AD CLERUM - June 2004

Our Diocesan Conference to mark the end of the first year of our vision implementation has come and gone. And what a celebration it was. From the opening moments of our worship, to the close of the day, God was tangibly present and at work. Never before has their been such complete attendance at a synod or conference, never before have so many additional people chosen to attended, and certainly never before have so many people phoned or written to express their joy, excitement and appreciation. God is good, all the time . . .

As I said at the conference, you are amazing people and I am proud to be a part of this diocese.  Over 82% of our parishes attended vision training workshops, 75% have asked for further help in implementing the vision, and 98% of those who completed their conference reports in time, said that the Year of Implementation brought real change in your parish.   . . . All the time, God is good.

Clem Sunter's presentation was a real treat and generated a great deal of excitement.    But what was especially exciting, was Clem's excitement at the way our vision is unfolding in the diocese.    Clem is so enthusiastic that he has offered to conduct a workshop for our Archdeacons and Management Team on 5 July and train them to lead scenario planning workshops in the parishes within their archdeaconries.

Following Clem'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.

The first, and most important one, is contained in the word “passion.”   It relates to our vision task of spiritual formation; we need, in Christ, to be forming a people of passion.  Throughout Eastertide we begin our worship with the words, ”Alleluia, Christ is risen; He is risen indeed. Alleluia.”   And those words make the world of difference.   They are cause for shouting, “Alleluia.”    If Christ is risen, then that is the single most important truth in all of history.  It changes everything.   If Christ is risen then everything he ever said ceases to be just words of wisdom and become words that reveal and call us to our ultimate destiny.  If Christ is risen then he stands in our midst now - he indwells us, and that means that everything we do and say is a response to that indwelling Spirit and a making visible of God's kingdom here on earth.

Christ is risen; we all believe that truth and proclaim it.   The challenge now is to live it; to make Christianity the central, driving force in all our lives.   If Christianity does not bring about transformation then it is largely meaningless.  That is why so many people have abandoned the faith - it made no real difference in their lives, or in the lives of their Christian friends.   But where the Christian faith does become the driving force in people's lives, it becomes the power of God.  

Passion is central to everything we are trying to do.   Only to the extent that people are passionate about their faith and excited about building church and kingdom, will they make the necessary sacrifices of time and money to allow for real kingdom growth and transformation.   And only to that extent will we truly see the growth of a ministry of all believers - an every-member ministry - that will extend beyond the boundaries of our parishes into the world around us.  

My second point was that we need to be a people of purpose.   Vision without action is simply wishful thinking.  We need to have a clear understanding of what we are trying to do and be intentional about setting and achieving objectives.   We need to be intentional about preparing people for ministry, intentional about modelling servant leadership and team ministry, intentional in creating a community that reflects our values and is passionate about God and the work of God.

My third point is that, even as we need to be a people of passion and purpose, so also we need to be a people of provision.   In the rush of life and the struggle to balance our budgets and that of our parishes, we often forget how wonderfully generous God has been to us.   We overlook the needs of others.  Some of our parishes are in areas where the official unemployment rate is 64%, and that means they just will not survive unless some of us extend a hand of friendship and help support their ministry.   There is a growing awareness within the diocese of our need to work together, and I am thrilled at the beginnings of some joint initiatives.   We need more and more to become a people impelled by God to meet the needs of others. 

I believe God is asking much more of us than simply that we care better for ourselves.   To set the stage for what I want to say, allow me to tell you a short story.   At one point in our discussions in our recent Synod of Bishops, Bishop Dinis Sengulane of Mozambique said, “I listened with great interest to the figures quoted by the Metropolitan in respect of clergy stipends in Cape Town.   You need to know that your monthly stipend in Cape Town is more than the annual salary for our clergy.”   I think we all felt sick; I know I did, especially as the salaries in Cape Town are very similar to those in our diocese.  

Within this Province we are perceived as being enormously wealthy.   And we are, especially in comparison with most of our other dioceses.   What we take for granted is for many other dioceses just wishful thinking.   The income in all our parishes has grown enormously, but for the most part our support of others has not increased, at least not in financial terms.   We are simply spending more on ourselves, in many cases doing things that are long overdue.     But I believe that God is now challenging us and calling us - as individuals, parishes, and as a diocese - to be God's provision for a needy world.  

As we have been blessed, so are we to be a blessing for others.   And this may require of us that we adopt a simpler, more sacrificial lifestyle for the sake of the kingdom.   I believe that God is asking each person to contribute to ministry outside of their own parish and diocese (and not at the expense of their parish giving).  I believe that God is calling each parish to set aside 10% of their income to support ministry outside the parish and diocese (and not at the expense of their diocesan giving).   And I believe that God is calling this diocese to give at least 10% of its income for work in other dioceses.   We need to be a diocese using the resources that God has given to us for the building of God's kingdom.

Our Father in heaven.
May your kingdom come - not ours
May your will be done - not ours
May your kingdom come here on earth even as it is in heaven
And may it begin here, in me.

May what we confess with our lips and believe in our hearts be visible in our lives.

+ Brian

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