CHRISTMAS LETTER

Dear Friends

Greetings to you in Jesus’ name.

This Sunday marks the beginning of the Christian year. Since ancient times, the Church begins its year with a four week preparation for Christmas. These weeks involve a journey ‘upward’ to the great celebration of Christ’s birth. Its a challenge for all of us who feel like its the end of a year, with all its Christmas functions and end of year parties, to begin a new journey. And I suppose, for many it seems like another repeat of an often repeated series of services. What can bring a newness to our Christmas preparations this year?

The Western Church is in decline. The post modernity has brought a generation of people who are focussed on the present, on individual freedom and who are reluctant to commit. This faces the Western Church with tremendous challenge. Our faith is historical, it is communal and it demands a commitment of faith.  How will we minister to a generation like this. The beauty of the Church and the reason she has survived for 2000 years is that under the guidance of God’s Spirit, we have been able to declare the unchanging Gospel of Christ to each context and in each generation. We will have to put our hearts and minds together to meet this challenge by discerning God’s way into the future. The world we live in, its ways, are no surprise to the One who goes always before us!

Since our hope is in Jesus and since Jesus is able to save us, let us approach this advent season with a sense of expectation, eager to see Him at work in our midst. He is, after all, a God of miracles and wonders and if we have the eyes to see, we shall be amazed.

Some news of the family

The General Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Jerry Pillay, having been honoured by the world ecumenical movement in June 2010 in their election of him as President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, has been honoured again. The university of Stellenbosch has appointed Jerry as a Professor Extraordinarius. The appointment is an honour and will not affect his position as General Secretary of the UPCSA.

We are very proud of Jerry. His achievements and his stature in the ecumenical family are a credit to him and to us. He is a great gift to us and we warmly congratulate him.

The Church in Singapore and Hong Kong

I recently travelled to Singapore and Hong Kong upon the invitation of those denominations. The Presbyterian Church of Singapore was celebrating its 130^th Anniversary.

The Presbyterian Church in Singapore can be traced back to the work of the London Missionary Society and the Presbyterian Church (England) Mission in South China. In 1829, Rev Benjamin Keasberry came to Singapore to work among Malay-speaking people and subsequently started the Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church. In 1856, the famous Orchard Road Presbyterian Church was established for Scottish Residents. In 1881 the English Presbyterian Mission organised the first Chinese Presbyterian Church. It was this event which was seen as the beginning of the Presbyterian Church in Singapore.

We were so well received by Elder Wong Pock Yeen and his staff, exposing us to all kinds of facets of the PCS life and work. It is hoped that other exchanges and visits might be arranged. The PCS is a small church (like the UPCSA) and it has something to teach us. We also, I believe have much to offer the PCS. The PCS has two Presbyteries (groups of congregations) along language lines: the Chinese speaking Presbytery and the English speaking Presbytery.

Following this, we (Jerry and I) visited the Churches of Christ in China (Hong Kong Council). This denomination was part of a greater family of Churches before the cultural revolution in China (1949). After the cultural revolution, many churches were closed and others became interdenominational. The congregations in Hong Kong and Macau remained. During the week, Jerry and I attended their annual ordination/licensing service for ministers as well as their General Assembly which took a total of 2 hours to complete its business!

Churches are growing in the east, particularly in mainland China and this denomination has a wonderful engagement in mission.

The Presbytery of Central Cape

At the beginning of this month, I completed the first phase of my ‘tour’ of the Presbytery of Central Cape. Having gathered all the retired ministers in and around Port Elizabeth for a tea during the sitting of the Executive Commission, I was able to meet also with the Revs Glen Craig (and his wife, Jeanette) and Thembi Ntshudu (and his wife Vivienne) during this part of the tour. In addition, I visited the congregations of Trinity, Makanaskop and Tantyi (Grahamstown), Port Alfred, Bedford, Nonzwakazi, Lingelihle, Glen Avon and St Andrew’s (Somerset East).

Eighteen of the Presbytery’s ministers (together with their spouses) attended a Retreat where I was asked to teach. This was a wonderful event where ministers could talk, enjoy each other’s company and share struggles. I enjoyed this interaction immensely.  On Saturday 12^th November, the Presbytery met and I was pleased to be present so that I could listen to their regular business. The Rev. Mike Taylor, who has now left the Presbytery to take up a position with Theological Education by Extension College in Turffontein, Johannesburg, was the Moderator at the time and I would like to thank him for all the help he gave to me in arranging this first part of the tour.  The Rev. Nzimane Jita was elected Moderator at the November meeting and will be inducted in February 2012.

I will return in March 2012 to tour the Port Elizabeth and Southern Cape churches.

Becoming a missional congregation

So many people have enquired about The Church without walls material that I have quoted in my addresses and used in workshops with Presbyteries. This is available online via the Church of Scotland website: www.churchofscotland.org.uk

Many of you will know that we belong to a family of Churches called the Council for World Mission.  These are Churches which were planted in full or part by the London Missionary Society in the 18^th and 19^th Centuries.  CWM seeks to encourage its members to become missional Churches. That is outward looking churches, community involved churches, evangelical churches.  I think this a great invitation which should be taken up be all. Some years ago, the UPCSA set up a Mission Priorities Fund to support local congregations in mission. In 2013, another gift will be received by the UPCSA to be used for mission projects within local congregations, Presbyteries and by Standing Committees. Before we can design all kinds of elaborate programmes, we need to become mission minded. I would encourage Presbyteries and local congregations to engage in strategic thinking about what it means to be Church in their context in our time. Maintenance is a natural hiding place for the Church but being Missional takes faithful courage.

I wish you well in this season. It is such a hopeful place and it culminates in the place of celebration. May the Church be full of thanksgiving and praise for the One who was and is and is to come.

Rejoice and be glad – for Our God reigns.

With Love in Christ

  

George Marchinkowski

Moderator of the General Assembly

Hong Kong

Jerry Pillay (General Secretary of UPCSA) joined us on this portion of our trip. Our official visit with Hong Kong Council of the Churches of Christ in China (HKCCCC) started with a meeting with the General Secretary Rev Eric So and his Associate Rev Bettsy Ng. We were introduced to the history life and work of the HKCCCC and taken on a tour of their General Assembly Office.

At 12 we proceeded to the Council of Churches in Hong Kong (Ecumenical Body). After this we went to the Council of Churches offices and were given an overview of their work. The Council of Churches raises funds from the public in Hong Kong and then do social work in mainland China.

On Wednesday evening Jerry and I addressed the youth of the HKCCCC. We shared a meal with them consisting of a variety of dishes from mini pork dum sum, steamed vegetables to pasta and mince.

I presented a talk about Apartheid and Jerry spoke about the work of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The Youth Leaders gave a report on some of the activities they host for the young people in their churches. Our youth and theirs face so many of the same challenges.

The next day we went out to visit the Nethersole hospital. The Nethersole hospital was built in the late 1800′s by the London Missionary Society. When the hospital moved in the 1970′s it sold its building and prime property on Hong Kong Island for 100 million pounds!! 22.5% of the profit forms a mission fund which the HKCCCC can use and the rest went into the accounts of the London Missionary Society (now CWM).

The General Manager took us throughout the hospital and showed us their facilities. They are very careful about infection and we had to wear masks when going into a hospital ward. The hospital employs several chaplains to minister to the spiritual needs of the recovering patients. It was an inspiration when compared to some of our private hospitals where spiritual care is very rarely welcomed.

From the hospital we went on to the divinity school of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. There we met with members of the faculty and with the Director Professor Lo.  We spoke about possible partnerships between their faculty and the universities where our students train.

After lunch Jerry and I presented a lecture to the ministers of the HKCCCC. Jerry spoke on the mission strategy of the UPCSA and George spoke about reformed theology and polity today. About 20 ministers were in attendance. That meeting ended at 5.00pm. We were then taken by Mr Soo (a retired inspector of schools) for supper at the Jade Garden Restaurant. Mr Soo studied in the USA for several years as a young man and when he speaks English it is with a Michigan accent.

In the evening we attended the annual ordination service of ministers. In Hong Kong ministers are ordained on this one occasion in the year. The HKCCCC ordained 5 new ministers and set apart 12 probationer preachers of the gospel. It was a beautiful service conducted entirely in the local Chinese dialect. The three South Africans received headphones with a mobile transmitter and the entire service, including prayers was translated for us. We were given an English programme and we were able to sing the hymns in English while the congregation sang in Cantonese.

Sanctuary for Ordination

Laying on of hands

Our week concluded with a service at held at a local church in the New Territories. Rev So was the preacher and once again the "foreigners" were provided with headphones and a member of the congregation translated for us. The Church houses a nursery school and we were given a tour of this state of the art facility, complete with a small computer section.

Rev Eric So and minister and members of the Church

Singapore

In October Sascha and I made an Ecumenical Visit to the Presbyterian Churches of Singapore and Hong Kong. Our hope to strengthen relations between these two churches and our own, as the world starts to look towards the East.

Our first stop was Singapore where we were hosted by the Presbyterian Church of Singapore, our host being Elder Wong Pock Yeen (General Secretary equivalent).

At the Synod Office (Central Office) we met with Rev Tim See (The Assistant Clerk – English Presbytery) to discuss the training of ministers as well as his counterpart Pr Kim (Assistant Clerk – Chinese Presbytery). The Synod is split into two Presbyteries English and Chinese (the congregations are grouped into the Presbyteries according to language).

I also met with the Rev. Christopher Chia. Chris is senior minister to a large congregation called Adam Road Presbyterian. It’s a strong, healthy congregation that seeks to train ministers and Christian workers for the future. It caused me to pause and think about whether Trinity or the UPCSA thinks about the future of the Church. Adam road Presbyterian looks forward and sees the Church in need of strong leaders, then it looks for good candidates, offers them an internship (full-time paid), the best are sent overseas for study, and then appointed to congregations in Singapore for more mentorship and ordination.

One of the important questions that we’ve come here to ask is how Singaporean people understand the Gospel of Jesus. The Gospel story played out in the Middle East 2000 years ago, but it was brought by Western Missionaries to South Africa and to Singapore. In the last 20 to 30 years South Africans have been concerned with how the Gospel is understood in an African context we have come to learn how the Gospel is understood in an Eastern context.

So Elder Wong arranged for us to visit the All Saints Memorial Home (a nursing home for the Elderly) and the All Saints Memorial Chapel (a columbarium – for the interment of ashes). We were able to discuss Singaporean Christians caring for the elderly and how Singaporeans understand death and dying. We discovered that Singaporeans live to between 83 and 86 years and how people come into old age care in their mid to late 70′s.

We enjoyed a lunch at the All Saints Memorial Home. After this we returned to the Synod Office for a meeting with the Youth Leaders. Beldin Kee and two other leaders told us about the youth minister of the Presbyterian Church of Singapore. This included a reflection on the world view of young Singaporeans. We spoke about worship and christian education and they told us about their annual events. We were able to share something of the work of our Youth Association.

On Sunday morning we attended worship at Amazing Grace Presbyterian Church. Grace Presbyterian Church consists of two churches – Amazing Grace (English) and Holy Grace (Chinese). The buildings hold two sanctuaries and the services run concurrently.

It was like being at home. The service follows a similar pattern and the songs are what we sing back home. They have two services 9.30am and 11.30am. Both services are followed by Fellowship Lunch in the courtyard. The welcoming committee on “door duty” were so welcoming! We were enthusiastically introduced to two South African families living in Singapore – what a small world!

Elder Wong Pock Yeen, myself, Rev Stephen Gan (Moderator)

Following the service and lunch and farewells we were taken to Changi Airport to prepare for our flight to Hong Kong. From Singapore to Hong Kong is a 3 1/2 hour flight. Thankfully the rain had ceased and the possibility of typhoon warnings had disappeared!