Rector's Report to Annual Vestry 2015: St Andrew's Church, Newlands

Introduction

In today's Gospel reading we hear this affirmation of God's relationship with Jesus, "You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy" (Mark 1:11b; NLTse). This relationship was affirmed in last Sunday's Gospel reading, "This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him" (Mark 9:7b; NLTse). These words, first heard at Jesus' baptism and repeated at Jesus' transfiguration, are key: they draw us into the relationship of love that is God. We are reminded that it is from this base of stable, loving relationship that Jesus' ministered to his world; and it is in sharing in this relationship that we are called to live and minister in our world. Perhaps the greatest challenge of Faith is to truly accept that we are loved by God, and then to live out of and into that space. God's words, "Listen to him" are spoken in this context: we listen lovingly and carefully to God; we listen lovingly and caringly to each other; and we repent mightily when we realise that our self-interest has undermined these interactions.

We are amazingly blessed as a Church community here at St Andrew's. We are good people, caring people, loving people. We look outwards, and we generously share our resources far beyond our own boundaries. If we are not caring, it is of ourselves rather than of others, which was the key learning we made at our Vision Workshop in August. Thank you to each one of you for who you are, and for what you contribute to our common life; for your love for God, and for the multitude of ways you live that out both within the boundaries of Church life, and beyond in the fullness and chaos of your lives and communities.

I have sought to use this first year as your Rector as an opportunity to observe, to get a feel for the ebb and flow of Parish life. I am, however, and active observer, which means that there have been some incremental changes along the way, largely pragmatic and practical in nature. Radical change is normally only required in times of crisis and breakdown, and we are a healthy community. But just because we are a healthy community does not mean that there are not areas of concern, and these do need to be addressed.

Partnerships

One major area of concern for me is that we hold lightly the responsibilities God has given us for our Bishop and his family, and for the Kildare Pre-Primary School; and it has taken the building project to highlight this. Both relationships go back close on fifty years, a life-time for a person such as myself. Strangely, in a number of conversations over this last year the perception I get is that these two relationships are considered a hindrance - rather than a blessing - to us as a community. Instead of asking how we can be supportive of the Bishop of Table Bay, his ministry and family, we are praying for the return of the house to Parish use, with an underlying implication that Diocesan use of that facility is somehow illegitimate. Instead of seeing the school as a partner in mission, we appear to see them largely in transactional terms, somehow begrudging the fact that a facility built in the 1950's to house a school for a poorer community now houses a school for the wealthy, when in fact it still serves the community that surrounds it. In both cases I believe we are putting self-interest ahead of the Gospel. My only concern is in how we can nurture both these relationships, not end them.

It is important to note that living in Newlands gives the Bishop easy access to the Diocese as a whole, and with all the pressures of Episcopal ministry this centrality is important and life-giving. The Diocese has recognised this and has substantially invested in the house over time. In terms of the school, church and school are interwoven in the wider Newlands community perception, and we under-appreciate this at our own risk! We have this link to thank for the involvement over the years of numerous families in our church life, of whom Debbie and Rob Coombes and their family, amongst others, are a present example.

Annual Vestry 2014: Actions taken

Our Building Project

The Building Committee has worked hard to produce the results asked of them at our 2014 Annual Vestry Meeting, and we will receive a full report from them. I hope that their presentation and recommendations will receive our full support. What the committee will be proposing to us really is the only option if we are to take our responsibilities for our partnership with the Diocese and the School seriously, and still provide for our own needs as a Church community. A perennial question that arises in any Church community seeking to build often revolves around asking how we can possibly be considering spending money on ourselves when the needs "out there" are so pervasive and immense; and we are no different. However, there is a difference between self-interest and legitimate self-need, and sadly in the Christian community we often ignore legitimate self-need and in the process undermine our ability to meet the challenges of the Gospel.

We are not a community that suffers overly from self-interest when it comes to sharing our resources: through the Ministry to the Needy (MTN) we have given away R5,000,000 over the last ten years. That is not insignificant, and is substantially more than a tithe on what the Building Committee is proposing we spend on getting our facilities up to scratch for our needs as a Church community in this part of Cape Town. Our present facilities have served us well over the years, but our needs have changed and our commitments have grown; we need to spend substantial money to modernise, upgrade, and extend our facilities in order to make them more user-friendly and accessible to ourselves and to the wider community. The project is daunting on a number of levels, but that should not be our primary concern in moving forward on this project for which we already have a seed fund of R2,000,000 invested with the Diocese. We need to draw on the example of our forebears in the 1890's who had the courage to build this church with no less daunting financial costs, comparatively, and with a far poorer community-base than we have today.

The South African Book of Common Prayer

At our Annual Vestry last year the ongoing use of the South African Book of Common Prayer (SAPB) was queried, and Parish Council was asked to reflect and make some decisions around this. Council made the decision to use the Anglican Prayer Book 1989 (APB '89) for the early morning Christmas Day Eucharist, but on my request has delayed a decision on possible changes to the Sunday 07:30 and Wednesday 09.30 Services. This is in part due to my needing time to get a feel for the worship life of the Parish, but also in needing this to be addressed in the broader fame-work of service times, hymn choices, and the purpose our various opportunities for worship offer. In the next short while you will receive a survey sheet in this regard, which l encourage you please to fill in and return. Additionally, Synod of Bishops' have indicated that experimental material will soon be made available as part of a revision of the APB '89, which will add further pressure to move away from the SAPB, and to begin to consider the APB '89 as the "Old Prayer Book".

Youth Ministry

Also at last year's Annual Vestry, concern was raised about our ministry in particular to Teenagers. It is a phenomenon in many Anglican Churches that a new Rector is expected to miraculously have answers to the chronic issue affecting many wealthy suburban Churches of traditional origin. There are no miraculous answers. Our young people, generally, are in schools that demand the bulk of our children's time, have parents that fill the rest of their time with extra (beneficial) activities, and whose options for entertainment are multitude; and they find the forms of more traditional worship we offer boring in the extreme. Despite these almost insurmountable obstacles we have made some headway to retain our small group of Grade 8 and 9's, largely though the efforts of William Tough in creating a ''Teen Church" group that has some definition distinguishing them as different from the bigger Children's Church; and they are showing some interest in forming a Servers' Guild. We have also instituted a regular family-focused evening service that draws families with teenagers and young adults together on an approximate monthly basis, which is valued, but still needs some work on the recipe. We must, however, be doing something right as the St Cyprian's School boarders have elected to join us on a weekly basis at our Sunday evening service. They will review this after Easter, but in the meantime they are a definite value-add in more than just the additional numbers they bring to our attendance figures!

Ministry

Layministry

Our Layministers have recently undergone further training at Archdeaconry level and have been re-licensed by Bishop Garth at a joint service at St Paul's, Rondebosch. We welcome Dawn Long as a valuable new member of the team, and congratulate Jill, Edgar, Rosemary, Graham and Margie, William, Bev, Sheena, Denise, Ivor, Tony, and Jenny, on their re-licensing as Layministers. Alison's circumstances conspired to prohibit her from attending the training, but as her license is still valid for another year this was no problem. Daphne Myburgh and Steve Bethke have made the difficult decision not to renew their licenses; Daphne for health and family reasons, and Steve due to his studies and move to Brakenfell. We are thankful to them both for their contribution to our worship and pastoral life over an extended period of time. Edgar Ruiters and Bev Voight have both asked for a period of Sabbatical, which Council has agreed to; please keep them both in prayer. Thank you to each of our Layministers for honouring the call on your lives, and for being of service to us all at St Andrew's. l also take this opportunity on behalf of Vestry to congratulate Denise Ackermann on her appointment and licensing as Canon Theologian of the Cathedral.

Parish ministries

Despite a seemingly large group of Layministers, staffing three services a Sunday is proving difficult, and we are in need of additional members. If you feel called to this ministry, or perhaps to helping out with just the prayers, please speak up. This goes for other ministries, too: we are always needing to complement the present group of readers, sides-people, tea-makers and providers, Children's Church teachers, soup-makers, flower-arrangers, pray'ers, sacristans, servers, and youth, small groups, and our annual Morning Market. Please don't wait to be asked: offer! Please feel free to chat to me, to Bev-in-the-office, or to someone already involved in the area you are interested in. And at this point my huge thanks to everyone already involved in facilitating or participating in these ministries.

Worship

My thanks to Bishop Geoff for his ongoing commitment to be with us to preach and preside on the 1st  Sunday of the month and his input into a number of our small groups, and to Denise for her willingness to preach on a regular basis; and to them both for their ongoing commitment to our Lent Course. There is great value in having more than just the Rector's voice speaking into our common life, and I am hugely appreciative of their contribution. My thanks, too, to Elizabeth Cherry in particular for being willing to step into the gap in my absence. It has also been good to have previous Rectors of this Parish, Keith Griffiths and Mike Keggie, take services during this last year. Our Sunday worship has been complemented by regular Quiet Mornings, and I am appreciative of Rosemary's continuing to champion these as part of our membership of the Quiet Garden movement. Sadly, our Taize Services have fallen away for 2015, but my huge thanks to Esther and Karin for giving leadership to this over a number of years. We are hoping to offer some form of more reflective worship at the Sunday evening service when there is a 5th Sunday in the month.

Mission and Vision

In our August ''Vision Workshop" we took time to reflect on our purpose as a Christian and Anglican community here in Newlands. It was a useful morning, highlighting that we have been somewhat self-forgetting as a community, and that while we reach out meaningfully to the wider community of Cape Town through our MTN programme, we need to become more conscious of caring for and loving each other; and as mentioned above, a modernised, upgraded and extended hall and meeting facilities would enhance our ability to do this. Out of this meeting came the tag-line "Serving each other; serving the world." This is a first step towards renewing our mission and vision statements; and I am planning for us to explore this further on our Church Camp in March. We are also needing to explore how we can become more hands-on and personally involved in the projects and needs we support through the MTN programme.

Closure

In closing, firstly my thanks to my wife, Dawn: being a clergy spouse is never an easy space for a variety of reasons, and it is often difficult to "belong" in the same way the average parishioner "belongs" in parish life; and being married to a community-owned person often makes sustained intimacy a distant goal. In addition, she has the added burden of being married to me, which is not quite as idyllic as you may suppose. I am an introvert by nature, and Dawn often has the daunting task of coping with me in my "down time", where l can be distant, uncommunicative, and grumpy. l greatly appreciate her ongoing and sacrificial support of my ministry.

Secondly, my thanks to Bev Shaw, our Parish secretary. Bev has an amazing supply of patience and friendliness. Particularly amazing is her inner-resources in coping with the impact of the Morning Market on her office space! Additionally, she has the challenge of coping with my often distracted attention and seeming indecision, not to mention the family dogs! And then of course, there is the small matter of the rest of the Parish ...

Thirdly, my thanks to our out-going Churchwardens, Simon, William and David, and our Council members: thank you so much for your time, your commitment, support, and wise advice, your gifts of insight and practical help, often at cost to your own pocket. Special thanks to Noël Peagam who steps down as Dedicated Giving Coordinator and Honorary Treasurer after over ten years of substantial service to the Parish in this capacity. It is noteworthy that Council is appointing three people in Noël's place! Thanks, too, to Raymond for his facilitation of our Youth activities; to Mark and Jos for our Sunday morning music; to Steve and Andrew and our Sunday evening music teams; to Margie Barnard for overseeing our beautiful gardens; and to our garden and domestic staff, Wanda and Mombelli.

Finally, thanks to you all. You are St Andrew's: without each one of you we would not be the vibrant and healthy community we are today. Thank you for "Listening to him" (Mark 9:7b; NLTse), for being available to God's purposes for God's kingdom as God continues to work out those purposes in us and through us here at St Andrew's in Newlands.

MARK R D LONG
Rector
22 February 2015

Family-focused Service: Sunday 8 February 2015, 18:30

Dear Friends

Dawn and I have had a lovely break over the last two weeks filled with family and much physical activity: we've done a Sea-Kayaking Beginner's Course, signed up for an introductory course to practical Philosophy, climbed Table Mountain, walked up Lion's Head, visited the Wine Route, discovered the Truth Coffee Shop and Jason's; and I've done a substantial amount of cycling in preparation for The Cape Town Cycle Tour. So if I'm looking a little tired...

This Sunday, 8 March 2015 at 18:30, sees our first "Family-focused Service" of the year (not the 15th as advised in the last Pewleaflet). Just a reminder that the purpose of this service is to offer an opportunity for families with teenagers and young adults at home to come together in worship on a monthly basis. The format is not substancially different from our normal evening service, but we are attempting to be a little more inclusive of our young people, and  of course offer pizza afterwards! Excitingly, the St Cyprian's Boarders have made a commitment to attend our Sunday Evening Services for the first term this year, and they will be with us for their second visit this Sunday.

Our experience last year was that the second Sunday of the month was not always ideal, clashing a couple of times with holidays and exams. The idea this year is to offer it at least twice a term, on a second Sunday where possible, but to be flexible around exams in particular.

Again, feedback is important. We are aware we cannot be all things to all people, but would like to adjust where we can to meet more specific needs. Please feel free to chat to myself, William Tough, Raymond Quinlan or Alison Gwynne-Evans if there are things you'd like to see changed or done differently; and if we have the resources available we will be happy to try and meet your request.

Blessings
Mark

Lent Course 2015 - Reflections on The Apostles' Creed

Dear Friends

Easter is very early this year. Shrove Tuesday falls on 17 February 2015 and Ash Wednesday on 18 February 2015, which means Lent is almost upon us! The focus of our Lent Course will be reflections on the Apostles' Creed. It is open to all parishioners, family and friends.

Joan Chittister, in her book In Search of Belief says of the Apostles' Creed:

The question does not lie with whether or not the Creed is believable. The Creed is about the mystery of life, and its mystery is apparent. The question is whether or not the Creed is meaningful to us, here, now. Clearly, the quandary is that we live in a desert between two places, one a relatively static world where doubt was little tolerated, the other a world exploding with information, inundated with questions, where we are now and find ourselves, as a result, no longer sure.

Please join Prof. Denise Ackermann, Bishop Geoff Quinlan, and the Rev'd Mark Long for our Lenten reflection on the Apostles' Creed and it's relevance to life and faith in the 21st Century.

We will meet on Tuesday's from 19:30 to 20:45, beginning on 24 February 2015, for the six weeks of Lent. There will be a 15-20 minute input followed by an opportunity to participate in group discussion.

For those who find evenings difficult, Mark will offer a summary on Wednesday mornings from 11:00 to 11:45, beginning 25 February 2015.

If you are able to attend, please fill in the list available at the back of the Church, or let the Office know by phone or email.

For your consideration and prayerful preparation:

24 Feb 2015: Week 1 - Creator
Prof Denise Ackermann

We believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

3 Mar 2015: Week 2 - Jesus: Birth and Death
Bishop Geoff Quinlan

We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead.

10 Mar 2015: Week 3 - Jesus: Resurrection and Judgement
The Rev'd Mark Long

On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

17 Mar 2015: Week 4 - The Spirit 
Prof Denise Ackermann

We believe in the Holy Spirit.

24 Mar 2015: Week 5 - The Church and The Saints
Bishop Geoff Quinlan

(We believe in) the holy catholic Church, and the communion of Saints.

31 Mar 2015: Week 6 - Forgiveness, Resurrection and Eternity
The Rev'd Mark Long

(We believe in) the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Blessings
Mark

Summer Newsletter 2014: Article

Dear Friends

“In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3; TNIV)

Last year, as I wrote this column, I was glorying in the daily sight of Table Mountain, and reflected on a passage - also from Isaiah - that spoke of feasting and abundance and joy and fulfillment. As I write today, it is the wilderness, the desert, which catches my attention. I still awake with awe to the sight of the Mountain, I toast the evening with a glass of the Cape's finest, and occassionally see out the day with a drop of God's gift to humankind. However, in the year that has passed I have - even in this paradise - been aware of the desert encroaching on God's beauty that is Southern Africa. Perhaps this has been highlighted (darkened?) by the raft of recent load-shedding, a reminder of the levels of incompetence that mark leadership in our national arena; and the challenge of burying a newborn baby in the coming week that marks something of the deep sorrow we each carry in our own unique way.

The above passage from Isaiah 40 is a poignant reminder of the challenge we face as God's people in this beautiful land, especially in the light of Advent and our preparations for Christmas where we remind ourselves so powerfully through this season that God seeks our lives to be the road of holiness, of life, of hope. It is easy to get caught up by the despair and encroaching darkness and, therefore, we need to actively find ways to recognise, but not identify with, the actions, attitudes and thought patterns that lead us into these dark places. Anthony de Mello, Catholic Jesuit priest and one of the spiritual masters of the 20th century, tells a story in his book "Awareness" that highlights this need for transformation:

There's a famous story about a lion who came upon a flock of sheep and to his amazement found a lion among the sheep. It was a lion who had been brought up by the sheep ever since he was a cub. It would bleat like a sheep and run around like a sheep. The Lion went straight for him, and when the sheep-lion stood in front of the real one, he trembled in every limb. And the Lion said to him, "What are you doing among those sheep?" And the sheep-lion said, "I am a sheep." And the Lion said, "Oh no you're not. You're coming with me." So he took the sheep-lion to a pool and said, "Look!" And when the sheep-lion looked at his reflection in the water, he let out a mighty roar, and in that moment he was transformed. He was never the same again.

We need to be aware if we are to be transformed and transforming agents of God in the communities and society we serve, if we are to truly prepare the way of the LORD. What will it take to wake us up, to truly awaken us, that like the sheep-lion we may recognise our misidentification and awaken to who we fully are as human beings made in the image of God, as children of God, as builders of straight highways in the desert of our lives and relationships, both personal and corporate? This surely is the challenge of incarnation, of a faith environment in which we claim belief in a God who is not only Spirit and Love, but also human like us? The Christian faith is paradoxically both spiritual and material, and focuses us on a God who is both indeterminable and yet definable in human form.

And so what is your "pool"? And what do you see when you look into it? What is the image that transforms you? What is it about this Advent, this Christmas Season that transforms you, that means you will never be the same again?

de Mello goes on to say that, "The three most difficult things for a human being are not physical feats or intellectual achievments. They are, first, returning love for hate; second, including the excluded; third, admitting that you are wrong." And perhaps this is what the incarnation, the Christmas story, is all about: God with us, loving us, embracing us, and forgiving us. That is truly a wonderful gift, is it not? And it is enfolded in the story of the Messiah's birth, visible in Jesus' life and ministry, tangible in our transforming lives. But if we do not ask the question; if we do not listen for God's "word" (as Bishop Geoff has encouraged us to do in his last two sermons to us); if we seek to remain unaware, misidentified, fearful, anxious, depressed and scared; how can we be the builders of straight highways in the desert of our context and environment, be it personal, family, friendship, or community based? We can't, obviously. So, are we sufficiently courageous to stare into the "pool" which is God, and be transformed? And thereby becoming, more fully, God's transforming agents in our world?

May God bless us as we journey through this Christmas-tide towards all that 2015 will bless and challenge us with. As we take this break from work, from school and are enfolded in family and faith, may we discover anew God's strength and vision in our lives. May the peace, joy and hope embodied in the Messiah's birth so transform us that we will never be the same again!

Christmas blessings and love from Dawn and myself.

Mark

Spring Newsletter 2014: Article

Dear Friends

"Serving each other; serving the world"

On Saturday 30 August 2014 thirty-two St Andrew's Church members met to workshop together around our vision for who God is calling us to be as a Christian community in the wider Newlands context. This group was broadly reflective of the Parish as a whole, with each of our three Sunday congregations well represented.

While acknowledging that possibly our biggest strength is our outreach programme via Ministry to the Needy (MTN), feedback from our group discussions highlighted the need for "inreach": a need to caringly reach out to each other that we may then reach out to the world as an engaged, inclusive and welcoming community of Christian disciples.

We recognised the need to build on our Anglican identity and tradition, acknowledging that who we are today as St Andrew's Church is built on the legacy of those who have gone before us over more than a century. Additionally, we recognised that there are aspects of who we already are that we wish to preserve: our three Sunday services with their varied focus; our Ministry to the Needy (MTN); the various Home Groups; our intercessor prayer ministry; our fellowship activities (the St Andrew's Amble, Shrove Tuesday Pancake evening, and our Curry Supper) and tea after our services; the Morning Market; and our strong revenue stream.

Importantly, we noted a number of things we would like to see enhanced or added to our Church life with a focus on creating opportunities for broader engagement and participation by all who belong to, or seek to join, our Christian community here at St Andrew's. This requires a loving, caring and non-judgmental space where people of all cultures are able to grow as disciples of Christ and in width and depth of Faith. In this regard:

- Become a "24/7 Church", not just a Sunday-focused Church. Our building plans are important here, as they will offer us greater weekday access to our Hall and other facilities.

- Strengthen and expand our Home Group structure as a primary space to belong, where caring relationships can be formed, ministry encouraged, and Faith shared.

- Include our children and young people more fully in our worship: have them begin in Church before going down to Children's Church and Teen Church; provide opportunities for participation in music; develop a Servers' Guild.

- Build relationships through fellowship: a regular (quarterly?) combined morning service; review service times to allow for tea after the early service; and weekends away together.

- Provide opportunities for Spiritual development: revive courses such as Alpha, Renew, the Marriage Course; have regular Quiet Mornings; and build prayer partnerships.

- Create focus groups for Mothers and Toddlers, and for those who have been divorced or bereaved.

- Be more intentional about the Sunday evening service: vibrant music and liturgy; outreach to local schools and the university.

- Consider supporting a mission worker.

- Develop an "Info Central" around our website so that information about our various activities and community life is easily accessible.

We also reflected on what we wish to eliminate from Church life. This included the noise the Children's Church make coming for Communion, cliques, judgementalism and negative criticism:

- In terms of our children, there is an excitement about coming in for a blessing or to receive communion, and after the long trek up from the hall, that excitement is difficult to contain, although the teachers do their best to settle them down at the door (another reason why our Building Project is so important); our children need to feel welcome, and some noise is unavoidable!

- One is rarely aware of being in a clique. The best way of ensuring one's friendship group or Home Group doesn't fall into this definition is to be constantly on the look out for those on the margins of Church life, and invite them in. It can be educational to occasionally step out and view your group from an outsider's perspective.

- Criticism can be positive and valuable. We wish to avoid criticism that is judgemental and destructive.

In closing we noted that we wished to avoid the following: losing our Anglican identity; losing members through lack of caring; burnout of the few due to underinvolvement of the wider Church membership; complacency (especially in terms of our Dedicated Giving); and lack of follow-through towards engagement of new members.

Moving forward: we need your input! Please give comment on the above as you may have a perspective we did not consider at the workshop. How can you do this? A conversation with a Churchwarden or Parish Councillor, or the Rector; an email via the Church Office; a comment on our Facebook page. It will also be helpful, if there is any area above that excites you, that you indicate your willingness to be part of a team that develops that specific area in our Church life.

A concurrent process alongside this opportunity for further comment, is the review of our mission statement, the defining of our vision, and a list of priorities in terms of the issues identified at the workshop.

And finally, please hold the ongoing process in prayer. We seek to be about God's work and the purposes of God's Kingdom in our world. It is critically important that our mission, our vision, is aligned in this way.

Blessings
                      Mark

Season of Creation

Dear Friends

September marks a change in the seasons as we move from Winter into the wonderful transitional season of Spring! We have been blessed with wonderful weather welcoming this season into our lives: beautiful Cape Town days that enable one to forgive winter for all its wet and cold.

In the Anglican Church of Southern Africa we celebrate September as the "Season of Creation", and at St Andrew's we will be using the special collects, readings and Eucharistic Prayer authorised by the Synod of Bishops' for this season over the next five weeks.

Sunday 7 September: Climate Change "Sleeper, awake"

Sunday 14 September: Eco-justice "Walk lightly on this earth"

Sunday 21 September: Water "Water is life, sanitation is dignity"

Sunday 28 September: Creation and Redemption "On Earth as it is in Heaven"

Sunday 5 October: Biodiversity "Our Sister, Mother Earth"

Please join us as we celebrate God's gift of Creation. And, as always, family and friends are welcome to join us: please invite them!

Blessings
Mark

Admission to Communion before Confirmation 2014

Dear Friends

My sincere apologies for the lateness of this communication. If this has caught you a little off guard, the opportunity of a second date later in the year may be of help.

Admission to Communion before Confirmation has become a regular practise of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa. It is important to note that Admission to Communion is an opportunity for our children to take part fully in the worship life of the church, and helps prepare them more completely for the adult commitment to a life of faith that they will one day make at their Confirmation. The only two conditions that apply to receive Communion before Confirmation are:

- the individual is Baptised, and
- is officially admitted by the parish priest in their home Church.

There is no age limit, although I often find that around seven (7) years children begin to show a more focused interest in participating more fully at the altar rail.

The first opportunity this year for children to be admitted to receive Communion before Confirmation is at our 09:00 Family Service on Sunday 31 August 2014.  As this may be a bit soon for some families, there will be a second opportunity at our 09:00 Family Service on Sunday 30 November 2014.

I will run a preparation event on the Sundays prior to the Admission Service, being Sunday 24 August 2014, and on Sunday 23 November 2014, both at 17:00-18:00 in the Vestry. The preparation will include a focus on such topics as commitment, prayer, thanksgiving, the Passover and the Last Supper, Jesus’ death and resurrection, belonging and caring. It is helpful if parents (or a parent) is able to attend with the child.

Parents, please discuss this with your child, and if he/she is interested, please complete the attached form and let our Church Secretary, Bev Shaw (021 674 3851 / office@standrewsnewlands.org.za), know which event you will be attending. Should you wish to discuss this further please contact me on 082 600 6080.

Blessings
Mark