June Articles
List of articles
Confirmation Journey
by Saskia, Arion, Corine and Clinton van Winkel
Confirmation truly was a family journey for us; literally and figuratively; parents and child.
Our son, Arion, had the privilege of being a part of the 2012/2013 confirmation class with Reingard and Cornelius here in Randburg, and the time spent together provided a rich and soulful stretch for all.
As our family could not attend the confirmation over Easter, Reingard and Peter Holman (of the Hillcrest Community in KZN) kindly offered Arion the chance to attend in Durban, something which he very dearly wanted to experience and complete, and which ultimately unfolded exactly as it should .
Confirmation truly was a family journey for us; literally and figuratively; parents and child.
Our son, Arion, had the privilege of being a part of the 2012/2013 confirmation class with Reingard and Cornelius here in Randburg, and the time spent together provided a rich and soulful stretch for all.
As our family could not attend the confirmation over Easter, Reingard and Peter Holman (of the Hillcrest Community in KZN) kindly offered Arion the chance to attend in Durban, something which he very dearly wanted to experience and complete, and which ultimately unfolded exactly as it should .
Classes in Randburg were with his long-standing school-friends; firmly held by a school-teacher and fellow parents whom he has known for years. Soon after confirmation camp we travelled to Durban, and were warmly received by the Hillcrest Christian Community. The KZN confirmands (three beautiful young ladies) openly welcomed the stranger-in-their-midst into their sacred space. We experienced a friendliness, a graciousness, an easy belonging, in this small and simple church where Arion was blessed with both a baptism and a confirmation ceremony, which for us, was rich in meaning, ritual and support to him as a soul growing from childhood into youth. Reingard provided the familiarity and continuity, and Peter took the time to include Arion at a very intimate level.
We are incredibly thankful to the Christian Community Church for encouraging, welcoming and providing a place for this to take place. The acknowledgement of this time in our teenager’s life is a refreshing, much- needed and valuable gift for our child’s first steps into independence, and something which we have not come across anywhere else.Journeying back to Arion’s birth-place, where grandparents and godparents and an extended spiritual community were waiting to receive him, was a beautiful blessing, which we feel has impacted profoundly.
We will be going back to Hillcrest to say hello, to remember, to take in the beautiful views ….
Thanks to you all for giving so much to our child at such a deep and important level. We are very, very grateful.
We are incredibly thankful to the Christian Community Church for encouraging, welcoming and providing a place for this to take place. The acknowledgement of this time in our teenager’s life is a refreshing, much- needed and valuable gift for our child’s first steps into independence, and something which we have not come across anywhere else.Journeying back to Arion’s birth-place, where grandparents and godparents and an extended spiritual community were waiting to receive him, was a beautiful blessing, which we feel has impacted profoundly.
We will be going back to Hillcrest to say hello, to remember, to take in the beautiful views ….
Thanks to you all for giving so much to our child at such a deep and important level. We are very, very grateful.
Saskia - News from Spring Valley
by Rev. Jonah C. Evans
I write this with a heavy but somehow joy-filled heart.
Last Thursday, our youngest daughter Saskia was admitted again into the hospital for a variety of symptoms including being unresponsive to the pain of having blood taken. The geneticist that we had seen as a result of the last hospital visit in february had just called us from her personal line the night before letting us know that it was absolutely necessary that we get a blood test the next day. The geneticist wasn't sure what was going on but her blood test was showing severe hypokalemia, dangerously low potassium levels.
Katie immediately brought Saskia to the emergency room in Westchester NY and they were admitted. After five days and a variety of specialty doctors trying to figure out the problem, the kidney specialist finally was able to make a diagnosis.
Saskia has a very rare genetic disorder of the kidney, called Bartters syndrome. Basically, the kidney isn't able to regulate potassium in the body appropriately which results in chronic low potassium levels. This is why she has such slow development and is still so small because potassium has so much to do with muscle development. The prognosis is unclear because not much is known about this disease but the doctor said most likely she will be able to live a normal, but with-a-lot-of-hospital-visits life. She will take three times daily doses of potassium and two other medications. She will meet with a kidney specialist on a monthly basis. If she gets sick, vomits, too much sun or is dehydrated, or if her potassium levels for some reason fall below 2.5, we must visit the hospital. Most likely, muscle pain and cramping will be a lifelong thorn in her side.
Obviously this has been difficult for Katie and myself, and for our family as one could imagine. Lots of things will be different and some things difficult.
I want to tell you all though that through this my faith in the guiding beings of destiny has deepened, strengthened. In the past few days I have felt the breath of His world more strongly than ever before, under my feet, shining onto my face.
One of the most striking destiny moments was when we mentioned to our wonderful kidney doctor who has taken on Saskia, that in a few months we would be moving to Toronto. He said, "Oh, how wonderful!" "Toronto is home to perhaps the best children's hospital in the world!" He said they even have some researchers working on this incredibly rare syndrome (so rare she may be the only current case in the United States). Our doctor said he would make sure that we get connected to the best care possible in the world.
After Katie and I looked at each other in wonder, the doctor went on to tell us that he is glad we are going to Toronto because dealing with insurance here in the states with this kind of syndrome would be a nightmare.
We felt so grateful and comforted. The angels truly work in mysterious ways. What all went in to our sending to Toronto?
Finally, just today, Katie was sitting in her office frantically trying to get some work done for Green Meadow when a new parent comes in her office for a school tour. Somehow Saskia came up and this parent who recently moved to Spring Valley from Tennessee, informs Katie that she used to live in Toronto and was a cancer research fellow at the Toronto Children's hospital! Whats more is that, instead of a school tour, this lady insisted on making numerous phone calls at Katie's desk for over an hour in order to make the transfer more smoothly, connect us with the inside people, and so that perhaps we could bypass the three month waiting period before the Canadian health insurance would kick in. Katie couldn't believe it, and again had the profound feeling of being carried even in the midst of crisis.
What could we have done to deserve such a gift? Nothing, nada.
This gift of feeling carried and comforted by destiny, even while at the same time feeling the terrible reality and soul grief of our sweet little daughter having this sickness, we experience as truly a gift. Not something that we earned, 'manifested' or have 'drawn' to ourselves. It is really a grace, an unearned gift. The suffering on the other hand; what is highest in us has found it!
Intimate Workings of Karma
Vienna, 9 February 1912 Rudolf Steiner
"...we should regard our sufferings as having been sought out by the wiser being within us in order that certain imperfections may be overcome, and that by bearing these sufferings calmly we may make progress along our path....happiness and joy must not be regarded as due to our own merit or individual karma, but deemed a kind of grace through which the all-prevailing spirit penetrates us....That is what our attitude must be if we are to reach a true understanding of karma. Happiness and joy are given us by divine grace...Nobody should ever believe that joy comes to him because of special karmic privileges...Joy and happiness should move us to deeds of compassion and mercy...There is no justification for the very prevalent view that one whose life abounds in happiness has deserved it."
Rev. Jonah C. Evans
15 Margetts Road
Chestnut Ridge, NY 10952
845-573-9080
I write this with a heavy but somehow joy-filled heart.
Last Thursday, our youngest daughter Saskia was admitted again into the hospital for a variety of symptoms including being unresponsive to the pain of having blood taken. The geneticist that we had seen as a result of the last hospital visit in february had just called us from her personal line the night before letting us know that it was absolutely necessary that we get a blood test the next day. The geneticist wasn't sure what was going on but her blood test was showing severe hypokalemia, dangerously low potassium levels.
Katie immediately brought Saskia to the emergency room in Westchester NY and they were admitted. After five days and a variety of specialty doctors trying to figure out the problem, the kidney specialist finally was able to make a diagnosis.
Saskia has a very rare genetic disorder of the kidney, called Bartters syndrome. Basically, the kidney isn't able to regulate potassium in the body appropriately which results in chronic low potassium levels. This is why she has such slow development and is still so small because potassium has so much to do with muscle development. The prognosis is unclear because not much is known about this disease but the doctor said most likely she will be able to live a normal, but with-a-lot-of-hospital-visits life. She will take three times daily doses of potassium and two other medications. She will meet with a kidney specialist on a monthly basis. If she gets sick, vomits, too much sun or is dehydrated, or if her potassium levels for some reason fall below 2.5, we must visit the hospital. Most likely, muscle pain and cramping will be a lifelong thorn in her side.
Obviously this has been difficult for Katie and myself, and for our family as one could imagine. Lots of things will be different and some things difficult.
I want to tell you all though that through this my faith in the guiding beings of destiny has deepened, strengthened. In the past few days I have felt the breath of His world more strongly than ever before, under my feet, shining onto my face.
One of the most striking destiny moments was when we mentioned to our wonderful kidney doctor who has taken on Saskia, that in a few months we would be moving to Toronto. He said, "Oh, how wonderful!" "Toronto is home to perhaps the best children's hospital in the world!" He said they even have some researchers working on this incredibly rare syndrome (so rare she may be the only current case in the United States). Our doctor said he would make sure that we get connected to the best care possible in the world.
After Katie and I looked at each other in wonder, the doctor went on to tell us that he is glad we are going to Toronto because dealing with insurance here in the states with this kind of syndrome would be a nightmare.
We felt so grateful and comforted. The angels truly work in mysterious ways. What all went in to our sending to Toronto?
Finally, just today, Katie was sitting in her office frantically trying to get some work done for Green Meadow when a new parent comes in her office for a school tour. Somehow Saskia came up and this parent who recently moved to Spring Valley from Tennessee, informs Katie that she used to live in Toronto and was a cancer research fellow at the Toronto Children's hospital! Whats more is that, instead of a school tour, this lady insisted on making numerous phone calls at Katie's desk for over an hour in order to make the transfer more smoothly, connect us with the inside people, and so that perhaps we could bypass the three month waiting period before the Canadian health insurance would kick in. Katie couldn't believe it, and again had the profound feeling of being carried even in the midst of crisis.
What could we have done to deserve such a gift? Nothing, nada.
This gift of feeling carried and comforted by destiny, even while at the same time feeling the terrible reality and soul grief of our sweet little daughter having this sickness, we experience as truly a gift. Not something that we earned, 'manifested' or have 'drawn' to ourselves. It is really a grace, an unearned gift. The suffering on the other hand; what is highest in us has found it!
Intimate Workings of Karma
Vienna, 9 February 1912 Rudolf Steiner
"...we should regard our sufferings as having been sought out by the wiser being within us in order that certain imperfections may be overcome, and that by bearing these sufferings calmly we may make progress along our path....happiness and joy must not be regarded as due to our own merit or individual karma, but deemed a kind of grace through which the all-prevailing spirit penetrates us....That is what our attitude must be if we are to reach a true understanding of karma. Happiness and joy are given us by divine grace...Nobody should ever believe that joy comes to him because of special karmic privileges...Joy and happiness should move us to deeds of compassion and mercy...There is no justification for the very prevalent view that one whose life abounds in happiness has deserved it."
Rev. Jonah C. Evans
15 Margetts Road
Chestnut Ridge, NY 10952
845-573-9080
International News - Korea
(from In Beweging Witsun 2013) In February Rev. Michael Debus, priest in the Stuttgart Möhringen congregation, and Rev. Eun Kyong Lee, priest in the Bielefeld congregation, travelled to South Korea together and gave twenty lectures on pedagogy, Anthroposophy and Christianity. The attendance at these lectures varied between 50 and 140 Koreans. Furthermore they participated with an existing evangelical group in Seoul in which 25 people interested in Christianity participated. The lectures were presented by Rev. Michael Debus while Rev. Eun Kyong Lee, herself Korean, provided the context and translated from German.
As a result of this visit a group of Koreans will visit the Goetheanum in Dornach this summer (July/August) where they will experience the Mystery Plays. The children and youth (12-18 years old) in this visiting group will be hosted by families of the Basel congregation.
As a result of this visit a group of Koreans will visit the Goetheanum in Dornach this summer (July/August) where they will experience the Mystery Plays. The children and youth (12-18 years old) in this visiting group will be hosted by families of the Basel congregation.
Money and Faith
In the Dutch publication In Beweging, Easter edition, Rev. Maarten de Gans, priest in the Buenos Aires congregation, wrote an article about money. Money, as used today, has no extrinsic value, it is merely pieces of used paper; but it has intrinsic value because of our faith in its value. As evidence he quotes that 50% of the 50 centavos coins in circulation in Argentina are counterfeit, yet both genuine and counterfeit coins are legal tender, even in the banks because everyone has faith in their value. He argues that if money is spirit then it follows that money is not just money, it changes in nature depending on who moves money and for what purpose it is employed. The individual can change our capitalistic society through his/her intent in using money. (Synopsys by John-Peter Gernaat)
May Articles
List of articles
- • Contemplation: To Become an "I AM" by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
- • In Memoriam - George Abawat
- • A healthy body has enough blood. In the same way, a healthy community should have enough money by David Wertheim Aymes
- • The Wake Room by Rev. Neville Adams
- • Festive Taking Ownership of Our Wake Room - words spoken in the wake room on Palm Sunday, 24th March 2013 by Sophia Turner and Shirley Higgins
- • Historical Recollections by Sophia Turner
- • Cornelius Schubert by John-Peter Gernaat
- • News from London by Lisa Yiadom
- • The beginning of The Christian Community in Johannesburg by Rev. Neville Adams
In Memoriam
George Abawat *20.07.1934 +06.04.2013
After celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in July 2012, George and Michelle Abawat moved to Knysna. At the beginning of 2013 George suffered a heart attack and experienced progressively all his bodily systems weakening. He passed over the threshold peacefully on the 6th April surrounded by his loving wife, his children, grandchildren and friends.
After celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in July 2012, George and Michelle Abawat moved to Knysna. At the beginning of 2013 George suffered a heart attack and experienced progressively all his bodily systems weakening. He passed over the threshold peacefully on the 6th April surrounded by his loving wife, his children, grandchildren and friends.
A healthy body has enough blood. In the same way, a healthy community should have enough money
by David Wertheim Aymes
During last year’s AGM I put the above concept forward. Immediately after the meeting I put a motion forward. The motion was that I would lead an exploratory process to see if this concept could possibly be true and on what basis it could be correct, and based on what building blocks of logic.
A group of us has met approximately 20 times over the last year to investigate this. We got to a point where we felt that we possibly had the conceptual building blocks that would suggest that the concept was correct. We then decided to try to find a practical situation that we could test this on. It is here that we have struggled to gain traction and move forward. I remain convinced of the practicality of all that we discussed and discovered and apply it daily in my own life in very practical ways with surprisingly strong outcomes. One cannot make money, one can only help to facilitate the flow of money in certain directions. One can do it with good intentions and with bad intentions. One can try to drain existing ‘bank vaults’ of money by working for Government or becoming a tenderpreneur, discover a deposit of valuable minerals (that belong to all mankind not to one), or one can build new springs of activity that allow money to flow towards them. A new spring of money would be a healthy community with a common aim such as The Christian Community. These new springs are very difficult to create; stealing is indeed easier. As difficult as it may be to take the risks in creating and building a new architectural thought that ends up fixed in blocks and mortar, it is much more complex to build a community which is really only constituted by the very transitory inner life of the individuals in such a community. As this inner life waxes and wanes in each individual so the spiritual building that represents the community changes its shape and form and also its relationship to money. The blood in our bodies knows where it has to be as our bodies are so perfect from the aeons development that is the consequence of the spiritual dedication to it. A community today needs to be held consciously and consistently by each member if it is to allow itself to be seen by the forces behind money. If it changes its form and appearance to the spiritual world too much too quickly, or, as is even a worse but common reality still, a relic from the past that we need to overcome, there is no spiritual building, how can it be found? Our task today as human beings is also to learn to know that this ‘Stately pleasure Dome’ of our community needs first to be created in the spiritual world through the common striving of our individual members linked with a common cause. The Christian Community has at its centre the sacraments as an idea. The question for us becomes then ‘so how do we support this idea in our own conduct?’
It is a new faculty that we have as human beings, the faculty to be aware of our thinking and the morality connected to it and what part our part in this regard relates to the overall ‘building’ that we are trying to build, or rather ‘bring to life’. We should not see this as something that we have lost or have been negligent about. It is new and we can take it on and learn to know it in the real sense of ‘know’.
I feel that our efforts as a group to find a small practical example on which to test this, is not going to do justice to the concept. Such an effort requires real dedication and high degrees of patience and clarity before it has a chance of manifesting. We cannot rush such a process.
I observed, as most would have too that attended the recent AGM, that there are significant differences in orientation to issues. The paradigms expressed vastly different inner foundations. These differences will make it very difficult to progress with a spiritual ‘building’ of our community as the design is not clear to the building team.
The way forward
I would firstly like to offer a similar process to a new group and hereby ask for anyone interested to contact me so that we can set this up. For references on the process please contact any of Tony Fornali, Mark Heathfield, Michael Krösche, and John-Peter Gernaat. I look forward to a new group starting.
The current group have decided to continue in parallel with a possible new group. They will work on ‘the design’ as noted in the last paragraph of the article above.
David can be contacted through the newsletter at [email protected].za. Editor.
During last year’s AGM I put the above concept forward. Immediately after the meeting I put a motion forward. The motion was that I would lead an exploratory process to see if this concept could possibly be true and on what basis it could be correct, and based on what building blocks of logic.
A group of us has met approximately 20 times over the last year to investigate this. We got to a point where we felt that we possibly had the conceptual building blocks that would suggest that the concept was correct. We then decided to try to find a practical situation that we could test this on. It is here that we have struggled to gain traction and move forward. I remain convinced of the practicality of all that we discussed and discovered and apply it daily in my own life in very practical ways with surprisingly strong outcomes. One cannot make money, one can only help to facilitate the flow of money in certain directions. One can do it with good intentions and with bad intentions. One can try to drain existing ‘bank vaults’ of money by working for Government or becoming a tenderpreneur, discover a deposit of valuable minerals (that belong to all mankind not to one), or one can build new springs of activity that allow money to flow towards them. A new spring of money would be a healthy community with a common aim such as The Christian Community. These new springs are very difficult to create; stealing is indeed easier. As difficult as it may be to take the risks in creating and building a new architectural thought that ends up fixed in blocks and mortar, it is much more complex to build a community which is really only constituted by the very transitory inner life of the individuals in such a community. As this inner life waxes and wanes in each individual so the spiritual building that represents the community changes its shape and form and also its relationship to money. The blood in our bodies knows where it has to be as our bodies are so perfect from the aeons development that is the consequence of the spiritual dedication to it. A community today needs to be held consciously and consistently by each member if it is to allow itself to be seen by the forces behind money. If it changes its form and appearance to the spiritual world too much too quickly, or, as is even a worse but common reality still, a relic from the past that we need to overcome, there is no spiritual building, how can it be found? Our task today as human beings is also to learn to know that this ‘Stately pleasure Dome’ of our community needs first to be created in the spiritual world through the common striving of our individual members linked with a common cause. The Christian Community has at its centre the sacraments as an idea. The question for us becomes then ‘so how do we support this idea in our own conduct?’
It is a new faculty that we have as human beings, the faculty to be aware of our thinking and the morality connected to it and what part our part in this regard relates to the overall ‘building’ that we are trying to build, or rather ‘bring to life’. We should not see this as something that we have lost or have been negligent about. It is new and we can take it on and learn to know it in the real sense of ‘know’.
I feel that our efforts as a group to find a small practical example on which to test this, is not going to do justice to the concept. Such an effort requires real dedication and high degrees of patience and clarity before it has a chance of manifesting. We cannot rush such a process.
I observed, as most would have too that attended the recent AGM, that there are significant differences in orientation to issues. The paradigms expressed vastly different inner foundations. These differences will make it very difficult to progress with a spiritual ‘building’ of our community as the design is not clear to the building team.
The way forward
I would firstly like to offer a similar process to a new group and hereby ask for anyone interested to contact me so that we can set this up. For references on the process please contact any of Tony Fornali, Mark Heathfield, Michael Krösche, and John-Peter Gernaat. I look forward to a new group starting.
The current group have decided to continue in parallel with a possible new group. They will work on ‘the design’ as noted in the last paragraph of the article above.
David can be contacted through the newsletter at [email protected].za. Editor.
The Wake Room
A letter by Rev. Neville Adams
I have just read the news of the Festive Taking Ownership of the new Wake Room and looked with great interest at the photos on the Web Site!
All I can say is CONGRATULATIONS! It is a wonderful addition to the church property and will bring much comfort to those who are taking leave from their loved ones.
The new garden looks wonderful as well and it was lovely to see the Alfred Heidenreich Memorial in the new setting.
I looked at the pictures of the other festive occasions on the website with great interest and enthusiasm. It is heartening to see something of the life of your community.
There were lots of faces I did not know – which is a very positive sign – as well as some I knew well but sometimes I had to look twice to recognise who it was.
Yes! We have all aged a bit!
The photos of the children’s camps were all wonderful. They brought back memories of all the camps I was happy to lead, starting with the first one on the farm of Anna Raath, near to Carolina in the eastern Transvaal as it was then called!
So with good thoughts and best wishes for the future of the Johannesburg Congregation, in Randburg!
I have just read the news of the Festive Taking Ownership of the new Wake Room and looked with great interest at the photos on the Web Site!
All I can say is CONGRATULATIONS! It is a wonderful addition to the church property and will bring much comfort to those who are taking leave from their loved ones.
The new garden looks wonderful as well and it was lovely to see the Alfred Heidenreich Memorial in the new setting.
I looked at the pictures of the other festive occasions on the website with great interest and enthusiasm. It is heartening to see something of the life of your community.
There were lots of faces I did not know – which is a very positive sign – as well as some I knew well but sometimes I had to look twice to recognise who it was.
Yes! We have all aged a bit!
The photos of the children’s camps were all wonderful. They brought back memories of all the camps I was happy to lead, starting with the first one on the farm of Anna Raath, near to Carolina in the eastern Transvaal as it was then called!
So with good thoughts and best wishes for the future of the Johannesburg Congregation, in Randburg!
Cornelius Schubert
by John-Peter Gernaat
A week after Easter Cornelius Schubert returned to Germany. Since the beginning of the year his name had been listed on our website as Priest’s Assistant. He ran the Youth Group for several months last year and assisted on the Children’s Camp. On Sunday, 10th March he introduced himself to the congregation as a parting gift. He studied to be a paediatric nurse and found that his real passion lies in children’s hospice. He spent some time explaining that death is perfectly natural and nothing to fear. When it is inevitable that a child is going to die and not make it into adulthood it is not necessarily something to be sorrowful about. Death is a process that every person passes through and when it is a child it is a matter of preparing the child and the parents for the event. Often it is the parents who need more preparation than the child and the child often holds on until the parents are able to release him/her. Cornelius shared with us visuals and information of the paediatric hospice he had worked at in Germany before his sabbatical in South Africa and also the work he did at Hospice Wits in Johannesburg.
Cornelius had also brought with him a feature film (in Bayerisch German) about the path taken and the decision made by a woman who was approaching death due to illness. He held a screening of this film of Monday, 11th March.
A week after Easter Cornelius Schubert returned to Germany. Since the beginning of the year his name had been listed on our website as Priest’s Assistant. He ran the Youth Group for several months last year and assisted on the Children’s Camp. On Sunday, 10th March he introduced himself to the congregation as a parting gift. He studied to be a paediatric nurse and found that his real passion lies in children’s hospice. He spent some time explaining that death is perfectly natural and nothing to fear. When it is inevitable that a child is going to die and not make it into adulthood it is not necessarily something to be sorrowful about. Death is a process that every person passes through and when it is a child it is a matter of preparing the child and the parents for the event. Often it is the parents who need more preparation than the child and the child often holds on until the parents are able to release him/her. Cornelius shared with us visuals and information of the paediatric hospice he had worked at in Germany before his sabbatical in South Africa and also the work he did at Hospice Wits in Johannesburg.
Cornelius had also brought with him a feature film (in Bayerisch German) about the path taken and the decision made by a woman who was approaching death due to illness. He held a screening of this film of Monday, 11th March.
News from London
A letter from Lisa Yiadom
It is time for some long overdue spring greetings from London! I say 'spring' but to be honest the weather up here is so typically miserable that it feels more like winter...if only the English elementals would cheer up and take after those in South Africa!
I wanted to write a message of thanks to you all. As some of you know I had to leave back in February after falling ill, and as it all happened very quickly, I regrettably didn't have much of a chance to give personal good-byes to many of you. I am now incredibly grateful to share that I am better and enjoying embracing that thing we can all so easily take for granted- good health.
I was made to feel so welcome by you all over the 18 months of my stay, and I now firmly feel Joburg, and the community itself, to be a second home. A dear community member would often tease me in the office saying that despite me being of African descent I'm still a Pomme through-and-through! And yes, George, I would probably have to agree, but despite this it has been somewhat strange living back in the land where I was born and bred. London is a terrific place, but Africa certainly did what it does best and stole my heart with her hope and beauty. I sincerely hope to make it back to seeing you all again in the city of gold in the future.
Friendly wishes, Lisa.
It is time for some long overdue spring greetings from London! I say 'spring' but to be honest the weather up here is so typically miserable that it feels more like winter...if only the English elementals would cheer up and take after those in South Africa!
I wanted to write a message of thanks to you all. As some of you know I had to leave back in February after falling ill, and as it all happened very quickly, I regrettably didn't have much of a chance to give personal good-byes to many of you. I am now incredibly grateful to share that I am better and enjoying embracing that thing we can all so easily take for granted- good health.
I was made to feel so welcome by you all over the 18 months of my stay, and I now firmly feel Joburg, and the community itself, to be a second home. A dear community member would often tease me in the office saying that despite me being of African descent I'm still a Pomme through-and-through! And yes, George, I would probably have to agree, but despite this it has been somewhat strange living back in the land where I was born and bred. London is a terrific place, but Africa certainly did what it does best and stole my heart with her hope and beauty. I sincerely hope to make it back to seeing you all again in the city of gold in the future.
Friendly wishes, Lisa.
April Articles
List of articles
- • The Weight of the Earth by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
- • The SACRAMENT of CONFIRMATION by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
- • Gratitude to the Community by Anne-Marie van Dijk
- • Festive Taking of Ownership of Our Wake Room by Sophia Turner
- • A Wish for our Community by Kerry Audouin
- • Wake Room Update - the Garden by Michèle Schiess Linders
- • Analysis of the AGM John Peter Gernaat
- • "Listen to your people" - an original story by John-Peter Gernaat
The SACRAMENT of CONFIRMATION will be celebrated this year on Easter Monday, 1st April.
This is not just a festive highlight in the life of the children being led over the threshold of childhood into youth and adulthood, but also a special highlight in the life of our community to receive them into our midst as a religious and spiritual community.
As a community we bring towards them the example how dedication to a religious practice and spirit-orientated thoughts prove themselves to be strong life-supportive and life-changing factors. In such a selfless offering of community substance an experience of the 'ground of existence' into which their own soul abilities can root themselves is made possible. With earnest and joyful hearts we all join in the invocation with our best thoughts and holiest feelings while they are enjoined with the destiny-guiding powers of Christ. At this decisive threshold of life a first direct, gentle encounter with the Resurrected One is facilitated and confirmed through their first communion at the altar. May it accompany these souls through all pathways of life , through joy and sorrow, always accessible as a wellspring of life and hope.
Everyone is also invited to attend the preparation for the confirmation service on Easter Sunday evening, 31st March, at 17h00.
As a community we bring towards them the example how dedication to a religious practice and spirit-orientated thoughts prove themselves to be strong life-supportive and life-changing factors. In such a selfless offering of community substance an experience of the 'ground of existence' into which their own soul abilities can root themselves is made possible. With earnest and joyful hearts we all join in the invocation with our best thoughts and holiest feelings while they are enjoined with the destiny-guiding powers of Christ. At this decisive threshold of life a first direct, gentle encounter with the Resurrected One is facilitated and confirmed through their first communion at the altar. May it accompany these souls through all pathways of life , through joy and sorrow, always accessible as a wellspring of life and hope.
Everyone is also invited to attend the preparation for the confirmation service on Easter Sunday evening, 31st March, at 17h00.
Gratitude to the Community
Jacob and Anne-Marie van Dijk write:
“Dear friends,
Thank you for an unforgettable day that we were able to share with you in celebrating our Silver Anniversary and renewing our marriage vows. Thank you for what you contributed to making this such a special day.
Festive Taking of Ownership of Our Wake Room
Unlocking the doors to take ownershop
Palm Sunday 24 March 2013
These are the words spoken by Sophia Turner during the ceremony marking the festive taking ownership of our Wake Room:
"We are standing in a unique place – first ever purpose built wake room in any of the worldwide Christian Communities. But even more so, we are standing in what is an expression of our community life forces.
"Last week someone said we were the best Christian Community in the world. We may not necessarily assume that, but we are definitely one of the most energetic, dynamic, outgoing and innovative.
"It takes a long period of preparation in the spiritual world for a human being to be born on earth. Our wake room too took quite a while to become a reality. But while we were getting ready to receive it, it was being prepared and guided towards us from above by those who have gone before us.
"Just as a baby needs parents to provide it with an earthly body into which to incarnate, so too an impulse needs a parent or parents to bring it into reality. The parents of an initiative are the individuals who not only come forward with an idea, but also take it into their hearts, their heads and their hands and make it happen. Our wake room has such parents.
"I have here a long list of names. However, because I have been threatened with excommunication if I thank certain individuals by name, I am going to simply acknowledge that such people have given a lot of themselves to the project.
"Most of you have experienced for yourselves the joy of having been a part of something new coming into being. Therefore you know that the joy is more in the doing than in receiving thanks. One feels a quiet satisfaction that something has been accomplished. Nevertheless, it is good for us to be aware how much effort has gone into the wonderful structure we are standing in. And the work will continue still for a while.
"We have an album which is a complete biography of how the wake room came into being. You will find the names of everyone there. Please ask for it and have a look at it.
"Here are the people whose involvement we need to acknowledge today:
"All the Attendees and Contributors to the Wake Room Experience throughout the first two years of the project.
"The Wake Room Team: Tony Fornali, Hazel Fornali, Shirley Higgins, Anne-Marie van Dijk, Mark Heathfield, Sophia Turner and Hugh Thornton.
"The Design Team: Tony Fornali and Tony Bolton
"The Project Manager: Hazel Fornali
"The Building Team: At Ferreira of Asiwele Construction and his team
"The Garden Team: Michèle and Thomas Linders and their team
"The Church Trustees under the leadership of Martin Kuhlmann – for their trust in our team
"John-Peter Gernaat for the Media Updates
"All the Contributors for both Financial and Material Donations
"And last, but very important, Reingard Knausenberger – our priest and lenker – for the initial spark and for keeping the flame alive."
These are the words spoken by Sophia Turner during the ceremony marking the festive taking ownership of our Wake Room:
"We are standing in a unique place – first ever purpose built wake room in any of the worldwide Christian Communities. But even more so, we are standing in what is an expression of our community life forces.
"Last week someone said we were the best Christian Community in the world. We may not necessarily assume that, but we are definitely one of the most energetic, dynamic, outgoing and innovative.
"It takes a long period of preparation in the spiritual world for a human being to be born on earth. Our wake room too took quite a while to become a reality. But while we were getting ready to receive it, it was being prepared and guided towards us from above by those who have gone before us.
"Just as a baby needs parents to provide it with an earthly body into which to incarnate, so too an impulse needs a parent or parents to bring it into reality. The parents of an initiative are the individuals who not only come forward with an idea, but also take it into their hearts, their heads and their hands and make it happen. Our wake room has such parents.
"I have here a long list of names. However, because I have been threatened with excommunication if I thank certain individuals by name, I am going to simply acknowledge that such people have given a lot of themselves to the project.
"Most of you have experienced for yourselves the joy of having been a part of something new coming into being. Therefore you know that the joy is more in the doing than in receiving thanks. One feels a quiet satisfaction that something has been accomplished. Nevertheless, it is good for us to be aware how much effort has gone into the wonderful structure we are standing in. And the work will continue still for a while.
"We have an album which is a complete biography of how the wake room came into being. You will find the names of everyone there. Please ask for it and have a look at it.
"Here are the people whose involvement we need to acknowledge today:
"All the Attendees and Contributors to the Wake Room Experience throughout the first two years of the project.
"The Wake Room Team: Tony Fornali, Hazel Fornali, Shirley Higgins, Anne-Marie van Dijk, Mark Heathfield, Sophia Turner and Hugh Thornton.
"The Design Team: Tony Fornali and Tony Bolton
"The Project Manager: Hazel Fornali
"The Building Team: At Ferreira of Asiwele Construction and his team
"The Garden Team: Michèle and Thomas Linders and their team
"The Church Trustees under the leadership of Martin Kuhlmann – for their trust in our team
"John-Peter Gernaat for the Media Updates
"All the Contributors for both Financial and Material Donations
"And last, but very important, Reingard Knausenberger – our priest and lenker – for the initial spark and for keeping the flame alive."
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These are the words spoken by Shirley Higgins during the ceremony marking the festive taking ownership of our Wake Room:
The birth of a baby is usually awaited with great joy and anticipation. For months we dream up names, attend antenatal classes, study breathing and birthing techniques, make the men in our lives practice changing nappies on plastic dolls, buy prams and cribs and high chairs, prepare a special room for the baby, and so on. And at last the baby arrives and changes our lives completely for the next 18 to 25 years; in fact, changes the course of our lives forever.
But sooner or later, hopefully in ripe old age, but often sooner, and sometimes tragically in childhood, this human being, who was so joyfully awaited by his parents, dies. And now what?
There is a deep sense of loss, and sometimes that sense of loss can be overwhelming and we grieve for many years, but for the most part we deal with death as if we were closing the door of a room we will never enter again. At best, we hold a funeral and put up a plaque or grave stone, visit the person’s remains now and then and think about them from time to time.
For western society has long, long forgotten that the death of a human being heralds his birth into the spiritual world, and like a new-born baby, they need as much help as they can get to re-orientate themselves and find their feet, as it were. In a sense, they have been preparing for this moment of death for the whole of their lives on earth. From the moment they drew their first breath in their mother’s arms, they began their relatively short journey towards death. As soon as they cross the threshold of death, they begin to assimilate and digest all that they have learned on earth and soon they embark on the much, much longer journey back towards their eventual rebirth on the earth.
We have difficulty relating to the rituals and sacraments that surround death in the various cultures on the earth and no longer realise how helpful they can be to those who have died and how effectively we can assist them in their onward journey and spiritual development if we continue to support them in the years that follow their death, through our prayers and warm, loving memories of them.
In reality, it is vitally important not only for them, but also for our own continued existence, that we learn to cultivate in ourselves the sure knowledge, as an objective fact, that the dead are always with us, and in a different way are as much part of our world as we are.
Christian Communities all over the world either have a wake room inside the church building, or a space that can quickly be prepared and converted to a wake room at need; a space where the person who has died can “breathe out” one last time and review his life in the company of those he has loved. We in Johannesburg are the first Christian Community in the world to build an entire building dedicated for this purpose. I believe it is entirely appropriate that such a building should have risen up out of the soil of Johannesburg, for I have often wondered how it must feel to one who has just died to expand into the heavens above Johannesburg, our incredibly vibrant and beloved, but beleaguered, city.
We can know that the Act of Consecration of Man and the sacraments and rituals that are celebrated for the dead and dying rise up like incense into the heavens above Johannesburg, accompanied by our good thoughts and prayers, and that this incense can be waybread, not only for the dead connected to the Christian Community, but potentially also for many others who die in Johannesburg.
This wonderful new, buttery yellow, eccentrically-shaped wake room building is a bold outer manifestation of what we, the Church of Lazarus, and the Christian Community worldwide, stand for death and resurrection as a single concept. Long may this building serve us and all those who live and die in Johannesburg.
The birth of a baby is usually awaited with great joy and anticipation. For months we dream up names, attend antenatal classes, study breathing and birthing techniques, make the men in our lives practice changing nappies on plastic dolls, buy prams and cribs and high chairs, prepare a special room for the baby, and so on. And at last the baby arrives and changes our lives completely for the next 18 to 25 years; in fact, changes the course of our lives forever.
But sooner or later, hopefully in ripe old age, but often sooner, and sometimes tragically in childhood, this human being, who was so joyfully awaited by his parents, dies. And now what?
There is a deep sense of loss, and sometimes that sense of loss can be overwhelming and we grieve for many years, but for the most part we deal with death as if we were closing the door of a room we will never enter again. At best, we hold a funeral and put up a plaque or grave stone, visit the person’s remains now and then and think about them from time to time.
For western society has long, long forgotten that the death of a human being heralds his birth into the spiritual world, and like a new-born baby, they need as much help as they can get to re-orientate themselves and find their feet, as it were. In a sense, they have been preparing for this moment of death for the whole of their lives on earth. From the moment they drew their first breath in their mother’s arms, they began their relatively short journey towards death. As soon as they cross the threshold of death, they begin to assimilate and digest all that they have learned on earth and soon they embark on the much, much longer journey back towards their eventual rebirth on the earth.
We have difficulty relating to the rituals and sacraments that surround death in the various cultures on the earth and no longer realise how helpful they can be to those who have died and how effectively we can assist them in their onward journey and spiritual development if we continue to support them in the years that follow their death, through our prayers and warm, loving memories of them.
In reality, it is vitally important not only for them, but also for our own continued existence, that we learn to cultivate in ourselves the sure knowledge, as an objective fact, that the dead are always with us, and in a different way are as much part of our world as we are.
Christian Communities all over the world either have a wake room inside the church building, or a space that can quickly be prepared and converted to a wake room at need; a space where the person who has died can “breathe out” one last time and review his life in the company of those he has loved. We in Johannesburg are the first Christian Community in the world to build an entire building dedicated for this purpose. I believe it is entirely appropriate that such a building should have risen up out of the soil of Johannesburg, for I have often wondered how it must feel to one who has just died to expand into the heavens above Johannesburg, our incredibly vibrant and beloved, but beleaguered, city.
We can know that the Act of Consecration of Man and the sacraments and rituals that are celebrated for the dead and dying rise up like incense into the heavens above Johannesburg, accompanied by our good thoughts and prayers, and that this incense can be waybread, not only for the dead connected to the Christian Community, but potentially also for many others who die in Johannesburg.
This wonderful new, buttery yellow, eccentrically-shaped wake room building is a bold outer manifestation of what we, the Church of Lazarus, and the Christian Community worldwide, stand for death and resurrection as a single concept. Long may this building serve us and all those who live and die in Johannesburg.
For photos of the ceremony see the photos page by clicking here.
A Wish for the Community
by Kerry Audouin
I hold in my heart something new for our community and if I may I would love to share it with you.
I love my city, Johannesburg. Many people would ask me why, there is no natural beauty around us, no sea or mountains to distract us from the hum drum of daily life.
The pace in this city is relentless and ruthless. There are many things to see and feel that are cruel; I see these every day and my heart bleeds. But for me, being up here in the sky with nothing between us and that sky nowhere to hide and cower away, there is a call a, mighty call to be awake and alive. What a perfect place to be a fully conscious human being. To be made to take life on the chin and roll with the punches and have a chance to practice true courage. It is not perfect but perfect in its imperfections.
Every day I am treated to thumbnail pictures, moments in time that stand out and call me to say: “look at me, I am real”. There are pictures for all seasons. In autumn where we are headed to now, a tree alight with golden-yellow leaves flung up against the magnificent blue of our autumn sky.
Winter, the sunset colours from the afterglow of the orange sun, move into a creamy white which gives way to purple fading into the most beautiful blue and finally going to the black of night.
Spring, as the cold bite loosens its grip and even though they have not had a drop of rain all winter, tiny buds form, colouring in the grey-brown branches in the pretties green, and the air is alive with the sweetest smell.
And my favourite, summer with its rolling thunderheads, I like to call them mobile mountains, stretching impossibly high, higher than any mountain range, and they fill the sky with their white outlined bulging fullness and cause the light below them to be bruised with the falling rain, streaked by the shear white light of the lightening and the ground is shaken by the answering thunder.
These are here in our city around us all the time and I feel who needs distractions with such precious gifts that are given.
In our community however, I stand and feel concern. Wonderful members have built us a wake room, I thank them with gratitude for their time and love that they poured into it and feel it will stand us in good stead for the future, but here is the nub, what future? Where is the next generation to follow us? I feel the wheels are slowing down and stopping, the momentum we have is being depleted. I think we all can feel it.
This is where I almost feel fear. We, as The Christian Community, stand in full consciousness for humanity in Christ’s name, especially here in South Africa; we cannot just quietly go into the night (a quote I heard from a movie), not when we are so desperately needed.
I do not have all the answers but if I may, I would like to form a committee to try and see if we can find those who are trying to find us. I have a few ideas to bring to the table and would love to hear other people’s suggestions.
I think we can turn the wheel and get moving again, going forward and upwards. After all God helps those who help themselves.
I look forward with hope to making something new for our community.
I hold in my heart something new for our community and if I may I would love to share it with you.
I love my city, Johannesburg. Many people would ask me why, there is no natural beauty around us, no sea or mountains to distract us from the hum drum of daily life.
The pace in this city is relentless and ruthless. There are many things to see and feel that are cruel; I see these every day and my heart bleeds. But for me, being up here in the sky with nothing between us and that sky nowhere to hide and cower away, there is a call a, mighty call to be awake and alive. What a perfect place to be a fully conscious human being. To be made to take life on the chin and roll with the punches and have a chance to practice true courage. It is not perfect but perfect in its imperfections.
Every day I am treated to thumbnail pictures, moments in time that stand out and call me to say: “look at me, I am real”. There are pictures for all seasons. In autumn where we are headed to now, a tree alight with golden-yellow leaves flung up against the magnificent blue of our autumn sky.
Winter, the sunset colours from the afterglow of the orange sun, move into a creamy white which gives way to purple fading into the most beautiful blue and finally going to the black of night.
Spring, as the cold bite loosens its grip and even though they have not had a drop of rain all winter, tiny buds form, colouring in the grey-brown branches in the pretties green, and the air is alive with the sweetest smell.
And my favourite, summer with its rolling thunderheads, I like to call them mobile mountains, stretching impossibly high, higher than any mountain range, and they fill the sky with their white outlined bulging fullness and cause the light below them to be bruised with the falling rain, streaked by the shear white light of the lightening and the ground is shaken by the answering thunder.
These are here in our city around us all the time and I feel who needs distractions with such precious gifts that are given.
In our community however, I stand and feel concern. Wonderful members have built us a wake room, I thank them with gratitude for their time and love that they poured into it and feel it will stand us in good stead for the future, but here is the nub, what future? Where is the next generation to follow us? I feel the wheels are slowing down and stopping, the momentum we have is being depleted. I think we all can feel it.
This is where I almost feel fear. We, as The Christian Community, stand in full consciousness for humanity in Christ’s name, especially here in South Africa; we cannot just quietly go into the night (a quote I heard from a movie), not when we are so desperately needed.
I do not have all the answers but if I may, I would like to form a committee to try and see if we can find those who are trying to find us. I have a few ideas to bring to the table and would love to hear other people’s suggestions.
I think we can turn the wheel and get moving again, going forward and upwards. After all God helps those who help themselves.
I look forward with hope to making something new for our community.
Analysis of the AGM
by John-Peter Gernaat
Unofficial count: 28 people attended the 2013 AGM.
Reingard opened by sharing with us those in the wider congregation who were present at the AGM in thought.
In her report Reingard stated that since the departure of Aaron she, and the community, had taken a attitude of ‘tiding over’ until a new resident priest arrived. This last Christmas Reingard had realised that the attitude of holding a space was not constructive, that she (and we) must take possession of this space and work with what we already have. We, as a community, are under way and when another priest joins they will join a moving and vibrant community. Later in the AGM it was made clear that we will not allow another priest to go through the uncertainties of a visa approval and therefore we would finalise the visa before the priest arrived.
Martin Kuhlmann, as outgoing chairman, thanked the trustees individually for the roles they had played in the past year. He mentioned that the Trustees had had a lot to contend with during the year. He then ran through the activities and projects within the community such as the Advent Fair and the Wake Room; he asked that the congregation lend more assistance to the Trustees and said that we need more community building activities within the community. When pressed to list what had taken up the time of the Trustees he listed: the Wake Room, maintenance, project management, upgrading of the booking system, the Regional Constitution, Hugh Thornton’s visas and his departure, Reingard’s car, Lisa’s visas and property rentals.
In looking at this list there are tasks that can be handed over to other groups of people to manage, such as the administration around visas, renting our properties and management of projects. The lack of communication from the Trustees over the year has isolated the Trustees from the possible assistance that is available in the community. Martin invited anyone from the community to sit in on any Trustee meeting. And later in the meeting Karyn Cardoso put forward a suggestion of a monthly meeting between interested members of the community and a nominated Trustee to discuss the workload of the Trustees to enlighten the community, for the community to offer assistance and to give the community a platform to contribute towards the decision making in the community. This would create a greater degree of common consciousness within the community regarding the community. This would benefit community building.
Sophia gave a report on the Wake Room from Palm Sunday 2011 through the erection of the basic structure in December 2011 to the commencement of the building in December 2012 and the finishing touches that are currently underway in preparation for the handing over of the Wake Room to the Community on Palm Sunday 2013.
The financial reports that were presented were at a very high level. They show that the Trustees manage the expenses of the community well within the available funds and that there is a heavy reliance on fund raising through the Advent Fair and exceptional donations. The budget for the year 2013/14 was a projection based on last year’s budget with inflationary effects added, but without the detail to indicate that the Trustees had given thought to areas that needed expenditure in the coming year it was an academic exercise reviewing it and it was approved as such.
A motion to amend the Constitution to allow for the voting of representatives from the community to serve on the Regional Council was carried.
The motion to change the Constitution with regards to the term of office of the Trustees, the number of Trustees and the voting procedure was briefly debated. It was quickly obvious that there was no clear consensus either way on the motion and a request to redraft the motion and present it again was put to the vote and carried. What came out of the debate was that the possibility of having 12 Trustees to reflect the 12 World Views should be retained and that there are risks to the proposed amendments that need to be fully unpacked and debated.
Matthew Kannemeyer was re-elected to the Board of Trustees without objection and the Board is now reduced to 6 members from 8 members at the last AGM. This reflects the call from Martin for more assistance from the community to aid the Trustees.
Under the general section of the agenda the date for the Advent Fair was set as 2nd November, the date for a “nearly new sale” as 27th July, the lazuring of the Wake Room for October/November and the date for the Winter Lunch would be up to the person who steps forward to organise the event. We were informed that 2 candidates have been selected and prioritised for the position of Office Secretary and that discussions with the first listed candidate were at an early stage. The Advent Fair needs a new committee to carry the administration, coordination and logistics that happen in the background for several months to create a successful Advent Fair, as John-Peter is away from the 2nd week of October till after 10th November and Karyn is busy around the time of the Advent Fair with training.
Unofficial count: 28 people attended the 2013 AGM.
Reingard opened by sharing with us those in the wider congregation who were present at the AGM in thought.
In her report Reingard stated that since the departure of Aaron she, and the community, had taken a attitude of ‘tiding over’ until a new resident priest arrived. This last Christmas Reingard had realised that the attitude of holding a space was not constructive, that she (and we) must take possession of this space and work with what we already have. We, as a community, are under way and when another priest joins they will join a moving and vibrant community. Later in the AGM it was made clear that we will not allow another priest to go through the uncertainties of a visa approval and therefore we would finalise the visa before the priest arrived.
Martin Kuhlmann, as outgoing chairman, thanked the trustees individually for the roles they had played in the past year. He mentioned that the Trustees had had a lot to contend with during the year. He then ran through the activities and projects within the community such as the Advent Fair and the Wake Room; he asked that the congregation lend more assistance to the Trustees and said that we need more community building activities within the community. When pressed to list what had taken up the time of the Trustees he listed: the Wake Room, maintenance, project management, upgrading of the booking system, the Regional Constitution, Hugh Thornton’s visas and his departure, Reingard’s car, Lisa’s visas and property rentals.
In looking at this list there are tasks that can be handed over to other groups of people to manage, such as the administration around visas, renting our properties and management of projects. The lack of communication from the Trustees over the year has isolated the Trustees from the possible assistance that is available in the community. Martin invited anyone from the community to sit in on any Trustee meeting. And later in the meeting Karyn Cardoso put forward a suggestion of a monthly meeting between interested members of the community and a nominated Trustee to discuss the workload of the Trustees to enlighten the community, for the community to offer assistance and to give the community a platform to contribute towards the decision making in the community. This would create a greater degree of common consciousness within the community regarding the community. This would benefit community building.
Sophia gave a report on the Wake Room from Palm Sunday 2011 through the erection of the basic structure in December 2011 to the commencement of the building in December 2012 and the finishing touches that are currently underway in preparation for the handing over of the Wake Room to the Community on Palm Sunday 2013.
The financial reports that were presented were at a very high level. They show that the Trustees manage the expenses of the community well within the available funds and that there is a heavy reliance on fund raising through the Advent Fair and exceptional donations. The budget for the year 2013/14 was a projection based on last year’s budget with inflationary effects added, but without the detail to indicate that the Trustees had given thought to areas that needed expenditure in the coming year it was an academic exercise reviewing it and it was approved as such.
A motion to amend the Constitution to allow for the voting of representatives from the community to serve on the Regional Council was carried.
The motion to change the Constitution with regards to the term of office of the Trustees, the number of Trustees and the voting procedure was briefly debated. It was quickly obvious that there was no clear consensus either way on the motion and a request to redraft the motion and present it again was put to the vote and carried. What came out of the debate was that the possibility of having 12 Trustees to reflect the 12 World Views should be retained and that there are risks to the proposed amendments that need to be fully unpacked and debated.
Matthew Kannemeyer was re-elected to the Board of Trustees without objection and the Board is now reduced to 6 members from 8 members at the last AGM. This reflects the call from Martin for more assistance from the community to aid the Trustees.
Under the general section of the agenda the date for the Advent Fair was set as 2nd November, the date for a “nearly new sale” as 27th July, the lazuring of the Wake Room for October/November and the date for the Winter Lunch would be up to the person who steps forward to organise the event. We were informed that 2 candidates have been selected and prioritised for the position of Office Secretary and that discussions with the first listed candidate were at an early stage. The Advent Fair needs a new committee to carry the administration, coordination and logistics that happen in the background for several months to create a successful Advent Fair, as John-Peter is away from the 2nd week of October till after 10th November and Karyn is busy around the time of the Advent Fair with training.
March Articles
List of articles
Paper Recycling in 2012
by Sophia Turner
We had a good recycling year, thanks to the amazing collections from our faithful partner, Multotec. The weight of waste paper they had collected increased by over 5 metric tons from 2011, considerably raising our income from recycling. Many thanks go to Thomas Holtz who initiated this partnership and to Gayle Shaw, his assistant, who ensures the smooth daily running of paper collections.
By contrast, our own collections dropped by more than a ton from the year before. The weight would have been even less had it not been for a big contribution from the clear-out of Guy Wertheim-Aymes’s office in May. This large decrease is disappointing and I hope we can somehow find a way to motivate the community to join in something so worthwhile.
Converting our waste paper into cash for the church couldn’t be easier. All we have to do is bring all our paper packaging, old newspapers, magazines and books, discarded documents and receipts, telephone directories etc. and deposit them into the green Mpact bin at the back of the church. That’s all, nothing else is required. If everyone coming to the church did just that we could easily increase our income by another few thousand Rands. Please consider it next time you are about to throw your old papers into the rubbish or put them out for a curbside collection. How about dedicating the cash generated from your effort to our new wake room fund? There is still a lot we require money for.
On the positive note, our old orange bin has been replaced by a new green one that blends much better into the surrounding garden. We have been doing paper recycling for 12 years now so, even with the bin a little less visible, most of us are quite aware of its location and purpose. Thank you to all those who regularly bring their waste paper for our collections. Special thanks to Daniel, our gardener, for all his help with packing boxes and for keeping the area neat and tidy.
Please see the details of the quarterly figures in the table below.
We had a good recycling year, thanks to the amazing collections from our faithful partner, Multotec. The weight of waste paper they had collected increased by over 5 metric tons from 2011, considerably raising our income from recycling. Many thanks go to Thomas Holtz who initiated this partnership and to Gayle Shaw, his assistant, who ensures the smooth daily running of paper collections.
By contrast, our own collections dropped by more than a ton from the year before. The weight would have been even less had it not been for a big contribution from the clear-out of Guy Wertheim-Aymes’s office in May. This large decrease is disappointing and I hope we can somehow find a way to motivate the community to join in something so worthwhile.
Converting our waste paper into cash for the church couldn’t be easier. All we have to do is bring all our paper packaging, old newspapers, magazines and books, discarded documents and receipts, telephone directories etc. and deposit them into the green Mpact bin at the back of the church. That’s all, nothing else is required. If everyone coming to the church did just that we could easily increase our income by another few thousand Rands. Please consider it next time you are about to throw your old papers into the rubbish or put them out for a curbside collection. How about dedicating the cash generated from your effort to our new wake room fund? There is still a lot we require money for.
On the positive note, our old orange bin has been replaced by a new green one that blends much better into the surrounding garden. We have been doing paper recycling for 12 years now so, even with the bin a little less visible, most of us are quite aware of its location and purpose. Thank you to all those who regularly bring their waste paper for our collections. Special thanks to Daniel, our gardener, for all his help with packing boxes and for keeping the area neat and tidy.
Please see the details of the quarterly figures in the table below.
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by John-Peter Gernaat
According to Answers.com about 17 trees are saved for every tonne of paper that is recycled, and optimally 35 trees should be planted per hectare. This means that the church saved 181 trees last year that would have covered 5.2 hectares and together with Multotec 298 trees that would have stood on 8.5 hectares. It is great to see an increase in enthusiasm last year from our partners in this venture, Multotec. We are very grateful for their efforts. Let us set a target to match their efforts of last year during this year for the church. There is so much paper going to waste, let us recycle through our collection point. |
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Holy Week - Dialogue with Christ
by Reingard Knausenberger
Christ went through the steps of the Passion, which led into Good Friday and death on the cross, withdrew into the silence of Good Saturday, and resurrected in the new light of Easter. These steps are the background for every human journey through suffering, destiny trials and death experiences. We can learn, by engaging with the events of Holy Week every year, how to walk these paths with Christ and find the power of resurrection in our own life. Then the transformation achieved in His Resurrection can, step by step, become a personal Life-experience. For only that can truly be LIFE, which is wrestled out of the sphere of death ever anew, in one's own deeds of sacrifice and yet received out of the loving hand of Him who walks this path with us.
This year the questions which began to raise themselves from Advent and Christmas onwards until Good Friday in the Gospel-readings will lead us from Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday.
Christ went through the steps of the Passion, which led into Good Friday and death on the cross, withdrew into the silence of Good Saturday, and resurrected in the new light of Easter. These steps are the background for every human journey through suffering, destiny trials and death experiences. We can learn, by engaging with the events of Holy Week every year, how to walk these paths with Christ and find the power of resurrection in our own life. Then the transformation achieved in His Resurrection can, step by step, become a personal Life-experience. For only that can truly be LIFE, which is wrestled out of the sphere of death ever anew, in one's own deeds of sacrifice and yet received out of the loving hand of Him who walks this path with us.
This year the questions which began to raise themselves from Advent and Christmas onwards until Good Friday in the Gospel-readings will lead us from Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday.
February Articles
List of Articles
- • Contemplation - The Way and I - autobiography and biography by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
- • Reflections on Children's Summer Camp by Alexander Higgins and Jason Higgins
- • A Brief reflection on the Shugela’s by Samuel Mirkin
- • The 12 Holy Days of Christmas by Jan Lampen
- • We need to teach ourselves by David Wertheim-Aymes
- • Wake Room update by Sophia Turner
- • No plums but do you have apples? by Sophia Turner
- • Review of "THE GRAIL STONE IN AFRICA" by Jane Abrahams
Reflections on Children’s Summer Camp
by Alexander Higgins and Jason Higgins
Childhood is a gift that not enough children are given. The Christian Community Summer Camps are more than just a summer holiday. They are a means to creating a space where children can come, lose their city ways, and truly enjoy being children. Living in urban spaces, with the constant influence of the media in their lives today's children are growing up too fast without developing the means to cope in the world thrust upon them. Children have forgotten how to play and to sing, forgotten the wonders of being outdoors and the fulfilment and growth that comes from creating something with your hands. After watching the transformation that takes place in children for many years on many camps, it is clear how important it is to create a space once a year where children can just be children.
I have been looking after children on the Christian Community Summer Camps for about a decade now. In my time, I have seen children grow from being the one with the odd socks, or the tear stained cheeks, or the legendary temper tantrums, to being the leader on the prowl for lost clothes, wiping away the snot, or finding themselves on the receiving end of a child’s passionate outcry. Even the leaders change from year to year. I was once a younger helper who went to bed late, fought bitterly with camp leaders about minor issues I now champion with the same energy, got tired, got irritated, lost my temper, and forgot that compassion and discipline are two sides of the same sword. For many these camps have been a part of their lives since they were seven years old. The camps also offer a space where young adults come together and create something special, which they can be forever proud of and in doing so often learn more about themselves in ten days than they have during the entire year. Looking after a group of children for ten days, some of whom have never been away from their parents for more than one day is a challenge and requires an investment of energy like no other, but in the end, the return is indescribable. Childhood is a gift taken from many far too early, the Christian Community Children’s Camp gives back that gift.
I remember my days on the camp as a child, as if it took place in a magical world that was not like the one I left at home. There, on those camps, the stories we were told came to life in our adventuring through the wild in search of treasure. We became the heroes of old during great games where we gathered to champion each other to victory. Our days began with music and ended snugly tucked in alongside our companions with the sounds of nature for a lullaby. I also remember homesickness, upset tummies, bruises and scrapes, but not one of these things got in the way of the fun for very long, if at all. For ten days, these camps offer children a most spectacular gift; they give the opportunity to be children. Childhood is not just one-step on the path to adulthood, it is a thing in and of itself. It is a haven, a wonderland, and in the modern world, childhood is seldom regarded with much reverence or due concern.
Childhood has been moulded to conform to the whims of a commercial world where children can be seen and heard but they had better demand as well. They are the last bastion of the consumer culture, the last untapped consumer venture. They are also the future of a world in dire need of leaders who will aspire to something greater than what their parents created. To do this the foundations must be laid and they must be strong; full of creativity, community and joy for the world around them. Set a child before a TV and you kill his creativity, let him run in the wild and he will create his own world full of wonder and mystery.
Childhood is a gift that not enough children are given. The Christian Community Summer Camps are more than just a summer holiday. They are a means to creating a space where children can come, lose their city ways, and truly enjoy being children. Living in urban spaces, with the constant influence of the media in their lives today's children are growing up too fast without developing the means to cope in the world thrust upon them. Children have forgotten how to play and to sing, forgotten the wonders of being outdoors and the fulfilment and growth that comes from creating something with your hands. After watching the transformation that takes place in children for many years on many camps, it is clear how important it is to create a space once a year where children can just be children.
I have been looking after children on the Christian Community Summer Camps for about a decade now. In my time, I have seen children grow from being the one with the odd socks, or the tear stained cheeks, or the legendary temper tantrums, to being the leader on the prowl for lost clothes, wiping away the snot, or finding themselves on the receiving end of a child’s passionate outcry. Even the leaders change from year to year. I was once a younger helper who went to bed late, fought bitterly with camp leaders about minor issues I now champion with the same energy, got tired, got irritated, lost my temper, and forgot that compassion and discipline are two sides of the same sword. For many these camps have been a part of their lives since they were seven years old. The camps also offer a space where young adults come together and create something special, which they can be forever proud of and in doing so often learn more about themselves in ten days than they have during the entire year. Looking after a group of children for ten days, some of whom have never been away from their parents for more than one day is a challenge and requires an investment of energy like no other, but in the end, the return is indescribable. Childhood is a gift taken from many far too early, the Christian Community Children’s Camp gives back that gift.
I remember my days on the camp as a child, as if it took place in a magical world that was not like the one I left at home. There, on those camps, the stories we were told came to life in our adventuring through the wild in search of treasure. We became the heroes of old during great games where we gathered to champion each other to victory. Our days began with music and ended snugly tucked in alongside our companions with the sounds of nature for a lullaby. I also remember homesickness, upset tummies, bruises and scrapes, but not one of these things got in the way of the fun for very long, if at all. For ten days, these camps offer children a most spectacular gift; they give the opportunity to be children. Childhood is not just one-step on the path to adulthood, it is a thing in and of itself. It is a haven, a wonderland, and in the modern world, childhood is seldom regarded with much reverence or due concern.
Childhood has been moulded to conform to the whims of a commercial world where children can be seen and heard but they had better demand as well. They are the last bastion of the consumer culture, the last untapped consumer venture. They are also the future of a world in dire need of leaders who will aspire to something greater than what their parents created. To do this the foundations must be laid and they must be strong; full of creativity, community and joy for the world around them. Set a child before a TV and you kill his creativity, let him run in the wild and he will create his own world full of wonder and mystery.
A Brief reflection on the Shugela’s
by Samuel Mirkin
It is always a nervous and exciting atmosphere the hours before the children arrive. As a group helper one finds oneself overwhelmed by a sudden sense of responsibility, which at first feels like a burden. From day one the challenge is to hold and maintain a space in which one's group of children, who have chosen out of their own courage to attend the camp, can feel at home, can feel safe and most importantly be free to just be children. Of course implicit in this goal is the daunting task of ensuring that one commands enough authority to guide the children in their social dynamic as a group.
I and Dimitri Vanderlis were helpers of the older middle boys (aged 12yrs). Our group, who soon became known as the Shugela Boys due to their unquenchable sugar cravings, had a particularly challenging social dynamic. Unfortunately, because racial and cultural divides continue to persist in South African society the racial differences amongst the Shugela boys played some role in the group dynamic. With half the boys coming from Inkanyezi Waldorf school in Alexandra Township and the other half from the northern suburbs there were plenty of “differences” to acknowledge and overcome.
However, that said, these children, when faced with often challenging and novel experiences were able to look well beyond the superficial and often deeply engrained differences. Dimitri and I designed and facilitated the crafts and activities for our group as a set of 15 tasks which the boys needed to complete in order to be rewarded with a final surprise task. These tasks included holding one’s breathe for 20 seconds under water, building a fort on the koppie, designing and stencilling a unique T-shirt, using a fire to cook our own food, being absolutely silent at 3 meals and so on.
It is always a nervous and exciting atmosphere the hours before the children arrive. As a group helper one finds oneself overwhelmed by a sudden sense of responsibility, which at first feels like a burden. From day one the challenge is to hold and maintain a space in which one's group of children, who have chosen out of their own courage to attend the camp, can feel at home, can feel safe and most importantly be free to just be children. Of course implicit in this goal is the daunting task of ensuring that one commands enough authority to guide the children in their social dynamic as a group.
I and Dimitri Vanderlis were helpers of the older middle boys (aged 12yrs). Our group, who soon became known as the Shugela Boys due to their unquenchable sugar cravings, had a particularly challenging social dynamic. Unfortunately, because racial and cultural divides continue to persist in South African society the racial differences amongst the Shugela boys played some role in the group dynamic. With half the boys coming from Inkanyezi Waldorf school in Alexandra Township and the other half from the northern suburbs there were plenty of “differences” to acknowledge and overcome.
However, that said, these children, when faced with often challenging and novel experiences were able to look well beyond the superficial and often deeply engrained differences. Dimitri and I designed and facilitated the crafts and activities for our group as a set of 15 tasks which the boys needed to complete in order to be rewarded with a final surprise task. These tasks included holding one’s breathe for 20 seconds under water, building a fort on the koppie, designing and stencilling a unique T-shirt, using a fire to cook our own food, being absolutely silent at 3 meals and so on.
Of course an immediate worry for both of us was that these tasks could lead to excessive and antisocial competition between the children. Many a time it was indeed challenging as helpers to ensure that the tasks did not breed such competition and excessive individualism. However, amazingly the children responded with camaraderie and when one of the Shugela’s could not complete a task another would volunteer to do it in that child’s place. Due to the range of the tasks each child in the group was able to, often most unexpectedly, show their true colours. This was truly rewarding for Dimitri and myself.
Having completed all 15 tasks the final task, unknown to the children up until this point, was revealed. Filled with a sense of achievement and possibly some relief we began preparing and practicing for our fire blowing demonstration. The whole camp gathered in front of the barn before evening circle and sat in a large semi circle waiting in anticipation. The boys, faces glowing with excitement and pride, lined up in a wide semi circle as Dimitri and I proceeded to dose them up with their share of lamp oil. On the count of three the flames rose and with that we, the Shugela’s, had not only successfully completed all the tasks that were set for us but much more. We had, each one of us in our own way, grown and overcome something within ourselves.
By the end of the camp exhausted though we all were, it felt as though many things had shifted in both the children and us as helpers. The boys had established far deeper relationships with one another than those dictated by any societal or racial norms. We had all grown together. When I think back on the camp in all its fullness and on each one of those children my heart is warmed with the memories of the richness of the experiences I shared with them and the helper team.
Having completed all 15 tasks the final task, unknown to the children up until this point, was revealed. Filled with a sense of achievement and possibly some relief we began preparing and practicing for our fire blowing demonstration. The whole camp gathered in front of the barn before evening circle and sat in a large semi circle waiting in anticipation. The boys, faces glowing with excitement and pride, lined up in a wide semi circle as Dimitri and I proceeded to dose them up with their share of lamp oil. On the count of three the flames rose and with that we, the Shugela’s, had not only successfully completed all the tasks that were set for us but much more. We had, each one of us in our own way, grown and overcome something within ourselves.
By the end of the camp exhausted though we all were, it felt as though many things had shifted in both the children and us as helpers. The boys had established far deeper relationships with one another than those dictated by any societal or racial norms. We had all grown together. When I think back on the camp in all its fullness and on each one of those children my heart is warmed with the memories of the richness of the experiences I shared with them and the helper team.
The 12 Holy Days of Christmas
by Jan Lampen
I made am effort this year to attend every service during the 12 Holy Days of Christmas. At first, I thought it as an investment for the year to come until I read somewhere that it is really paying off debts of the past. Be that as it may, the one thing that it did do was to put me in the present. I struggle with this as my mind is very busy. And my thoughts are not very pure. In fact, I have come to realise that my thoughts (and I visualize them as cockroaches scurrying across my brain) determine my mood swings and my general attitude to life. For twelve days, I have been gifted with an opportunity to get rid of some of them. And once I attained some silence, it was wonderful just to be present for the words of the sermons to enter. I can’t remember the detail of each sermon, but the feeling that remains is that I’m on a path, that there is some purpose and that I can make a contribution. There is a Higher Me - a Me that also wants to stand at peace with the world. It is no secret that I have had a few difficult years with relationship issues, financial woes and the fear and anxiety of not being able to stand up to the challenges of our modern world. A popular coping mechanism is to disconnect. Another is to act out. One leads to futile dreams and false hope, the other to unworthy cravings. I know both. But during these 12 days, I have become more conscious and more in touch with things that are important to me. I don’t mind admitting that I am awkward with love. It remains a question. But during these 12 Holy Days, I think I touched it. There is also something to be said for putting yourself in the same place over and over again. No matter how hard I try, my good will doesn't last long, but over Christmas, I got twelve chances to start all over again. And that felt really good. I wouldn't mind starting every day like this. I want to thank Reingard and the Christian Community for introducing me to the sacraments and providing the space for this journey to begin.
I made am effort this year to attend every service during the 12 Holy Days of Christmas. At first, I thought it as an investment for the year to come until I read somewhere that it is really paying off debts of the past. Be that as it may, the one thing that it did do was to put me in the present. I struggle with this as my mind is very busy. And my thoughts are not very pure. In fact, I have come to realise that my thoughts (and I visualize them as cockroaches scurrying across my brain) determine my mood swings and my general attitude to life. For twelve days, I have been gifted with an opportunity to get rid of some of them. And once I attained some silence, it was wonderful just to be present for the words of the sermons to enter. I can’t remember the detail of each sermon, but the feeling that remains is that I’m on a path, that there is some purpose and that I can make a contribution. There is a Higher Me - a Me that also wants to stand at peace with the world. It is no secret that I have had a few difficult years with relationship issues, financial woes and the fear and anxiety of not being able to stand up to the challenges of our modern world. A popular coping mechanism is to disconnect. Another is to act out. One leads to futile dreams and false hope, the other to unworthy cravings. I know both. But during these 12 days, I have become more conscious and more in touch with things that are important to me. I don’t mind admitting that I am awkward with love. It remains a question. But during these 12 Holy Days, I think I touched it. There is also something to be said for putting yourself in the same place over and over again. No matter how hard I try, my good will doesn't last long, but over Christmas, I got twelve chances to start all over again. And that felt really good. I wouldn't mind starting every day like this. I want to thank Reingard and the Christian Community for introducing me to the sacraments and providing the space for this journey to begin.
We need to teach ourselves
by David Wertheim-Aymes
Life will teach us as we live it. We walk through doors because we know that walking through the wall next to the door is painful. However, for our inner life it is important what we teach ourselves rather than what life teaches us. So, when we walk through the door, with what owned inner soul disposition we walk through it, is important. Is it I who have dictated the soul disposition or is it one determined by life? This reminds me of the saying ‘dead fish go with the flow’. The spiritual fruits of life are: (Galatians 5:22, 23) ‘Love, joy, peace, patience of soul, gentleness of soul, goodness, faith, forgiveness, self-mastery’. These ripen from the activity of teaching ourselves and practicing what it is we have wanted to learn; being alive.
Life will teach us as we live it. We walk through doors because we know that walking through the wall next to the door is painful. However, for our inner life it is important what we teach ourselves rather than what life teaches us. So, when we walk through the door, with what owned inner soul disposition we walk through it, is important. Is it I who have dictated the soul disposition or is it one determined by life? This reminds me of the saying ‘dead fish go with the flow’. The spiritual fruits of life are: (Galatians 5:22, 23) ‘Love, joy, peace, patience of soul, gentleness of soul, goodness, faith, forgiveness, self-mastery’. These ripen from the activity of teaching ourselves and practicing what it is we have wanted to learn; being alive.
No plums but do you have apples?
by Sophia Turner
Many people had been disappointed to hear that only a few jars of Sophia’s Plum Jam were on sale this season to fund-raise for our rapidly growing wake room. The plum tree that last year produced a record crop was burnt in a fire and lost all its fruit. Hopefully the tree will recover in time for the next season in November. Those who snapped up the jam as soon as it went on sale have helped to raise R1,470 for the wake room. In addition, Shirley Higgins’ multiple talents shone again in the form of the delicious chocolate spread, raising another R200. Many thanks to those who supported us.
The good news is that I have found a great recipe for apple chutney and would like to make some for sale as a further fund-raiser. Most apples are suitable as long as they can be cooked without disintegrating. Now is the season of fruit ripening, so if you, your friends or neighbours have an apple tree and would like to donate the fruit for this worthwhile cause, please bring it to the church on Sunday or contact Sophia as soon as possible on [email protected].
Many people had been disappointed to hear that only a few jars of Sophia’s Plum Jam were on sale this season to fund-raise for our rapidly growing wake room. The plum tree that last year produced a record crop was burnt in a fire and lost all its fruit. Hopefully the tree will recover in time for the next season in November. Those who snapped up the jam as soon as it went on sale have helped to raise R1,470 for the wake room. In addition, Shirley Higgins’ multiple talents shone again in the form of the delicious chocolate spread, raising another R200. Many thanks to those who supported us.
The good news is that I have found a great recipe for apple chutney and would like to make some for sale as a further fund-raiser. Most apples are suitable as long as they can be cooked without disintegrating. Now is the season of fruit ripening, so if you, your friends or neighbours have an apple tree and would like to donate the fruit for this worthwhile cause, please bring it to the church on Sunday or contact Sophia as soon as possible on [email protected].
Review of "THE GRAIL STONE IN AFRICA"
by Jane Abrahams
The Grail Stone in Africa and the Search for Prester John by Helene de Villiers, is subtitled 'South Africa's past and future seen in a different light.' It is beautifully conceived and put together, and very well illustrated. Through it all, like a golden thread, runs a strong plea for the spiritual redemption of this dark continent of ours, so rich in potential, so riven by fear and violence. Helene de Villiers takes as her central theme the premise that the Grail found its final home in Africa, its last Keeper being the first of the long line of Ethiopian kings known as Prester John who was thought to be descended from the Three Wise Men of the East.
The book describes the legendary roots of the story; the Grail Stone arriving at last in the land of Saba (Abyssinia/Ethiopia), the extraordinary flowering of Coptic Christianity under Lalibela, who was baptized by the Angel Gabriel in the River Jordan, and who returned home to build the underground churches which are still used for worship in present-day Ethiopia. The author then looks at the known historical facts. The quest to find Prester John began with the vision of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, who in the 15th Century initiated various expeditions down the coast of Africa, culminating in that of Bartholomeu Dias, the first European to set foot in South Africa, at Mossel Bay in 1488. At key points around the southern coast of Africa, Dias and da Gama, who followed him, erected padraoes, stone columns bearing a cross, thus symbolising that Christianity had touched this savage land. 'Like a chain of prayer they surrounded this region long before the Dutch and English arrived.'
Were these expeditions successful? Did they find Prester John? The answer is yes and no. They found a king, certainly, although he was not the all-powerful ruler of legend. But they did find a form of Christianity there which was rigorous and devout. It is as though in this north-east corner of the continent a flame of spiritual knowledge and faith was lighted and kept burning through the centuries, although many waves of history rolled over it and threatened to put it out.
The second part of the book includes a collection of African fireside tales, many illustrating the themes of resurrection and metamorphosis. An overall atmosphere of fear and retribution imbues these tales, but redemption also shines through. As a tremendously satisfying climax, the author shows how many of the themes which have figured in the past history and mythology of Africa are surfacing again in the work of modern South African writers.
Helene de Villiers has written a many-layered book which brings together the separate tributaries of myth, history, poetry and folklore into a strong narrative river which carries one along in the growing hope that Africa may one day ask the right question and attain lasting brotherhood.
It is available from the bookshop at the Rudolf Steiner Centre, Bryanston, or directly from the publishers: www.theatticpress.co.za.
The book describes the legendary roots of the story; the Grail Stone arriving at last in the land of Saba (Abyssinia/Ethiopia), the extraordinary flowering of Coptic Christianity under Lalibela, who was baptized by the Angel Gabriel in the River Jordan, and who returned home to build the underground churches which are still used for worship in present-day Ethiopia. The author then looks at the known historical facts. The quest to find Prester John began with the vision of Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, who in the 15th Century initiated various expeditions down the coast of Africa, culminating in that of Bartholomeu Dias, the first European to set foot in South Africa, at Mossel Bay in 1488. At key points around the southern coast of Africa, Dias and da Gama, who followed him, erected padraoes, stone columns bearing a cross, thus symbolising that Christianity had touched this savage land. 'Like a chain of prayer they surrounded this region long before the Dutch and English arrived.'
Were these expeditions successful? Did they find Prester John? The answer is yes and no. They found a king, certainly, although he was not the all-powerful ruler of legend. But they did find a form of Christianity there which was rigorous and devout. It is as though in this north-east corner of the continent a flame of spiritual knowledge and faith was lighted and kept burning through the centuries, although many waves of history rolled over it and threatened to put it out.
The second part of the book includes a collection of African fireside tales, many illustrating the themes of resurrection and metamorphosis. An overall atmosphere of fear and retribution imbues these tales, but redemption also shines through. As a tremendously satisfying climax, the author shows how many of the themes which have figured in the past history and mythology of Africa are surfacing again in the work of modern South African writers.
Helene de Villiers has written a many-layered book which brings together the separate tributaries of myth, history, poetry and folklore into a strong narrative river which carries one along in the growing hope that Africa may one day ask the right question and attain lasting brotherhood.
It is available from the bookshop at the Rudolf Steiner Centre, Bryanston, or directly from the publishers: www.theatticpress.co.za.
January Articles
List of articles
Advent Raffle prize winners
The Advent Raffle that ran from before the Advent Fair was drawn on Sunday, 2nd December, the first Sunday of Advent.
The winners are:
The winners are:
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Richard Nosworthy
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Henry Cuyler
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Mikhail Wertheim-Aymes (who has donated the house to the Children's Camp)
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Sonnya Holtz
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Jane Abrahams
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Confirmation Group's Oberufer Shepherd's Play
by Lola Kirigin
Performed on the 1st Sunday of Advent, 2nd December 2012.
Reingard's introduction to this play set the tone with an apt reminder of what to focus on, not only during Christmas tide, but also during the preparation of our children's confirmation: to create within each one of us the soul space for the birth of the new: instead of being a spectator, to feel like a participant, a witness to the drama that plays out, both on the stage, at the altar and in our lives at home and with these children. The nervousness of these young people during the "performance" may have revealed some mistakes, omissions or problems, but as we were reminded there is something else weaving through the actors and audience when such a play is acted out, something nobler that speaks of joy and courage. With thanks to the patient guidance of Cornelius as well as Jason Higgins, and Anushka's piano accompaniment, our community had the opportunity to share in this experience. A hearty applause to our confirmation children. Thanks also to the parents for their encouragement, especially for delicious eats during that weekend. May we continue to be fed by such inspiration; which deserves the biggest THANK YOU to you, dear Reingard.
by Wiebke Holtz
On Sunday, the 2nd of December, we were all invited to watch the Oberufer Shepherds' Play performed by the boys and girls of the Confirmation Group. In her introduction Reingard explained that due to certain circumstances the young people were challenged to be flexible and had to take on different roles at short notice. Watching them outside before the beginning of the play, I got the impression that they were not exactly overenthusiastic nor concentrating much on the task ahead. However, once they entered everything changed and the seriousness of the occasion took hold of them as they were marching around the big audience trying to find their step and their voices. What was to come was nothing like some of the professional performances of the Shepherds' Play we have watched over the years. There was a certain insecurity evident but what struck me throughout the play was the earnest desire by all participants to make it work and to hold it together. To witness the innocence of these young boys and girls so earnestly trying to play something that was so far removed from what they would rather do was very special for me. The action flowed on in spite of the hick-ups and loss of words and it was helped on by the piano music. For me it was interesting to watch the different boys and girls in their own developmental stages and characters shine through the roles they were acting. The preparation for this performance could not have been an easy task, but what a special gift for all of us who were there on this first Advent Sunday of the New Christian Year. Thank you boys and girls and thank you Cornelius and Reingard.
Performed on the 1st Sunday of Advent, 2nd December 2012.
Reingard's introduction to this play set the tone with an apt reminder of what to focus on, not only during Christmas tide, but also during the preparation of our children's confirmation: to create within each one of us the soul space for the birth of the new: instead of being a spectator, to feel like a participant, a witness to the drama that plays out, both on the stage, at the altar and in our lives at home and with these children. The nervousness of these young people during the "performance" may have revealed some mistakes, omissions or problems, but as we were reminded there is something else weaving through the actors and audience when such a play is acted out, something nobler that speaks of joy and courage. With thanks to the patient guidance of Cornelius as well as Jason Higgins, and Anushka's piano accompaniment, our community had the opportunity to share in this experience. A hearty applause to our confirmation children. Thanks also to the parents for their encouragement, especially for delicious eats during that weekend. May we continue to be fed by such inspiration; which deserves the biggest THANK YOU to you, dear Reingard.
by Wiebke Holtz
On Sunday, the 2nd of December, we were all invited to watch the Oberufer Shepherds' Play performed by the boys and girls of the Confirmation Group. In her introduction Reingard explained that due to certain circumstances the young people were challenged to be flexible and had to take on different roles at short notice. Watching them outside before the beginning of the play, I got the impression that they were not exactly overenthusiastic nor concentrating much on the task ahead. However, once they entered everything changed and the seriousness of the occasion took hold of them as they were marching around the big audience trying to find their step and their voices. What was to come was nothing like some of the professional performances of the Shepherds' Play we have watched over the years. There was a certain insecurity evident but what struck me throughout the play was the earnest desire by all participants to make it work and to hold it together. To witness the innocence of these young boys and girls so earnestly trying to play something that was so far removed from what they would rather do was very special for me. The action flowed on in spite of the hick-ups and loss of words and it was helped on by the piano music. For me it was interesting to watch the different boys and girls in their own developmental stages and characters shine through the roles they were acting. The preparation for this performance could not have been an easy task, but what a special gift for all of us who were there on this first Advent Sunday of the New Christian Year. Thank you boys and girls and thank you Cornelius and Reingard.
Editorial
by John-Peter Gernaat
Three years ago I took over the production of a monthly newsletter from Sophia Turner, who had undertaken the task for seven years. I'd like to reflect on the changes over these three years. Firstly, thanks to a generous donation of design time by Therésa Müller, the newsletter, in its printed form, received a revamp. I recall the early months folding and stuffing almost 200 newsletters into envelopes to mail them off to you who would receive them, probably, in the middle of the month. After a survey that returned a positive response to receiving the newsletter by email the newsletter began reaching the majority of you by email on or before the first of each month. The newsletter, however, remained identical in emailed and printed format. Even then The Christian Community in Southern Africa had a website although very few of you may have been aware of it. This website had been the initiative of a teacher at Michael Oak Waldorf School who had a connection at the University of Cape Town who wrote the entire website in html code (please don't ask me to explain what this means). The website carried the basic information but had not been updated since its creation.
By April of this year the website domain name had been moved to a hosting company in Johannesburg and while the Regional Council debated how the website should be created I used a website creating tool on which I'd created my personal website and suddenly we had a revamped and easily updatable website hosted on our domain. Now it was possible to add links to content on our website in the newsletter that went out by email. Because the website is more interesting with pictures, some of these pictures could also be embedded in the newsletter that went out by email. And so we now have three versions for the monthly news: the printed newsletter, a newsletter that is emailed that sometimes contains pictures and links to the website and the website where the information is spread logically over several pages (the Joburg Home page, the Programme page, the Contemplation page and the News page). But the website has many more pages under the Johannesburg Congregation, a Market page where you may advertise your business, hobby or pastime - why should we not first support each other when looking for a service or item to purchase rather than another business; a Notice Board where you may advertise anything to the congregation: plays, exhibitions, choral recitals, goods for sale or goods wanted, courses on offer, etc.; our Hiring Service has a dedicated page with an inventory of what's available and you can place your request directly on this page; a history of the Johannesburg Congregation that still needs a champion.
It is gratifying to look at the statistics available for the people who have been to the website to see the number of people who are finding the website useful, which pages are being visited and how often and how people are finding their way to our website. Knowing that we are reaching an audience who may not be directly connected with our congregation or even with our church gives us the opportunity to rethink our website to make it more 'attractive' and informative to casual visitors.
It is also gratifying to receive articles for the newsletter and website that do not relate directly to activities of the congregation, such as the article in the December newsletter entitled "The Earth" by Kerry Audouin, thought provoking articles by David Wertheim-Aymes and the poems by Jane Abrahams. I trust you found them equally interesting and will be inspired to write similar articles of general interest.
There is so much more that we can achieve with our newsletter and website as an information tool and as a community forming platform. They are available to you the congregation, so let us continue to take new strides forward in 2013.
Three years ago I took over the production of a monthly newsletter from Sophia Turner, who had undertaken the task for seven years. I'd like to reflect on the changes over these three years. Firstly, thanks to a generous donation of design time by Therésa Müller, the newsletter, in its printed form, received a revamp. I recall the early months folding and stuffing almost 200 newsletters into envelopes to mail them off to you who would receive them, probably, in the middle of the month. After a survey that returned a positive response to receiving the newsletter by email the newsletter began reaching the majority of you by email on or before the first of each month. The newsletter, however, remained identical in emailed and printed format. Even then The Christian Community in Southern Africa had a website although very few of you may have been aware of it. This website had been the initiative of a teacher at Michael Oak Waldorf School who had a connection at the University of Cape Town who wrote the entire website in html code (please don't ask me to explain what this means). The website carried the basic information but had not been updated since its creation.
By April of this year the website domain name had been moved to a hosting company in Johannesburg and while the Regional Council debated how the website should be created I used a website creating tool on which I'd created my personal website and suddenly we had a revamped and easily updatable website hosted on our domain. Now it was possible to add links to content on our website in the newsletter that went out by email. Because the website is more interesting with pictures, some of these pictures could also be embedded in the newsletter that went out by email. And so we now have three versions for the monthly news: the printed newsletter, a newsletter that is emailed that sometimes contains pictures and links to the website and the website where the information is spread logically over several pages (the Joburg Home page, the Programme page, the Contemplation page and the News page). But the website has many more pages under the Johannesburg Congregation, a Market page where you may advertise your business, hobby or pastime - why should we not first support each other when looking for a service or item to purchase rather than another business; a Notice Board where you may advertise anything to the congregation: plays, exhibitions, choral recitals, goods for sale or goods wanted, courses on offer, etc.; our Hiring Service has a dedicated page with an inventory of what's available and you can place your request directly on this page; a history of the Johannesburg Congregation that still needs a champion.
It is gratifying to look at the statistics available for the people who have been to the website to see the number of people who are finding the website useful, which pages are being visited and how often and how people are finding their way to our website. Knowing that we are reaching an audience who may not be directly connected with our congregation or even with our church gives us the opportunity to rethink our website to make it more 'attractive' and informative to casual visitors.
It is also gratifying to receive articles for the newsletter and website that do not relate directly to activities of the congregation, such as the article in the December newsletter entitled "The Earth" by Kerry Audouin, thought provoking articles by David Wertheim-Aymes and the poems by Jane Abrahams. I trust you found them equally interesting and will be inspired to write similar articles of general interest.
There is so much more that we can achieve with our newsletter and website as an information tool and as a community forming platform. They are available to you the congregation, so let us continue to take new strides forward in 2013.
Send articles for this web page to: [email protected]
The opinions expressed on this page are those of the individual authors.