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Anglican leaders face the challenge of community transformation in historic Cape Town Consultation PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 23:15:35 +0200 Churches challenging drug cartels in Colombia, reconciling divided groups in Northern Ireland or South Africa, or transforming the urban landscape in US cities could provide one of the biggest challenges the Anglican Church has ever faced. In Cape Town, South Africa, the renewal organisation SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad) has invited 200 Anglican opinion-formers including bishops, clergy and lay leaders, (30 October to 2 November) to learn how Anglicans worldwide can join in transforming their own communities. The Transforming Communities Consultation is hosted by the Diocese of Capetown and its Archbishop, Njongonkulu Ndungane. Don Brewin, director of SOMA UK commented: "We in SOMA believe that we have to bring these challenges before the Anglican Church, at this crucial time in our history. If we fail to hear what God is saying, and allow Him to transform us and our strategy for mission, we will become increasingly irrelevant to the societies in which we live, and God will allow us to wither and die. "But if we are willing to think radically, and act on what we believe together that God is saying, the Anglican Communion can once again be at the forefront of mission in the new situations we face at the beginning of this new millennium. The communities in which we live will then begin to realise, for the first time for many years, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is genuinely 'good news'." In the first major address at the consultation, on Monday 30 October, Dr Ruth Ruibal revealed that after the assassination of her husband, the Colombian evangelist, Julio Ruibal, in 1995, the churches made a dramatic move to unity by pulling together in prayer for the city. "As a result we are seeing our city turned around," she declared. "Just a few years ago, Cali was infamous for its drug trafficking and violence. The Cali cartel was acclaimed by the USA to be the most powerful criminal organisation in the world. As we saw society deteriorate under corruption and injustice, the church began to meet together to pray all night. The first meeting, in March 1995, was held in the coliseum with about 20,000 people attending. It was then that we experienced the effect that prayer could have upon a city. That weekend taught us that united prayer could change a community: there were no violent deaths and just a few days later the first drug lord fell." A further six drug lords fell soon after. The city-wide prayer meetings and the dramatic growth and unity of the churches continues to this day to have a major effect on the city of Cali. Other speakers at the event include American researcher George Otis, Jr, who has studied the transformation of communities in a variety of countries and discovered a number of common threads. He believes that the two most common elements -- persevering leadership and fervent united prayer -- can trigger community transformation even in the most secular and unwelcoming of societies. Further cases of transformed communities from America to Africa to Asia, will be studied during the Consultation. Anglican leaders attending the consultation include the Archbishop of Congo, and Bishops from Australia, Burundi, Chile, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Clergy and lay leaders from these and another 12 countries will also be attending. Photographs and digital images are available on request. Contact: Miles Giljam or Andrew Carey Tel: 27 21 465 1557 Fax: 27 21 465 1571 Cell: 082 713 0276 Email: goodhope@ctdiocese.org.za Index of news & reports

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