It's the first day of Autumn!



Just to prove I was there

The young people of Vrisgewacht

Sunday dawned dry and sunny, and so Dr Guma and I set out for the township of Vrisgewacht, which I have nicknamed the ‘Amarula’ (an African liqueur like Baileys) church, because in one of the hymns they kept repeating a phrase that sounded like that, though afterwards we were unable to identify exactly what it was. He explained to me that any visitor was a visitor to the community, and everyone would turn out to greet them, which explains the people I saw peering through the door and then going away – some to the Methodist church next door. At the back of the church were two piles of sand, waiting to be mixed with something to clad the walls. There were a few chairs and some benches, but not everyone had somewhere to sit.  At least there was a solid floor and a watertight roof. There was a good number of children there, and Guma explained that following the training in 2012, the teachers changed what they were doing and now children from other churches, and none, come because they love what is done. Before the Dismissal I got the congregation to pray for the congregation at St James’, Clayton, who would have just been gathering for the 10.00 service. As Guma pointed out to them, it makes real the ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church’, at least I think that’s what he said - it was in Setswana!

After lunch I was off to the south of the Diocese. I thought I was going to stay with Canon Rebecca Maphitikazi in Bloemhof, and see some of what she does. But when I phoned to say I was on my way, she told me to go to Christiana, where I would be taken to my hosts. It felt like a modern version of Genesis 12, the OT reading for that day! I ended up on the other side of the Vaal River, in the Free State, with Christine and Dirk de Beer. They remembered fondly the visit of the Westwoods two years ago (see Richard’s blog entry – March 2012). There are very few, if any, blacks in the town of Christiana and the white congregation is very small and has no young people. Christine seems to be the leader of the congregation, with a passion for God and for his Church. I learned all about the potato harvest – next time you eat a McCain’s potato, it might just have come from here! – and saw more bok and giraffe on their son’s game reserve. My visit was more rest time for me, but also an insight into what it means to be a white Anglican here.

Lunch time  - 14.45

Back in Klerksdorp, I was up early on Wednesday to go with the Bishop to the clergy contact day. This is a quarterly meeting for the clergy, rather like a Deanery Chapter, except that it’s for the whole Diocese. It begins with Eucharist and, on this occasion, in place of the sermon, there was a ‘half hour’ (75 minutes actually) presentation from the Stewardship Programme Director which was very interesting. With his help some parishes have paid off huge arrears and are now paying in advance. The five year plan, which began in 2012, is working towards parishes paying their annual assessment (Share) by the end of August, and then having got used to raising that amount of money each month, using the same sum of money in the other months for a parish project. So, last year, St Michael’s Promosa had paid their Assessment by October and used the money in November and December to put a sound system into the church. They are now on course to pay by the end of September this year.

+Steve has declared that the Diocesan theme for this year is to be Raising the Spiritual Bar – and this must begin with the clergy. (It says much that when I asked one senior priest what he was doing in his parish to promote the theme, he said that he was waiting for the Bishop to tell him what to do.) So after breakfast we had a two hour talk on Spirituality. I don’t think anyone in England would have recognised much of what was said to be the history of the Church of England. I was just very glad that I wasn’t asked to comment – I’m not sure my tact would have stretched far enough! The last 20 minutes of the talk were much better, but I was told that the speaker doesn’t actually do what he was advocating. I wonder how our understanding of spirituality would seem to them.

Today, Thursday, St Cuthbert’s Day, has been hot and sunny, and restful. The weatherman said that this is the first day of autumn here, and announcers have been warning that soon European countries will put clocks forward. Time flies when you are having fun. Please pray for a new priest for Jouberton; for the clergy to deepen their own relationship with God, and so be enabled to lead their congregations into the fullness of life we are promised.