My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ
On 10 December 1964 Martin Luther King Jnr. received the Nobel Peace Prize for the work that he was doing through the Civil Rights Movement; work that ultimately led to the dismantling of the racial segregation laws in the USA and the beginning of justice for Afro-Americans. Almost 30 years later, in the early hours of the morning of 3 March 1991, a man was dragged from his car in Los Angeles by police and assaulted. His name, too, was King - Rodney King - and he was a black man assaulted by white policemen. When a video of his assault was screened on national television there was an eruption of pent-up anger that exploded into violence in almost all of the cities in the USA. Though laws had changed; hearts had not. The racism of the past and present had caused such deep hurts and hatreds that it took only single defining incident to trigger the explosion.

I fear that the same holds true for South Africa. The brave work done by the TRC brought to the surface much which black South Africans had always known or suspected to be true and which white South Africans had dismissed as propaganda because they neither knew nor wanted to know what was going on. But though the truth was revealed, the TRC asked neither for penitence or reparation, nor did it provide a vehicle for a necessary deep introspective examination of what the legacy of apartheid has done to all of us, with the result that, though the laws have changed, hearts have not.

This was clearly brought out in a Mail and Guardian "Thought Leader" blog by Christi van der Westhuizen in which she laments, "Reading the responses to my last blog, one can only wonder if honest introspection is at all possible in this society, rent as it is by greed and bigotry." And if that is true then, unless we face the issue, the risk of a future violent conflagration remains.

But the risk of violent conflagration is not just limited to greed and bigotry. It continues in the political turmoil in which we find ourselves today, which itself is a product of our colonial past. Ugandan scholar Prof. Mahmood Mamdani has written a great deal about the ways in which post-colonial African politics have copied and modelled themselves on the structures and patterns of colonial thinking. Of special concern to him is how our worldview is still shaped by the racialisation and ethnicisation that were activated during the colonial period. I am less concerned here about structures, than I am about the racism and ethnicity that still loom so large in our thinking and in the behaviours and attitudes shaped by our past that still seem to govern our political thinking.

Dr Ramphele has said: ".... Unfortunately, many of our leaders cast themselves in the roles of the very colonial masters they replaced. Their revolutionary fire for freedom from oppression has too often turned into a passion for emulating the same oppressors and their methods. Such emulation is both in symbolic and material terms." The divisions within the ANC are the result of systems of patronage similar to those in the past in which unswerving loyalty and obedience coupled with an absence of criticism of our leaders is rewarded and dissent punished by banishment (cf former Deputy Minister of Health, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge).

That the structures have not been able to contain and manage the dissent is both healthy and a serious cause for concern. Healthy: because democratic debate is at the heart of a healthy democracy; this is true even within each political party, and especially true when that party is the ruling party. But it is also cause for concern because of the anger and venom with which the debate has been taking place, and the degree of polarization it has caused. While all involved claim the moral high ground and accuse the other of indifference to the needs of the people, it appears to me that all have been far more obsessed with self-interest, self advancement and power than with those who live in this land.

A recent newspaper article by a Nigerian journalist drew parallels between what has happened in Nigeria and what is happening in South Africa today. He said that in Nigeria the people watched in silence as their democracy and political stability imploded, never believing that things would unravel the way they have. His message to us is simple and clear: do something before everything unravels before your own eyes. Former Cosatu leader Jayendra Naidoo is saying the same thing, "We are all responsible for what the country has become. The cardinal mistake we made as a country was thinking that, after 1994, the struggle was won and we could go on with our private lives. Now we know: the struggle is not over. It continues today."

The struggle is not over. It continues today .... in the lives of each one of us. If we are going to avoid a long-term political meltdown it is the responsibility of all of us to stand and be counted. The church must recover its prophetic voice, not just in the mouths of our leaders, but in the voice and lives of every parishioner. We must claim again the moral high ground of lives lived in obedience to the scriptures and to the glory of God. We are not called to the pursuit of self-interest, self-advancement and power, but to the building of a Kingdom in which God rather than the individual is glorified.

The struggle is not over. It continues today .... in the lives of each one of us. The worldwide economic meltdown will almost certainly take us into a recession that will affect us deeply. Over 70 000 jobs were lost in the last financial quarter, and looks set to rise. Already the banks are repossessing more than 6,000 cars each month, and with the high levels of debt, that too will probably rise. The world's economic woes are largely the result of irresponsible trading and excessive greed and are a call to re-examine our economic lifestyles, especially in a land where there is so much poverty. We are not called to accumulate wealth, but rather to live simply within our means and to use that which God has given us to so that the stranger may be welcomed in our midst and the needs of the poor met.

The struggle is not over. It continues today .... in the lives of each one of us. The work of the TRC is not yet complete. Racism and ethnicity, bigotry and prejudice still flourish and we are still wounded by our past. But we are also the people of the incarnate Christ who came to break down the walls of separation and in whom ".... there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for we are all one in Christ." It is therefore incumbent on us as a church to be God's instruments and agents of healing, reconciliation and reconstruction. I hope that over the next few years our new Diocesan Centre will become the epicenter of a wave of reconciliation and reconstruction that will sweep through our church and our land.

I end again with the words of Walter Wink with which I ended the last Ad Clerum reflection:-

"In a field of such titanic forces .... we are emboldened to ask for something bigger. The same faith that looks clear-eyed at the immensity of the forces arrayed against God is the faith that affirms God's miracle-working power. Trust in miracles is, in fact, the only rational stance in a world that is infinitely responsive to God's incessant lures. We are commissioned to pray for miracles because nothing less is sufficient. We pray to God, not because we understand these mysteries, but because we have learned from our tradition and from experience that God, indeed, is sufficient for us, whatever the Powers may do."

May the miracle of God's miraculous transformation be seen in us and in our land.

>+ Brian

Spiritual Formation

Clergy Retreat: I was disappointed at the very poor attendance on our Clergy Retreat during the month of October. My thanks go to the Very Revd Livingstone Ngewu for leading the retreat; by all accounts it was up to his usual high standard.

Clergy Quiet Day: Our next Diocesan Quiet Day will be at Bishop's House on Tuesday, 18^th November 2008. Please join us and use the day as a time of prayerful preparation for Advent.

Clergy Day: The next Clergy Day will be on Tuesday, 4^th November 2008 at St Martin's-in-the-Veld, Rosebank. Mandla Adonis will speak on the subject of Management.

The final Clergy Day for 2008 will be at St Francis of Assisi, Parkview on 2^nd December. As always it will take the form of an open chat with opportunity for you to ask questions, say your piece and make suggestions. It will be followed by lunch at Bishop's House. Please let Zodwa know if you will be staying for lunch; it just makes catering a whole lot easier.

Reading Recommendation

A new and exciting book by Kenneth Bailey is "Jesus Through Middle-Eastern Eyes." Bailey has spent most of his life working in the Middle East and his books are bring insights from the Syriac and Arabic traditions that I find most challenging and stimulating. While his previous books have focused on the interpretation of the parables, this is his most ambitious work to date. I commend it to all of you.

The Diocesan Strategic Planning Meeting

The Diocesan Management Team met for a strategic planning exercise from 27^th-29^th October. It was, I believe, a valuable exercise and one with far reaching implications. I will be in retreat for the first week of November and will use that time to pray and reflect on some of the proposed changes. The changes proposed for 2009 have meant that all the work done thus far on the 2009 Year Planner will have to be revised. I will keep you in the loop and hope that the Yellow Pages will be ready in time for the December Ad Clerum.

Companions in Christ

We will be launching a number of spiuritual formation initiatives in the new year, one of which will be the Companions in Christ programme which has been running at St Monnica's, Halfway Gardens for the past year.  If you or members of your parish would like to be part of a diocesan wide pilot project please contact Xolani at for more information.

Family News

Diocese

• Rodney Taylor has made such good progress in his brace that the doctors have decided that there is no need for surgery. Instead they have put him in a new less confining brace that has made it possible for him to return to work. We welcome him back and look forward to his complete recovery.

• At the St Augustine College graduation this past week, Mike Fourie was awarded his MPhil in Theology with special interest in Spirituality. Our congratulations to him on this achievement.

Dates for Diary

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER:

Moves, Appointments and Vacancies

• The Very Revd Oupaki Moruthane's institution as Rector of the Church of the Resurrection, Meadowlands will take place at 15h00 on Sunday, 7^th December 2008. Please continue to pray for Fr Oupaki as he undertakes his new appointment.

• While many welcomed Lambeth's continuing prohibition of same-sex relationships, others have been deeply hurt by that same decision. Owen Franklin, who has been waiting for over 35 years for a change of heart in the church he loves, believes that he can no longer continue to serve in that church and has, therefore, tendered his resignation as from the end of the year. It is with great sadness that I have accepted his resignation and I ask you all to pray for him in what has been a very costly and painful decision to make. Pray also for the worldwide Anglican communion, praying that we will truly wrestle with this issue in an attempt to discern fully what God is saying to us.

• Lee-Anne Minakium has been appointed as Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of St Lawrence, Discovery. We wish her God's every blessing as she begins this new ministry and assure her of our ongoing prayers for her.

Birthdays

Please remember the following persons in your prayers as they celebrate birthdays and anniversaries in the coming months:

General Notices

SAFM RADIO BROADCAST SERVICE

The next Service will be relayed at 11h05 on Thursday, 25^th December 2008 from the parish of St Luke's, Orchards. The Rector is The Revd Jerry Bailey. (011 728 7015)

Thank You

From: St John the Divine, Randfontein

To: St Stephen's, Sunninghill

Dear Friends

Our apologies that you were left out of the Refugee "THANK YOU" list.

We take this opportunity of thanking you for your wonderful love and support during the very difficult time of caring for the refugees.

Yours in His Service

Revd Gwyn Slade

P.O.S.T.

Final meeting for 2008:

Saturday, 22^nd November

Topic: Deacon vs Priest

Self-Supporting vs Stipendiary

Venue: St Margaret's, Bedfordview

Time: 09h00 to ±16h00.

Bring & Share lunch (year end party)

Contact: Revd Patricia Lane. 011 455 4449

Medical Aid

Travel Update:

Our medical aid scheme advises anyone traveling outside South Africa for any reason to contact Karen Howard on 0860 802 981 or 083 2259 833 before they leave in order to activate overseas travel insurance.

Annual Presentation:

Our annual Medical Aid meeting will be held at 10h00 on Thursday, 13^th November 2008 at St George's, Parktown.

Please will all members make every effort to attend this meeting so that you are able to understand the option for 2009. Option changes during the course of the year are not permitted.

We have already been warned that Spectra-med has slashed benefits and increased premiums for 2009.

Rodney Taylor

Diocesan Secretary

WORLD AIDS DAY 2008

This year World AIDS Day falls on Monday, 1st December. However we have liturgy from the Ecumenical AIDS Alliance proposing that this be used on Sunday, 30th November for World AIDS Day.

This day is also 1st Advent Sunday. Liturgy has been prepared for the Province by Fikelela in Cape Town. Both liturgies include Posters that can be downloaded and put around our parishes.

  The Services will be emailed to all parishes and some hard copies given out at our coming Parish Quarterly meeting on 8th November 2008.

The Revd Tsépo Matubatuba, HIV & AIDS Co-ordinator. Tel: 011 333 4399 (Office).

St George's Music Festival

Join us for a programme of varied music in our beautiful gardens.

Date: 8^th November 2008

Venue: St George's Church, Sherborne

Road, Parktown

Time: Gates open at 15h00 -- music

programme starts at 16h00

We are offering a selection of Jazz, a Violin Ensemble, Swing, and Light Opera - You need to bring your own picnic hampers, pillows, rugs and chairs!

Tickets are R100 each for adults and R50 for scholars. Booking is essential: contact the Parish Office on 011 482 1606. No tickets will be on sale at the gate!

Bring your own picnic hampers and chairs!

Cool drinks will be on sale.

*Funds in aid of the St George's Turning Point Home for Street Children.

** Please Note: If we are rained out, please consider the cost of your ticket to be a donation.

~~~~~~~~

Holy Land

Pilgrimage

2009

The Revd Canon Godfrey Henwood, rector of St Thomas', Linden, will be leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land leaving on Thursday, 14^th May 2009 and returning on Monday, 25^th May 2009.

The all-inclusive cost of this pilgrimage will be approximately R22000.00.

We spend five days in Galilee visiting Nazareth and Cana, recalling Jesus' boyhood and the wedding feast; Mount of Beatitudes and the feeding of the 5000. We cross the lake by boat (and hope for calm weather!) and visit Capernaum - which is mentioned so many times in the Gospels - and the beautiful area where the Risen Jesus had a braai and re-instated St Peter. A bit further north we visit Caesarea Phillipi where Jesus asks us as he did the disciples, "Who do you say I am?"

Our comfortable sharing en-suite accommodation including breakfast and dinner is situated right on the lake; and our English-speaking guide will accompany us wherever we go in a luxury air-conditioned coach.

Leaving Galilee for Jerusalem we visit Beth Shein and Megiddo, both very interesting, partly excavated cities dating back to the time of King Solomon; and Massada and Qumran on the shore of the Dead Sea where the Scrolls were found.

Up to Jerusalem where millions of pilgrims have gone before us to the Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, via Dolorose, Temple Mount, Mount Zion, Bethesda and the Holy Sepulchre -- the walls, the gates, the holy places known to Jesus. Then on the way to Bethlehem we visit the Museum and the Holocaust Museum Yad Vashan.

As we leave this awe-inspiring land -- transformed as all are -- we celebrate a final Eucharist remembering Emmaus and Jesus' special meeting with those two believers walking along the road.

The cost really does include everything (even tips) and it's an amazing, spiritual, life-changing, fun-filled and never-to-be-forgotten eleven days spent in a very special place. For more information and a full itinerary please contact: Bea Ward - 011 476 4476 or St Thomas' parish office - 011 782 5585.

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