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We're 63 years young
Margaret Rumsey reports about the alterations
and additions to St Saviour’s in Walmer by saying,
“We’re 63 years young - and still growing!”
The contractors are back on site and things are
moving again. After the completion of the first phase of our complex
enhancements - renovations to the hall and kitchen a few years ago -
the second phase is well under construction.
For many years the Rector, Ruthell Johnson, has
only had an office at home, with the parish complex extremely cramped
for space, creating difficult communication between staff concerning
the general day-to-day activities.
The new additions, leading from a new
double-volume entrance foyer, will offer not only a meeting-room-size
office for Ruthell, but also additional office space for our
Secretaries, Assistant clergy Maureen Lamb and Sharon Nell, and will
greatly enhance other weekly activities. A New Conference Room, now
able to seat 60 and not 30 as in the past, will be freshly furnished
and ready as a conference venue as from early October.
The Contractors, Jorritsma Builders, are
progressing well and keeping to their tight schedule, despite the
recent heavy rains.
A fun aspect for the parishioners, was the
etching of their Christian names onto the bricks before plastering. A
token amount of R10 was charged, R5 for children, and proved to be a
most successful way of creating parish involvement in the project.
About 440 parishioners etched their names into the new building and
into the history of St Saviour’s.
The building project will have taken just 4
months and is due for completion towards the end of September.
Furthermore
Hunter Nesbit has created beautiful
stained-glass cameo inserts to the windows in the main church
building and to date, 10, depicting the ‘Passion of Christ’
are complete.
The additional 12, designed around the ‘Life
of Christ’, will be installed within the next few weeks. Ruthell
has explained how the significant scenes depicted in the windows,
would enhance not only the beauty of the surroundings, but would
become an integral part of worship, emphasising and highlighting some
of the special moments of Christ’s life on earth.
An interesting aspect is that these are not the
multicoloured stained glass as we know it, but a style of
stained-glass known as grisailles, in which the only colours are
blacks, browns and a yellow tint, which is obtained when
silver-chloride is kiln-fired on clear glass. The style originated in
European countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium after the
Reformation, when ornate stained-glass had fallen into disrepute in a
more austere church atmosphere.
The windows, protected on the outside by a fixed
sheet of poly-carbonate, have been entirely funded by individual
parishioners wanting to commemorate someone special and a distinctive
plaque has been designed listing the details.
Visitors are most welcome to come and experience
the unique divine beauty and the personal spiritual inspiration the
windows impart.
World-wide Presidents meet
At the end of June Mothers' Union (MU)
Provincial Presidents from 70 countries gathered in Johannesburg for
their tri-annual meeting, reports Abigail Tukulu.
Only once before has the World-Wide Council
gathering been held outside the UK, so hosting the meeting was quite
a challenge. The idea of the Provincial Presidents meeting together
is for them to be able to affirm one another, exchange views and
share ideas regarding how they see their role. The theme for this
meeting was "Enabling and Empowering".
Because of challenges facing the various
provinces, time was set aside to discuss membership. The world-wide
constitution is very clear regarding this, but provinces and dioceses
adapted this to suit their circumstances. It was agreed that MU
leaders be mindful of the fact that Mary Sumner's dream was to win
families for Christ. This means unnecessary 'frills' such as uniform,
marital status etc should not be used to deny women membership. There
are countries where widows are not accepted in the MU.
Some of the subjects discussed in depth were
'Parenting', 'Drugs and Alcohol', 'Children and Poverty Reduction'
and 'HIV/AIDS'. In the UK the MU has twinned up with a university and
produced a parenting course. They have also produced a resource pack
on drugs and alcohol abuse called "Up to speed" which gives
accurate information to help both parents and young people. In Sudan,
Tanzania and Malawi the MU provides funding for literacy and
development programmes for women and young girls in an effort to
empower the poor. Presidents from these areas demonstrated how adults
were taught using the Participatory Learning Activities (PLA) method.
The delegates also worked on the document "Grow up free from
poverty" which outlines the 2015 targets for international
action against child poverty.
Called to be a servant
Dannielle George reports on the institution of
Johnathin Pieterse as the Rector of St Mary Magdalene on Sunday 21 July.
What an unprecedented move - the not as yet
inducted Johnathin showing his servanthood by directing the
congregation to the open pews saying, “Come in, come in, please
sit. Sorry I can’t call you by name want ek ken julle nie!”
Watch out Joe Cook, he might be taking over your
job as well as rector. All this was happening while Dudley, the band
leader, was saying, “One, two. One two.” over the mike.
This set the tone for a joyous celebration. It was fine to see the
clergy of the Archdeaconries in their ‘going out stoles’.
Where else would they be able to wear 'to-match' than at a big
celebration? And all those who were not there, please take note
Bishop Bethlehem took Roll Call.
A goodbye and hello service
The Humansdorp choir, the All Souls’ Youth
and Pop Idols finalist, Angelique Campher, were there to say their
final farewells to Johnathin, their former Rector, and a full St Mary
Magdalene congregation was there to welcome him.
As Johnathin, when the Bishop gave him a chance
to speak, remarked, “Tsitsikamma kom na die groot stad, and it
is good.” He said that, "God has taken me by the scruff of
my neck and said, ‘You have a gospel to proclaim.’"
Proclaim it he will as he maintains his ministry is one of
reconciliation. He was reiterating the words of the Bishop who said
that Johnathin’s mission must be one that brings peace to
individuals. In the Bishop’s sermon he said that Priests work
for a stipend and that there were no fringe benefits, in reply to
that, Johnathin stated, that this did not perturb him as he was
looking forward to the “fridge benefits”.
At the closing, just after Johnathin had taken
his vows, he thanked the former priests who had 'prepared the parish'
for him; Cyril Müller, Benny Witbooi, Mcebisi Xundu and Elroy Damon.
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
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