THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
THE DIOCESE OF SALDANHA BAY
THE BISHOP’S CHARGE
to
THE 2ND SESSION
of
THE DIOCESAN SYNOD
of the
DIOCESE OF SALDANHA BAY
Theme:
“We want to see Jesus” (Jn. 12.21)
Inclusivity and Collaboration
The Seeking Greeks … “We want to see Jesus”
“There were some Greeks among whose practise it was to come up to the Feast. Now these came to Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and made a request to him.
“Sir” they said, “we wish to see Jesus” Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus”
John 12.20-22
This incident is unique to John and in a way it fits John’s Gospel in a special way.
The Fourth Gospel is written to present the truth of Christianity in language and style that the Greeks could appreciate and understand, and it seems natural, the first Greeks to come to Jesus, should be in John’s Gospel.
The approach of the Greeks, who come to Phillip with the request … marks the end of the first part of the Gospel and begins the universality and inclusivity of the Good News …
“Look the whole world is following him!” John 12.19
The Standing Committee of Synod took this incident and saw in it the lovely principles of inclusivity and collaboration.
The Mission of Jesus is to embrace the whole world and the mission is shared with the disciples who are encouraged collaborate and co-operate with one another.
Jesus sends them out “two by two” and here we see the result of that strategy Philip consults Andrew …and they go together to tell Jesus that the Greeks are here!
Welcome
Dear Members of the Diocesan Family of the Diocese of Saldanha Bay I greet you warmly this evening and I welcome you to this Synod.
We meet in this wonderful setting of the Church of the Good Shepherd Kensington with its fine tradition of hospitality and service and excellence in cuisine. We thank you.
Thank you for the ministry of industry, imagination and creation of the Standing Committee of Synod, who with ease and generosity laid the groundwork for the preparation of this Synod.
The Material you have already received, and which is in your hands tonight, gives you a clear indication of the high quality and the depth that the work of the Standing Committee has achieved. This sets the tone for a hard working, but hopefully productive session of Synod that lies ahead.
I want to assure all the members of this Synod elected by their Parishes, all our observers and visitors of a very warm welcome and to the Synod.
To those of you who will be participating by listening and speaking and more especially if this is your first attendance at Synod … be assured that you are welcome here.
A word of welcome and appreciation to those visitors tonight from national government and provincial government. We respect and honour you and the offices you occupy and as scripture enjoins us we pray for you regularly.
The Advisory Committee has worked hard at putting measures in place to prepare you for this Synod, including sending to each Parish a copy of the Book “How to Succeed at Synod”. We are all here under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to discover God’s will for his Church in the carrying out of its god-given mission. You are amongst friends, so relax and don’t feel intimidated, the President is here to protect you!
Ecumenism
Our visitors this evening, include our ecumenical partners and this is more than just a polite gesture of statutory friendship. It comes from a desire on our part for total inclusivity and collaboration in Ministry. Ecumenism is not an optional extra it is part of the mandate of the Gospel. We are not necessarily looking for a structural unity of all the Churches, but a deep and meaningful respect for one another, recognizing our differences and celebrating our common calling to be disciples of Jesus.
So to our ecumenical visitors, we are delighted that you are here and wish to assure you that our deliberations are not done in isolation, and unawareness and disregard of your partnership with us.
Inclusivity, Collaboration and Participation
At this Synod we have made a special effort to involve as many people as possible in the business of Synod. We have taken account of the vast distances that separate us as members of this Diocese. The length of the Diocese from Milnerton to Alexander Bay on the Orange River is nearly 800km. The Map in your Agenda Book is intended to give you an overview of the Diocese and help you to locate Loeriesfontein and Lutzville and to be conscious of our people there.
And so we have introduced another category of attendees and calling them our official observers from all the chapelries in our Diocese.
Legislation does not yet make it possible for full representation of all places of worship, and so if it is my hope that by having more representation, to show that we want to be as inclusive as possible, we might find a way forward to create an instrument that will give canonical voice and presence to every place throughout the Diocese.
We want to see Jesus
I was struck by what the Archbishop of Cape Town had to say in his Charge … quoting the German protestant theologian Karl Barth … perhaps the greatest theologian of the 20th Century visiting the U.S at the end of his long and distinquished career.
He was asked what enscapsulated the essence of his many profound books. After a moments thought he answered: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so”.
Jesus … we want to “see”, the word “see” means more than just visibility, looking at, observing, to see, to really see, is …
… to understand
… to accept
… to comprehend
… to take ownership
… an authentic, loving relationship begins with “seeing” the other person.
When we “see Jesus” we begin to understand our own integrity and authencity … Jesus shares our humanity so that we may participate in his divinity.
The Eucharistic symbolism of pouring water into the wine captures this truth … “by the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in Christ divinity who humbled himself to share in our humanity”
With confidence we look towards Jesus to direct the work of this Synod, and the Call of this Charge is a simple one, captured in the words of the song which will, I hope become the theme song of this session of Synod.
Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus
To reach out and touch him
And say that we love him
Open our ears Lord
And help us to listen
Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus
This is echoed in the ancient Prayer of St Richard of Chichester …
Thanks be to you Our Lord Jesus Christ for all the benefits that you …have given us.
For all the pains and insults that you have borne for us
Most Merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother
may we see you more clearly
love you more dearly
and follow you more nearly
day by day
Amen.
In the rest of what follows in this Charge, I seek to draw attention to the many and varied ways in which the Diocese of Saldanha Bay will seek to know and see Jesus more
clearly.
I also emphasize a point I tried to make in the latest edition of the C.H.M, and that is, our grand vision must take root and flourish in the Parishes, where the daily round of Christian discipleship actually takes place.
“Think it Diocesan
but act it out in the Parish”
this our version of “ Think Globally but act locally”
At the Diocesan Level therefore the following signposts for ministry will be erected, and hopefully point in the right direction.
Theological Education and Formation
To see Jesus more clearly, is in essence a desire to understand more, to discover more … to grow in the knowledge and love of God.
Our first interest is the quest for God. Daily prayer and worship is at the heart of everything.
A School of Ministry
A “school of ministry” is what I would like to see established in the Diocese.
This will fit well into the vision articulated by the 2006 Archbishop’s Council in the Church of England report “Formation for Ministry within a Learning Church”(5419C).
“By its very calling the Church is invited ever deeper into the worship of God, service of the world, and renewal of itself through worship and learning. If it is to flourish it will have to become more fully a learning Church … a body that promotes a dynamic and reflective discipleship for all its members … This learning is a task and a gift for the whole people of God and will no doubt take many forms … informal,, regular part of parish life, diocesan and ecumenical initiatives, formal programmes … It is within this broad context of learning that the very specific tasks of training for particular ministeries need to be set”.
The Theological Education and Formation programme in our Diocese will seek to have the following components in place, well administered, resourced and facilitated.
(i) The Fellowship of Vocation Stage (F.O.V)
(ii) The Ordinand in Training Stage
(iii) The Post Ordination Training (P.O.T)
(iv) The Continuing Ministerial Training and Education (C.M.E)
(v) The Training of the Laity for Ministry
I draw Synod’s attention to our existing canonical framework for ministry which is defined in Chapter 9 of our Diocesan Acts. I believe this is a good piece of legislation, and should inspire us to develop it further to fit our circumstances.
An Anglican Prayer Book
As many commentators have said before but it is worth saying again … we have “ brilliant jewel” in our Prayer Book called “ A CATECHISM” completely under-used in my opinion. For me the most profound, challenging and dramatic contribution that this catechism makes is the answer to the question:
“Who are the ministers of the Church”?
The classic, ancient formula, on which many of us were fed, answered this question, using threefold order of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. Sadly many still perceive this to be the case, that the ministry of the Church is vested in the Clergy.
The correct answer to this question is powerfully stated in the catechism as follows: “The Ministers of the Church are Lay Persons, Bishops, Priests and Deacons
The Catechism in the A.P.B should form the foundation course for the Training of Ministeries and Discipleship upon which all our other syllabi for Theological Education and Training in the Diocese should be built.
The Gender Desk
At our Synod, of particular importance will be, a call to establish a formal Gender Desk in the Diocese and all the important related factors that challenge us when we think about Gender, will be in focus.
… our partriachal attitudes rooted in scripture and culture.
… our liturgy, ecclesiology and theology.
… domestic violence and abuse.
… inequity between men and women.
… marriage and family life.
“Just as we have opposed the entrenching of injustice in the structures of society in the past, so we now challenge the prevalence of unjust and abusive behaviour …” from the Synod of Bishops.
We all depend on God’s grace to embody love, peace, patience and self-control in our lives. Real men honour women as talented equals, and are glad to serve women from whom they also receive gracious gifts. Real men abstain from abuse and sexual predation, as they do from violence, especially against women and the young.
‘Gender’ does not involve an exclusive focus on women. In fact if the issues around gender injustices are to be addressed effectively, it would be imperative to focus on the perceptions men and boy-children have about gender roles and gender power-relations, since they have been (are?) privileged by the hierarchy of patriarchy in the church.
The question for the church is: ”What (theological, spiritual and social) resources does the church have to inform, shape and sharpen its response/s to the challenges presented by the many (explicit and implicit) forms of gender-based discrimination and violence which are rampant in relationships, families, the church and wider community?” This is an important observation for the church to reckon with as it explores ways of shaping its gender ministry. Furthermore, this observation also indicates that the church has an important role to play in transforming gender stereotyping and gender power-relations in families, the church and wider society.
Human Sexuality
Human Sexuality does not appear on our Agenda but that does not mean that we are burying our heads in the sand, and ignoring this significant area of controversy and disagreement in the Anglican Communion.
Our Diocese has faced this matter of human sexuality and its expression, at various levels of reflection and discussion. The Chapter has discussed this and an important landmark recently was the joint gathering of the Chapters of the three Dioceses in the Western Cape. The Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese also met for a day at Churchhaven to reflect upon this important matter.
The significant factor that emerged from these meetings was the openness that we should be exploring pastoral guidelines to minister to our members who are gay and lesbian and those who are in committed same sex relationships. The Diocese of Cape Town at its recent Synod adopted a Motion in which the Diocese asks that the Synod of Bishops now gives Pastoral Guidelines to the clergy and ministers in Parishes to know how to minister pastorally in these situations.