My Dear Sisters and Brothers,

At the institution of Fr. Dan Molwantwa as rector of St Peter's, Krugersdorp, their liturgical committee inserted an additional section committing both priest and parish to the Diocesan Vision. It was a nice touch and beautifully worded in words that echo the closing words of the vision itself: -

"Our prayer is that this vision has been faithfully received from God. As we have received it faithfully, may we live it faithfully, that it may be a blessing to us, and through us to the world."

On the way home, a priest who was travelling with me said, "In the light of what has been happening in some of our parishes recently, should there not also be a section in the service of institution about good governance?" And of course, he is right. Commitment to good governance is just as much a part of the priestly ministry as is the commitment to evangelism, prayer, the Word of God, the Holy Eucharist, and each other.

Such a commitment is actually already included in the service in that it is a part of the Oath and Declarations in the licensing of a priest. "I do swear that I will pay due canonical obedience to the Bishop" and "I consent to be bound by all the Laws and Canons ... and by the Rules and Regulations. " Keeping the Rules and Canons, therefore, is not an optional extra for those of us who like that sort of thing, but is an essential part of the ministry to which God has called us.

I am not suggesting that we keep the Canons and Rules of the Diocese in a rigid, bureaucratic and legalistic way that limits ministry, but rather that we see them as providing the structures that make effective ministry possible, and the building blocks for implementing our Diocesan Vision. The Canons and Rules are there to help us, and we ignore them at our peril. Our lay leaders are recognising the importance of our Rules and the need for the guidelines in our Rules. At our Parish Council Training Workshops over the past year, we have sold hundreds of copies of the Rules (which include most of the relevant Canons) to churchwardens and parish councillors. As they become more familiar with the Rules, they will hold us accountable and we will simply appear unprofessional, incompetent, and even dishonest, if we are not at least as familiar with the Rules and Canons as they are, and seen to be following them.

Having said that, I must also emphasise that what I am saying does not apply simply to us as clergy, but equally to every parish councillor and churchwarden. The Canons and Rules spell out the responsibilities for all our offices and we are all accountable both to the parish and to the Diocese for the way in which we fulfil the responsibility entrusted to us. In fact, our Diocesan Rules requires that the rector supervise the work of the churchwardens and parish council and ensure that the Canons and Rules are observed.

But it must also be said that there is more to good governance than simply a keeping of the rules. Good governance is also about who we are in Christ and how we live our lives. It is about how we relate to others, how we conduct our ministry and how we run the parish. Good governance is as much a priestly ministry as is the commitment to evangelism, prayer, the Word of God, the Holy Eucharist, and each other.

Mervyn King, Chair of the King Commission, in a recent meeting with leaders of Diocesan Institutions, identified some of the characteristics essential to good governance. I would like to highlight just three of the more important ones: -

• Integrity and Honesty, or what he calls "Intellectual Honesty" - being true to yourself, your values and beliefs. If our words and actions are not in keeping with the values and beliefs we teach and proclaim, we lack integrity. And without integrity and honesty, we will not be regarded as trustworthy. Without trust, there can be no real community (Scott Peck refers to it as pseudo-community) and people will perceive us to be arrogant, manipulative and self-serving. It is sad how often people use those very words to describe us, together with words like "liar", "dishonest" and "untrustworthy". We must strive at all times to be people of integrity, trustworthy in all that we do. The way we conduct our life and that of the parish, must be seen to be "in Christ" - otherwise neither we, nor the church, will have any credibility.

• Good faith. By this I understand him to mean that we are to operate in the best interests of our people. Just as we use our skills to the best of our ability to provide proper pastoral care for those in our care, so too, we must use every care & skill at our disposal in our parish, to ensure its smooth running. Good faith means, serving the needs of the people, rather than the agendas of a few, and serving those needs in a totally non-discriminatory way. It means, seeking the well-being of others before my own, without neglecting my own spiritual needs and those of my family. And that, surely, is at the heart of servant leadership.

• Transparency and Accountability. Good governance has nothing to hide. What it does is open and accountable to everyone. It recognizes that we operate as servants of the community and act in good faith on their behalf. And because we act on their behalf, they have the right to know what we are doing on their behalf, and the right to question and challenge what we do. It is for this reason, that more and more parishes are displaying their Monthly Financial Statements and the Minutes of their Parish Council Meetings on the Notice Board. Many also announce the amount collected at the end of the service, and report back to the parish on what is happening in the Diocese. Open and honest communication, is key to building trust.

Each of these points has a biblical ring to it, and all of us could undoubtedly list many passages of scripture that touch on these matters. A priest who attended his presentation said afterwards, that the way Mervyn King spoke, and the characteristics he spoke about, reflected the ethos of the 10 commandments - practical, sensible, and self-evident and obvious, and yet, at the same time, essential to good living.

It saddens me when I see clergy and lay leaders ignoring our Rules and Canons, not simply because rules are meant to be kept, but because the good governance of God's Church is compromised. Two clergy of this diocese have in recent months resigned because of a lack of good governance. Such resignations are tragic and deeply distressing, and should never have to happen. Chapter has, therefore, begun discussing this matter. We believe that it is essential to build a culture of good governance within the diocese if we hope to realize our potential and to make our Diocesan Vision a reality. Expect to hear more on this from Chapter over the coming months.

We are, all of us, answerable to one other, but more especially, we are, all of us, answerable to the God, who has called us to share in the ministry of God. When we disregard and break the rules governing good conduct and governance, we betray our calling, damage our own credibility and ministry, damage the Church of God, and perhaps more seriously, damage the people entrusted into our care and cure.

And so I pray God that we will all be as committed to good governance as to evangelism, prayer, the Word of God, the Holy Eucharist, and each other. As a newspaper poster this past week read, it is "TIME TO WALK THE TALK."

May God bless you all,

+ Brian

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