November 2015

The Eight O’Clock

News Read this in COLOUR at www.cck.org.za

November 2015

8 am Service, Christ Church, Kenilworth

Thank You, God

021-797-6332

Gretel and Tortie. Good friends

When I was a little girl and my

birthday was approaching, I’d excitedly check the postbox every day for a letter from my aunt who lived far away. She always sent a birthday card with a ten-rand note tucked inside. (In those days it was a lot of money and it also found its way to our house without being stolen!)

I never spent the money straight away and kept it in a safe place where I could examine this generous gift at regular intervals. My mother was sure to check soon after receipt of the letter that I had penned and posted a ‘thank you’ note to my aunt. Handwritten and posted, not an SMS or email—we didn’t have those then.

Recently, I was reminded of this when I wrote a handwritten thank you after receiving the special gift of a prayer shawl. Knowing that I’d been prayed for as this shawl was knitted into being and that I was so cared for; caused me to decide that a ’phone call or email was somehow inadequate to convey my heartfelt thanks.

More so, then, however do I begin to thank God for His grace, goodness and many blessings? The other day I was feeling a bit down and audibly told Him so and then proceeded to rant at Him because He had allowed my tortoise to go missing. I had rescued her 30 years ago from a fire and just wanted her back, I’d searched high and low on the greenbelt behind my house; justified to myself that at least she’d escaped to a nice place and not into the street. I was overcome though that my reaction and outpouring of anger to God was so intense.

On the one hand, I praised and thanked Him for some very specific blessings but also reminded Him that I had suffered a great loss earlier in the year and now He had taken Tortie too!

I felt mad, bad and sad!

I related this to my spiritual companion who made me feel better by saying that the missing of Tortie was magnifying the memory of my other loss. She also reminded me that God knew exactly where Tortie was and He was only answering my prayer journey— that in seeking greater intimacy with Him, I would relinquish November 2015 Eight O’Clock News

control to Him for all things, the outcomes to all situations and that included missing Tortie.

Lynn D Morrissey in her book, ‘Love Letters to God’, writes one day she took the time to write a letter to God. Her emotions poured forth, spilling from her heart’s reservoir of love. ‘The act of writing, this praying on paper, had released a geyser of feelings formerly unexpressed’, she said.

So whether we speak to God aloud or commit our prayers to paper, ‘It is the gift of your whole heart that God most desires— a heart without pretence or posturing; a heart in all its honesty, beauty, passion and brokenness; a heart pulsing with love, joy, sadness, delight, doubt, pain, anguish, even anger. True love expresses all emotions and true love; God’s true love for you— accepts them’.

On Sunday I arrived home from church, changed into my bundubashing clothes and headed out back to search for Tortie. It was slightly overcast and a good time to find her seeking out a patch of sun. My friend and I went in different directions searching through the luscious wild fig and undergrowth. Still nothing.

I then decided to search in a sandy, grassy area near some bushes and said to God, ‘I’m going to stop looking soon, I give up, if You want her to stay here, I’ll let it be’; and I thanked Him for all His goodness, power and protection. Then I turned my head to the right and looked down at the scrubby earth— there was Tortie, craning her wrinkled neck and looking up at me. I shouted ‘Hallelujah’, my friend came running and I burst into tears!

Prayer to God becomes ‘our heart on our sleeve, our battle standard, our essence, our indelible signature, our emotional fingerprint, our private well of memory… our true secret self.’

- Cheryl Anderson

2

Joan Tomalin A Point to Ponder

10/9/1920—3/10/2015

At the age of 95 Mom had lived a good

life and it is an honour for me to pay tribute to her and reflect upon her life and the huge contribution and significant influence she has made in our lives.

Although anticipated for many years, the final passing of Joan, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, has left us deeply sad and bereft. She leaves a huge gap in our lives. She was the matriarch of the family—and her love was the glue which binds us all together.

The past five years, after Mom’s fall and hip surgery, were very difficult for her. She bore the lack of mobility and loss of independence with grace and patience.

In her struggle with her failing body she still had such dignity and gave us all a lesson in how to grow old gracefully. She was always cheerful and uncomplaining and her smile which remained on her dear face until the end is etched forever in our memories.

Grief is a Journey, not a Destination

- Origin unknown

The Lord’s Prayer Our Father, Who art in heaven I begin with an endearing term of relationship, ‘Father’.

Remind me today that You live and reign, not in heaven only but all around me and in my life. Make me aware of Your active presence all day, in all my undertakings and in the people I meet.

Hallowed be Your name How can I recognise You—in the splendour of nature, in the

odd mix of people I meet, in the still voice that calls me to be more like You ? May I ‘hallow’ what lies before me, by consciously referring it to You, and also honour Your perfection, Your holiness, by seeking to become more like -PeterTomalin You.

Gentle Lady Gentle lady there was A quiet modesty, A humility about you That belied a strength Of Character honed by Years loyal service for Those you loved, and The adversities that you Faced with a quiet dignity.

Like gold burnished In the heat of the furnace These attributes shone Bright for all to see, Recognised I suspect by All save yourself.

In the strength of your faith.

You came to deep inner Peace This and your Other qualities shone like A beacon for all to see.

Gentle lady you have Slipped away, gone to the Lord you loved so well.

Now I’m left with a Strong sense of where You have gone, we Would all do well to Follow, and like you It were best to do so in Quiet humility.

Poem written by Charlie Shaylor, a friend of Peter’s, and son of very dear friends of Joan November 2015 Eight O’Clock News

Your kingdom come Yes, and allow me to be an agent of that kingdom by bringing peace to the anxious, grace to the needy, and Your love to all whom I touch. May people believe in Your reign of goodness because of how I live today.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven I see that will clearly in Jesus, who healed the sick and

comforted the grieving, who lifted up the downtrodden, who stood always for life and not death, for hope and not despair, for freedom and not bondage. He lived out heaven’s will on earth. Help me to be like Jesus.

Give us today our daily bread We have no guarantee of a day beyond this one. May I trust

You for what I need today, nourishment for both body and soul, and not worry about future needs and wants. May I also be ever responsive to those who lack bread today.

Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors Remind me of my true state, as a debtor who can never buy my way into Your favour. Thank God, I do not have to. Grant me the same attitude of forgiving grace towards those who owe me, and who have wronged me, that You show toward me.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one Let me not slide mindlessly toward evil today. Make me alert

to its temptations and strong to resist it. With neither fear nor regret.

- From Prayer, by Philip Yancey

The Best Sermons are Lived Today, in the cutest voice, my 8-year-old daughter asked me to start recycling. I chuckled and asked, ‘Why?’ She replied, ‘So you can help me save the planet.’ I chuckled again and asked, ‘And why do you want to save the planet?’

‘Because that's where I keep all my stuff,’ she said.

- Origin unknown, sent in by Alison Kempton Jones

3

A Glimpse into Indelible Connections How often have

you opened a book, eager to get into the story or contents, and bypassed the foreword? I’ve done it many times. In this book the foreword, which I took time to read, stood out for me, especially in the light of the fact of all I’ve learned in the last year at John’s classes on ‘Matthew

in the light of the Torah’.

‘It is possible to be a Christian and to miss some of the greatest links between the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.

Too many Christians live a faith that has no connection to the Bible that Jesus called His own. A great many of Jesus’ actions He learned at the feet of His teachers. To miss these connections may result not only in the loss of depth in our understanding of Scripture, but it may leave us open to the real danger of creating the Messiah Jesus in our own image. The One we call Lord may become reduced by our thinking and praxis to the useful servant of our cause and the mere creation of our ideals. The flesh and blood Messiah who walked the hills of Galilee with His disciples, and taught from the Torah, may be so foreign to our thinking that the historical Jesus is rendered unrecognisable to us.’

The book consists of fifteen chapters with interesting titles, starting with ‘Jewish Roots and Christian Identity’ and ending with ‘Koshering the Christmas Festivals’. Topics dealt with are the Jewish roots of Christianity, the Hebrew Scriptures, holiness, synagogue, messianic ministry, Moses, prophecy, wisdom, discipleship, Abraham as our father in faith, fear, faith and action, remembrance, the law, and finally unity and the festivals.

When I said I would do a review of this book for 8 O’ Clock News Ev very wisely suggested I should review a single chapter. Once I started to read the book I could see her reasoning. Each chapter is full and demands that the reader take it slowly, allowing time for thinking and reflection. I have chosen to review the chapter on ‘Fear’, perhaps because I identify strongly with this topic.

The chapter starts with a quote by Benjamin Disraeli. ‘Fear makes us feel our humanity’. It definitely does! The chapter centres around Jacob for whom fear was a very predominant character trait, and how God dealt with that fear. Jacob had to learn to trust God despite his fear.

The biblical concept of the fear of God is very different to the other kind of fear we humans are so prone to; the fear of punishment, the fear that something will go wrong. Pagans had just cause to fear their gods who were capricious and vindictive.

This is so different to the God of Israel who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 145:8). In both Psalms and Proverbs there are references to the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom, drawing believers into intimate relationship with God, and as being a prerequisite for November 2015 Eight O’Clock News

a life of holiness and awe.

Because Jacob was fearful that things wouldn’t turn out right for him he had to constantly manipulate situations and people instead of trusting the consistent faithfulness of God. John states ‘that the need to control will inevitably lead to straying beyond the boundaries of our own responsibility and into the domain that God reserves for Himself and the domain that rightfully belongs to others’.

Time and time again God said, ‘Fear not, O Jacob my servant’.

Jacob had to learn to trust God despite his fear. The covenant faithfulness of God who kept His promises to Jacob is in direct contrast to the latter’s fearful nature.

Feelings of anxiety or fear are not necessarily sin and can sometimes be very constructive.

John ends this chapter by saying, ‘Once again a Jewish Roots perspective brings balance and correction to our approach to such a vital issue as fear and to people with fearful dispositions. It calls us to a more nuanced approach to complex issues and a compassionate approach tp the life challenges of others’.

The other chapters are equally interesting!

- Jeanette Harris

Let Me Infuse My Peace Let Me Infuse My Peace into your innermost being.

As you sit quietly in the Light of My Presence, you can sense Peace growing within you. This is not something that you accomplish through self-discipline and willpower; it is opening yourself to receive My blessing.

In this age of independence, people find it hard to acknowledge their neediness. However, I have taken you along a path that has highlighted your need for Me, placing you in situations where your strengths were irrelevant and your weaknesses were glaringly evident.

Through the aridity of those desert marches, I have drawn you closer and closer to Myself. You have discovered flowers of Peace blossoming in the most desolate places. You have learned to thank Me for hard times and difficult journeys, trusting that through them I accomplish My best work. You have realized that needing Me is the key to knowing Me intimately, which is the gift above all gifts.

Isaiah 58:11, Isaiah 40:11 (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young) - Sent in by Cheryl Anderson

4

‘Saint-less’ Anglicans !

This title could sound a bit odd, just as odd as it was for me when I realised that Church Christ, the church that I walked past every day was an Anglican Church!

All the churches I’ve attended were named after Saints. My first recollection of church was in St Gregory’s where I went to Sunday school. I was about 9 when we moved house and we attended church at St Francis. (I grew up in Mdantsane, a township 20 km outside East London, famous for producing World Champs in Boxing—a sport I am so afraid to watch.

At 11 I was shipped off to boarding school—St Matthew’s Girls High. I say ‘shipped’ because there was no discussion and I was not asked how I felt about it. I just saw a trunk, black skirt and a white shirt without knowing that these were mine. I was off to boarding school—which was established in 1855 by the Anglican Church in a small town outside Keiskammahoek. The situation was bad in the townships—schools were burning and schooling came to a complete standstill. This was my parents’ way of saving me from the situation.

While at St Matthew’s my involvement in church started. I became a server and a reader, tasks that were undertaken with so much pride. When I studied at the Port Elizabeth Technikon [Production Management], there was not much church except for school holidays where I continued to go to St Francis. I was involved in a lot of youth activities and represented youth in the Parish Council.

I moved from the township to Gonubie, out of the family home so that I could be independent. I was working for Daimler Chrysler/ Mercedes Benz (car manufacturer) at that time. Here I went to St Martin’s by the Sea, where I became Chairperson of the Anglican Women's Forum (AWF).

In 2005 I moved to Cape Town. I wanted a change and thought moving to CT was a great idea. I joined another car component manufacturing firm, Arvin Meritor (now Faurecia) which manufactures catalytic converters.

I first went to St Chad’s in Tableview. There I learnt about St Lawrence so I visited them and later joined the church and became a Church Warden. I have since made a couple of moves—to St Oswald’s in Milnerton while living there and to St Saviour’s in Claremont when I moved to Kenilworth.

I used to pass CCK on my way to the station and one day I realised that it is an Anglican Church and as it was closer that St Saviour’s, I thought I should visit and found I liked it.

I work part-time on the staff as administrative support to the Missions and Outreach Cluster. I work closely with the Social Transformation and Missions teams that are now headed by Annie Kirke.

I became involved with Word on the Street as I am very interested in the upliftment of women. Living on the Main Rd in Kenilworth I saw these ladies and it broke my heart to see the desperation that led them to this way of life. When I heard about WOTS I felt it November 2015 Eight O’Clock News

was an opportunity to be involved in helping in whatever way I can. In fact on the first day I visited CCK, Emma Brewster was giving a talk about WOTS and I went to an Outreach the following Tuesday and I’ve been involved ever since.

I’m also involved in a Soup kitchen that feeds the homeless in Wynberg on Saturdays (not part of CCK). I also help at Feeding the Hungry and I’ve volunteered at The Warehouse.

I belong to Taryn Galloway’s small group—it is a very lovely group of people.

I’ve just completed the Kairos course which is a nine-session, interactive course on World Christian Mission, designed to educate, inspire and challenge Christians to active and meaningful participation.

I love the Anglican Church, the apparel/vestments, incense, music and the dramatic action especially during the Eucharist.

The ordered pattern of the service always makes me feel at home. I value membership and involvement in a church, however, and at CCK, the ‘Saint-less’ Anglicans, I have learnt more about God. I have learnt that He is not an angry father ready to dish out punishments to those who are disobedient. He is a loving father who gave His only Son Jesus Christ for my sin.

I have learnt about Grace, Faith and Trust. I have learnt about the ‘Land in-between’ and living in this ‘Land’, rooted in the knowledge that He will never leave me nor forsake me.

- Zoliswa Gidi [Photograph taken at the Barn Dance]

Seniors’ Christmas Tea & Movie The Christmas Choir [A homeless man (Tyrone Benskin) inspires a workaholic accountant (Jason Gedrick) to start a choir at a shelter. ]

Monday 7th December In the church At 2 pm.

Please write your name on the list in the Welcome area before Wednesday, 2nd December.

5

Caribbean Trip It all started when I received an e-mail from the Diocesan Treasurer of the North Eastern Caribbean in the Church of the Province of the West Indies (DNECA) on 19 November 2014.

They were making enquiries about using the Church Management System MyAnglican.org, which Growing the Church (GtC) has developed for the Anglican Church.

Through this connection the leadership started making enquiries about GtC and Anglicans Ablaze. They made the decision that the diocese needed to use myanglican.org as its church management tool. I was invited to come to the island of Antigua to assist with its roll out.

The timing of the visit coincided with the Diocesan Synod to be held on the island of St Kitts. The scope of the visit was then changed to include two plenary talks on Growing the Church and MyAnglican.org.

After a 27-hour trip I arrived in Antigua on 23 September in the middle of a heat wave. I was taken directly to the local hotel. I stress ‘local’, not one of the tourist hotels. It was great—the room had air conditioning.

The next morning I was collected and taken to the Diocesan office called Bishop’s Lodge. I met with Bishop Errol and he immediately asked for GtC’s assistance with a paper he was working on about the Theology of Children in the

Church. After a lunch meeting I was in for a surprise as it had been arranged for me to talk on the regional radio station, Observer Radio. This was my first time on radio and feedback was that it could be heard that I was nervous.

On Saturday we ran the first 5-hour workshop for MyAnglican.org.

It was well attended with over 100 people all engaging in the workshop. The response was very positive, which in turn is very affirming about what we are doing.

On Sunday we were off to St Kitts for the Synod. We flew on the local airline Liat (aka leave island any time). It was great to meet up with Tilly at the Marriot Hotel where we were staying and the November 2015 Eight O’Clock News

Synod was been held. That evening we were bussed off to one of the local churches to attend the opening service for the Synod. Tilly, of course, got roped into taking photographs!

My first 2-hour address to the Synod was on Monday after lunch at which I spoke about GtC and Anglicans Ablaze. The talk was engaging and went well; there was a lot of interest in Anglicans Ablaze and it looks like there could be a strong contingent coming to next year’s conference from the Caribbean.

The next day’s talk about MyAnglican.org was a little less engaging, mostly because a lot of the people there had attended the Saturday workshop. But none-the-less there was a positive response and the Synod agreed to adopt MyAnglican.org as the church management system for the diocese.

Tuesday night we were off to a reception with the GovernorGeneral of St Kitts. It was an evening of relaxing with new friends spiced up with some local dance entertainment.

Tilly and I returned to Antigua on the Wednesday and were hosted by a wonderful couple, the Workmans.

Lynette is an Anglican and Addison is a member of the Methodist Church. He was curious to hear that we are developing MyMethodist.me for the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. A few ’phone calls later and I had a Monday 2 pm appointment with the President of the Methodist Church, Revd Otto Wade.

He was excited about the project and after linking him with our connection in the Methodist Church it took a few days and they are now working on using MyMethodist.me. The amazing part about this development is that Revd Otto’s area is the Caribbean and Americas.

See the map for the 28 countries. God is clearly up to something!

I had a second time on Observer Radio. This

6

time questions were rehearsed and I was at ease—it went much better.

The rest of the time was spent in meetings and running smaller workshops for parishes to get intensive training on how to use the system.

I am very grateful to DNECA for their amazing hospitality, including covering Tilly’s costs while over there. I trust that you will help me return the hospitality when they come out here for the Anglicans Ablaze Conference 2016.

It was a lot of hard work, but extremely rewarding. I want to thank everyone who has been supporting me in this ministry over the years—things are starting to come together. I am

excited to see what God has in store next for our ministry.

And, Yes, we did get some sand between our toes!

- Michael Kunz

Whose Socks are These?

An undisclosed prize will be awarded to the first correct answer received by the editor.

[Family members may not enter.]

Self-Portrait

Fifty Shades of Grey !

On 4 October, when giving the notices at the 8 am service, I mentioned God’s generosity in giving us numerous colours whereas He could have given us one, like grey—and we would not have been the wiser. We would have been heard to make statements such as, ‘The mountain is so beautiful today—I can see lots of different greys’, or ‘the river is a particularly clear grey today’, or ‘My garden is awash with a profusion of grey flowers’.

The following morning I received an email from John Rogers: ‘Apropos of your Sermonette yesterday morning!! Which is your Phavourite of the Phour Photos?’

The attachment showed four variations of the photograph opposite. The email’s subject was given as ‘Fifty Shades of Grey off Grey Point’.

I was puzzled as I could read Durbanville Hills on the sail but didn’t know of any Grey Point around Cape Town so I wrote to John, to ask just where this Grey Point was to be found?

His reply? ‘It used to be called Green Point’.

- Ev Els November 2015 Eight O’Clock News

7

Learning to Walk in the Dark Barbara Brown Taylor

As a young boy of seven, Jacques Lusseyrann lost one eye and all sight in the other when he fell against his teacher's desk during a scuffle with his friends.

This did not stop him from becoming a French resistance fighter. In 1944 he was sent to Buchenwald and observing himself, found that when he was angry and bitter he especially seemed to stumble and bump into things. But he overcame this state of mind and realised that 'no one could turn out the light inside him without his consent‘. This for me, is the best of treasures in a book about tackling darkness.

Barbara Brown Taylor uses the wisdom from incidents such as this to challenge our view of darkness and evil. The Bible uses darkness to portray evil but it is a metaphor made the more successful by our constant reinforcement with negativity.

In Isaiah 45:3 the promise is found that 'I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places'. Taylor finds a rock in a raw cave that glitters brightly in her torch light, only to find that in the sunlight it is merely a brown stone. We see things in the dark which we wouldn't normally see and are the richer for the experience.

She doesn't deny the suffering which is metaphorically expressed by darkness—when the light is switched off we really learn to understand that God is still there though we cannot see or feel Him. Barbara, a former priest in the Episcopal Church where she served for twenty years, decided to explore life beyond the church because she found the structure limiting. Christian teaching, she explains, tends to be too dualistic, and with darkness it is the

Jean and Tony Westwood On their way back from the USA, spent time with daughter Ursula who is studying at Oxford University November 2015 Eight O’Clock News

same. Traditionally, although challenged these days, if it is not good then it is evil; if not spirit, then flesh; if not light, then dark. There are no grey areas. Her objection to this led her to a study on darkness and this book is a result of her experimentation. Barbara's research is a delightful mixture of practical exercises. She dines in a restaurant in complete darkness, and, on another occasion, experiences night-time with no artificial aids.

In this way she gathers her data for the book. She relates the outcome of these exercises to sound Biblical teaching and her refreshing approach to Christianity may well bring the book into the secular world. I plan to give it to my mom to read!

- Theresa Keay (Resource Centre Librarian)

Feeding the hungry !?

We have a shady garden which we are able to share with some outside residents—birds, a couple of stray rabbits, and a pair of squirrels. At breakfast a few days ago we were entertained by one of the squirrels who decided to come and share his / her breakfast time with us, in the tree outside our dining room window. We don’t know where the bread came from, but it was certainly enjoyed!

- Dave and Dawn Greenfield

Welcome, Matthew Ferrandi Pianist and new leader of the 8 am choir.

We are most appreciative that you are sharing your God-given gifts (and numerous hours of hard work) with us [Of course, the following does not apply to the 8 am Choir ! ]

8

Advent

Making Our Mark Lord, I find it hard to believe it matters, the little mark I make on the world.

I’m so caught up in things I can’t control.

Can’t even understand the problem half the time.

I feel lost, swallowed up, my efforts useless.

You are invited to join us on two Mondays during Advent as part of our preparation for the Three-fold Coming of Christ : Mondays, 30 November and 14 December from 3.00 – 4.00 pm in the Church Denise Wood, Judy Sewell, Jan D’Arcy-Evans, Margaret Rundle & Ethel Mitchell

So... what's the problem ?

1) A wife asks her husband, ‘Could you please go shopping for me and buy a carton of milk and if they have avocados, get 6.’

A short time later the husband comes back with 6 cartons of milk.

The wife asks him, ‘Why did you buy 6 cartons of milk?’

He replied, ‘They had avocados.’

If you're a woman, I'm sure you're going back to read it again. Men will get it the first time.

2) Water in the carburettor: WIFE: ‘There is trouble with the car. It has water in the carburettor.’

HUSBAND: ‘Water in the carburettor? That's ridiculous.’

WIFE: ‘I tell you the car has water in the carburettor.’

HUSBAND: You don't even know what a carburettor is,I'll check it out. Where's the car? ‘ WIFE: ‘In the river.’

I stand out in the storm, waving my little leaf of protest, it’s quickly whipped away, wind-blighted, seared, And nothing seems to change.

At times, I think I hear an echo of unpleasant laughter, far away.

I get the feeling there’s nothing I can do.

And not much point in trying.

Yet in the quiet, I still feel that inner sense, which I can only say is you, urging me on.

Telling me, however small I am, or weak, you care for what I do.

Reminding me, so gently, that however small a mark I make, It’s mine, and yours.

And telling me to do the little thing in front of me, today.

I may not see it’s cosmic breadth, or deep significance— sounds pompous anyway— but in the faithful living out and quiet affirmation of this day’s duty, lies worth, and joy.

And on some wall a mark is made.

A mark of love, shaped like a cross.

- Eddie Askew, from Facing the Storm - sent in by Wendy Gunn

- Origin unknown, sent in by Alison Kempton Jones

Another Point to Ponder Be the Change you wish to see in the world.

(Gandhi) November 2015 Eight O’Clock News

Editorial Team Tel. e-mail Ev Els

021 696 0336 emichael@iafrica.com

Cheryl Anderson

083 272 1530 canderson@beckman.com