WHY I AM A CONGREGATIONALIST?

Newsletter Date: October 2015

Congregational

Chronicle

Inside this issue:

Congregationalist 1

Timeless Words 2

Tribute 3

UCCSA in Pictures 4

Interns Conference 5

Ecumenical 5

GS letter 6

I am Congregationalist, not of necessity, but by choice and by heritage, though that is

not where my faith rests. My faith rest in God's faithfulness. But I am more than that: I

am Christian. I claim the heritage of Congregationalism as an expression of my faith. But

I am more than that! I am Protestant! By choice and by heritage. I am a child of the

Reformation and acknowledge the debt I owe to Luther and others who paid dearly,

some with their lives, that the church might have new life, though, my salvation does not

rest on heritage or on loyalty to a tradition or even on the truth of a religious system.

Ultimately my salvation rests on the God who has guided that heritage, on the God to

whom the tradition bears witness, on the God who stands above all religious systems.

His grace and His mercy. Nothing else!

When the Congregational streams of our denomination merged on the 3 October

1967,it was after a lot of soul searching and wrestling with the Spirit and one another.

As a result of the faithfulness to call to unity, our fore parents were able to embrace

unity as way to go. This is not only a trail blazing event but also an expression of essen-

tial oneness under the Lordship of Christ Jesus, In small way it was a step towards the

realisation of Jesus prayer “That they maybe one( John 17:21A)Unity is therefore a

foundational principle. As Congregationalists, we should be proud of our heritage, but

even this inspiring tradition should not stand in the way of bringing the Church of Christ

closer to one another. Our rich history and legacy of mission confirms that the UCCSA,

right from the early years, had been a Church on the edge. A church challenging limita-

tions and restrictions and pushing boundaries. A Church committed to taking the gospel

to every corner and spreading the love of God.

UCCSA Communications Officer-Mr Wellington Mthobisi Sibanda

“I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth yet to break forth out of His Holy Word”

A sweeping assessment of approximately 2000 years of Church history

could be summarised thus… The story of the Church is one of an al-

most immediate falling away (from revealed New Testament truths

and practices) followed by staggered periods of notable recovery.

Such a statement is of course a broad generalization. Much of what is

called „the Church‟ today is still so obviously very far from New Testa-

ment purity. On the other hand, a reading of a good Church history

book (such as Broadbent‟s Pilgrim Church) shows us that there have

always been pockets of faithful ones scattered throughout the centu-

ries who have sought in varying measure to maintain New Testament

teachings and practices – God always has His remnant! However, in the more mainstream story (as has

been summarised above) we see that there has been times and seasons of men returning to an understand-

ing and experience of some New Testament truth. The ever-present danger in all such „reforms‟ is that

people will have a tendency to think and say, “Ah, now we‟ve got it,” and from thenceforth to become once

again stuck on the treadmill of „religion‟ instead of being carried along by the moving of the Spirit into

the next phase of God‟s blessing. John Robinson‟s words below are to my mind a time-

less piece of godly wisdom that are relevant to every generation no matter how far we

may think we have come.

In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers sailed for America aboard the Mayflower. These men, along

with their families, had great hopes of finding/founding a society where there would be

liberty for them to follow the Lord in the things that had been revealed to their hearts

and understanding. A man by the name of John Robinson (who himself stayed behind)

sent the departing company on their pilgrim voyage with these earnest words:

“I charge you before God…that you follow me no further than you have seen me

follow the Lord Jesus Christ. If God reveals anything to you by any other instru-

ment of His, be as ready to receive it as you were to receive any truth by my ministry, for I am verily

persuaded the Lord hath more truth yet to break forth out of His Holy Word. For my part, I cannot

sufficiently bewail the condition of those reformed churches which…will go, at present, no further

than the instruments of their reformation. The Lutherans cannot be drawn to go beyond what Lu-

ther saw; whatever part of His will our God had revealed to Calvin, they will rather die than em-

brace it; and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they were left by that great man of God, who

yet saw not all things. This is a misery much to be lamented…”

Clearly John Robinson understood that the voyage being undertaken required not only fortitude in human

endeavour but also an attitude of „pilgrim spirit‟ in their journey on in light and truth if it was all going to be

worthwhile. Paul said that it was quite appropriate that we should be followers of him, that is, in as far as he

was following Christ: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Cor 11:1). We are also told to

follow others, that is, those that are godly men, being careful to take special note of their manner of

life: “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose

faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.” (Heb 13:7). Of course we are first and foremost all

to be followers of Christ, but God has given to His Church men who are worthy of esteem and worth tak-

ing notice of. The charge of John Robinson so wisely puts this „following of others‟ into perspective. We

must be so careful not to become a follower of men in such a way as to only ever come as far as their limi-

tations allow them.

http://www.newtestamentpattern.net/christian-articles/sundry-thoughts/the-words-of-john-

Pilgrim Spirit: The Timeless Words of John Robinson

“I am verily

persuaded the

Lord hath

more truth yet

to break forth

out of His

Holy Word.

Page 2 Congregational

To the Late Mr. Gareth Arends and Rev Jennifer Shamu

Page 3 Congregational

11October 2015

UCCSA Message of Condolences to the Arends Family

We have received with shock and disbelief the sad news on the passing away of your son, brother and father;

Mr Gareth Arends.

We celebrate with you his life, work and service to his family and the people of South Africa. He was a spe-

cial gift from God to the Arends family and shall forever remain grateful to God for that. His footprints will

continue to inspire God‟s people; young and old.

As we mourn his death, may we find comfort in the words of our brother Paul who says; “For none of us

lives for himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we

die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” Romans 14:7-8

We commit all of you to God‟s keeping with the following words from the Apostle Paul;

“What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare

his own Son, but gave him up for us all; how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.

...and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called ac-

cording to his purpose.” Romans 8:23, 31-32.

May the presence of God the Creator give you Strength;

May the presence of God the Redeemer give you Peace;

May the presence of God the Sustainer give you Comfort;

May the presence of God the Sanctifier give you Love.

We commend Gareth to God‟s keeping, everlasting love and mercy. May his soul find eternal rest in God,

our Rock and our Redeemer!!

UCCSA President

Rev Mosweu Simane

————————————————————————————————————————————

TO: DIRECTORS, CWM

Dear Colleagues: It is with immense sadness and some degree of shock that I write to inform you of

the passing of Rev Jennifer Shamu, Director and Deputy Moderator of CWM. Jennifer attended the

Staffing Sub Committee meeting in Hong Kong on 16 September. We understand that shortly after she

returned she fell ill and was admitted to the hospital where she was under doctor's care for some time.

She later suffered a stroke and was due to begin physiotherapy following her release from hospital. Un-

fortunately, she succumbed to her illness about 10:00am (Zimbabwean) on 28 October. May her soul

rest in peace. With sincere best wishes,

Rev Dr Collin I Cowan General Secretary

Council for World Mission

Inside Story Headline

Page 4

UCCSA COMMISSIONS 19 INTERNS FOR ORDINATION

Page 5 Congregational

Matthew ends his Gospel telling the story and compiling the teachings of Jesus with Jesus sending his disci-

ples out into the world with these words: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name

of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have taught

you.” And remember, I am with you in the first century and in the 21st. “I am with you always, even unto

the end of the age.”

I am more and more convinced that God came among us in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth to show us the

way to be reconciled with the God who deeply and passionately loves each and every one of us, to be rec-

onciled and right with that God and to be reconciled and right with each other as the children of that one

God who created us all. He came to show us how to get right and how to get reconciled. He came to

show us therefore how to become more than simply the human race – that‟s not good enough – came to

show us how to be more than a collection of individualized self-interests, came to show us how to become

more than a human race. He came to show us how to become the human family of God. And in that, my

friends, is our hope and our salvation, now and unto the day of eternity. Or to say it another way. the end

of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The church is a movement of the spirit, always being shaped, reshaped and moulded into something new.It

is not a static organisation, but one that is always being reformed and Ministry does not begin at being an

Enquirer, it begins at Baptism. It does not end at ordination, it continues throughout life. There are many

people who have gone through and they have become ministers and once the hands are laid on them, Once

the Amen is said after the ordination prayer; they rise and from there they will never kneel again. Humility

for them will never be seen, simplicity for them will never be part of their lives. They rise from the ordina-

tion service where they have been kneeling, they rise to become bosses and you can't touch them. Perhaps

there is something wrong that we are missing in terms of our preparation for Ministry. That's an observa-

tion made by one of the facilitator's at the Interns Conference.

The Council for World Mission is

pleased to invite expressions of inter-

est to join the staff team in the follow-

ing positions:

Head of Finance and Administra-

tion

Head of Programme

Mission Secretary (Mission Devel-

opment)

Regional Mission Secretary – Afri-

ca

Regional Mission Secretary – East

Asia

Regional Mission Secretary – South Asia

Communications and Marketing Manager

Human Resources Advisor

How to Apply:

Click on each position for a full job profile. Please send a recent resume/CV AND a letter of application stating

your reasons for wanting to work with CWM, as well as your main qualifications and alignments with a specific

role to:recruitment@cwmission.org for the attention of the General Secretary, indicating the job title of the

role being applied for in the email subject box.

Closing Date 25th November 2015.

Initial screening interviews will take place during the first week in December, with panel interviews held in Sin-

gapore week commencing 7th December 2015.

The UCCSA on the 13th of October hosted visitors from the WCC in persons of Prof Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri

(Associate General Secretary: Public Witness and Diakonia World Council of Churches) and Mr Manuel

Quintero and they were locally accompa-

nied by Ms Duduzile. Part of their visit

was to hear more about our church‟s pro-

grammatic priorities our plans for the pil-

grimage of justice and peace. Mr Manuel

Quin tero also shared with us about the

WCC Ecumenical Accompaniment Pro-

gramme on Palestine /Israel

They were received by the UCCSA Of-

ficer Mrs Kgomotso Nxumalo,WCC

Commisioner on Ecumenical Education

and Formation Mr Wellington Mthobisi

Sibanda,CWM Africa Region Programme

Associate Ms Sindisiwe Magutshwa,UCCSA Administrator Ms

Monalisa Bhebhe UCCSA Accountant Mr

Leon Lepere, Rev Sindiso Jele UCCSA Minister.

World Council of Churches contact person for Africa Region visit to UCCSA

Page 6

The Impact of the

Reformation in

South Africa after

500 years.

Page 7

21 October 2015

Dear colleague

LETTER OF INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A PUBLICATION

WITH REGARDS TO THE 500TH CELEBERATION OF THE REFOR-

MATION (1517-2017)

Grace and peace to you!

The Conventus of the Churches of the Reformation in Southern Africa is an organisa-

tion which consists of a number of churches which associate closely with the main

confessional basis of the Reformation of the sixteenth century.

During a meeting of the Conventus in March this year it was decided to jointly cele-

brate the great event of the Reformation after 500 years (1517-2017) in a couple of

ways. One of these is a publication which deals with the theme The Impact of the Refor-

mation in South Africa after 500 years. The aim is to invite authors from as many de-

nominations in South Africa as practical possible (from all different traditions) to share

how they view the impact of the heritage (positive or negative) of the Reformation in

the South African context from their respective perspectives – past, present and fu-

ture.

The idea is not to debate doctrinal controversies, but simply to narrate a specific de-

nomination‟s experiences, views on theological influences in the ecclesial and societal

arenas, ecumenical perspectives, the further role of this heritage and theology in our

country, etc. A specific aspect can also be addressed, for example spirituality, liturgy,

ethics, etc. Hopefully this will present us with a reasonably comprehensive picture of

the impact of the Reformation on the current ecclesial and societal situation in South

Africa and, perhaps, implicitly lead to a mosaic-like common witness to the society at

large. As publication committee we now invite theologians from different denomina-

tions to propose articles for the publication. The articles should be written in a popu-

lar style but must be scientifically well founded. We can accommodate about 30-35

articles, length about 10 pages (3500–4000 words). Date of publication: the end of

2016; date of finalising the book for publication: by mid-2016.

If you are interested to join this special venture, please let us know before the 1st of

December 2015. Please submit a title and an abstract of about a 100 words by the 1st

of March 2016. The complete article should be submitted not later than the 30th of

June 2016.You are more than welcome to contact the committee with regards to any

question or suggestion you may have. You can do it at the following e-mail address,

namely kobusg@ngkerk.org.za or mobile 0828955680.

We look forward to hear from you!

Kind regards

Conventus of the Churches of the

Reformation in Southern Africa

Letter from UCCSA General Secretary

As a committed

member of the

UCCSA, you

are invited to

contribute an

amount of

R 1 0 0 . 0 0

monthly over a

period of three

months.

Page 8 27 October 2015

To All:Synods

Regions

Local Church

UCCSA Members

Dear Friends and Colleagues in Christ,

Greetings from the Central Office in the name of the Lord Jesus who comes

to give us hope!

Those of you who attended the past Assembly in Namibia, will be aware of the financial difficulties experienced by the denomination. Our current model

of funding the work of the UCCSA continues to be a challenge. We continue

to be in a deficit situation. The Central Office has been operating on a shoe

string budget which has resulted in us not able to meet most of our obligations. As Synods, have de-

veloped over the years, more resources are needed to also fund the pro-

grammes and activities implemented at Synod level.

The recent Assembly meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, tasked the UCCSA Of-

ficers and respective Synod Officers to find both short term and long term

solutions to address our current and long term financial sustainability. This

group under the leadership of the UCCSA President, Rev. Mosweu Simane

met and agreed that we make an appeal to all UCCSA members to make a

once off special contribution to bring our finances back to normality.

As a committed member of the UCCSA, you are invited to contribute an

amount of R100.00 monthly over a period of three months. Those who are able to give more, please do. Whatever you are able to con-

tribute will be greatly appreciated. Your contribution should be directed

through the Local Church and Regional Council to your respective Synods. The Synod will then transfer all contributions to the

UCCSA account It is our prayer that each UCCSA Member will respond posi-

tively to this appeal.

Thanking You

Rev. Alistair Arends

General Secretary

P. O. Box 96014

Brixton 2019

Johannesburg

South Africa

Tel: +27 11 837 9997

Fax: +27 11 837 2570

150 Caroline Street

Brixton 2092

Johannesburg

South Africa

Rev Alistair Arends

The General Secretary

Email:gensec@uccsa.co.za

Mr Wellington Mthobisi Sibanda

Communications Officer

Email: wellosacha@yahoo.com

Tel: +27 11 837 9997

Fax: +27 11 837 2570

Email: tel-lus.uccsa@gmail.com

Website: www.uccsa.co.za

Please Pray for the following meetings

SA Synod Committee Meeting (Gordonia Region-UCCSA)

UCCSA Leadership meeting to held in Botswana

CWM Executive Committee meeting in Madagascar.

Zimbabwe Synod search for Synod Secretary.

Russian families of the plane crash victims.

UCCSA Youth Conference to be held in Zimbabwe

O r g a n i z a t i o n