Healing in Zimbabwe?

The future in Mugabe's hand

From the Zimbabwe Standard (27.9.08)

Church leaders want a truth and reconciliation commission as one of several ways of cementing the recently signed political settlement between the country's main political rivals.

Christian Alliance, a coalition of churches involved in human rights
advocacy at the height of Zimbabwe's political crisis, said it had already set
up nationwide structures to spearhead the national healing process.

This seems a bit premature. So far the details of the Zanu-PF and MDC concord have not been worked out. But something will be needed to minimise the legacy of violence breeding more violence in a deeply divided country.

Meantime hyperinflation continues as new bank notes are issued (Reuters).

In addition to facing chronic shortages of food, foreign currency and fuel,
Zimbabweans have been dealing with a shortage of local currency. Some consumers
sleep outside banks to beat the long queues that form outside in the morning.

The central bank on Monday raised cash withdrawal limits to Z$20,000
from a previous Z$1,000, which was hardly enough to buy a loaf of bread on the
thriving black market.

Except some people remain unaffected. There is one flight a day from Gatwick to Harare. Around 100 passengers were left stranded on Saturday - because the flight was redirected via Egypt:

... where it was expected to connect with a USA flight with President Mugabe’s
shopping retinue of 54 (revised figure) that accompanied him to the 63rd United
Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting in New York.

The weeklong escapade estimated to have left at the very least a US$ 2,000,000.00 hole in the finances of the impoverished State in airfares, accommodation, food and daily out of pocket subsistence allowances for Mugabe to deliver a 15 minute speech has been widely condemned by the country’s impoverished citizens of all walks.

From ZimDaily

Just for a laugh

Anglo Files, Sarah Lyall

You know, I haven't heard this argument for a good 30 years. It's high time it was resurrected - it's important to keep flogging a good, dead horse.

This is from the normally sensible Telling Secrets.

In a chapter entitled, “Naughty boys and rumpy-pumpy,” Lyall catalogues some of the silly euphemisms for body parts: “private parts” for genitals, “willies” for penises, “front bottom” for the dread vagina, “naughty bits” for the whole package (unless you are talking specifically about a man’s whole package and
then you can say, “dangly bits.”). “

She continues, “Not even serious people seem comfortable with using real words for real sex, known popularly as “shagging,” “bonking,” or “having it off.” Private Eye magazine calls it “discussing Ugandan affairs,” a reference to a woman journalist who, when caught in flagrante with a Ugandan politician, claimed they were talking about
Uganda.”

One can only imagine, then, the internal British conflict about homosexuality, can’t one?

She reports a typical exchange between her friend Ed and his dad when he was eight years old and hunting grouse on the moors which, “on account of having to pay attention to what they were doing or else they might shoot the wrong thing, they could look at the birds instead of each other”:

“’You’ll soon be going away,’ Ed’s father remarked, peering at the potential grouses concealed in the bush. He fired a shot.

‘Boys will want to interfere with you.’ He fired again.

‘Don’t let them.’”

I don't question the evidence. Nor the account (in past days, though the effect presumably last at least a generation) of physical and sexual abuse in boarding schools.

But I do question whether her conclusion isn't building a little more on this evidence than can be justified:

It occurs to me that a major component of the homophobia and heterosexism in the
Church of England has nothing to do with a healthy understanding of love between
two people of the same sex; rather, it has everything to do with a perverse
educational system which is the product of a shame-based understanding of human
sexuality which arises out of a deep connection with humiliation and power.

I'd accept the argument for the 1950s (at least to some extent), and its legacy in the 1960s, and I don't doubt there are individual and residual echoes of it still. Even then it was always predominantly a matter for the upper social classes, hence the shooting story. But the social changes that have changed the CofE as much as the rest of society since the 1960s have largely done away with the power of Eton and Harrow to set the cultural agenda.

With her subsequent reflections that sexual relationships and their social patterning are all about power, I have no quibble.

Another small step apart

The GAFCON Primates are supporting ex-bishop Duncan, using his deposition as a further excuse to do what they want to do and blaming everyone else, as usual.

Once more the upholders of the orthodox faith are made to suffer at the
hands of those who have introduced new teachings.

...

It is now impossible to believe that the exhortations of the Lambeth
Conference and the Windsor Continuation Group will be heeded. No Pastoral Forum
has been established. We remain convinced that the faithful Anglicans of North
America need to have their own Province recognised by the Communion as a whole.

All here.

Synod, suffering and glory

Bishop Michael Jackson

The Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Revd Dr Michael Jackson's Presidential Address to Clogher Diocesan Synod 2008





(Bishop Jackson's talk at last year's MCU conference 'Anglicanism, blessing or curse - the Irish experience' is here.)





Extracts:

Synodical life generally is fundamental to the life of the Church of
Ireland in a way which is consultative, progressive, proactive and courageous.
When, as indeed we experience for ourselves, the synodical principle is used to
good effect, it is a tremendous force for cohesion, friendship, solidarity and
good sense focused on the future. ... But I also have to say this: when,
however, the synodical principle is distorted by any wilful pushing of sectional
agendas, by the opportunistic defiance of the spirit of openness, and the
downright human discourtesy of content, we are, ladies and gentlemen Members of
Synod, in a different world. And we want to stay away from that different
world.
...
The Statement and Vision [of the Bishops of the Church of Ireland] break down into three parts: - Worship and Spiritual Growth- Unity and Dialogue- Living God’s Kingdom and Serving the World ... The wider stated purpose is one of developing growing – that is, actively changing, not static or resisting – communities of faith where the Kingdom of God is discerned, experienced, shared and made known. Maybe I have missed something, but did Jesus Christ not come, was Jesus Christ not designedly sent by the Father to bring in the Kingdom of God, to give to the human body and soul a healing and an enlivening touch of divine reality?
...

of John14:6: 'I am the way, the truth and the life'. ... The fundamental
point made by Jesus is that it is not possible to bypass either (a) this way of
suffering or (b) the person of Jesus Christ who is the earthly embodiment in
human form of God.
...
There are, of course, from earliest days many reasons for disunity and it
is from these early days of the first five centuries that we derive the language
of division and malfunction among Christians. I mean words such as: heretical,
schismatic, heterodoxy over against orthodoxy, and many other technical terms
which had largely passed into the mists of history. Words like these are again
doing the rounds. They are used rather loosely, rather too readily, in my
opinion, and with a degree of superficiality and destructiveness probably not
even recognized by those who give them voice but they corrode the morale, the
trust and the loyalty of church members.
...
Any of us committed to or involved in this field of church life realize
that unity in Christ is not an ‘add-on’ but is an urgent imperative embedded in
being a Christian. At the same time, we sense that dialogue is essential.
...
This linking of suffering and glory is not ... something confined to the
pages of Holy Scripture. It is written deep in the hearts of everyone here and
of everyone in the parishes which we represent. Whether it be a fireside chair
once occupied but now no longer; whether it be a place at the kitchen table once
buzzing with eager conversation, but now no longer; whether it be someone with
whom we worked all our lives, no longer now sharing with us a few words in the
evening before we both head for home – in our own individual lives, one by one,
we know both the suffering and the glory. And this is precisely why the human
experience of Jesus Christ, the child of God and the child of Bethlehem, is so
precious and so powerful for us. It connects heaven and earth. It holds together
life and death. It gives voice to both glory and suffering. And it does so
because, under God, it unites cross and resurrection. And this is why we, in our
day, must respond to that call to follow, and in following, to be sent where we
never expected to have to go – in service and in mission to individuals like
ourselves to whom we belong in community.

Corruption in Upper Shire Diocese

Richard Bushili, Nyasa Times

From Anglican Information

Corruption in Anglican Upper Shire Diocese, Malawi.


Bishops fail to address the needs of vacant sees.



Reported independently to us by e-mail but see also the Nyasa Times online website, 24th September.



Richard Msosa, the administrator of the Anglican diocese of Upper Shire, previously the diocese of discredited former Archbishop Bernard Malango, has reported that the Diocesan Standing Committee has terminated the employment of Richard Bushili, Education Secretary for theft of donor monies put at Malawi Kwatcha 1000,000 (£3,700 $6,800 Euro 4,600).

Msosa reports that, in addition to the cash, Bushili had been selling off equipment donated for school use such as text-books and pens. Much of the money and the donated equipment has come from the English Diocese of Birmingham which has been a partner diocese of Malawi for many years.

This incident is typical of the reason why donor monies are now drying up in Malawi with various bodies withholding their grants. This will no doubt continue whilst there is so much uncertainty both in Upper Shire and Lake Malawi dioceses. The blame for the impasse must ultimately lie with the Provincial House of Bishops for neglect of the two vacant dioceses, for intimidation of clergy and people, for fiddling elections and for seeking to force their own unpopular candidates on the people and clergy. The bishops should not be surprised if they are nowadays portrayed as self-serving bullies who have little concern for their charges.

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION says this must surely be an overstatement, or at least may not apply to all the bishops, but consistently we receive communications to this effect. There is an urgent need for the bishops and in particular acting Dean of the Province Albert Chama to address the situation properly. He must use the correct synodical procedures, communicate directly with the people and ensure that democratic decisions are upheld. The situation in the two dioceses is reaching crisis point. The Nyasa Times article concludes ‘Malango (the last Archbishop) is often accused of engineering the problems’. Albert Chama is usually portrayed as his protégé and as being uncomfortably close to him. If Chama does not resolve the growing crisis soon he must, like his mentor, be replaced.

From Anglican Information

The last chapter?

Where do books go when they die?

For a change of topic,

I've been reading an article in the New York magazine about the end of the publishing business as we know it. The article has a lot about the travails of individuals I've never heard of. But, leaving them aside, the problems seem to be:

• Large advances paid to authors and large losses when they don't deliver


• Plummeting numbers of independent booksellers and


• The demise of Borders leaving Barnes and Noble with a dominant position in High Street sales (or should that be Main Street?)


• The pulping of around 40% of published books


• Print to order


• Amazon


• e-readers
  

The article is in large part a puff for a HarperCollins spin-off HarperStudio. It offers writers no advance and 50:50 split on profits. They are also embracing e-publishing (seeing print to order as transitional technology).

I had a look at the Sony e-reader in the shop. At £200 I wasn't going to buy it. But I was taken with it - it takes MS Word and pdf files as well as ebook formats. You can't take notes on it though which I think a significant drawback. The screen is much easier on the eyes than the normal computer screen.

Amazon's Kindle (not available in the UK and the Amazon site says interestingly ' Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.') is consistently described as 'clunky'. It has a qwerty keyboard, net access and wireless download, but it also has a propriatory operating system which doesn't deal with pdf files very well and its terms of use forbid transferring eBooks to someone else or using them on a different device.

There's also the older, and more expensive iLead reader. You can make notes on this one, but it doesn't seem to support MS Word.

I guess these are transitory products and the next generation will have better connectivity and functionality and I for one will be very tempted (not least because of the ever increasing number of .pdf copies of out-of-copyright publications available through google).

On the other hand, I also read another article bemoaning the impact of internet use on the reading habits of the young.

Nielsen has gauged user habits and screen experiences for years, charting
people's online navigations and aims, using eye-tracking tools to map how vision
moves and rests. In this study, he found that people took in hundreds of pages
"in a pattern that's very different from what you learned in school." It looks
like a capital letter F. At the top, users read all the way across, but as they
proceed their descent quickens and horizontal sight contracts, with a slowdown
around the middle of the page. Near the bottom, eyes move almost vertically, the
lower-right corner of the page largely ignored. It happens quickly, too. "F for
fast," Nielsen wrote in a column. "That's how users read your precious
content."

The F-pattern isn't the only odd feature of online reading that
Nielsen has uncovered in studies conducted through the consulting business
Nielsen Norman Group (Donald A. Norman is a cognitive scientist who came from
Apple; Nielsen was at Sun Microsystems). A decade ago, he issued an "alert"
entitled "How Users Read on the Web." It opened bluntly: "They don't."

The author, Mark Bauerlein, argues for 'slow' reading of novels, poems, text books, and for students to be taught how to read extended passages slowly. Fast screen reading becomes part of the way people think in general, and the way they approach other, non-literate, areas of life.

This is all part of the social revolution which follows the technological changes of digitization. Something new will come out of it and the only sure prediction is that it won't be whatever we think it might be.

Which makes speculation cheap, easy and hours of harmless, profitless fun.

I wonder what it will do for spirituality as the disciplines of prayer and slow study are washed away (I suppose the equivalent was the end of the monastries). I'm not arguing that prayer and slow study are normal, only that the spirituality of those (like myself) who struggle with such discipline is to some degree sustained by those who succeed.

How can worship evoke a sense of God if our eyes are continually flitting from one headline to key word to illustration? Again, most worship in my experience is poor at evoking a sense of God (not infrequently actively militating against it) nonetheless the occasional experience of peace or of the closeness of God has been sufficient to carry me, and I suspect others, through the long parched periods.

Perhaps I need not worry. I guess spiritual experience has always been a minority interest and probably always will be. Perhaps Pentecostal enthusiasm is already the answer to my questions - worship for the digital age of quick readers.

I feel old tonight.

Is there hope in Zimbabwe?

A new beginning in Zimbabwe, or has Zanu-PF simply bought a little time?

Sokwanale reports a rise of attacks on MDC members in some parts of the country (here) and also an increase in farm invasions (here).

The last gasp of a party which can see power slipping away from it? Opportunist use of the time between signing the agreement and agreeing the details? Or simply cynical stringing the MDC along?

Recovery will take a genaration.

Botswana: Anglicans Seek Judge's Intervention

Canon Dr Howard Moffat, Canon Professor James Amanze, The Very Rev Dr Mongezi David Guma, Bishop Musonda T S Mwamba, Archdeacon South Fr Andrew Mudereri, and Archdeacon North Fr Archford Musodza

At the induction of The Very Rev Dr Mongezi David Guma as Dean of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Gaborone.

From Mmegi The Reporter, Gabarone
By Bame Piet

Divine intervention has failed and Anglicans have now resorted to the High Court to resolve their differences.

Justice Key Dingake spent the whole of Friday morning listening to a case in which seven priests are challenging the Anglican Church Diocese of Botswana and Bishop Trevor Mwamba for revoking their licences last year.

The seven are claiming unfair dismissal. The Diocese is arguing that the canons give the bishop power to revoke a priest's licence. Both sides have agreed to accept the determination of the court despite the wish of the Judge that they might settle their differences amicably.

==========

This seems to be another occasion where the divisions and conflict in Zimbabwe have slopped over into neighbouring Dioceses but the details are unclear to me.

Time to Credentialise

From Pioneer Press

The small church was proud of being open to all people — including homosexuals.

But, unfortunately, that wasn't enough. When it tried to hire a
lesbian to be pastor of the church last summer, it discovered it needed to prove
its openness.

The church is pursuing official certification that it is welcoming to gays, lesbians and bisexual and transgendered people.

"We have some people who are not happy" about seeking a third party's approval, said Edie Seefeldt, chair of a task force at Community United Church of Christ in St. Paul Park.

If it receives the designation, the 200-member congregation will be
hopping onto a pink-triangle bandwagon.

Interest in the GLBT certification is soaring — with the number of America's certified churches tripling in two years to about 3,100.

About 20 denominations are said to have such a scheme (though, of course, this is America where there are thousands of denominations).

The Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries have something called 'Candidacy and Credentialing' (it's not in the OED so it doesn't really exist).

All persons who can demonstrate that they are “in jeopardy” because of policies
of discrimination against LGBT people or practices of intimidation or untruth in
Lutheran church bodies around the world are invited to make application for
admission to candidacy with the ELM.

And the news is that

Clergy who participated in the ordination of Lionel Ketola, the first married
queer man to be ordained in Canada, received a censure from their bishop. The
bishop also announced that he will investigate bringing further charges against
Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Newmarket, Ontario for calling Pastor Ketola.
Lionel is Associate Pastor, deployed as an Ambassador of Reconciliation (2 Cor.
5:16-21) in the ELCIC, to further the work of full inclusion in the ELCIC.

Funny, we've surely been here before, uncertificated.

Support for Bob Duncan

The Most Rev Benjamin Nzimbi

The Most Rev Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya) has added his name to those supporting the departing Bob. The Most Rev Peter Akinola (Nigeria) is said to have also signed his support though his name does not yet appear on the Global South website.

Most Rev’d Dr John Chew has issued a statement:

The Province of Southeast Asia will continue to support, remain in full
communion and prayerfully explore steps to strengthen our shared life with
Anglican leaders like Bishop Bob Duncan and the Diocese of Pittsburgh as well as
other TEC bishops who respect the mind of the Communion and remain faithful to
the teaching of Scripture as expressed in the tradition and life of the Church.
We urge those who have not chosen to ‘walk apart’ to work actively and sincerely
with the Windsor-Covenant Process and other measures agreed at the Communion
level. This is probably the only remaining opportunity to bind the Communion
together out of this crisis which will strengthen our future common life,
witness in the world and our place as an Anglican ecclesial family within the
One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Note the place of the covenant. Chew shares Gomez's language about urgency. It increasingly looks as though the covenant (and I still argue that there will be a covenant) will not bind the communion together. Rather it will be adopted by conservative Provinces to the exclusion of the rest. It will be constitute a claim to be the true Anglicans. Those who will not sign will thereby have walked apart from the true faith.

Thus the covenant will work as a means to expel the North Americans. But the line will be drawn elsewhere and it is not clear to me which side of the line each Province will fall.

Now let's count the Provinces: those aligned with the Global South will sign. Those who share North American liberalism will not. The battle will be over the remainder. What will the CofE do?

Destitution in Zimbabwe: God our Refuge

Queuing for food in Zimbabwe

From Anglican Information

We have been asked to circulate the following Pastoral Letter from The Rt Rev’d Sebastian Bakare, Bishop of Harare, Zimbabwe.

Readers will recall that Bishop Bakare has the challenging task of leading the Anglican Diocese of Harare whilst the former bishop Nolbert Kunonga continues to harass church members, occupy the cathedral and prevent access to churches. It is hoped that Kunonga’s reign of terror will soon come to an end in the new political climate in Zimbabwe. Kunonga continues to be a strong supporter and political mouthpiece of President Robert Mugabe. Kunonga has enjoyed a very close working relationship with Bernard Malango the previous Archbishop of the Central African Province.

Apart from Zimbabwe, Kunonga is still causing problems in Botswana where he has stirred seven dissident priests to challenge in court the authority of their bishop the Rt Rev’d Trevor Mwamba. We carried the full background story on 12th & 15th November 2007 and it is available for reference on our website.

============================================

Website: http://www.dioceseofhararecpca.wordpress.com/

E-mail contact: avondaleparish.cpca@gmail.com

Church of the Province of Central Africa

The Diocese of Harare

From the Bishop of Harare

P.O. Box HR7331

Harare Pastoral Letter September 2008

Theme: God Our Refuge

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I am still under shock as I write this Pastoral letter. A young mother and her son about 10 years old appeared at the doorstep of our flat recently asking for food. After more than 40 years as a priest I know the difference between a professional street beggar and a hungry person genuinely asking for food. She was no street beggar at all. Going by her appearance she had not seen water to bathe for a long time.

This young mother represents many others in our community today in Zimbabwe. As you all know, most people have been without running water in their homes for months, let alone, electricity, and there are no affordable food items in the shops. Cholera, a waterborne disease, has claimed several lives in Chitungwiza. Children are being sent home from schools because teachers like all workers are underpaid. One does not have to speak about unemployment any more, because the majority of our work force is at home as they cannot afford bus fare to work. Housebreaking and other criminal activities have increased. In short we have been messed up by a few men and women who have ravaged our economy through corruption and patronage.

As voters we have done our best but our participation in the elections has been fruitless. Good governance, justice and peace remain a pipe dream for is all in Zimbabwe. Selfish leadership has no room for the neighbour. Such kind of leadership should be reminded of the words of Job:"Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will depart".

In a situation like this the following prayer may be of help to you:

Jesus Christ, when scorn and shame besiege us and hope is veiled in
grief, hold us in your wounded hands and make your face shine on us again, for
you are our Lord and God. Amen.

We refer you to Ps.31 for further personal reflection.

Diocese of Rochester

As many of you know my wife and I were in the United Kingdom to attend Lambeth Conference. Whilst in the UK, we took the opportunity to re-establish our diocesan link with the Diocese of Rochester. It was a happy occasion to formalise our relationship.

Apart from visiting some parishes in that diocese and staying with host families, I had the opportunity to preach in the Rochester Cathedral under the leadership of the very able Dean and a very welcoming congregation. My wife and I were very much uplifted in fellowship with so many sisters and brothers in that cathedral. At the Eucharist the intercessor prayed for "Michael, the Bishop of Rochester, Brian, the Assistant Bishop, and Sebastian, the Bishop of Harare." This was one important way of demonstrating our new relationship. Likewise we are asking our intercessors to pray for "Sebastian our Bishop, Michael Bishop of Rochester and Brian, his assistant". For your information the full names of the two bishops are: Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester and Brian Castle, Bishop of Tonbridge (Tonbridge is part of Rochester Diocese).

The Diocese of Rochester has an established Link Committee, and we are in the process of forming one. The Link committees will work together in order to strengthen our relationship. We are going to ask you to submit profiles of your parishes so as to be linked with those in Rochester. We are glad to hear that the link between Tafara and Rainham in Rochester Diocese has continued despite the temporary suspension of the link. If there are some parishes which had links with Rochester before the suspension and would like to resume them, please let us know.

While we were in Rochester Diocese, Rainham church organised a special evening prayer for Zimbabwe with colour slides taken by Bishop Brian during his recent visit to Harare showing locked churches and open air services as well as empty supermarket shelves. It was a very touching service, especially to know the concerns expressed by our brothers and sisters in Rochester Diocese.

Lambeth Conference 2008

The Lambeth Conference is a gathering of bishops from the entire Anglican Communion which met for the first time in 1888. It meets every ten years to discuss issues of common concern in the mission of the church today. In the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury: "The chief aims of our time together are, first, that we become more confident in our Anglican identity, by deepening our awareness of how we are responsible to and for each other; and second, that we grow in energy and in enthusiasm for our task of leading the work of mission in our church."

The conference gives bishops a chance not only to get to know each other personally, but also to share stories from different parts of the world and the cultural contexts they come from. This year's conference was attended by 670 bishops out of approximately 800 bishops in the Anglican Communion. Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda did not attend.

One of the issues that came up among others was homosexuality, especially the blessing of same sex marriages and ordination of openly gays and lesbians. Lambeth's position was that homosexuality is a sensitive pastoral and divisive issue that has to be handled with care. Lambeth discussed this issue in a very responsible manner by emphasising the importance of the family bond in the Communion whereby members of one family do not have to agree on all issues but still remain a family. Contrary to the forecast by the media that the Anglican Communion was about to break up, the 670- bishops present expressed their allegiance to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Communion. It was also made clear and agreed upon, after long discussion in small groups where all the bishops were able to make an input, that the ordination of gays and lesbians and blessings of same sex marriages was to stop forthwith and the discussion about these matters was to continue.

You may have heard that several bishops met in Jerusalem prior to Lambeth expressing their unwillingness to participate at the Lambeth Conference over the issue of homosexuality. However a good number of those who met in Jerusalem also attended Lambeth to show their allegiance to Canterbury and the Anglican Communion. Even those who stayed away have not severed relationship with Canterbury.

There were many other areas of serious concern such as the political crises in Zimbabwe, Darfur and Pakistan. My wife and I were surprised and indeed moved to come across so many bishops and their spouses who were very much aware about the persecution in our diocese and assured us of their prayers. Archbishop Rowan Williams and his wife Jane personally pray for Zimbabwe daily in their chapel. They are indeed a gift to the Anglican Communion. We came home feeling very much encouraged by the solidarity we experienced at Lambeth.

We were also reminded of our responsibility in Zimbabwe to pray for other areas of conflict in the worldwide Communion. We rarely hear of such places mentioned in our intercessions. Once more we appeal to clergy to remind those who lead the prayers that the Anglican Church goes beyond our national boundaries and that we have a duty to pray for one another and especially for those in troubled areas of the world.

62nd Session of Synod

Synod was held on 29 and 30 August 2008. We want to thank you, especially those who had the opportunity to discuss the agenda before Synod in their congregations. This helped a great deal to make our deliberations at Synod more meaningful and also faster. A good number of resolutions were passed, and it is our sincere hope that they will be implemented. We do believe that your delegates have since reported back to you about the resolutions taken a Synod. We will be approaching some members to serve on various commissions to form the newly established Diocesan Council.

Chapter Appointments

We are pleased to announce the names of the new Chapter of the Cathedral of St Mary and All Saints:

Canon H. Chifunyise,

Canon T. Madeyi,

Canon D. Manyau,

Canon J. Mudowaya,

Canon F. Mutamiri (Dean),

Canon C. Tapera,

Canon W. Zhuwakino to be installed in the Cathedral in the near future.

Canons D. Nhema, M. Madziwanyika, M. Makoni, who are in active retirement
will serve as honorary canons of the Cathedral.

Ordination

God willing there will be ordination of the following candidates at Banket Church on 27 September 2008 at 9am:

Rev. Taurai Constantine Kachembere

Mr Alexander Mahlava

Mr. Naboth Manzungo

Mr. Boyman Mancama

M. Mahomed Selemani

Please pray for them and their families.

Political Agreement

The news of the deal between MDC and ZANUPF is most a most welcome development. We hope, however that the deal was motivated by and has the interests of the people at heart and that there is serious commitment to its implementation on all sides.

Your Bishop

Signed +Sebastian Harare

From Anglican Information

Bye Bob

ex-bishop Duncan, Pittsburgh

The deposition of Bishop Bob Duncan, previously of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, has been much anticipated and fully covered elsewhere (Thinking Anglicans, for example).

I would just point you to responses on the Global South site.



There Mr Duncan is welcomed with open arms. He is described as a modern Athanasius (by Bishop Mouneer Anis) and welcomed as a fellow expellee by ex-bishop Robinson Cavalcanti of Brazil.



It is clear that the GAFCON crown will continue to be in communion with him as a bishop - adding one more stone to the de facto schism in Anglicanism.

But I am surprised that Archbishop Drexel Gomez should add his name so publicly to the protest against deposition. Not because of his views nor his past practice, both of which have supported American conservatives, but because of the timing. He is chairing the Covenant Design Group in Singapore.

The man put in charge of holding the communion together by means of a covenant, and who regards the covenant as so urgent that it must be pushed through at almost any cost, is openly taking sides in an internal matter of one of the Communion's provinces. There is no way that this public partisan action is compatible with his role as saviour of the communion.



Drexel should be removed from his chairmanship of the Covenant Design Group with immediate efffect.

Welcome Africans as brothers and sisters

African immigrants arriving at El Medano, Tenerife

From Catholic Information Service for Africa

VIENNA, September 16, 2008 (CISA) -The Catholic Church in Europe has pledged to treat African immigrants as brothers and sisters - regardless of their legal status - in accordance with the demands of the Gospel.

Senior Church officials attending a conference in the Austrian capital also said
African and European governments should work harder to end the widespread
poverty in Africa which is forcing increasing numbers of people to attempt
dangerous journeys to Europe in search a better life.
...
The participants noted that the presence of African migrants in Europe is a
diverse and complex phenomenon, which must be confronted in a variety of spheres
- political, cultural, social and pastoral - and with the cooperation of the
various jurisdictions.

It was unanimously agreed that the situation in many African nations, with poverty, underdevelopment and the desperation of many people, is dramatic, often forcing people to undertake risky journeys to Europe.

But leaving aside how African migrants may have arrived in Europe,
they must always be treated as human beings, as brothers and sisters, just as
Jesus has commanded us, the conference agreed.

=======

Good. About time too. Now, what about getting governments to follow suit?



We have barely-regulated global finance (look at the current mess), global trade in goods, and narrow protectionism in the movement of people.


In fact anyone can go where they like if they've money. Rich Africans are very welcome. What we have is high barriers against the poor. Time that the logic of globalisation was applied to people: everyone is valued equally no matter where they live or die.

Urgent? Why urgent?

Archbishop Drexel Gomez

doubling as Mephistopheles

Archbishop Drexel Gomez has set out the ugency of the task facing the Anglican Communion:

The process of finalizing an Anglican covenant needs to move forward more quickly if the Anglican Communion is to be preserved.

That was the message delivered Saturday (September 13) by West Indies Archbishop Drexel Gomez, the chairman of the group charged with formulating the pact intended to help ensure unity in basic beliefs, settle disputes, and administer discipline among historically autonomous Anglican provinces.

But why so urgent? And what is sacrificed by urgent action? After all the divisions in the church have been a long time brewing.

In 2001, in To Mend the Net, Gomez said the matter was urgent. In the Report of the Covenant Design Group (February 2007) which accompanied the Nassau draft of the covenant the matter was said to be urgent. But in neither case was any evidence of urgency given.

And now in 2008, just before the next meeting of the Covenant Design Group, the matter is said to be urgent again. It's very tiring all this urgency.

"... we are at a dangerous point in our history,” Gomez told more than 100
people attending the Festival of Faith at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in
Bladensburg, Maryland.

The danger is of division in the Anglican Church. And the only answer:

“There is nothing on the immediate horizon that offers any kind of hope to
holding the Communion together other than the covenant,” Gomez contended.
“Nothing else is on the table. If that fails, we will see only further
fragmentation and disintegration. That is not theory but reality,” he said.

...

Gomez noted that the covenant got a big boost at the 2008 Lambeth Conference
July 16-August 3 in Canterbury, where bishops meeting in “indaba” groups
overwhelmingly indicated their support for the concord, even as a small number
of liberals loudly opposed it.

That's the thing with “indaba” groups - you hear what you want to hear, and people say what they think you want to hear, and there is no clear way of measuring.

Would the Church of England support the covenant? “A majority of the bishops in
the Church of England, certainly at Lambeth, gave the indication they would
support the covenant,” said Gomez. “They would want to see some changes in the
text, but definitely were in favor of a covenant.”

Gomez gave a timetable for the next steps in creating the covenant.

He also observed that if the three moratoria did not hold then there may be no alternative to schism. But the creation of a North American Province did not seem to be included in the moratoria - he envisaged that new Province petitioning the ACC for admission into the company of covenanters and being accpeted, but only with new membership of the ACC. The ACC has already seen off an attempt to diminish its role in the Nassau draft and would still seem to be a significant target of the conservatives.

He addressed the thinking currently underway:

Significantly, the draft now under development is likely to reflect more of the
concept of mutual accountability than did the St. Andrew’s Draft, with a clearer
idea of how provinces might find themselves outside the Communion, according to
Gomez. “Without that, the covenant is meaningless,” he added.

He noted there had been complaints that the covenant was punitive and designed to discipline wayward provinces.

“From what I’ve heard, there are some bishops in [TEC] who are not at all in favor of the covenant concept. One said to me the whole objective of the covenant is to kick out [TEC] from the Communion,” Gomez said.

”That’s not the brief we were given.”

“Discipline is not meant to be something punitive, but it is to say that if you give your word, it is expected you will keep your word, and if you don’t keep your word, it means you are not willing to be held accountable for what you say and what you do.”
When asked how a province would be taken out of the Communion, Gomez replied, “The language we have used is that you place yourself outside by that action (of violating the agreements within the covenant).”

This is a key idea - Norman Doe sees it this way in his book, An Anglican Covenant, and Gomex says he was largely responsible for the controversial Appendix to the St Andrew's Draft - that if a Province is judged to have put itself outside the covenant then it is not being punished. The covenant is not punitive if exclusion results from the Province's own actions.

Makes no sense to me: if exclusion is done to a Province whilst that Province continues to defend itself and proclaim its covenantal innocence, then that looks and feels like punishment to me. I guess it all hinges on exactly how you define 'punishment'. (OED says 'The action of punishing or the fact of being punished; the infliction of a penalty in retribution for an offence; also, that which is inflicted as a penalty; a penalty imposed to ensure the application and enforcement of a law.')

Or, perhaps more harshly, it is immoral double-speak to pretend that responsibility for the punishment lies solely with the punished. Their actions may have occasioned the punishment but punishment is the action and responsibility of those who wield the necessary power.

Gomez is also clear that signing the covenant would pre-empt law suits in secular courts as means of dealing with division - a particularly sensitive issue in the US (and, increasingly, Canada) where conservatives are trying to leave the TEC and take the property with them.

If TEC signs the covenant, would it require its liberal leaders to suspend or
resolve all their lawsuits immediately?

“What we are saying with the covenant is that we are not dealing with the past. If a new situation emerges when the covenant is signed, it will certainly be contrary to the spirit of the covenant and to the actual terms of the covenant for persons to go outside of the fellowship for a resolution of disputes,” Gomez said.

“It’s contrary not only to the spirit, but also the letter, of the law because the covenant fixes the boundaries for the settling of disputes. And if you go outside of that, you are renouncing the covenant.”

Can (and would) any church renounce its right to seek redress in the law of the land where it feels it is being ripped off? It's a recipe for disaster as big as the covenant itself. So long as the seceeding group claimed a theological ground for leaving (or, at least, a conservative theological ground) it would enable any parish or diocese at odds with its bishop or Province to up and walk off with the physical property of a church. Should said bishop or Province seek to regain their property through legal means they would be acting outwith the covenant and therefore liable to exclusion from the Anglican Communion. At which point the departing group declares itself the truly Anglican body and therefore in legal possession of the property. Legal absurdity - property, trust and charity law of that land govern what is possible, not signing a covenant.

That's the thing about urgency - it becomes cover for partisan advantage. The cost of urgency is failure to work things through properly. The cost will be a framework for the Anglican Communion signed by the few on behalf of the many which will not be 'owned' by the church at large - let alone welcomed. It will reshape Anglicanism in only dimly perceived ways, and all the ways I perceive are to the detriment of Anglicanism.

But don't write it off yet. Not till the majority of Provinces have rejected it.

All change in Zimbabwe?

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, second from left, and Morgan Tsvangirai, third from left, his new prime minister, celebrating Monday in Harare with several other African leaders. New York Times

From Anglican Information



All change in Zimbabwe? Any chance of change in the Anglican Central African Province?

ANGLICAN-INFORMATION reports with regret the death of Bishop Wilson Sitshebo, Bishop of Matabeland, Zimbabwe, on 12th September.

Wilson Sitshebo was born in 1952 and educated at St Bede’s College, Umtata. Ordained priest in 1980, after holding various positions in Zimbabwe he later became a tutor at the United College of the Ascension, Selly Oak, Birmingham, England before being elected bishop in 2001.

His death means that the Province of Central Africa loses one of its loyal sons who was never part of the Kunonga breakaway faction in Zimbabwe and was considered one of the more moderate voices on the episcopal bench. It is essential for the Province that his replacement arises out of a properly conducted election and produces a credible candidate who is not simply a protégé of one of the factions within the House of Bishops.





Harare, Zimbabawe: Today’s historic signing of a power-sharing concordat between President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai leader of the Movement for Democratic change is remarkable.

All people of good will wish and pray that the spirit of the agreement as well as the letter is followed without machination and misuse of power. It is to be hoped that this will not prove to be a vain hope.

Many with long memories recall the late Joshua Nkomo leader of the then ZAPU party whose tenure as Minister of Home Affairs in Mugabe’s cabinet ended in exile. Nkomo was outmanoeuvred by Mugabe, a historical fact of which Bishop Wilson Sitshebo was well aware.





Provincial House of Bishops: Bishop Sitshebo’s death now means that there are no less than three unfilled Provincial sees including Lake Malawi, Upper Shire, Matabeleland and a further two if the temporary custodianship of Manicaland and Harare are also taken into account.

Bishop Albert Chama of Northern Zambia and currently acting Dean of the Province must ensure that all dioceses are filled before his ambition to be elected Archbishop can come about.

Unfortunately the latest noises from him are distinctly Mugabe-like and he is now insisting that being white is a disqualification for an elected bishop, even if it is by overwhelming majority.
This is proving problematic for him in the Diocese of Lake Malawi where most clergy and laity still consider that their choice as bishop of the (white) Rev’d Nicholas Henderson of London, England is the valid one. Excuses that he was formerly a member of the Modern Churchpeople’s Union, the Anglican Communion’s oldest Theological Society, seem contrived when Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana has recently returned from a major (pre-Lambeth) speaking engagement at the MCU Annual Conference and Bishop James Tengatenga of the Diocese of Southern Malawi remains an international editorial consultant of Modern Believing the MCU quarterly Journal.



Whilst at Selly Oak College, the late Bishop Sitshebo was reported to be an avid reader of the Journal.




ANGLICAN-INFORMATION chooses to take the Zimbabwe deal between Mugabe and Tsvangerai at face value and, despite the difficulties of what looks like two parallel jurisdictions with potential concomitant conflict, applauds the apparent breakthrough.

In the same spirit it is time for the remaining Bishops of the Anglican Central African Province to stop their authoritarian and counterproductive harassment of clergy and people, particularly in Malawi. They must begin sensible discussions with all the parties concerned to acknowledge elections, fill vacant sees and practice Anglican conciliarity – Bishop Wilson Siteshebo would approve, may he rest in peace and rise in glory.



Anglican Information

Death of Bishop Wilson Sitshebo

Via ACNS

From USPG: It is with sadness that I inform you of the death of Bishop
Wilson Sitshebo of Matabeleland, Zimbabwe.
He died on at Mater Dei Hospital Intensive Care Unit in Bulawayo on 12th September 2008. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Zimbabwe - the agreement

The agreement between Zanu-PF and the two MDC factions is here (.pdf)

No to creationism

Press Release:

The Royal Society is opposed to creationism being taught as science. Some media reports have misrepresented the views of Professor Michael Reiss, Director of Education at the Society expressed in a speech yesterday.

Professor Reiss has issued the following clarification. "Some of my
comments about the teaching of creationism have been misinterpreted as
suggesting that creationism should be taught in science classes. Creationism has
no scientific basis. However, when young people ask questions about creationism
in science classes, teachers need to be able to explain to them why evolution
and the Big Bang are scientific theories but they should also take the time to
explain how science works and why creationism has no scientific basis. I
have referred to science teachers discussing creationism as a worldview'; this
is not the same as lending it any scientific credibility."

The society remains committed to the teaching of evolution as the best
explanation for the history of life on earth. This position was
highlighted in the Interacademy Panel statement [.pdf file] on the teaching of evolution issued in June 2006.

Now we know.

Unmake creationism

And God made Palin, Peter Brookes

Rod Liddle in The Times takes Rev Martin Reiss to task for suggesting a less exclusionary approach to creationism in the classroom.
(See Thinking Anglicans for all conceivable links)

I guess it's a question of tactics - Reiss doesn't approve of creationism - and perhaps driving creationists into defensive bunkers is not a good idea.


But Liddle is right: what is taught in science classes is less the substance and detail of scientific discovery (though both are important) than it is scientific method and thought. Creationism is barmy, the opposite of scientific thinking and anyway, in my opinion, not what the authors / compilers of Genesis had in mind in the first place.


But creationists offer a challenge to other Christians as powerful as scientism. What place does revelation have? What weight do we attribute to words on a page (whether a school text book or scripture)? In matters of faith, as in everything else, how do we know what we know?


In the end, I think, it's all about faith: I rely on the work and words of others to use this computer, drive to the shops, cook pears. I rely on experience (mine and other people's) in worship and belief. I look for logic and coherence in thought, though I seem to have a much higher tolerance of unresolved paradox and contradiction that most. Where science wins out overwhelmingly is in its technological expression. Universality, replicability and predictability have enabled amazing technological developments from the plough to the ipod. The anti-rationalism in creationism is to be shunned completely.

But churches have long had lightening conductors. For most christians, most of the time, religion and science get along perfectly amicably.

I wasn't going to blog this, but the cartoon was so good.

St George's Cathedral, Georgetown, Guyana

I was browsing, as you do, the Anglican world and I came across the website of St George's Cathedral, Georgetown, Guyana. It looks as though it hasn't been updated for a while.



However what struck me was the aesthetic.

The cathedral is described as the 'world's tallest wooden church'. Its history page dates Anglicanism in Guyana back to 1781 when the first Anglican priest in arrived Guyana, the Rev. William Baggn, Chaplain to Admiral Sir George Rodney. The colonial context is clear: 'Britain, France and Holland were vying for control of The Guianas'. In the early 1800s the church grew steadily and by 1840 the first church was considered too small and a second was built.

On August 24 1842, St. Bartholomew's Day, William Piercy Austin was Consecrated as first Bishop of Guyana. He was in the words of the youthful Queen Victoria "the youngest and handsomest of my Bishops." Consequently, the Diocese of Guiana came into being on the same day and the new St. George's which had been opened in June 1842, became the Cathedral where the Bishop's Cathedra or Chair was situated - and Georgetown became a city.

However - and here's a metaphor if ever there was one -

From early days however, serious weakness in the foundations of the building were evident and large sums were expended on repairs. Finally by 1877 the building was considered unsafe and had to be dismantled.

The present building dates from 1889, when the history stops.



The aesthetic is so deeply Anglican it could be another 'Instrument of Unity'. There is a 360º panarama (with Quicktime) as well as photographs. There are eighteenth century (and early nineteenth) style memorials on the walls, hymn number boards, a brass eagle and an organ with painted pipes. Pews dominate the space and nineteenth century stained glass windows flank the altar. A notice board with photos sits at the back. A potted plant stands in front of the altar area, off centre, with a flower display right in front of the altar between it and the central celebrant's chair.



all here.