INTERIM PRIEST’S JULY 2024 NEWSLETTER
Dear friends-in-Christ,
Do you feel the heat? We are presently exposed to the excessive summer discomfort as well as heat emitted in the political world of the USA. The latter refers to gun violence. Why is the political framing around guns presented as a partisan divide with “protecting the second amendment” on one hand and “preventing violence” on the other? I have spent twelve years of my life advocating for “gun-free” public places in South Africa, and we should do likewise in our context. Christ’s love and mercy must guide us. I am mindful of the introductory words of the documentary “Woodstock” in 1969. “There are far too many people hurting each other.” Well, it was music, love, and pot which were the main protagonists. It was that show which inspired me to become a “disk-jockey.”
One of my favorite singalong songs is a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young called Teach your children well. The second verse directs focus of parents and their children, “Teach your children well. Their father’s hell did slowly go by. Feed them on your dreams. The one they pick’s the one you’ll know by.” As far as gun violence and parent’s teachings are concerned, history paints a very clear picture. Young people between 18 and 20 are using semi-automatic rifles to engage in tragic acts of mass violence. While we can’t explain why this has become their weapon of choice, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that these types of rifles are being misused. We started this obsession as children, since most boys certainly in my context had toy guns where we used our imagination vividly.
At our children’s service a few weeks ago, I felt elated at the innocent countenance of children as they sat around me, listening to moral teaching, singing a song, and appreciating lollipops. Children love structure, and they want to be stimulated. Participation in the worship service, listening to God’s word, prayer, worship, and communion are more important parts of their upbringing than all else. Attention devoted to the child’s education, language development, brain development, dexterity, and physical development are wonderful examples of the parents’ care and love. The hour one Sunday per month does not cut it. I’m just scratching the surface. However, as your interim, I’m hoping that you get the picture. Many children and youth up to latter teenage years are more likely to make impulsive decisions. People who make impulsive decisions probably don’t think things through. This also means they probably don’t make good choices much of the time. (From the children to their parents) “Help them with your youth. They seek the truth before they can die.” We will celebrate our next Children’s Service on Sunday July 28 at 9.30am. Please tell your children to bring a friend.
We have met and blessed our Search Committee on Sunday July 7. We met on Wednesday July 10, and Josephine Mitchell was elected to be the chairperson. Please keep the Search Committee in your prayers. They will meet periodically with the Diocesan Consultant, the Regional Canon, and myself (by invitation). The vestry forms the search committee. The search committee is a sub-committee of the vestry. They are charged and empowered by the vestry to facilitate and manage the work of the search, freeing the vestry to focus on ongoing leadership and development of the parish during the interim period.

Primary tasks of the search committee:
1. Conduct a self-study by gathering data from as many members of the congregation as possible through Holy Conversations
2. Use the information from the self-study to clarify the unique gifts and challenges of your parish, and the particular skills and abilities in a new rector that will best fit the needs of your parish
3. Create a parish profile that faithfully reflects the data you have gathered
4. Develop necessary information and responses for the Office of Transition Ministry profile (church-wide database shared by churches searching for new clergy and clergy searching for new church leadership calls)
5. From the materials your church receives, discern the candidates whose skills and abilities best fit the needs of your parish
6. Interview candidates
7. Present the candidate you believe to be called to serve at your parish to the vestry

A point to ponder in our discomfort. I have found in my travels to Barbados, Jamaica, and the surrounding islands, that the temperature is similar to the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, where I come from. Winter, Autumn, and Spring were tolerant when it came to church attendance. Summertime was torture. Should churches use air conditioning? Everyone would agree. Question, what has air conditioning got to do with our mission to share Jesus? There’s no A/C in the Bible. Wouldn’t God be better served if the money we used to cool our buildings were instead given to the poor? I have a suggestion: Print the bulletins on fans. Everyone’s fanning themselves with their bulletins anyway, so we might as well design them for that purpose! Have mini water bottles in nice baskets at the entrance. Have a shorter service…tsk!tsk! Until summer. As the temperature rises, attendance will fall. Let’s abide.

Pax et Bonum
Noble+