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A Letter to the Diocesan Bishop Dino Gabriel -21 October 2018
Dear Bishop Dino Greetings ! In May 2011 when I started ministry at St Barnabas Bluff I wrote to the Parish saying to them that this Parish could benefit from having assistant priest. For the work is plentiful on the Bluff for one clergy person to do. At this stage we do not have capacity to have an assistant priest so we have agreed, today, Sunday the 21st October 2018, @ 0900 Service, that the congregation of St Barnabas Bluff will set up an endowment fund to do the following: 1. Build or Buy a House for an Assistant Priest 2. Buy a car for an assistant Priest 3. Help to build savings to support the anticipated increase in assessment, insurance and the up keep of the assistant Priest We have emphasised that our giving should be intentional so that we can carry out the Mission of God. We have said to ourselves that we are a Missionary Church and that we should be involved in Church planting by increasing the number of clergy in the Parish. Scripture says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.” This runs parallel with the Diocesan Vision, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." As you can imagine we are very excited. It is a vision we hope and pray that as we go into the future it will unfold and come into fruition. We are encouraging one another to intentionally give money, time and expertise. Our giving should be mission oriented. For the Glory of God. We have challenged ourselves that starting from October 2018 we will set aside 10% of our monthly parish income to build this Endowment Fund towards seeing the Vision of having full time assistant priest at St Barnabas Bluff. This commitment will be reflected in the 2019 budget. Please remember us in your prayers. You will be excited to know that we now have daily Mass at St Barnabas. All for the Glory of God and our intention is to pray for the Prosperity of Durban and ultimately South Africa. Scripture says, “Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the LORD for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.” It is this realisation that our duty as Christians is to Pray and Offer Mass for the welfare of Durban, because ultimately our welfare is linked to its welfare. So, we cannot expect the Parish to increase whilst the City economically is shutting down, ours is to pray that industries and shops in Durban are hiring people. In the same breath we pray for the Prosperity of South Africa. Yours in the Service of Jesus Christ, Barnabas Sibusiso Nqindi Rector of St Barnabas Anglican Church Parish of the Bluff Reply from Bishop Dino Gabriel -Bishop of Natal -23 October 2018 Dear Sibusiso, I greet you in the Name of the Lord. Thank you for making me aware of the exciting Vision you and your people at St Barnabas have for the future ministry at the Bluff. I support it wholeheartedly. Go for it my brother with my blessing and my prayer. Are you looking at 2020 or 2021 for a start in the implementation of this GREAT VISION? Lots of love. + Dino Reply to Bishop Dino by Fr. Barnabas Nqindi - 23 October 2018 God Willing 2021. We are opening a fixed account at FNB this Saturday the 27 October 2018. Sibusiso Barnabas Nqindi .
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Notes from Bishop Moon on Disciple’s Passion- Anglicans Ablaze 2018
Head, Heart and Soul Our Giving should not be legalistic 10% the woman who gave 100 % was a true measure of a disciple. So next Sunday let us renewal our pledges for 2019 as true disciples giving all that we possess. Discipleship- most Christians have ready and studied discipleship course others even have PhDs however this does not translate to a true disciple the story of the Rich Young man kept all the laws but to be a truly a disciple is to give up all and trust in God- go and sell all that you possess and come follow Christ. He found it very difficult to do. Head, heart and soul make one into a true disciple. Head Christians find it hard to embrace Christ’s demands. In South Africa we have high levels of corruption juxtaposition with high number of people who call themselves Christians, so we have a lot of head Christians but not soul and heart Christians so not disciples of Christ. Jesus says, not all who say Lord, lord will enter the Kingdom of God. The story in Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira (two corrupt individuals whom God destroyed- Example of Camera Christians We have different types of Christians Crisis- Only need God when we are in a crisis Menu -Only come to Church to pick and choose e.g. Preacher very bad, reader terrible, service too long and to critic Consumer Christians- take, take and take never give back, time, money, talents or experience always complain and take. Camera- Only Act as Christians when someone in watching or in the public eye Recipe Christians- think that when we add everything in the pot we are Christians Christians need to Go beyond the law Matthew 5 “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” A true disciple of Christ needs to have basic knowledge of the basics Doctrines Reading the Bible cover to cover every year and attend Mass and to fellowship with others Doctrines taught in the catechism classes Human Nature God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit The Old Covenant The Commandments The Sacraments Leading a Christian life The Nicene Creed e.g. Reason we are unable to teach others is because we are illiterate as Christians in terms of knowing the Bible and the Doctrines and added to this our poor attendance at Mass. A true disciple is one who can teach others and explain the faith and finds joy in worshipping with others regularly, not when it is convenient- we are called to praise God in season and out of season and to worship with others regularly -we have been set apart through our Baptism to do for the world what it cannot do for itself and that it is to pray for it, daily. That is a true mark of being a disciple of Christ. “Noi Per. Unici, Solidali, Creativi”-Young people are unique, stand in solidarity and are creative10/17/2018 “The Young people provide the missionary dynamism for the Church’s evangelizing thrust in today’s fast changing, globalized and greatly interconnected world, they are not just the future but also the Church’s present.” Pope Francis
“The Church, therefore, does not go out 'to' the new generations, but goes out 'with' the new generations. The Church needs young people to revitalize her. The contribution of young people to the Church of Today can never be underestimated. We need to support our young people’s ministries. Be the band that plays at the 0900 services, be it Junior Church, be it the Youth Group that meets on Saturday and not forgetting the servers. We have an active body of young people we need more to be active. Parents and Guardians, it is our responsibility to make sure that young people come to Church on Saturday for Youth and server’s rehearsals and to help with the band plus support the Junior Church. The young people are not the Church of tomorrow but the Present Church. Think of a meal young people are the flavours we find in food, without flavour, the food is tasteless and boring. A Church service filled with young people is full of flavour and colour. So, the young people are the Church of the Present. Young people bring passion and lots of energy. Of course, our young people need to be aware of dominance of money, power and pleasure, these are idols, these sow seeds of injustice and perpetuate corruption. So being in Church allows our young people to have balanced lives and to worship the one true God through Jesus Christ our Lord as revealed by the Holy Spirit. What is important is for our young people to participate in the life of the Church, bringing colour, joy and allowing us to see the future filled with hope and aspirations. Young people are unique, creative and have sense of solidarity. We need to allow our young people to participate in all areas of the Parish so that they can be active disciples of the Present Church. Let us make St Barnabas Bluff be abuzz with young people from the community. Father. Barnabas Nqindi Rector . A couple of weeks ago we witnessed two opposing visions at the United Nations (UN). The first was President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech to the UN’s General Assembly. The speech was given in the context of the unveiling of a statue and the announcement of the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace. Ramaphosa said: “To the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized, the UN today is a beacon of promise in a landscape of doubt.” He challenged the UN “to forge a more representative, equal and fair United Nations that is empowered and equipped to lead the struggle to end poverty, unemployment and inequality in the world.”
This was in stark contrast to the second vision offered by US President, Donald Trump. After being laughed at, he said, “We reject globalism and embrace the doctrine of patriotism.” Time Magazine declared that “Trump’s ‘America First’ speech was an attack on the very values of the UN.” Underlying this sentiment was fear. Trump articulated this when he said that “America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control, and domination.” The fear is that international co-operation and multilateralism is a form of ‘control’ or ‘domination’. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, the UN is a way of helping us facilitate and forge an awareness that we are global neighbours. In a world where we need to rely on each other, and where powerful elites and corporations are able to evade their responsibilities to the common good, the Church has long supported the idea of an international authority. The Church encouraged reforms so that structures which existed move towards greater service of the people of the world. Pope Francis called for greater equity and power distribution which is reflective of the world as it is today, and not as it was in 1945, in institutions such as the Security Council and the International Monetary Fund. He called for effective juridical frameworks that can hold governments to account for their ‘solemn commitments’ – for example the Sustainable Development Goals. This will hold governments accountable, and their progress towards these commitments measured and evaluated . And finally, Pope Francis has called for a more participatory form of governance which would not subordinate the people of this planet to the ideas and ideologies of governments or even the UN system. He urged that they would, through increasing subsidiarity, listen to and serve people, especially those from minority groups. We must resist the impulse to retreat into our own problems. We must be better neighbours, keeping ourselves alert not only to local needs but also to the needs of our global community. Our Christian response is clear: we should build bridges, rather than erect walls; we are called to encounter the other rather than to retreat into our laagers Anglicans Ablaze Appeal Letter to Congregations in the Diocese of Natal : 3-6 October 2018-Hillcrest10/1/2018 BRING A GIFT FOR THOSE IN NEED THAT WILL BE MULTIPLIED:
Anglicans Ablaze is a conference to ignite individuals, and so impact churches across our nation. With this, we see an opportunity to impact lives practically as well. At this conference our focus will be on Philangethemba, a project run in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. This project is not focused on handouts, but on giving that multiplies. Among their many initiatives, their toy and book library impacts far more children in need with far more variety, than if donations were simply passed on. We would love it if you were able to contribute towards this need please. If every person could bring along 1 or 2 new or nearly new toys and/ or children’s books (English or Zulu) we could make a significant impact – Fr Siphiwe Gumede gives more precise suggestions below. We are hoping that we will have an overabundance and that we can use the overflow to establish a new toy and book library in another needy area, and so further multiply our giving and impact on underprivileged children’s lives. Bring along your gift and place it in the designated area in the foyer of the conference centre. It will be handed over by Bishop Dino and Archbishop Thabo at the Eucharist towards the end of the conference. If you are not attending the conference, you can always send your gift with someone who is attending. Many, many thanks!!! S’yakhula ECD Training Centre would appreciate educational toys that can be distributed amongst crèches in our servicing community.
Fr Trevor Pearce. Director of Anglicans Ablaze Conference |
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