Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Dear People of God

            Last week, Nelson Mandela celebrated his 95th birthday – to the great relief of so very many of us.  We thank God for the continuing life of South Africa’s former President, and pray that in his frailty he may know God’s strength and comfort, in body, mind, heart and soul.

            And we also dare to ask, in the ancient words of those prayers used as evening falls, that God will grant dear Madiba ‘a peaceful night and a perfect end’, in God’s own perfect timing.  At the end of this long life of faithful service, we pray that he may know the assurance of God’s compassionate presence, and know that Jesus Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life, has opened the gates of paradise to all who hear his voice and follow his call. We pray also that Me Graça, Madiba’s children and grandchildren, and all who love him, may know God’s strengthening in this long time of watching and waiting – that his peace may enfold them, and help them to find a good and holy way forward, through all the struggles with which they have battled in recent weeks.  

            This year, more than most, as Madiba’s birthday approached, I found myself giving thought to how best to celebrate this remarkable man and most appropriately honour his legacy.  How should I spend 67 minutes serving others, in order to honour the 67 years of service of his life?

            What I did was to join in a ‘human chain’ stretching along the Klipfontein Road, through the Rondebosch, Athlone and Gugulethu areas of Cape Town – several thousand of us waving flags and singing joyfully, despite drizzle!Yet I must admit that when I first heard the idea, I thought twice.Was this just ‘gesture politics’ and an easy way out of doing something more tangible with my 67 minutes?

            But when I thought about it, I reached a different conclusion.  For on Mandela Day we are asked to spend some time taking action that will help change the world, in ways that honour Nelson Mandela’s own example, in his life of service for the good of South Africa and its people. And Madiba’s example is that of a man with a servant heart, whose words and actions were driven by his dream – the dream of a united, democratic, non-racial, South Africa.

            It struck me that if we do not make this dream our own vision, if this is not the foundation stone on which we base our lives and build our future, then all our other 67 minutes of service risk being undermined or diminished. For we need to tackle not only the symptoms of our wounded society, but their causes.  And the persistence of past divisions – exacerbated now by growing new economic fault-lines – are amongst our most fundamental problems.

            The Klipfontein Road in many ways illustrates the core issue: three distinct, separate communities were positioned at a distance from each other along its length.  In contrast, our Human Chain was a living demonstration of our commitment to breaking down past divisions and building up a new reality in which we are all connected, all belonging to one another, and joined in the common life of our city and in the shared future which we create together in Cape Town and South Africa.

            All this is ‘gospel-shaped work’. For, St Paul wrote, ‘God … has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and given us the ministry of reconciliation’ (2 Cor 5:18). And through Christ ‘God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross’ (Col 1:20). 

            Wherever there is division, mistrust and suspicion, evil can find a foothold.  The spiritual cracks between us become fertile soil for other divisions to flourish, bearing destructive fruit in every part of life.  When we dare to step into these breaches with prayer, God will pour in his healing compassion, reaching out and drawing others closer to himself in redeeming love. We are called to be channels of this love, so others may come to know God in Jesus Christ by his Spirit, for themselves.

            Sometimes people ask me if I think Madiba is a saint.  Well, it depends on what you mean by saint!  I don’t agree, if it means we consider his life so miraculous that it is impossible for anyone to follow his example. But the New Testament calls all God’s people ‘saints’, with some translations clearly reflecting this Greek word, as St Paul’s begins his letters with ‘greetings to the saints’ or ‘to those called to be saints’, in Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae … Indeed, God calls each one of us – Nelson Mandela, you, me, whoever we are – to let ourselves be used by him, for his purposes in his world.  This is the true meaning of being a saint.  And while he may not use us in spectacular ways, he will certainly use us in ways that are significant for the building of his kingdom.

            So then, let us honour Madiba, not only for 67 minutes once a year, but throughout our lives, by following God’s call, to be his ministers of reconciliation, his channels of love, his saints in his world.  We can make every day a Mandela day!  We are now looking at whether we can form human chains on some other specific day of the year – perhaps on Heritage Day, with the chain marking our links with the past and our determination to forge a better future, in the way we commit ourselves to breaking down old divisions and building new relationships, which uphold Madiba’s vision of a united, non-racial, equal society. 

Human chains can be used as a powerful sign and symbol of commitment to transcend any divisions, past or present.  And those who come together can sing, pray, and even dance a little!  Then you might do as we did – pray specifically for Madiba, with thanksgiving for all he has achieved, and all he has challenged us to become, as well as praying for his comfort now.  Then, after a little silent reflection, we said the pledge together.  You will find the text at the end of this letter – please do use it wherever it can help us go forward in reconciliation, hope, and commitment to the shared good, that echoes all that God desires for people everywhere.  Then we sang the national anthem.

            And please do send in photos of your chains – or post them on Facebook (you can see many photos of what we did on the Klipfontein Road, on the ‘Human Chain - Mandela Day’ FB page).  I hope that we might be able to gather some of these pictures together, and send them through to Madiba

            In my last letter, I wrote at length about ensuring firm foundations for future training and formation of ordained and lay leaders, including through the Theological Endowment Fund for supporting the College of the Transfiguration.  As part of this, I am asking every member of ACSA to make a special donation, on Theological Education Sunday, 18 August, of R10, or R100, or whatever you can manage. 

            You will be glad to know that I believe that Bishops should offer leadership in this as in all other matters – and therefore I have pledged R1000 out of my own pocket, for the Fund, and am challenging all the other ACSA bishops to match me, or even do better!  

            This month we congratulate Revd Canon Cynthia Botha, who heads the Publications Committee, on achieving 30 years on the staff of the Province.  She started out as secretary to the Provincial Liaison Officer, who was then the future Archbishop, Njongonkulu Ndungane, and then to his successor Bishop John Carter.  When he retired, she became secretary part time to both Emma Mashinini, who headed the CPSA’s Department of Justice and Reconciliation and to Publishing, taking on Publishing full time when the departments closed down. We thank you, Cynthia, and we thank God, for your long years of dedicated service!

            This month was also the tenth anniversary of the consecrations of Bishops André Soares of Angola and Mark van Koevering of Niassa.  There were rather more celebrations in Niassa, where they held their once-every-three-years Diocesan Synod. At the end of this they held a Diocesan Family Day, inaugurated a church dedicated to the first ever Mozambican priest, Yohannah Abdallah, and, as if that were not enough, compounded the joyful celebrations with the ordination of the first two Mozambican women to the diaconate, alongside four other deacons!   We thank God for them all, with particular prayers for Reverends Claudina Cabral and Albertina Mucona as they begin this new ministry.

Yours in the service of Christ

+Thabo Cape Town

PLEDGE AT THE HUMAN CHAIN ON MANDELA DAY, THURSDAY 18 JULY, 2013

I, one link in this human chain,  pledge to do all I can to build an undivided South Africa free from poverty as envisioned by Nelson Mandela.

I will observe and study his conduct and seek to emulate his actions that have helped to bring peace to our country. A simple smile, a handshake, kindness, a listening ear, encouragement, spreading hope, giving a helping hand, taking action, not tearing down another - that is the Madiba way.

I reject anything or anyone who seeks to demean or to divide us and place our focus only on the ugliness that forms part of our lives. 

Instead of focusing on ugliness and hatred, I choose to focus on beauty and love.

By doing this, I will have the strength to deal with the difficult challenges that I face to make Madiba’s dream a reality.

Madiba is one of the world’s greatest leaders. We are so blessed to have enjoyed his inspirational and visionary leadership.

 I am committed to being the best person I can possibly be. The stronger I am the more I can help heal my family and my neighbourhood.

I will uphold our constitution which says that our country belongs to all who live in it

Madiba’s maternal side is KhoiSan, the earliest people who lived at the Cape, at least 2000 years ago. His paternal side is Xhosa, whose people intermingled with the khoisan over many centuries.

The merging of these two strong human strands has given us a leader who has not flinched in his resolve to set us free.

I commit to encourage everyone to draw on the positive example and never forget that our fragile psyches need nurturing and tenderness to bring healing to our tortured nation.

I am proud of how far we have journeyed on the road to self-determination and will continue always to be inspired by his example.