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(a.k.a. Rona's Sabbatical) |
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| Foreward
Rona’s sabbatical bridges the sacred seasons of Easter and Pentecost and serves as a reminder that the Spirit of the Risen Christ helps us transcend differences of geography, culture and language. Thinking Biblically, the events of Pentecost reversed the events of Babel: The divisive confusion of languages which, according to Genesi was Divine Punishment for the ‘sins of the tower at Babel, is undone on the Day of Pentecost. Once the Spirit descends, everyone hears and understands what is spoken in common, in their own language. I will always remember Ascension Day, 1987. The people of St. George’s Chapel, Glenn Dale and the people of St. Barnabas Mission of the Deaf, who usually held separate services in the chapel on Sundays, gathered as one congregation outdoors for an Ascension-Day Eucharist and picnic. We released helium filled balloons (no longer “pc”) after the Gospel was read, and defied prayer book rubric by sending an acolyte into the chapel to extinguish the Paschal flame as we exchanged the Peace (It is customary that the Paschal Candle burn at all services from Easter Day through the Day of Pentecost, BCP, p.287). Jay Croft and I celebrated the Eucharist together - Jay signed the Eucharistic Prayer as I spoke it. Everyone heard what was spoken in common, in their own language. It was wonderful. This year at Church of the Ascension, we will, as the rubric advises, extinguish the Paschal flame at the Feast of Pentecost on May 19th. However, Rona’s “sabbatical candle” will continue to burn brightly until she returns, as a reminder that the Light of Christ watches between us no matter how long or how far we journey, one from another. Faithfully yours in the interim, Bob Stephenson  Rona,
May 17, 2002
Glendalogh Dear Family and friends: It is hard to believe that my three weeks in Ireland is coming to a close. They have been a most rewarding and spiritually renewing time of my life. First there was the beauty of the sung liturgy sung every two hours at Glenstall Abbey, which gave me time to get in touch with the stillness of my soul. I left the marvelous hospitality of the monks to travel to the Aran Islands, which was dramatically different. There on those barren isles I met a community of Celtic Christianity which was trying to rediscover self-sufficiency by eating only that which they grew. It was a remarkably happy group of young people who could not get over how stress free their lives were, and how good it was to work with the soil daily, planting and weeding. I learned much about the Celtic spirituality from their host, Dara Malloy, who is seeking to free the Celtic worship from western influences. I personally thought that he was going too far and running in the danger of throwing the baby out with the bath water...but his hospitality was warm and kind. Then I came to Glendalough. The contrast
was amazing. From the flat, rocky isles of the Aran Islands I came to a lush step hills of three
Glens coming together, with two glacier lakes in the bottom. Here was
the site of an early Celtic Christian community. I have stayed at Fr. Michael
Rodgers retreat house. He is an amazing retreat leader, leading us every
morning and evening in prayer. Yesterday, I spent a day with him as he
did a walking eucharist through the ancient cites. It all came
alive. More than that, the retreat he designs with his meditations and poetry, invite
you inward, to encounter your beloved and spiritual self. I really
believe, a week is too short here, for he has so much to offer. He is a sculptor
and artist, so every day, we have different art in our worship space, when
we
Tomorrow I fly to Glasgow and travel to Iona for Pentecost and the two weeks thereafter. I probably will not be able to be on e-mail until the first of June. I pray for you all and sending my love and best wishes, Rona+ Rona, May, 2002 First Month Dear Family and Friends: It is hard to believe that my first month of Sabbatical is over. I have had a very renewing and refreshing week at the Benedictine Abbey of Glenstall. It seems like time stood still here as we worship in this gentle and beautiful place. We worship five times a day, with the monks singing Gregorian Chant all the services. I rise to attend the 6:35 Morning Prayer, Matins and Lauds then have breakfast, followed by an hour and a half walk through the grounds. The Abbey is a castle high on a hill surrounded by wildlife sanctuary, farm fields, formal gardens, ponds, woods and fields. I return from my walk to pray again at mid morning service of Tierce. At 12:10 there is a Mass, which is very beautiful. The next service of the day is vespers at 6:15 followed by a silent dinner with the monks, with one of them reading while we eat. The last service of the day is Complete at 8:35. It is a most peaceful rhythm of life. This is a time where I can be still and feel the presence of God deeply. It took some getting use to for me to be waited on hand and foot by the monks. Their hospitality is wonderful. As many of you know, the Benedictine order of service and spirituality is what Cramner based his prayer book. It therefore is much like ours. I find having the office sung, both in English and at times in Latin, very uplifting. There are 50 monks representing many generations here. They are very active in running the monastery, writing books and being leaders in the ecumenical movement of Ireland. I feel very blessed by this experience. Tomorrow I travel to the Aran Islands to begin my study of Celtic Christianity. I do not know when I will be able to send you this e-mail and the one on Taize, for a phone connection is not available to me in these centers. My love and prayers to you all, Rona+  Rona,
June 2002
Iona Dear Family and friends: From the beauty of Glendalough where not only did I learn that the two pillars of Celtic Christianity were creation and the cross, and also that the Ascended Christ is present with, through and under all things, I arrived on Iona for Pentecost. The sun was shining brightly and the wind blowing at a great force making one feel strongly the presence of God. It is said that Iona is one of the thin places of the world; thin in the fact that one sense there is only a very thin line that separates the spiritual from the material. It makes one think and feel one is in the presence of God. Also at Glendalough, I learned that Celtic spirituality is very aware of the interrelatedness of all people and things. Fr. Michael practiced that by even having me celebrate, preach, concelebrate as well as serve on our retreat. It was an honor and very moving to me. Arriving on Iona the relationships have just gone deeper. After a wonderful service I met the daughter of my Systematic Theology Professor, who is no longer living, but I had for three years. She recalled that we were together for a week on Iona in 1971, when I was here with my sister Cecilia, who is no longer living. It was good to hear her memory of her. But the "God coincidences" did not end there. At another meal I sat next to a woman who had studied at the Worcester training college in the late 50s where my uncle and aunt taught. She remembered Uncle Martin as being great fun, and exclaimed that Aunty Marjorie was her favorite teacher, full of encouragement and a dry wit. She was delighted to hear mother was still alive so I could tell her. Iona is full of joy and music. We have had wonderful services, two lead totally by children. The music is simple and from all over the world. They even have me singing in parts. More than that I even sang in a Gospel choir last night. To me to be on Iona is to feel as if you are on the top of the world. We pray for the world, its brokenness and for social justice, even though we are miles, from the injustice torn parts. We prayed today for example for Latin America, each country in turn. I am having a wonderful time. Much love, Rona+ Rona, June 1, 2002 Iona, Week 2 Dear Family and Friends, I had a wonderful second week on Iona. The weather was glorious and the week was stimulating. We all were studying Christian Unity. I come away convinced that we need to do more and be more intentional about our ecumenical relations. Time is now past that we view each other as the Samaritan church and need to work together more than just doing social ministry together. I also feel from the conference that more must be done in Interfaith relations. So I look forward to the time when we are once more together, that we can together address these issues and come up with ideas for ministry. I have a few and look forward to sharing them with you and hearing your ideas. The worship at Iona was stimulating and uplifting. I was moved everyday with our worship in the Abbey. Once more they had me singing in harmony and in parts which is a miracle unto its self! I left Iona yesterday and traveled to St. Deniol's library here in North Wales near Chester, England. It is a beautiful peaceful building, where I hope to start to put together multi-media presentations on what I have done and on Celtic spirituality. My cousin, Sally is coming down to visit me tomorrow, so it will be also a time for family reunion. My love to you all, Rona +  Rona,
June 2, 2002
First leg is over Dear family and friends: My what a whirl wind tour I had for the first eleven days, seeing the sights of the painters as well as many museums. It was wonderful. Aix en Provence is worth a visit as well as Arles where Van Gogh painted. From there we went to Merseille, Cassis, St Tropez, and Nice. We used Nice as our second home base and stayed in the old quarter in a nice hotel a 1/2 block from the Mediteranian. It was beautiful to greet the morning with a stroll and end the evening with a walk. From Nice we visited many art museums including my favorite chapel by Matisse, designed by him when his model became a Dominican nun. It was very beautiful and spiritual and showed great sensitivity to our Christian tradition. The simplicity, color and light was very moving. He even designed the furniture and the chasibles that the priest wore to celebrate. Worth a visit. It is in Venice. We also visited Picasso's home in Antibes, which is a beautiful town. But my favorite museum was that of Marc Chagall, who did a series of seven or nine Biblical paintings life size....they were exciting in movement and color, telling the story and also proclaiming the message of a loving God. It was truly moving. The way they were displayed, under his direction added to the drama of the experience. His Song of Songs, or paintings on the Song of Solomon, shows how deeply he loved his wife and delighted and revered their relationship. All in all it was a wonderful tour. But I am anxious to get going on the next leg. I left the tour this morning at Nice, picked up a rent a car, drove it to Monaco, which is very close, to get used to it before I took the highway. I stopped on my way to Macon in Avignon, to see the palaces of the Popes, and then made by way here. I am about ten miles from Taize. I will be there tomorrow, Sunday to Tuesday. They do not take guests on Saturday. I am not sure when I will be next on the internet. Possibly Tuesday night, but I would be surprised if I can be on after then until May [June] 11. Best wishes to all, My love and My prayers, Rona + Rona, June 2, 2002 Taize and Glenstall Abbey Dear Family and Friends: My journey thus far has been out of this world. The art tour was great. Then I traveled to Terisa which is a little village in the center of France. It is a religious community founded by a Protestant Swiss who had a vision of bringing the youth of the [town] together to worship and to learn from each other. We all have sung many of their songs at communion when Gill Duncan leads us with her guitar. Yet to experience Taize in worship is powerful. The monks sit in the center aisle of a very large chichi which has been built on three times to make room for the crowds. Everyone sits or kneels on the floor. The monks lead the singing most often without any music leading them. All the worship has plenty of silent time and is very simple in form It reminded me of the great painters of our time who sought to find beauty in a simple lines and colors. There was only one lesson read at each service, in many languages. There was often one sentence or two said by Brother Roger in one sentence also in many languages. This is because of the over 1000 people visiting when I was there came from all over the world. There were Poles, Bosnians, Germans, Dutch, French, Phillipinos, Japanese, Australians, English, and people from Spain. There were also Indians from India and Africans from many of the different nations. Outside worship, the brothers lead small group Bible studies for the youth and a separate one for adults. They deliberately separate the group that you are in with people of different nationalities. In my group other than a few Americans there were Poles, Australians, a German and a Czech. The questions that you are assigned to discuss are designed to bring you closer together. It is expected that you stay with the same group for the whole week. The first questions were, who are you, what is your calling by God and what is your lifestyle. Then we were to reflect what events in our lives have changed us and how do we understand God's working in our lives. The meals and living conditions of Taize are very simple. They feed everyone a basic meal. Sunday dinner for example consisted of mash potatoes, a thin slice of lunch meat, a roll, a piece of cheese and an apple. The simplicity not only was practical for they feed anywhere from a 1000 to 8000 people a day, but gave one a feeling that you were eating responsibly for a hungry world. I shared a room with five other adult woman who were visiting Taize. One was from Poland, two from the States, and one from Germany I flew to Ireland, yesterday and am now in a beautiful Benedictine Abbey of Glenstall which is outside of Limerick. I am in a most comfortable room in an Abbey that looks like a castle. The monks are most hospitable and I have a very comfortable room. After Taize it is nice to have the comforts of home and quiet, although I found living and eating with Christians from all over the world, most invigorating. I hope that we will somehow find a way to take any of our interested youth to Taize, for it will not only deepen their spirituality but broaden their perspective of the world. I think and pray for you all often, Much love, Rona + Rona, June 16, 2002
Dear family and friends: I have had a very productive week at St. Deniol's library in North Wales near Chester, England. It is very comfortable here with good food and conversation with others who are studying. I have been able [to spend time] on my computer to compose a multi-media presentation of my sabbatical thus far, using pictures from my digital camera and CD music from the different centers I have visited. I am now studying Celtic Christianity. I have found three books that I thoroughly enjoy. The first two are by the former warden of the Iona Community, Philip Newell. I highly recommend them. They are Listening for the Heartbeat of God and The Book of Creation. The other book that I would recommend is edited and composed by Oliver Davis called Celtic Spirituality. But it has not all been [all] work since I have been here. My cousin came down for a day and I plan to meet her and her husband in London on Saturday to go to the Tate Modern Museum for the exhibition on Matisse and Picasso. I think and pray about all of you often. I shall be returning with many ideas and look forward to our working together again. With all best wishes,
Rona+Page Top Page Bottom Rona, July 2002 Cape Town, South Africa Dear Family and Friends: I have been in Cape Town for nearly a week. I had no idea what a beautiful city that it is. It is hard to believe that they tolerate or ignore the social ills of the deep poverty that the people of color live under. I have made contact with the church and will be visiting all day Sunday, with Cliff Felix's parish, which is having a reconciliation meeting with the police after the shooting by them of five gas station attendants in the area. I have spoken with Canon Ted Krapf, who is from our Diocese and is head of the AIDS work here for the Diocese. He is planning a tour for me of the ministry. It is wonderful to see parishioners from Ascension. Caitlyn Hunter and Lynne Newkirk have joined me here. We have had a great time seeing the sites. We will be with the churches today. With all best wishes, Rona+Page Top Page Bottom Thoughts from The Rev. Harry T. Harper On Sabbatical in Glendalough, County Wicklow, Ireland “Valley of Two Lakes” is the Gaelic translation for Glendalough (pronounced Glen-da-lock). Glendalough is a picturesque and lovely glen in the heart of Wicklow Mountains. Set in a valley of two lakes, where today hundreds of Christian pilgrims make their way to the modern Visitors Center. Pilgrims leave the center for a contemplative walk among the ruins of the fifth and sixth century monastery, founded by St. Kevin. At the entrance of the original enclosure surrounding the monastic city a worn pathway leads up to the gateway. Seven wide stone steps lead to the entrance. This Romanesque gateway is the only one of its kind surviving in Ireland. There are two archways one beyond the other over a flagged causeway. Just inside the gateway, on the right hand side, there is a wall of rock with a large cross incised on it. This cross was a sign of welcome and hope for a refugee. Monasteries for centuries were places of sanctuary where refugees, prisoners, criminals and those fleeing danger could be granted protection by the monks. “O cross, our one reliance hail!
The monks would offer food and accommodation, and intercede on the behalf of the one seeking sanctuary until the crisis abated. Imagine, as you continue your walk among the ruins, that you suddenly see a miniature Washington Monument. It is black not white. This is one of the famous sixty-five round towers of Ireland. The Glendalough Round Tower is eighty feet high. At the base it is nearly fifteen feet wide and narrows to twelve feet at the top. Inside, the tower has seven floors and a platform under the conical roof with visibility in all four directions. During St. Kevins time the monks would use the tower as a safe place for their treasurers; a place of prayer and a watch tower in times of danger. To the weary, ancient travelers the site of the distant tower promised a place of safety and refreshment. Before being called to St. George’s Valley Lee, Christopher Halliday was rector of the parish, which included Glendalough. Paula, his wife, now at St. Andrew’s was also a rector of a parish in the Glendalough area. Rona’s interims Bob and Harry have made the pilgrimage to Glendalough and the sacred grounds of the monastery. * Verantius H. Fortunatus 540 -600 Thoughts from The Rev. Harry T. Harper On Sabbatical in the Iona Community Iona is a very small island on the west coast of Scotland. St. Columba gave immense prominence to the island. Columba, a middle aged monk set off from Donegal, on the north west tip of Ireland in or around the year 563AD. The journey of one hundred miles among the swells of the Atlantic Ocean was made with a small group of companions. That journey ended on the small island of Iona and must be considered as one of the major events of early Christian history. Columba was born into the warrior aristocracy of one of the main royal houses of Ireland, Cenel Conaill. As the evangelist of the lowlands of Scotland he never lost the attributes of his princely birth. He is credited with a hasty temper and a fierce pride. However, Columba’s positive attributes of gentleness, humility and generous Christian charity linger to this day among the benefactors of his ministry of long ago. Celtic monasteries were never places of escape. Regardless of the geographical remoteness of Iona, before Columba died in 597AD the island would be teaming with people and the monks would labor in school, hospital, library, art center and mission base. Ian Bradly in his wonderful book, The Celtic Way, writes on the distinctive attributes of Celtic Christianity. One such theme is an overwhelming sense of God’s presence. Iona has a reputation for being a “Thin Place”. That is, to be on the island is to find that the veil between this world and the spiritual realm is extremely thin, as though you could “touch” or “enter it”. God’s presence, when you are in a “thin place” is very near. As recent as the last century the crofters and fisherman of the Hebrides reflected a strong sense of God’s intimacy in an evening prayer: "lie down this night with God*Carmina Gadelica Thoughts from The Rev. Harry T. Harper At St. Deiniold's Library, Harwarden, Wales St. Deiniolds is a large residential library built as a memorial to W. E. Gladstone, statesman, and four time prime minister of England. All his life William Ewat Galdstone was an active Anglican. Gladstone was born in Wales in 1809 and died in 1898. He had a passion for books. Near the end of his life he contributed his own library of 32,000 volumes to the original Iron Library. (Iron because the original library was built of iron.) Gladstone, in his eighties, transported his books from his home, half a mile away, to the proposed library in a wheelbarrow. During his lifetime Gladstone read 20,000 books. He believed that God’s revelation was present not only in the scriptures but also in the writings of the classical world, in the insights of poets, authors and the movements of history. He wanted to bring together “readers who had no books and books who had no readers – in a country home for study, research and the pursuit of divine learning.” “He envisioned the library as a center of religious life.” The great man’s dream was fulfilled. Every year a full schedule of courses and lectures take place at St. Deiniolds Library. Such courses as: Welsh Celtic Civilization and Spirituality; The Gladstone Studies; Exploration into Film and Theology; George Herbert; The Christian Pilgrimage; The Future of the Church, and an offering by Professor Ian Bradley, Onward Christian Pirates. In these lecture, Dr. Bradley discusses “The Reverent and Irreverent in Praise of Victorian Hymns, sacred songs and Gilbert and Sullivan”!! The patron saint of Wales is St. David 520-590AD. Much of what we know of the Celtic saint is written by authors many years after the events, and their work is known as hagiographies (an idealizing biography). One such story tells how St. David healed the sight of his seminary teacher, Paulinus. Paulinus called the students together and each blessed and touched the teacher’s eyes. Least among the students was holy Dewi.* Dewi, as a student was very shy and modest so when he was asked to do so he replied, “Until now I have never looked into my master’s face.” Encouraging Dewi, his master said to him, “Without looking, raise your hand and touch my eyes, and I shall be healed.” When David touched his eyes sight was restored to his teacher. Thanks and praise was then offered to God. Spiritual healing is a consistent theme in the lives of the saints of Celtic Christianity. They read about the life of Christ as recorded in the New Testament, believed what they read, and then practiced their own “acts of the apostles”. Completing a two week visit to St. Deiniold’s Library, Harwarden, Wales Thoughts from The Rev. Harry T. Harper 2nd Week at Deiniolds’s Library St. Deiniold’s is a large residential library built as a memorial to W. E. Gladstone famed 19th century Prime Minister of Great Britain. Wales has many sites associated with Celtic Christianity. Nevern, south of St. David’s is one such site. At Nevern is a very ancient Great High Cross. There are few such crosses in Wales, throughout Ireland in comparison over one hundred still exist. The Celtic monks used art, song and poetry as a means of telling the story of their faith. Tall, sometimes massive Great High Crosses was one way the Celtic monks communicated the Gospel. Using stone they employed the skill of the artist to carve in the crosses the symbols of Christianity. Looking at the cross one sees scenes from the life of Christ and the early church. Animals and birds of many kinds remind the viewer of God the Creator. Other monks completed the work by adding color to the sculptor’s work. The Great High Crosses were colorful, inspirational and educational. On one occasion during a BBC radio broadcast, Ian Bradley, asked an Irish writer, John Sharkey a question about the purpose of the Celtic High Crosses. He answered, “When we approach these crosses now a days and look closely and try to work out what all the patterns mean… we lose an over all sense of what they were put up for. They weren’t meant to be talked about in terms of aesthetics but to symbolize Christ and the crucifixion. They were put up literally to stop people in their tracks.”* The Nevern Great High Cross is shaded by yew trees and stands only a few feet from the south wall of the old church. Nevern is the place of ministry of St. Brynach a younger contemporary of St. David, and like the Celtic Saints legends surround St. Brynach. He is usually pictured with a cuckoo sitting on his shoulder. According to tradition the cuckoo was the harbinger of spring and set to arrive each year on the 7th of April. One year the bird was late in arriving and the priest was unwilling to start the Eucharist. So the congregation waited and waited. Finally at dusk the bird alighted on the top of the cross exhausted, it sang one note then fell to the ground dead.** The story of St. Brynach’s cuckoo is little known but the universal story of the cross of Christ has given to countless souls the gift of eternal life. Harry T. Harper *Ian Bradley, The Celtic Way p88 (Italics mine)
Thoughts from The Rev. Harry T. Harper On safari, Nairobi, Kenya This writer has never been further south in Africa than Egypt. Nor, with his camera photographed the exotic animals of Kenya. One can only imagine the uniqueness of such an experience. The Anglican influence in Kenya dates back to the first missionary Dr. John Ludwin Krapf in 1844. Two years later John Rebmann joined him and together they established a mission at Rabai. Eleven years later Krapf returned to Germany. Rebmann however, continued for a further twenty years devoting his time to the study of the language. The Church Missionary Society sponsored Krapf and Rebmann. The C.M.S. came into being as a result of a meeting chaired by John Venn, rector of the parish church at Clapham outside of London. Venn was one of many Anglican clergy influenced by the Wesleyian revival. Many vicars who were caught up in the revival determined to remain in the Church of England. At a time when many of the clergy were very negligent of their parish responsibilities the Evangelicals, as they were called, emphasized individual conversion, justification by faith alone, the infamy of slavery and concern for those in the third world who had not heard the Gospel preached to them. The meeting of the clergy and friends called by John Venn met on April 12, 1799 at the Castle and Falcon Inn, Aldersgater, London. From that faith inspired small group came the inspiration to sponsor the Church Missionary Society. CMS became the largest Christian Missionary organization in the world. Today in Kenya seventy percent of the population is Christian twenty percent are Muslim. Hindus, Buddhists, Jaims, Sikhs and a large proportion of native religions represent the last ten percent. During 1997 (the year of Kenya’s election) Kenya’s main ecumenical
body the NCCK had some pointed remarks addressed to the countries President
Danick Arai Moi. “Since you have been in power since 1978 jointly and severely,
privately and publicly, we have advocated broad based reforms for more
than ten years. We are appealing to the government to effect the desired
changes before the election. We will
John 3 and the story of Nicodemus endorse the
ministry of CMS. The parable of the Good Samaritan supports the concern
of the
Harry T. Harper Thoughts from The Rev. Harry T. Harper Completing study at the Maryknoll Institute of African Studies in Kenya From Kenya the rector begins two weeks in South Africa. Robben Island is about four miles off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. The island is tiny. Fresh water and trees are absent. It is a cold, damp, barren and lonely place. The waters surrounding the island are stormy, characteristic of the southern tip of Africa known as the Cape of Storms. The sea around the island is also infested with hungry sharks. On that island for ten years Nelson Mandela was a prisoner. Nelson Mandela was born July 18, 1918, into the Tembu at Qunce royal family. His father was principal councilor to the Acting Paramount Chief. His primary education took place in a Christian Mission school. He matriculated from the highly thought of Wesleyan secondary school. His university education was completed with Bachelor degrees in Arts and Law. It was Nelson Mandela’s activity in politics, and resistance to Apartheid, that made him a prisoner in South African goals for thirty years. In 1944 Mr. Mandela formed with a group of young Africans, the African National Congress. Thus began the struggle for, (a) the removal of discriminatory laws and color bars and (b) the admission of the Africans into the full citizenship of the country so that they have direct representation in parliament on a democratic basis. At the time of being convicted and sentenced to imprisonment in 1962, Mandela stated from the dock at the end of the Rivonia Trial these words: “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in, which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal, which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”Nelson Mandela is now living in active retirement. He is South African’s best-known and loved hero. In 1993 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He accepted the award on behalf of all South Africans who suffered and sacrificed so much to bring peace to their country. Harry T. Harper Thoughts from The Rev. Harry T. Harper Packing her bags in South Africa as she prepares to return to Ascension Lexington Park The Anglican Church in South Africa resisted and worked against the forces of apartheid. I remember in the late fifties seeing a photograph of a bill board in front of the Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town that read, “This Cathedral is open at all times to all people.” Joost de Blank was the Archbishop of Cape Town and he was responsible for the public advertisement. He was a tireless advocate for racial justice and equality at a time when the native populations were slaves to the brutal suffering caused by the State crafted apartheid. If apartheid was allowed to exist the Archbishop believed then it would be a major stumbling block to the winning of the soul of the nation to Jesus Christ. Also, he made it clear at times of confirmation services in his Diocese that he would “refuse to conduct a segregated service”. His stand against the practice of the Dutch Reformed Church was unequivocal. At the Cottesloe Conference where he was present with members of the Dutch Reformed Church (for the first time) Joost de Blank discovered that his “enemies” had faces and offered an apology and a proposal, “Sorry, let’s get closer together.” Joost de Blank was born in 1908. His memorial Service took place in Westminster Abbey, January 1968. Among his fourteen publications this writer has one, This is Conversion, published in 1957. In his book (p65) he wrote: “Conversion is the point of God’s redemptive action in Christ –a Conversion that includes Baptism, Commitment, Decisions, Growth, Transformation. It is a Conversion we experience today but which will not be completed till that day when what Christ had done for me is one with what Christ has done in me.” “St. Augustine’s classic phrase sums up what we have been trying to say: “Become what you are”. We are to become what we already are - in Christ. As a Church, as individuals, as those for whom Christ died, we are called to lay claim to the richness of our inheritance. And this is the meaning of Conversion – because there is nothing that man can do for himself. He can only make his own what has been done for him.”Harry T. Harper |
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Last Updated: November 12, 2006