Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above, with wisdom, power and love!
The Lord be with you!
I have felt very much like Azariah (Abed-Nego) in the story of the Fiery Furnace recorded in the book of Daniel. Both physically from this Durban heat and metaphorically in the challenges that we face as a country and a church. But the cool wind of the Holy Spirit reminds me of God’s presence and His persistence in seeking us out and delivering us. I am thankful to God that God is mindful of us.
Vestry is done and dusted and we look forward now to a year of great ministry in the Parish. I am very grateful to the outgoing Council for what we achieved last year and look to the New Council to take us boldly into the next chapter of our lives together. We are jumping straight in with a Youth Programme as we do Youth Alpha and develop the servers team and I remind parents that if your children were not admitted to Communion after the Vestry service, they need to be presented at the next Eucharist. Confirmation classes will commence shortly.
The Vicar General Addressed the Clergy on Thursday and in his exhortation, he reminded us that we had three Bishops in this Diocese and we are now down to one Vicar Genera and so it is not “business as usual” in the Diocese of Natal. I ask you to pray fervently for him as he plays a very difficult role at a very important point in our lives together. He reminded us that an interregnum (a vacancy of incumbent in this case a Diocesan Bishop) demands that people will rededicate themselves to their calling. A confirmation for me that our re-dedication to each other in the ministry of the Church which we did at St Mary’s Vestry and will do at Good Shepherd’s, is the right thing to do at this time. We all need to be (in the VG’s words) asking ourselves “What we can do to contribute towards creating a Diocese and transforming a people that will glorify God.”
I want to encourage you to put your faith into action in addressing every challenge that you face. Our greatest challenge is to stay positive in a very negative society, a disillusioned society. As the VG has said – “the Gospel must tell nobodies that they are somebodies in the Kingdom of God.”
Be assured of my love and prayer and let us together stand for the Gospel and live out God’s values of Justice, humility and mercy!
Yours in the service of Christ.
Rector.
