first quarter may 2015 - growing the church · 2018-03-21 · first quarter – may 2015 1 ......
TRANSCRIPT
First Quarter – May 2015
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GtC’s Trevor Pearce to serve on task team to look at intentional discipleship for the Anglican Communion.
All of us at Growing the Church are excited about Trevor’s appoint-ment and pray for blessings on the team’s endeavours.
For Trevor’s article on intentional discipleship, please see page 3 of this newsletter.
ANGLICAN COMMUNION
ANGLICANS ABLAZE 2015
Western Cape regional AA event
WE have been truly humbled by the manner in which God’s grace has once again been poured out. It was an honour to have world-class speakers, such as Catholic Archbishop Stephen Brislin, Professor Brian O’Connell, Ms Judith February, Dr Spiwo Xapile and many more. There were two conferences running in parallel—one for adults and one for young people. The youth had amazing speakers as well and sessions in which they could explore worship in creative ways.
Here is a taste of what people had to say about the conference.
“Great worship with something for everyone.”
“Sound teaching with critical engagement around relevant issues, such as leadership, discipleship, healing, education, youth, unemployment and much more.”
“My teenage son went to Anglicans Ablaze 2014 and came back a changed person, so I made up my mind to attend AA 2015, the Western Cape follow-up event. It was fantastic in every respect! For next year’s provincial event, which will be hosted in Cape Town, I will bring no less than 100 MU members.”
─ Maria Van Staden, Mother’s Union President, Saldanha Bay Diocese
In the near future, we will be sending out a special report on the conference. In the meantime, please enjoy the event in pictures on our website http://www.gallery.growingthechurch.org.za/thumbnails.php?album=35
International Conference 2016 PROVISIONAL INFORMATION
Date: 5 – 8 October 2016
Venue: Bishops Anglican College, Rondebosch
Status: Provincial event with an international and an ecumenical component
Capacity: 2000 people max.
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Follow-up training at Retreat
On 28 February, GtC held a follow-
up Rooted in Jesus training for
St Cyprian’s Retreat. Taking a holistic
and cross-generational approach to
discipleship, St Cyprian’s is using
The God Who Is There series for its
adult and youth discipleship and
Rooted in Jesus Junior for its
children’s ministry.
Being trained in the past in the Rooted in Jesus programmes, more than 35 people came out for further training and encouragement. Everyone had a wonderful time, and the GtC staff continues to pray for blessings on this parish’s commit-ment to making disciples of Christ.
Polokwane
The Diocese of St Mark’s the Evangelist invited GtC to conduct a parallel Rooted in Jesus ─ Adult and Junior conference over the May Day weekend. Twenty people were trained in Rooted in Jesus for adults and nineteen trained as Rooted in Jesus Junior leaders for children’s ministry, such as Sunday school.
One Junior leader came for training so that she could use the small-group discipleship programme for her church’s feeding scheme.
The conference began with an opening session on 30 April and ended with a closing Eucharist on 3 May 2015.
Rooted in Jesus and the God Who Is There
Rooted in Jesus (RinJ) is a powerful small-group programme for Christians living in Africa. Unlike many church resources that are available to us, RinJ is not a Western implant. There are three programmes that make up the Rooted in Jesus family: Rooted in Jesus (for adults), The God Who Is There, and Rooted in Jesus Junior for children. GtC is responsible for the trainings in ACSA and depends solely on donations to sustain the programme — trainings, transla-tions and printing. If you have been touched by Rooted in Jesus and/or are passionate about discipleship, why not be a blessing and support the programme by making a donation? We thank you in advance for your generosity.
Upcoming Trainings • 2-4 October, Johannesburg: The God Who Is There Place, time and price to be determined; contact Erna Basson via email: [email protected] or cell no 083 300 8047. If your church or archdeaconry is interested in Rooted in Jesus training, please contact the GtC office via email:
Estelle Adams for Rooted in Jesus for adults and The God Who Is
There [email protected]
and Nicole Curtis [email protected] for
Rooted in Jesus Junior.
Left and above are participants at the Polokwane training
RinJ APPEAL
Who doesn’t like a wedding? We are happy to announce Nicole Corlew’s (GtC’s Youth Co-ordinator) marriage to Wayne Curtis. Introducing Mr and Mrs Wayne and Nicole Curtis.
GtC Celebrates a Wedding!
A Communion-wide journey of
Intentional Discipleship
Continued from Page 1
The Christian Body (the Church) is experiencing a most interesting time in history with unique opportunities for Christian witness largely brought about by the challenges that divide and the technology that connects the peoples of our time. In this 21st century, there has been a growing realisation of the huge potential Christian faith has to transform local and global communities.
When the Anglican Consultative Council meets on the continent of Africa in 2016, it will consider calling for a sustained period of ‘intentional discipleship’. We on the ‘Anglican Witness’ team will meet in Canada in June 2015 to put the theological and practical principles in place to undergird this proposal.
While ‘making disciples’ is Christ's mandate to us his followers, in recent decades in the Anglican Communion and in some other traditions, there has been very little intentional emphasis on equipping, mentoring, forming, teaching, or maturing those who believe in Jesus to be lifelong disciples.
Continued on Page 4
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Servers of Our Own
We are very excited that we now have our own dedicated servers for My Anglican and the websites we host. These servers give us faster response times and more control over our hosting environment. So for world-class website assistance and hosting, drop Nelly a line at [email protected] and see how we can help you with a new website for only R250 per month!
My Anglican The My Anglican Church Management System is really taking off. Here are some exciting developments:
1. The Synod of Bishops and Provincial Trusts Board recently endorsed My Anglican as the church management system for the Province and have encouraged all dioceses, organisations and churches to start using it.
2. We are working with the Dioceses of Cape Town and Saldanha Bay to start using My Anglican. Soon the media ministry team will train the Dioceses of Christ the King, Johannesburg, the Highveld and St Mark the Evangelist.
J.Life GC2 Training To answer the needs of many youth leaders who reach out to GtC, requesting training for and help in their ministries, we are partnering with J.Life (short for the ‘Jesus Life’) to train local Anglican youth leaders.
If this ‘pilot’ partnership goes well, we will look at making it available in other parts of the country. J.Life is not another programme; instead, it is a transformative approach to youth ministry, which focuses on discipleship.
A transformative approach to youth ministry
Brad Sitzer from the Diocese of False Bay; Abigail Hopley, Cape Town Diocesan Youth Co-ordinator; Kgowe Moleme, Matlosane Diocesan Youth Co-ordinator; and Brenda Sitzer from False Bay Diocese were some of the participants on the J.Life ‘pilot’ training programme.
Media Ministry Update! 3. Outside our Province, we are working with the Central
Diocese of Zimbabwe and the Diocese of North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba. Other denominations are also talking to us about developing a ‘My Anglican’ for them.
4. The General Secretary of the Council of Anglican
Provinces of Africa has also contacted us, expressing
interest in My Anglican for the other African provinces.
5. And if all of this is not exciting enough, we are
developing the My Anglican App for mobile phones! We
hope to roll out the app by the end of June 2015.
In April, the Provincial Youth Council (PYC), in conjunction with Sharing of Ministries Abroad (SOMA) and Growing the Church (GtC), hosted a two-day training programme on preparing for and going on short-term missions. The delegates learned how to minister with the compassion and love of Jesus, use skills in various aspects of outreach ministry, be prepared for ministry context and the leading of the Holy Spirit, and serve as ambassadors of Christ individually and as well as a team. All of the delegates will have the opportunity to go on short-term missions before the end of the year. In the words of one participant: “I am truly grateful and thankful to God for directing and allowing me to attend the mission training seminar.
Continued on page 4
SHORT-TERM MISSION TRAINING SEMINAR
Above: Participants from different dioceses taking a photo break
We have a new member of the team, Miss Neliswa (Nelly) Mzaca. Nelly comes to us through the channels of Learn to Earn in Khayelitsha, and she is a graduate of the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography. Nelly is working with churches on websites development. Please join us in welcoming Nelly.
Introducing Nelly!
Nelly Mzaca
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GLS TAKES PLACE IN VARIOUS CITIES FROM 2 OCTOBER – 31 OCTOBER 2015.
FOR DETAILS ON THE VENUES AND SPECIFIC DATES AND COSTS, VISIT THE WEBSITE
SPECIAL RATE FOR ANGLICANS R400!
Register as GtCR400
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT 2015
http://www.willowcreeksa.co.za/ Tel: (012) 665-4688
Email: [email protected]
SHORT-TERM MISSION TRAINING SEMINAR
Continued from Page 3
I felt humbled to be in the presence of the wonderful presenters—Gabriel Smith, John Schuller, Chris Viljoen, Jacques Jefthas, Trevor Pearce—who have listened to the tug on their hearts, minds and souls to go forth to make disciples in the world for God’s glorious kingdom. Revd Trevor Pearce’s testimony and talk made me yearn for more and more. I felt the tug on my heart to gain more knowledge and training so that I could go forth with the knowledge and armour of God’s wonderful word to spread God’s love, compassion, mercy, and kindness not only by word but also by deeds. It was indeed a privilege to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I felt a sense of peace, love and tranquillity and also a sense of humbleness in the realisation of God’s forgiveness and love He has for me and the people around me and for the entire world.”
─ Wayne Curtis
Godly Play trainers will be back in South Africa to conduct the following trainings: Cape Town: 17-19 July, St John Wynberg Durban: 17-19 July Benoni: 23-25 July, St Dunstan’s
To find out more, please visit Godly Play or contact:
Sharon Aldous: 076 6605260 [email protected] (Cape Town)
Joan Truby: 083 292 9276 [email protected] (Benoni)
The Revd BrendaTimmer: 031 702 7308 [email protected] (Durban)
A Communion-wide journey of Intentional Discipleship
Godly Play teaches children the art of using Christian language to help them become more aware of the mystery of God’s presence in their lives. It connects the stories of God’s people with the child’s own experience and relationship with God. In a nutshell, Godly Play helps children discover God for themselves.
Continued from Page 2
Even in areas where Christianity is the dominant religion, the effectiveness of its members is often minimal, not influencing the spheres of Christians’ daily lives, not to mention society as a whole. In other areas, there is a growing danger that faith becomes a private matter, a personal moral exercise, rather than a whole-life-shaping discipleship in devotion and obedience to Christ.
The following quotations from Anglican leaders are indicative of the prevailing atmosphere and of the gap that exists between faith and praxis, if indeed the two can be separated:
"A lot of people are confirmed by the bishop, but their commitment to the Church remains very low."
─ Bp David Njovu, Lusaka Diocese
"We have no problem filling our churches with people, but they need to know what it means to be Christians (followers of Jesus). That is where we need help."
─ Archbishop David Vunagi, Anglican Church of Melanesia
"We have many Christians but part-time disciples, many pastors but part-time disciples."
─ Bp Moon Hing, Diocese of West Malaysia
“The absence of any real emphasis upon discipleship in England in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s had a profound impact on the decline we are experiencing today.”
─ Archbishop Justin Welby
Anglicans/Episcopalians all over the world are bearing witnessing to Christ's reconciling love in all sorts of ways and circumstances, and this is a sign of commitment to discipleship. However, even when we truly believe in the importance of discipleship, the reality is we often do not pursue it; and thereby, our well-meaning efforts fail.
Therefore, there is a vital need for a Communion-wide emphasis on intentional discipleship, an intentional period of focus in which we equip all baptised members to live out their faith with their gifts and skills in everyday life as Christ’s ambassadors. The outcome of such a focus will have implications on the whole life of the Church. Let’s keep this process in our prayers as the Anglican Witness team moves forward.
─ The Revd Trevor Pearce
GODLY PLAY
Training in July