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This
testimony is taken from Anglican Advance - Dan Wall
The
Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.
It
was an ordinary Sunday. I was administering the chalice during the
Eucharist. Knowing that Ray had been dipping his wafer since his
return to church after he was diagnosed with AIDS, I reached for his
wafer to dip it into the wine for him.
Ray
reached for the chalice to drink. For a moment, I was paralysed.
Didn’t he know that people were afraid? Didn’t he know that
he was inviting other infection? Someone had to talk to him.
The
Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.
Someone
did talk to Ray. He had missed the chalice so much that he agreed to
receive the cup last, putting his own health at greater risk. That
calmed the brewing storm, and life at the church returned to normal.
Inside
me, something was wrong. My spirit was troubled and I suspected I
knew why. I am intelligent enough to trust the evidence that no one
gets AIDS by drinking from a common cup - but I was still afraid.
The
Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.
The
time came when Ray could no longer come to church, so the priest
asked me to take Communion to him at home. The brightness was gone
from his eyes. His face was haggard, his body now wasted. He could
not walk anymore. I passed the chalice to Ray. He held my hand and
said, “You first”. I don’t know what came over me. I
seemed to have no control as the words came out in a whisper.
“No, I’m not afraid of you.”
The
Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.
I
had lied - I was shaking. As Ray raised the cup to his dry lips to
drink, I entered a moment of sheer terror at the thought. “What
if the experts are wrong?”
It
was then that I saw tears well up in Ray’s eyes. As he passed
the cup to me, saying those familiar words I have said so many times,
my own tears mingled with the blood of Jesus. I had come to minister,
to bring Communion, but I received the healing of forgiveness in the
sharing of life.
The
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in everlasting life.
Learning
how others do it
Sylvia
Frans reports that travelling to the George Diocese with members of
the newly elected AWF Diocesan Executive Committee was a wonderful experience.
The
group of eight travelled to George on Friday 25 April to attend an
Anglican Women’s Fellowship (AWF) Diocesan Council Meeting at St
Paul’s Church in Conville, George. Travelling together gave them
time to get to know one another and attending the meeting exposed
them to how the AWF functions in other dioceses.
The
group was welcomed by members of the local AWF branch who were
preparing the venue for the meeting to be held on Saturday 26 April.
The President, Ruby Whitehead, and her husband, Stafford, were also
there to welcome them. Their love and warmth could be felt by all the
group who were then taken to Outeniqua House where they had a good
night’s rest.
George
is a large diocese with 17 AWF branches and it was an eye-opener to
learn of the long distances members travelled to attend the meeting.
Members came from Beaufort-West, Graaff-Reinet, Swellendam, Zoar and
Plettenberg Bay.
The
commitment they showed towards the organisation was very impressive.
Various handwork items were displayed in the form of knitting,
sewing, patchwork and fabric painting. The Bishop of George, Donald
Harker, made everyone feel at home drawing a comment that he is
“a down to earth person who mixes with everyone.”
Myrtle
Koen, our Diocesan President, was one of the guest speakers. A
former member of that diocese, she spoke on how the AWF in the
Diocese of George was founded.
The
group left for home at 16h00 having had an experience and a journey
to remember.
Michael
Cassidy pays tribute
Dear
Brothers and Sisters in the PE Diocese,
Please
receive from me and from all in African Enterprise our real sympathy
for your whole Diocese in the loss of Maureen Lang who has now gone
to be with the Lord.
She
was a real New Testament woman and a wonderful, gracious and godly
servant of the Lord. Her labours in music and worship will be
remembered by many, and are certainly remembered by me through
various conferences I attended where she was helping with the music.
With
SACLA2 coming up in a few weeks' time in Pretoria (7 - 12 July), we
remember the tremendous contribution which she and David MacGregor
brought at SACLA1 in 1979.
We
do praise the Lord for such a splendid woman of God and she has left
a great legacy of inspiration which will long be remembered by many
of us who were touched by both the grace and the graciousness of her life.
She
is now with her Lord but, praise God, we, her brothers and sisters
in Christ, will see her in the Morning.
Michael
Cassidy - International Team Leader
African
Enterprise Pietermaritzburg
Synod
of Bishops Digest
Canon
Andrew Hunter has issued a three page digest of some of the business
covered by the bishops of the CPSA during their Synod held from 5 to
9 May in KwaZulu Natal. Space does not allow for the printing of all
of it but readers can obtain copies of the document from Bishop
Bethlehem’s Secretary.
Some
points covered:
-
Bishop
David Russell is once more the Dean of the Province.
-
Bishop
Geoff Davies of Umzimvubu will be moving to Cape Town towards the
end of the year to become the Provincial Executive Officer.
-
Matters
referred to SoB by Provincial Synod received attention: the
Exculpation of Bishop Colenso; Communication within the CPSA; the
election of a woman bishop; and the matter of financial constraints
affecting the ongoing support of ordained persons in a diocese.
-
The
question of diocesan boundaries was given attention.
-
A
number of models of student chaplaincies that are currently being
used or developed within the Province were presented.
-
Issues
around theological education, raised at Provincial Synod, received a
great deal of attention. A team of bishops is to spend time at the
College of Transfiguration, Grahamstown, in the immediate future.
Human
sexuality
On
the issue of human sexuality the bishops spent some time reflecting
on the booklet, ‘True Union in the Body’. This is a
contribution to the debate within the Anglican Communion concerning
the public blessing of same-sex unions, in an attempt to seek the
mind of Christ for the Body of Christ, and comes from the evangelical
wing of the Anglican Church. The bishops have urged all within the
CPSA to continue to read , think, pray and discuss this matter, and
make efforts to hear the voices and stories of gay Christians, some
of whom are in our church. It is vital that we maintain the unity of
the whole church as we explore this matter together. The
Archbishop’s Study Document on Human Sexuality has been
commended as an aid for parishes and dioceses to explore some of the issues.
-
On the last point our Bishop has asked every parish to have a debate
and to send a report to Archbishop Njongongkulu by 15 August. The
bishop would like a copy of the report. Readers should enquire of
their rector if this has not taken place in their parish, as the
bishops need to hear the mind of the lay people on the issue of same
sex marriages and the ordination of practising gays.
First
same-sex blessing in New Westminster - mixed reaction
An
ACC-News report by Jane Davidson. This has been cut and the full
report can be obtained from the Iindaba Editor.
The
blessing on 28 May of a same-sex union in the Anglican Church of
Canada’s diocese of New Westminster has been met with both joy
and dismay.
Less
than a week after the Rite of Blessing of Same-sex Unions was issued
by the bishop of the diocese of New Westminster to six parishes which
had requested it, the Revd Margaret Marquardt blessed the 21-year
same-sex relationship of Anglicans Michael Kalmuk, 49, and Kelly
Montfort, 62, at St Margaret’s, Cedar Cottage Church in east Vancouver.
Bishop
Michael Ingham had authorised the controversial and contested rite
on Friday, 23 May, just days before an international primates meeting
declared itself unable as a body to support same-sex blessings, and
one week in advance of his own diocesan synod, May 30-31.
The
blessing came one year after the New Westminster diocesan synod
voted to allow same-sex blessings in parishes requesting them. It was
the third time that synod had voted on the issue; the bishop had
previously withheld his consent to the decisions in 1998 and 2001,
but agreed to go ahead last year when presented with a clear majority
vote of 63 per cent in favour.
That
decision led to eight parishes walking out of the synod meeting,
declaring themselves in impaired communion with the diocese.
In
a media release the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams,
expressed his “sadness and disquiet at the move” by the
diocese. Williams had said previously that there was no theological
consensus in support of same-sex unions.
“In
taking this action and ignoring the considerable reservations of the
church, repeatedly expressed and most recently by the primates, the
diocese has gone significantly further than the teaching of the
church or pastoral concern can justify and I very much regret the
inevitable tension and division that will result from this
development,” the archbishop said. Williams was referring to the
statement from the international primates’ meeting, held just
days earlier in Brazil and attended by the Canadian primate,
Archbishop Michael Peers.
Chris
Ambidge, spokesperson for Integrity, a lobby group for gay and
lesbian Anglicans, said his group has been working for 28 years for
more full membership of gays and lesbians in the body of their
church. “This is a very significant step along that path and I
praise God that this has happened,” he said. “In
retro-spect, I’m glad that Bishop Ingham has been as careful as
he has been. But there comes a time when you need to move.”
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