From the Bishop of Johannesburg

Monthly: The Bishop sends a word of encouragement and other information to clergy and laity each month as an Ad Clerum. These are accessible from the Ad Clerum section of the main site.

June 18 2008: Letter to Rectors and Church Wardens
"My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I recently quoted [Ad Clerum June 2008] the words of President Nelson Mandela: "Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another" and went on to say that "never again" is happening again and that we are the oppressor. The events of the past weeks have been a source of immense pain not only for those who were victims of the violence, but also for all of us who have held the dream of a Rainbow nation."

Aug 2007: One of the 'must-see' films of 2007 must surely be the film, "As it is in Heaven."

Jul 2007: I was asked by the Bishop to take responsibility for the Ad Clerum for this month, and he gave me the option to omit the meditation if I did not want to do one. I have opted to do one, and the only reasons for taking on this challenge is to keep this tradition ( which is so well done by +Brian each month ) alive, and to make you realise how much you have missed his meditation.

Jun 2007: I was at a function recently where almost half the cars in the parking lot outside where luxury vehicles and where a few would have seen little, if any, change on R 1million.

May 2007: Our clergy conference in January which was led by Rosalind Brown wrestled with the question, 'What is the role of the clergy in world today?'

Apr 2007: Having attended two conferences in as many months I feel as if I am experiencing an 'information overload' and now need space to process and absorb all that I have heard. Nevertheless, as with the Rosalind Brown conference, it was a throwaway comment that was made at the TEAM (Towards Effective Anglican Mission) Conference that has lingered in my mind.

Mar 2007: In her talk, 'Spirituality in Ministry,' Rosalind Brown made an almost throwaway comment that struck me like a thunderbolt. I did not write down her exact words, but the gist of what she said was, 'Busyness is the single greatest obstacle to holiness.'

Feb 2007: Bishop's Lent appeal. Funds for the Diocesan HIV/Aids programme.

Feb 2007: One of our clergy came to chat to me the other day because in a conversation with clerical friends they had described him as a 'professional priest.' Whatever their intention, it was clear from his conversation that both for him and them the phrase carried a negative connotation.
Jan 2007: The other day, when I was meditating on Mary's response to the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation, it suddenly struck me that when Mary says those wonderful words of submission, she doesn't really have any concept of what those words will mean. That she will bear a child; that she understands. That he will be the Messiah; that she understands. But what that Messiah means; that she cannot possibly understand. What her "Yes" to God commits her to is the nurturing and shaping of the life of this child entrusted to her care for the divine purposes of God; that she cannot understand.

Dec 2006: Ethiopia is not a country one would normally associate with a Christian pilgrimage. The Coptic Church is a church rooted in the Semitic tradition and whose understanding of the Christian faith is very different from that of the Western churches which were strongly influenced by Greek thought. But as a church which claims to have been established by St Mark, its history as a church, and its buildings, are the oldest in Africa.

Nov 2006: I am sure that by now all of you will have heard that Susan has undergone back-surgery, is out of hospital and is slowly, but steadily, on the mend.

Oct 2006: During the course of leading a Benedictine Experience Retreat recently one of the retreatants suddenly asked me, "What does the Rule have to say about comforting God?

Sep 2006: While on holiday I read two detective stories by C.J. Sansom; the first set in the time of the dissolution of the English monasteries by Cromwell, the second set 3 years later at the time of his arrest. As detective stories they are unremarkable, but are superb as historical narratives that have been carefully researched and written in a way that vividly, and accurately, portrays life in Tudor England.

Aug 2006: In his book, "Reaching Out," Henri Nouwen tells of an ordinand who is killed just as he completes his studies and is about to begin his ministry. He says:-

'Those who knew him well felt a strong, angry protest arising from their hearts. Why him, a very noble man who could have done so much for so many? Why now? ... Why in this way? ... A strong, angry response seemed the only human response.'

Jul 2006: As a junior curate I was enormously privileged to have a wonderful training rector. Mervyn was someone who always seemed to have time to listen to me and to help me face and think through the deeper issues of ministry.

Jun 2006: At our recent Episcopal Synod at the newly and wonderfully renovated Modderpoort, one of our Bishops spoke about a conference on mission and church growth that he attended in Kenya. He quoted one of the speakers there as saying, "Christianity in Africa is a mile wide, but only an inch deep." Those words struck me with such force that I have little recollection of what else he had to say in his report.

May 2006: Every now and again one comes across a simple, serendipitous book that leaves you feeling enriched by the reading of it and encouraged in your own journey through life. Susan has just read one such book, "Random Act" by Cindi Broaddus.

Apr 2006: Jewish tradition holds that on Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) the names of the good are inscribed in the book of life while those who are evil are written in the book of death.

Mar 2006: Opening address to the Diocesan Youth Conference.

Mar 2006: The Jewish understanding of our stewardship of creation is often expressed in the term tikkum olam - the repair of the world.

Feb 2006: In his book "Amusing Ourselves to Death," Neil Postman explores the way in which television has changed the face of that public discourse from something "generally coherent, serious, and rational," into something "shrivelled and absurd."

Jan 2006: I wonder whether it has ever struck you that the Christian bible ends exactly the same way as it starts, with a vision of paradise.

Diocesan Conference 2005: "We have inherited an amazing diocese - a powerhouse of peoples, buildings and income that already impacts the lives of 60,000 people. The challenge for us is how to increase that impact, so that it changes lives to the glory of God - our lives and the lives of others. If building a vibrant Christian community is truly a part of our vision, then quality clergy are not an optional extra. They are central to our goal and we will have to invest in them.

The real question before us today is to what extent we are really willing to give ourselves and to invest in the building of God's kingdom."

Dec 2005: In scripture the verb "create" is used exclusively to describe the work of God. God creates, we cannot. We can only share in the wonder of God's creation, not as spectators, but as participants in it through birth.

Nov 2005: The Windsor Report of the Lambeth Commission was published on 18 October. To the disappointment of some, it made no great and dramatic pronouncements on human sexuality, but rather, as was its brief, focussed on the issue of division within the church and the challenge of restoring the bonds of unity. Although it is a long report it deserves careful reading for it has much to say to us.

Nov 2005: In the Carmina Gadelica, a collection of Celtic oral tradition, one old woman is recorded as saying, " When the image of the God of life is born into the world, I put three drops of water on the child's forehead." Those three drops of water are what she calls "the birth-baptism" which precedes the baptism of the church. It is a private, but symbolic act that acknowledges this child as a gift of God who will live "shielded, surrounded and succoured" by God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Oct 2005 : Welcome to the Web Site: The greeting on the site's flash page is reproduced here without the graphic, commercial acknowledgments and site hit-counter.

Oct 2005: Recently, while preparing for a meeting, I came across an interesting article on the spiritual formation programme of the Duke University Divinity School. Stressing that theological education is about forming people for ministry, they ask their students, "What are the practices and convictions that form, nurture and strengthen Christian identity and life?" This is a profound question. It not only challenges us to identify the beliefs and practices that nurture us in our Christian life and ministry, but also compels us to ask what those to whom we minister need to nurture and strengthen their Christian identity and lives. It is a question that shapes both our identity as Christian leaders and our ministry.

September 2005: In recent years the concept of "prayer warriors" has gained tremendous popularity.

August 2005: For much of this year I have tried in the Ad Clerum to say something about each of the 5 key points of our Diocesan Vision. In the midst of those reflections I have also tried to say something about the role of the clergy. Before moving on from these topics, I want to reflect for a moment on Dionysius the Areopagite.

July 2005: We began the main points of our Diocesan Vision by looking at the ministry of all believers (1). This led us inward to spiritual formation (2) through visionary servant leadership(3) in vibrant Christian community (4). But this, in turn, takes us a full circle back into the world with the last of the main points of our vision: focussed outreach.

June 2005: Last month I interrupted the series of meditations on the main points of our vision to say something about our role as clergy. This month I want to say something about the fourth main point of our vision: vibrant Christian community.

May 2005: These thoughts were originally meant to be posted on our web-site to inform and stimulate our debate on the role of the clergy. Unfortunately time constraints have meant that this has become the meditation for the Ad Clerum. My meditations on the key points of the vision will resume in June.

Apr 2005: Over the past two months I tried to say something about the ministry of all believers and spiritual formation. This month I want to say something about the third of the main points of our vision: visionary servant leadership.

Mar 2005: Last month I tried to say something about the ministry of all believers. This month I want to say something about the second of the main points of our vision: spiritual formation.

Feb 2005: The opening paragraph of our Diocesan Vision, which sets the parameter for the whole of the Vision Statement, speaks of the ministry of all believers.

Jan 2005: In his book Living on the Border of the Holy William Countryman says that if we want to make sense of ordained ministry we must not begin with ordination, nor with the ministry of all believers, but with what he insists is "the priesthood of all humanity".

Dec 2004 : Welcome to the Web Site: The greeting on the site's flash page is reproduced here without the graphic, commercial acknowledgments and site hit-counter.

Dec 2004: If my memory serves me correctly, the musical "Godspell" both begins and ends with the cry, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord."

Nov 2004: The Windsor Report of the Lambeth Commission was published on 18 October. To the disappointment of some, it made no great and dramatic pronouncements on human sexuality, but rather, as was its brief, focussed on the issue of division within the church and the challenge of restoring the bonds of unity. Although it is a long report it deserves careful reading for it has much to say to us.

Oct 2004: As in so much of Africa, everywhere there is evidence of the church - in missions and hospitals and schools, and in little churches in every village. But everywhere, from the little reed huts that are their churches, to the surrounding buildings and homes, I was struck by the poverty of the people and their ongoing struggle to eke out an existence. And it evoked a deep sadness and pain in me. The poor may indeed be blessed by God, but there is nothing blessed about the state of poverty.

Sep 2004: The Danish theologian and philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, said in his book, "Purity of Heart," that theatre is made up of 3 elements: the actors on the stage, the prompters behind them who give the actors their cues and remind them of their lines, and then beyond the footlights, the audience who have come to be entertained. Kierkegaard went on to say that in the church, we all too often lead worship as if it were theatre; that those wearing vestments, are the actors, God is the prompt and the congregation is the audience who have to be entertained.

Aug 2004: A parishioner once confided in me that she struggled to relate to me (and my preaching) because I was one of those fortunate people who never had any problems in life and who made following Jesus seem so easy. I remember being deeply shocked because nothing could have been further from the truth. We all have problems, we are all tempted and tested at every turn, we are all broken people, and I am as broken as any. The trouble was, in my desire to walk the talk and to be 'the goodness of God' to the parish, what I was communicating was not true, and because it was not true, it was not helpful.

Jul 2004: It's all too easy in our ministry, [Gerald Hughes] goes on to say, to blame poor church attendance and the apparent lack of interest in religion on the materialism and permissiveness of our age. People are still interested in religion - witness the explosion of New Age spiritualities - but not in the kind of religion that does not touch our deeper longings. The real obstacle to church-going, he says, is us; people no longer recognise in us the "breadth of Christ's love. When they do see it, they flock in, as at Taize."

Jun 2004: Following Clem [Sunter]'s input, I tried to spell out where I believe God is leading us as a diocese and what I believe God to be saying to us at this time. What I said was by way of an addendum to the vision, a sharpening of our focus. The points I made are embryonic in our vision and simply need emphasizing. They can be summed up in 3 words: - passion, purpose, and provision.

May 2004: The other day I came across a most disturbing article in a magazine. Its title was innocuous - something like 'The Anglican Communion: An Update' - but there were a number of things about the article that I found deeply distressing. It was not the number of inaccuracies that bothered me, though that alone was cause for concern. Nor was it that it represented a different theological position; we all need that breadth of perspective that forces us to re-examine our own positions in the light of the gospel. No; what really bothered me was its tone, which was divisive and polarising.

Apr 2004: While many of us would admit to being afraid of death, most of us are more afraid of dying than of death itself. It's not so much the fact of dying as the how of dying that fills us with fear.

Mar 2004: The last couple of weeks have been intensely focussed on our diocesan Benedictine retreats and, with Ash Wednesday falling in the middle of one of them, it is perhaps appropriate to begin by quoting what St Benedict had to say about Lent in the 49^th Chapter of his Rule .......

Feb 2004: "At Christmas, Susan gave me a 1500 piece jigsaw puzzle - one of those puzzles with hundreds of people in the picture, doing silly and comical things and which looks so easy to do, but proves to be, surprisingly difficult. ..... But it was the putting together of the puzzle that was really instructive and provided the real food for thought."

Jan 2004 : Welcome to the Web Site: The greeting on the site's flash page is reproduced here without the graphic, commercial acknowledgments and site hit-counter.

Jan 2004: "There was a time when the New Year began with everyone making one or more new-year's resolutions, almost always for the wrong reasons. Today, few people bother to make new-year's resolutions, again for the wrong reasons. And behind both these, lies a paradox that is at the heart of Christianity."

Dec 2003: All history is measured in relation to the birth of Jesus. We speak in terms of BC and AD or, more commonly today, the Common Era. But, whatever words we use, the point of change remains the birth of Jesus. No other life has so changed the course of history. And yet, while this is true, the birth of Jesus is not about change at all, but about transformation. And the two are not the same.

Nov 2003: 'Having spent so much time [over the last few months] considering what it means to be "in Christ" from a human perspective, I have found myself in my prayers, since then, wondering what it means from the perspective of God. I wish that I could talk of great visions and profound insights into a world in which "everything belongs," but on each occasion, I simply found myself being drawn back to the words of Jesus in his high-priestly prayer: -'

Oct 2003: 'I mention this, not so much as a tribute to him, but by way of reminding us of what I was saying last month - that the process of living "in Christ", is neither mechanical nor automatic, but demands a willingness and commitment to stand firm "in Christ." It requires of us the intentional making of sufficient space in our lives for prayer and reflection, to enable us to become aware of and sensitive to God at work in our lives. And as Francis Cull used to say, "Priests are all too often overworked and under-prayed." Prayer is at the heart of our life as priests - the tool through which we express our longing to enter into and become one with the very movement of the Holy Trinity within us, a participation in the very life of Christ himself. Our priestly ministry is simply a visible expression of this longing.'

Sep 2003: On the place of prayer in our lives. "This is the heart of our ministry, to be people who pray continually, people living "in Christ." And yet, in the business of our lives, that holy space for God is almost invariably the first thing to suffer. And the tragedy is that if we, as spiritual leaders, are living "in Christ", and not helping others to do the same, then we are failing in our calling."

Aug 2003: Concerning good governance.

Jul 2003: Concerning spiritual formation.

Jun 2003: Concerning leadership.

June 2003 : Welcome to the Web Site: The greeting on the site's flash page is reproduced here without the graphic, commercial acknowledgments and site hit-counter.

May 2003: The invasion of Iraq : what it all boils down to is people or countries pursuing their own agendas for their own advantage without regard for others - people playing God, and justifying their actions by appeals to lofty and noble sentiments and God's purposes.

Apr 2003: Truth is a disposable commodity in our broken world. And then the significance of that statement struck me. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." The first casualty is Jesus.

Mar 2003: Perhaps ....... we in the West have become too religious rather than truly spiritual.

Feb 2003: Call to be a Church transforming ourselves and the world.

Jan 2003: As Christ becomes incarnate in the world (Christmas), so Christ must become incarnate in us (Ephiphany).

Dec 2002: Praying the headlines.

Nov 2002: A call for us to be a people constantly formed and transformed by God.

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