the day and Social

Events which play an

important part in inte-

grating the youth into

the life of the church as

well as providing them

with a safe and fun

space in which to meet

and explore friendships. At the end of January

Inspire tackled Lions

Head. The event was

part of the Green Angli-

can‟s youth project and

brought youth from

churches around the

Diocese together to

climb to the top. It was

great to be on top of

the mountain togeth-

er, praying for our city

and for water!!! Inspire‟s second social

event of 2018 was Ice

Skating and food at

Grand West. It has to be

said that some were

“Inspired” to show off

their talent on the ICE

and they managed to

survive the event with

no injuries. However this

cannot be said for one

of the leaders!!!!

Inspire is growing from

strength to strength, not

only in numbers but in its

journey of Faith. The

members are beginning

to flourish in this critical

stage in their own per-

sonal development and

want to make a contri-

bution to the St Thomas

Family and out in the

wider community. In-

spire are very aware of

the challenges facing

South Africa and are

developing ways to

make a difference. They

see themselves not as

the FUTURE of St Thomas

and South Africa but as

the NOW! Let‟s address

the NOW so there will

be a FUTURE. Inspire has hit 2018 run-

ning. We have new

members who have fit-

ted in well with the

group.

There are two main ele-

ments of the Inspire

model: Sunday Morning

Meetings where we

worship and discuss the

Scripture readings for

In April, Inspire will be

hosting an „Inspire Inter-

act‟ event at St Thomas

where we will be inviting

100 – 150 youth and In-

teract members from

local schools to partici-

pate in Environmental

activities and listen to

guest speakers. This will

include a Liesbeek river

clean up and will end

with a Braai. Inspire are

proud to be associated

with this fantastic event

but many hands are

needed for it to be a

success. Please let one

of the Inspire leaders or

the parish office know if

you can help behind

the scenes on the day. We have been asked

by a lot of other church

youth groups to join

them on social events

and to work with them

and have had requests

to help other churches

start their own groups.

We are looking forward

to a fun and eventful

year ahead!! Inspire Leaders

Mel and Drew

Inspire - Be Inspired – Inspire others.

The Ven K De Vos

Revd Lorna Lavarello Smith

Revd Nicky Ing

61 Camp Ground Road

Rondebosch

Phone: 0216856752

E-mail:

parishoffice@str.org.za

E A S T E R 2 0 1 8 N E W S L E T T E R

Creative

thinking

Inspires

ideas:

Ideas

Inspire

change.

of office would have end-

ed in 2019, I am referring

to our “former President”!

We must never underesti-

mate the cumulative pow-

er of non-violent peaceful

protest against injustice.

In essence one could say

that is the message of

Easter in a nutshell, the

power of the Resurrection

of Jesus.

Sr Joan Chitister in our

Lent Course reminded us,

when dealing with the

Sixth Commandment, that

up until the fourth century

you would not have found

a single Christian taking

up arms because they

were followers of the non-

violent Jesus. Many New

Testament scholars hold

the view that much of the

urgency we find in Mark’s

Gospel is because it was

written to the followers of

Dear Sisters and Brothers

Theodore, the fifth centu-

ry bishop explained to

candidates who had com-

pleted their Lenten Bap-

tism preparation: “At your

Easter Vigil baptism when

you say “I believe” you

mean “I give my heart, my

loyalty and commitment to

God”: To remain steadfast

to God, to never separate

myself from God and to

make my highest goal to

be and to live with God

and to conduct myself in a

way that is in harmony

with his commandments.”

Similarly for us believing

in Jesus does not mean

giving our mental assent

to doctrines about him. It

means to give our

“hearts”, our “selves” at

the deepest level, to Je-

sus who is the living Lord

and Saviour of the world.

Active following of the

way of the risen Christ is

required.

At our most recent bap-

tism ceremony, William

Davidge and twins An-

drew and Christopher Van

Putten became the new-

est members of the Angli-

can Christian family of St

Thomas Church Ron-

debosch. You might be

interested to know that

William was also our

youngest participator in

the “Zuma Must Fall”

march that took place on

the 8th August last year.

At a few weeks old he

was blissfully unaware of

our determined call for the

former President’s remov-

al from office. He was

being carried by his moth-

er Alex in the kangaroo

sling strapped around her

chest. I said to her:

“Goodness gracious Alex,

you sure start them young

don’t you? Aren’t you

scared to be among this

protesting crowd?” “Not

at all Fr Keith,” she re-

plied. “I get my inspira-

tion and courage from

her!” pointing to the larger

than life beautiful mural

on the J and B building in

District Six, of a woman in

a defiant protest posture

with her baby strapped to

her back. It is Easter

2018 and before his term

RECTOR’S LETTER

“I get my inspiration and courage from her!”

Alex and William Davidge

RECTOR’S LETTER CONT. 2

THE LEAD PROJECT 2

EASTER SERVICES 3

CHRISTMAS WITH A DIFFERENCE

3

JUNIOR CHURCH 3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARL-

MERS

4

INSPIRE NEWS 4

Inside this issue:

Newsletter Date

EASTER NEWSLETTER

St Thomas Church, Rondebosch

Jesus during and immedi-

ately after the Jewish war

with Rome. He used all the

persuasive rhetorical skills

he could muster to counter

the violent rebel recruiters

trying to enlist Jesus’ fol-

lowers to fight in the war. If

we do not know how the

Romans operated it is easy

to miss this point. Simply

put: violent rebel leaders,

together with as many of

their followers as they could

arrest, were rounded up

and executed. Non-violent

leaders were arrested alone

and executed as a warning

to their followers. That ex-

plains why only Jesus was

arrested in Gethsemane

and none of his followers.

Jesus was regarded as a

non-violent revolutionary.

April 2018

Mark drives this point

home in the powerful par-

able of the choice be-

tween Barabbas and Je-

sus (Mk 15:6-8). He is

writing this after the Tem-

ple’s destruction, Jeru-

salem’s devastation and

Israel’s desolation in that

war of 66-74 AD (CE). He

holds before the recipients

of his gospel an earlier

choice between two possi-

ble saviours. One is the

violent freedom fighter,

“Barabbas [who] was in

prison with rebels who

had committed murder

during the insurrection.”

The other is the non-

violent Jesus; true reveal-

er of God’s saving will.

The ultimate difference

between Jesus and Bar-

abbas is the choice be-

tween non-violent re-

sistance and violent rebel-

lion. Mark mourns and

laments in this story:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

you chose the wrong op-

tion.” History has corrobo-

rated this lament of choos-

ing the wrong option.

Every celebration of East-

er holds up a mirror for us

to gaze into to examine

our own personal behavior

and more so for leaders

all over the world to gaze

into as a warning. Our

future survival as the hu-

man race still comes down

it seems to that simple

choice: Barabbas or Je-

sus.

Have a blessed Easter.

Your Rector and Friend

Fr Keith

A REMINDER TO OUR FAMILY AND

FRIENDS THAT THOSE WITH CHIL-

DREN ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND

THE 6.30 AM SERVICE ON EASTER

SUNDAY MORNING AT WHICH THE

EXCITING LIGHTING OF THE EASTER

FIRE TAKES PLACE .

CHILDREN SHOULD MEET FR KEITH

NEAR THE MAIN DOOR TO HELP LIGHT

THE FIRE. A programme for children

and an Easter Egg hunt will follow

while the service icontinues.

RECTOR’S LETTER CONTINUED

EASTER SERVICES

The LEAD Project How the Training Works:

GtC is partnering with

J-Life to do this training.

There are four modules

Strategy, Foundations,

Vision and Multiplication.

These modules are

based on the ministry life

of Jesus, and each mod-

ule takes place over two

days.

What to Expect?

Become disciple-makers,

based on the Great Com-

mandment – to love God

and to love humankind –

and the Great Commis-

sion – to make disciples

of all people.

What is LEAD?

The LEAD project is Lead-

ership for Evangelism

and Discipleship.

Growing the Church (GtC)

has created the LEAD

project and is encourag-

ing all Anglicans to take

the LEAD training, espe-

cially those who took the

Discipleship Pledge at

Anglicans Ablaze 2016.

Page 2

St Thomas Church, Rondebosch

Easter crosses made at Messy Church on the first Friday in March—the next Messy Church is on Friday 6th April at 6 pm in the Koinonia room

St Thomas’s

SPEAK LIFE

weekend away

When:

12-14 October 2018

Where:

Wortelgat, Stanford

What’s gong to happen:

Worship

Talks

Activi t ies

Fun

Quiet Time

Eating

Sleeping

Cost: R350 pp

THE LEAD

PROJECT –

SUPPORTING

ACSA IN ITS

DECADE OF

INTENTIONAL

DISCIPLESHIP

First of all a big thank you

from The Carpenter’s Shop

for the very generous sup-

port of many St Thomas

parishioners for the Feed

5000 lunch service for the

homeless of the Central Busi-

ness District.

This operated each day

from 18 December to 12

January, for each of the 26

days including Christmas

Day, with the exception of

Boxing Day and New Year’s

Day.

A total of 4980 meals were

served, and many of the 83

volunteers over the days

expressed interest in partici-

pating in future years.

As if this were not enough of

a difference, a very special

difference came from a

young family in our congre-

gation. The parents decid-

ed to introduce the real

meaning of Christmas to

their two little children, by

helping them to make cards

which they sold during De-

cember to raise funds for

Feed 5000. This they did so

attractively that R 1000 was

realised and given towards

Feed 5000.

On the last day, Friday, 12

January, the family went in

as volunteers in the prepa-

ration and distribution of the

food, and all four had a

wonderful time – ―it was

great fun‖. This was most

educational for the children,

of course, and demonstrated

the real essence of Christ-

mas.

Geoff Burton

Christmas Gifts with a difference

Page 3

Easter Newsletter 2018

is always a blessing to be a part of. Anne Kathan, Carol Webb and Olivia Fair work together on al-ternate Sundays to pro-duce a creative and stimu-lating scriptural program consisting of stories, an energetic activity, chatting time and prayers. We thank Jesus for these im-portant members of our St Thomas community, who bring such insight and

The Junior Church meets on the second, fourth (and fifth) Sunday of each month in the sunny room at the back of the Church Office. Our team of little peeps has grown nicely this year, and their enthu-siasm, excitement and joy

knowledge into our teaching. May we con-tinue to nurture and grow their faith as they journey with us.

The Junior Church THE EASTER

OFFERING

IS A GIFT TO

THE RECTOR.

PLEASE USE AN

ENVELOPE OR

DO AN EFT

MARKED

―EASTER

OFFERING ―

Happy Birthday Charlmer!

top of us having this cake my daughter had brought a pack of boy's school clothes, with a lunch box, soap, toothpaste and brush for an 8yr old! God certainly works in mysteri-ous ways. I don't know what made Joanne buy the school clothes and then give them to me to find someone who would ap-preciate them!

Dawn Johnson

Earlier in the year I had fun making a gingerbread house and Rev Nicky sug-gested we take it to be enjoyed at Red Cross Chil-dren’s Hospital. On the scheduled day she rang me ever so excited to say that one of the children, Charlmer Harker had a birthday (a crown one at that) and we could take the cake to celebrate. On