape Town they will visit Kirstenbosch Gardens. In Darling they will stop at the Orchid Nursery and then on up the coast to the Namaqualand flowers. On the way home a stop will be made at the Worcester Botanical Gardens where the Head Nature Conservation Officer will tell them all about the flowers of the Karoo region. It certainly sounds like a "Fabulous Fun Filled Flower Tour". Bookings, or more details of the tour, can be obtained from Harvey World Travel at: 042 295 1808. If any congregations would like to discuss arranging a tailor made tour, Dick can be contacted on: Tel: 042 293 1239.   Christmas Cheer already Christmas already! No, not quite, but Toyota and the EP Herald have launched their annual Christmas Cheer Fund competition. Once again there are two Toyota Tazz cars as prizes. Last year the House of Resurrection Haven Liaison Committee managed to sell enough tickets to enable it to come third and receive R15 000 for Haven funds. This was with the effort of a few loyal people who sat at tables at various venues on Fridays or Saturdays and sold competition tickets. This year there are more charities wanting a piece of the pie and the number of days allocated to the Haven by the various shops and shopping centres has been cut. This means that the Haven Liaison committee need people who will sell tickets for them, not only at the venues but also anywhere else they have an "in". "It really is an easy way to get funds for the Haven," said Liaison Committee Chairman, Ken Simpson. "All we're asking of our Christian brothers and sisters is to be willing to give an hour or two of their time to be at a table and approach passing people to buy the tickets." If anyone would like to help please phone Ken to arrange when they are available: 041 360 6808 back to top

Page 3 The Bishop writes ... My Dear People of God, Greetings to you in the name of Christ, our Lord and Saviour! The state of Hospitals It saddens me to see the state of affairs in our government hospitals in Port Elizabeth, viz Livingstone, Provincial and Dora Nginza. As you may all be well aware from the media as well as being personally involved, the situation is really bad. What is disheartening all the more is the lack of transparency, and what seems to be a deliberate cover up by the Bisho government officials. This is not good governance at all. If this government is indeed a 'government of the people by people', people deserve to know the truth from the onset. The ‘hide and seek’ attitude is far from being helpful to both the patient and the taxpayer. Matters are made worse by the victimisation of those who are vocal and directly involved in the situation. The suspension of Dr Frederick Rank, a member of the parish of St Mark and St John, is but one example. This is an unfair suspension which we deplore in strongest possible terms. Those he works with have assured me of his diligence and dedication to his work which he takes seriously. The Bisho government departmental spokesperson says the suspension is on the grounds of misconduct. If the latter is the case, it is fair for the Bisho Health Department to furnish more details to the people of this region. We deserve more explanation on the matter. Otherwise we deplore such unceremonious suspensions of people without clear explanation to those concerned, such as Dr Frederick Rank. Hospitals originated as part of God’s intention to bring healing to those in need. They continue to be so today. Further to this, Jesus Himself commanded His disciples ‘to drive out many demons and anoint sick people with oil and heal them’ (Mk 6:13). The Church has continued this ministry for ages past. However, with all good intention, the government took over these services in order to provide accessible medicine to all. That intention is still there with enormous problems. All that is needed is transparency on the state of affairs. We need to hear what has gone wrong so that the situation may be rectified. We owe it to the patients that they all get good care. God requires us to render service to all. The Bisho authorities are equally under such an obligation, and ultimately accountable to God and the people who put them there. If those in government positions are unable to deliver good performance, it is fair to resign. God commands us to care for the poor among us (Matt 25:31ff). On a good note I wish to commend the work of the ‘Good Samaritans’ at the afore mentioned hospitals, especially at the Provincial. This may appear a small effort, yet to provide clothes and a soup kitchen to those in dire need has brightened many lives. Keep up the good work. The Middle East war War continues to ravage and maim lives in the Middle East. Suicidal bombings and soldiers continue to bring more miseries to the innocent, who happen to be the most affected. The Church preaches peace. In a war situation it becomes very difficult to put the blame on a particular party, when both have to be brought to the negotiation table. Whoever causes pain to anybody violates the right of individuals to peaceful, prosperous and harmonious living. Israel, as the people of God, have an obligation of oversight to all nations within their borders. They should be the ones to start peace initiatives with those who may seem not to be peace loving people in their immediate surroundings. On this issue the Primates have said it all in their April meeting. It is always more helpful in a war situation to talk peace than to lay blame on any side. Let us continue to pray for peace and assist in whatever way we can to end this unnecessary wanton destruction of life in the Middle East. May the Spirit of the Prince of peace continue to reign in many areas of war and conflict in our world. Thought: ‘I was sick and in prison, you did not look after me&ldots;’ (Matt 25:43b) Make a commitment: Pray for the Eastern Cape Health Department every day and render most needed help as far as you possibly can. With all our very best wishes and blessings to you all. Yours in Christ, Bishop Bethlehem Nopece   The view from pulpit and pew Iindaba wishes Elroy Damon a speedy recovery from an operation to remove one of his kidneys in Greenacres Hospital. This was his 2nd visit to hospital, as 2 weeks before he was admitted to the Mercantile Hospital with chest pains. Recently, whilst sitting in the doctors' waiting room, Nicholas Holmes of Saint Francis Xavier stared at the man opposite him, and said to his mother, Susan "Look Mummy, there's Victor Meldrew" (from the comedy 'One Foot In The Grave'). But no - it wasn't Victor Meldrew, but look-alike Richard Taylor of All Saints', Kabega Park, now caring for St Mary Magdalene in West End during the interregnum. The stork has been flying long distance! Congratulations to Gary and Debbie Griffith Smith on the birth of their son Adam in New Zealand, where they are now living. Gary was previously Rector of the Alexandria Plurality. There was recently celebration in the Draaifontein area when Athol Beckley, many times Chapelwarden at St Alban's, turned 80. Iindaba wishes him a blessed 81st year. It would seem that the Bishop's Chapter is on the move. The June edition of Iindaba announced the move of Leon Foster, the Senior Priest, to Saint Margaret of Antioch in Summerstrand. His place at Christ-the-King will be filled by Welile Kani, currently Rector of St Peter's in Zwide, and Archdeacon of the Zwartkops River Archdeaconry. Iindaba wishes Lee Ann Minakium, a deacon, every blessing as she leaves the Anglican Church to test her vocation elsewhere. Booked off sick recently was Michael Julius, Rector of Saint Luke the Evangelist in Palm Ridge. Fortunately he got well in time to begin his 3-months long leave. Iindaba trusts he will return fully refreshed in September. Also on 3 months long leave is Ronnie Allwright, Rector of St Mark's in Humansdorp, and Archdeacon of Uitenhage. He and Alwylene have gone overseas. Iindaba wishes them a wonderful holiday. Trinity Sunday marked the end of John Dunn's stipendiary ministry. At a supper function in the Parish Hall, John opened a large farewell parcel from the parishioners. Inside was a smaller box until eventually he opened a 'Dinky Toy' of an Opel Corsa and a car key. The parishioners felt his present car needed retirement, so now he'll have a new one for many more years of service. Bronwyn Greenshields, younger daughter of Dudley and Caroline from All Saints' United Church in Somerset East, was in Greenacres Hospital last month after being involved in an accident. Praise God she is well on the mend. Sheila Lancaster of All Saints', Kabega Park, has recovered after two months of anti-retroviral treatment after a needle stick accident at work. It was a time of great worry for her and Howard. Iindaba commends her - and all undergoing such treatment - to God's blessing. Nicolette Leonard, self-supporting priest in the Parish of St Francis of Assisi, was prayed for in the June intercessions as a deacon. Of course she is a priest, but then she's also a deacon as well, as indeed is every priest and bishop as well. It is good to remind our clergy that as deacons, they are forever servants of the Lord. And the laity? Someone once said that they are the people of God - with a servant problem!   Tag Lines Never be afraid to try something new. Remember amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.   Ecumedia Conference Margaret Rumsey attended the Ecumedia Centre conference held at the Boardwalk on 29 May, and reports on it. ‘Speaking the Truth in the Market Place’ ... a powerful statement, but what does it mean? Who is involved? To answer the last question first, we are all involved. It is this power of communication that opens up discussion among Christians of all denominations, creating channels of understanding, Christian joy, and peace, to a nation crying out for moral, social and faith issues to be resolved. These issues were highlighted at an Ecumedia Conference held in East London recently, and at a ‘moral’ Summit called by the State President and held in the Union Buildings, Pretoria last month. They were also discussed at a similar conference held at the ‘Boardwalk’ on Wednesday, 29 May, where an impressive interdenominational panel of church leaders, together with local members of the media, radio TV and the press - as listed in the May issue of Iindaba - was invited to discuss the three-fold purpose of the conference, namely, • to enable churches and media to realise the possibilities of working together • to bring church leaders and media professionals into contact with each other • and to equip churches better for a role in the media. Ds Strauss De Jager, Chairman, set the scene and emphasised: ‘It is important to read your newspaper with your Bible next to you and read your Bible with your newspaper," and quoted from Luke 5. Interaction from the floor was encouraged and Nommsa Stubbs, Zwelidumile Tom, the Priest-in-Charge of St Augustine's, the Revd Themba Mahuwa, Mike Koyd, Shan Fox of African Enterprise, Shaun Gouws of PE Churchnet, the Revd Joe Mahlasela, Jaqui Brill - and three representatives from the ‘MV Doulos’, together with a diverse cross-section of leaders, teachers, editors, and business people, were most enlightening. Grateful thanks were extended to the Revd Dr Bob Clarke, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ecumenical Media Centre, and Fr Paul Fahy of St Joseph’s Catholic Church and a Trustee of the Centre.After this captivating and thought-provoking topic, the future was paved for greater communication through what proved to be most willing radio, press and TV media representatives, and church leaders were urged to ‘feed’ the press with current events and major issues - an extremely vital and successful conference Workshop Ecumedia are hoping to run a Basic journalism skills workshop on 27 and 28 July at St Stephen's, New Brighton. Ask your Rector for details.   World Cup Blues By the time this issue of Iindaba reaches the parishes the soccer World Cup will have been won and, depending on whom readers backed, they will either be celebrating or sighing. Iindaba asked a few of the diocesan clergy how full their services were on 2 June when Bafana Bafana played their first match, against Paraguay. Many said that attendance was very poor, while others said they hadn’t noticed too many absentees. In England the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, pronounced a blessing on all clergy who wanted to change church service times on 2 June to avoid a clash with England’s opening game in the World Cup. Dr Carey, an Arsenal supporter, said: “Worship comes first of course, but this comes round only every four years so we can afford to be flexible.” The tongue-in-cheek leader article in the Times of 28 May commented, “At last! Football is bigger than God”.   Anglitarian for St Hugh's Have you heard of an Angliterian? This is what the Revd Pieter Smit is being called. Formerly the Minister at the St Columba's Presbyterian Church, and a senior minister in the Port Elizabeth region, Pieter will be joining St Hugh's in Newton Park as an assistant after July. With him, Pieter brings many skills and much experience of ministry. He and Rhona have three children - Robyn in the UK, training to do physiotherapy, Diane studying dietetics at Tygerberg in Stellenbosch, and Andrew, their youngest, who is studying at Rhodes. Iindaba welcomes Pieter, Rhona and family into the Diocesan fold. back to top

Page 4 Clean streets honour our Creator May Day this year was used by the people of 'A section' of Wesleyan Street in Walmer Gqebera to honour their Creator by cleaning up the street and planting a tree to give shade to future generations. A Communion Service in St Augustine’s was a fitting start to the day during which the members who live in the street were blessed in readiness for their task of cleaning up the refuse. After this Sitembiso Sonwabo, Chairperson of the Social Action Group, together with Lindiswa Matros, brought the tree up to be blessed by Zwelidumile Tom, the Priest-in-Charge. At the close of the Service black bags were handed out and the clean-up began in earnest. Grass was cut along the verges and the hole dug for the tree which was planted outside the home of Tshoniswa Kilani at no 17A, because she has been given the duty of watering and looking after it. Children came out to help and there was an air of celebration as the black bags filled up and the street took on a new look.   Pamela is new UWACC President Having moved to the Western Suburbs, and realising she had a long way to travel to St Augustine’s Church where she was a keen member of the Mothers’ Union Christian Family Life (MUCFL), Pamela Molefe asked to become a ‘Lone Member’ of the organisation. On going into the Diocesan Office one day, she learnt that the President of United Women’s Association of Christian Churches of PE (UWACC) had written a letter to the MUCFL Field Worker, Boniswa Kamba, asking for someone to take the leadership for the year 2002 - 2004. Pamela was approached about the ministry but she declined. She said, "At the time I did not even think of Moses when he said to God, ‘I am nobody; how can I go to King Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’" That night a voice whispered in her ears, “God will never call you to a specific task unless He knows that you are able to perform it.” She got up and read Deut 31:6, “Take courage, I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” “I conquered my fear as Jesus said, ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified nor discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you.’ With all that encouragement from the Lord I dutifully and positively responded to this ministry, knowing that there are people who will support, guide, correct, advise and give me courage, under the supervision of God, of course.” She took over from Mrs Marguerite Ward of the Salvation Army on 7 May 2002, only to discover that there was to be a ‘Fall Social’ on 16 May 2002 and she had already missed the preparation. “I had to pull up my socks because I was expected to give my response and a devotional message. But because God is ever present to guard our hearts and guide our lives, Shirley Patrick willingly stayed on as Treasurer for the two years of my leadership. Marguerite Ward, together with Xoliswa Thoba, the new Secretary from St Timothy’s Church in Motherwell, and I are working hand in hand.” Pamela quickly discovered it was a lovely way to meet women from other denominations and realised that she would soon be all right, “Because at the end of the day some members gave me their telephone numbers to contact them when a need arises,” she said. “Thirteen denominations attended the meeting and the guest speaker was Ellen Koli of “Network on violence against women.” Pamela went on to say, “I need support from everyone, especially the Anglicans, as it is our term of office. Our next general meeting will be on 17 October in the Mater Dei Church and the Christmas Social is on 21 November. I hope many Anglicans will attend both. The UWACC is made up of the Women’s Organisations of the Churches of PE.” The objects of the organisation are: To foster a spirit of consecrated elevation to Jesus Christ as the Son of God and to work united for the advancement of His Kingdom. To meet for conference and mutual help. To take action when necessary on questions affecting all. To arrange for the local observance of the World Day of Prayer.   Haven has new executive At the AGM of the House of Resurrection Haven held in the Training Centre on 24 May a new Executive Committee was elected. The new Chairman is Councillor Yusuf Parker, with Frank Gillespie remaining Treasurer, and Rod White, Rod Woods, Sylvia Mkwetshana, Ken and Frankie Simpson and Canon Sipho Tokota (the Bishop’s representative) of the old committee staying on board. Matron Maggie Williams and secretary Unette Jacobs are ex officio members. They are being joined by Gail de Zitter, Drs Dean and Gary Allie, Mercia Isaacs, Alroy Johnson, Tembi Zungu and Sr Anna-Mari Geritsen. The Bishop opened the meeting and said how pleased he was with the AIDS ministry in the diocese and gave a few thoughts about where he hoped the diocese would move in their response to the AIDS pandemic. The guest speaker was Dr Jill von der Marwitz from UPE who gave an enthralling talk on child abuse - physical, emotional and sexual - and how this growing problem can be dealt with from a child protection point of view. Community involvement as a model is currently based on foster care or institutionalisation. There is a suggestion that a change needs to be made in this model. More community awareness of the enormity of the problem, more awareness of the results of the abuse on the children, and community participation in finding solutions to the problem are needed. Maggie presented her first report as Matron and thanked the staff and all those who have so willingly helped in the Care Centre. She also thanked Drs Dean and Gary Allie who have kindly offered their services to help with consultations for patients who become critically ill, or anything that the sisters cannot cope with, and psychologist, Gail de Zitter, who is counselling the staff. Volunteers Maggie also spoke about the need for volunteers who will be willing to give up a few hours a week to help in the Care Centre. She said three young women had started helping over the weekends, and two women had offered to help during the week, but were first going to do the 5-day Wellness Management course. Some volunteers would also be arriving from America on 7 June, and other inquiries from abroad have been received. Another volunteer will be arriving in August and, as she is a nurse, will be working full-time in the care centre Added to the existing programme at UPE, the VCT programme has been added to the Haven work. This programme is involved in encouraging staff and students at both UPE and PE Tech to go for voluntary HIV/AIDS tests so that those found to be positive can commence with a Wellness Management Programme as soon as possible. Two of the highlights of the year so far were a visit by Mrs Stofile (whose husband is the Premier of the Eastern Cape) who encouraged the staff with her words and offer of assistance, and the award received by the Haven from the Eastern Cape Awards in recognition for the work being done.   Don't forget to visit the Diocese of Port Elizabeth web site at http://www.cpsa.org.za/portelizabeth   Are you in touch with events in the Anglican Church? Keep in contact with Contact OnLine An Anglican website for Christians in Southern Africa www.contact-online.org News and comment from around the world back to top Previous Issues: June 2002 May 2002 March 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 October 2001 September 2001 August 2001 May 2001 April 2001 January 2001 December 2000 October 2000 September 2000 July 2000 Current issue

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