Why Attend Graduation?

.A question which surrounds the completion of my Fuller degree is: why attend graduation? (as it is called in South Africa). So you walk on stage and you walk off again, and isn't that it? All at dreadful expense? As I have contemplated this, all my friends have intuitively said to me: "Go!" However, there is more to it than feelings. People advance various reasons for attending graduation: to celebrate, to triumph, to make various patrons proud, to cement ties, to investigate further possibilities, to validate social ceremony, and so on. I have conferred with the "Big Boys" about it -- the so-called Somebodies in the Church. Three advices have spoken to me especially: 1. This is my reception into the company of titled members of the institution. I need to be there. 2. The journey will be God's opportunity in my life, beyond what I may be able to imagine. And 3. This may serve as others' thank you to me -- those who have been and will be blessed by the sacrifice I have made. I think also that one should not overlook the fact that Fuller's may (arguably) be the most significant graduation on the planet, among theological seminaries. The images are from Fuller's website.

Wittewater Cottage

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This is a typical cottage at the mission village Wittewater. One sees part of the plumbing system on the left, on the balcony. Note the very small windows. One may enlarge the image by clicking on it. For a modernised cottage in Wittewater, see Colour Co-ordinated Cat.

Temptation

Last month, a young woman came to my door and propositioned me -- with chutzpah. I humorously declined. A few weeks later, she saw me at the Church gate. She said: "Do you attend this place?" I said: "I run this place." She put her hands to her face and exclaimed: "I should have known! I feel so embarrassed!" OBSERVATION: (I'd be derided among my friends for saying that I run anything -- not least because I wrote a whole thesis to prove that I shouldn't).

Obedient Servants

We are all obedient servants, in South Africa. Everything needs to be referred up the levels of authority, step by laborious step, until it gets to the very top -- and then it may need to journey all the way back down again. One should not try to buck this system. In a moment of foolish bravado, I tried this week to buy a magazine at the Central News Agency (CNA) that didn't have a price on it -- but I really wanted it. I patiently saw this through six members of staff, one after the other, all the way up to the senior manager -- but not one had the courage to put a price on the magazine. I said: "Just slap a price on it! Any price!" But the senior manager said the magazine should be physically returned to the distributor for a decision. Then I should come to collect it. (I gave up).

The Spiritual Aspect Of Delegation

Exodus 18 contains the famous Bible passage on delegation. On Sunday I focused on the words of Jethro to Moses (NKJV): "God will be with you (when you take your hands off the wheel)." I consider that this is the spiritual aspect of avoiding inordinate stress and over-exertion. One needs to have faith that "God will be with you." This cannot be manufactured. It is "deep theology". Frequently, only the practical aspects of Exodus 18 are noted.

Smoking Kills

In many countries, the message "Smoking Kills" is mandatory on cigarette packets. By some estimates, it kills one in three. I think, a fairly unique aspect of ministry is that one obtains in pictures a grand survey of this reality -- and sees the beginning with the end. I have wondered whether people would smoke if they had the "ministerial perspective".

Masterpieces

I walked into our sanctuary recently, only to stumble upon the man I presume to be Southern Africa's foremost stained glass specialist -- Jan Bitenco. He pointed to some stained glass panels in our Church, and said: "Are you aware that those are masterpieces?" He stood gazing at them for a whole minute perhaps -- then he said: "Four- to five-hundred-thousand rands ($50,000-$60,000). Each." The fine print in the photo explains why. OBSERVATION: There was an attempt, during my ministry here, to steal some of this glass. It left some scars on the lead.

Meltdown

.You know the minister's suffering overload when ... Our office secretary left this note on my desk recently. When the going gets tough, I may focus on the essentials, and ignore the rest. Maybe that's what one calls ... meltdown? Not really. Call it coping.

Asking The Church

I did something today that I have never done before in a long ministry: I asked the Church for something (that is, I asked the Church Meeting, the assembled Body, in person). I completed my MA at Fuller Theological Seminary, at about R200,000 expense. The Church did not contribute to my studies. I asked a Church consultant for advice. He said that through my own sacrifice, I had fed the Church. They should now send me to Commencement (we call it Graduation): "Give the Church the opportunity to be a part ... by putting a special offering and donation ..." So I asked the Church whether they would consider sending me to Commencement. OBSERVATION: I have sometimes asked the Church to meet prior commitments, e.g. "You promised me a pension." However, I have never before asked them for a favour. I do not at present know how this was received, or how the Church is to respond.

Heart On Sleeve?

Should ministers wear their heart on their sleeve? Some ministers would seem to aspire to a bullet-proof image, while others would not seem to rise above the troubles of their own poor heart. Personally, I think it is good for a minister to be transparent about how he/she is feeling -- yet where possible to place this in the context of faith in a wonderful God. I think that David did this.

All Kinds Of Everything

Friends and members have often said to me that special days must be hard for me -- such as our wedding anniversary, or Mirjam's birthday. In actual fact, the special days have left me unaffected -- yet the strangest things have shaken me deeply. This week, the November weather left me decidedly shaken -- as Mirjam entered her final slide in this weather. And last month, her aunt gave me a call long distance. She was about the last person I expected to call, and she sounded so much like Mirjam, it took me days to get over. The photo shows Mirjam celebrating her last birthday.

De Hoek

This is my vehicle in the little-known South African village De Hoek. The life of the village revolves around the cement factory in the background. De Hoek is just south of Piketberg, and about 110km / 70mi north of Cape Town. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 170k.

Windows vs. Linux: Praxis

Our secretary was driven to distraction yesterday morning, trying to print our mailing list to labels with Windows. Last year, we needed to call in a technician -- at a fee. Yesterday morning she had already booked a technician again. I myself spent nearly half an hour trying to unravel the system -- but failed. Then I said to her: "Let me try it on my Linux system." I timed it. It took me half a minute to set it up, and another three minutes to print the labels. OBSERVATION: Although our office still uses Windows xp (Windows 7 might be different), a little graph shows me that two-thirds of the Windows users who look in on this blog use Windows xp.

Fear: A Cartoon

This cartoon is a collaborative effort between a Roman Catholic priest and me. Feel free to use it -- yet keep the acknowledgement in the frame. It illustrates something common to human nature. The things we fear are frequently the shadows, where the reality is just a harmless puppy. You may click on the image to enlarge, then right-click on it to save.

Security Failure

"Security" asked us to test our office alarm -- a routine test. We tested it yesterday by pressing the panic button. There was no response. After I left the office, our secretary, together with security, tested the panic button in tandem, and the system worked fine. But that's not good enough. Just last month, I had an unnerving situation (see Scary Session) -- and elsewhere on this blog, I buried a woman where security failed to investigate a panic signal. OBSERVATION: Talking to the technical department this morning, a certain time lapse (up to half a minute) may be needed for the signal to be routed through to security -- but that, too, is not good enough.

Frustrated Officer

There is a man who considers that I am walking on his turf when I approach our Church office. Recently he pressed in on me and shouted abuse. I called a security officer. The officer said to me: "You understand we can only speak politely with people, nothing more. We daren't do otherwise." But the officer had hardly been at it for a minute when I heard him scream: "Shut the **** up! I'll **** you up, d'you hear me!?"

"God Isn't Punishing Me"

I went to see an elderly congregant who was ill. Her husband opened the door, and said almost immediately: "She's dying." I said to her: "You are not as well as you were last time, but you seem to have a lot more peace than you did last time." She said: "It's because you said that God isn't punishing me."

Diverse Interests

This blog reveals diverse interests: treasure hunting, electronics, gnomonics, editing, hiking, photography, and so on. This might seem to have little to do with urban ministry -- and yet it has everything to do with it. About twenty years ago, seemingly without warning, I suffered severe burnout. At that time, ministry was about my only focus. I then started a business in my evening hours (Pastoral Software), which earned me a good deal of money. I soon sold the business -- yet from that time, I always had a "serious distraction" of one kind or another in ministry.

Treasure Clue

A few posts on this blog have been about treasure hunting. Here's one of five gold coins that I, with others, found near our Church. We identified this as Ottoman. As might be seen, it is a very thin coin. It was hard earned treasure, as it took a great amount of digging. OBSERVATION: The treasure site is four blocks north of our Church. There's a clue if ever there was one.

Top Ten

I doubt that many readers of this blog follow South Africa's blog charts. My posts are nearly always in the Religion top ten (at the time of writing, five of my posts are there, including no. 1 and no. 2). Not seldom, my posts appear in the All Blogs top ten (although none at the time of writing). OBSERVATION: I am frequently surprised by the posts which make it to the top ten. If I planned it, I surely wouldn't have as many up there.

Not About Problems

Last Sunday I preached on the meeting of Moses with Jethro in the desert. Moses, at that stage, has just been through troubles of, dare we say, Biblical proportions. Yet in the conversation between Moses and Jethro, there are only two direct references to hardships. There are five or six references to the goodness of God. In keeping with this, as a minister, I continually remind people that the story of His people is about the goodness of God. Too often people get fixated with problems in Churches, and that is not what it is about. See also The Spirit of the Law.

Three Lovelies

I photographed these three lovelies in the quaint village of Wittewater. I was at the Moravian Church on the hill, when they called to me up the hill, asking me to take their photo -- and so I did. You may click on the image to enlarge to VGA.

Phaking Philanthropy

A wealthy couple in Los Angeles offered me a subscription to a theological journal. I was delighted, and accepted -- and soon the journal began to appear in my postbox. Like many good things, however, it came to an end. But then they offered to renew my subscription. Again I accepted. However, not all was as it seemed. Last week I received a note from the editor: "You mentioned that [names] in LA have sponsored the subscription of our Journal. According to our records no payment has been received for some years, and I was wondering if you would like to contact [names] to see if they want to pay for their subscriptions ..." Oy vey.

Faking Faith

A young wife and mother came to see me. She was deeply troubled over her husband's distance from her spiritual values. I said: "This is basic. Why didn't you consider this when you married him?" She said: "He faked a religious life to win me."

Person And Work

I spoke to an editor about an article he published. The author held radical if not (if they should be published) illegal views -- however, those views did not appear in the article in question. I said: "Are you aware of his views?" "Yes," said the editor. "In fact, I excised them from that article." OBSERVATION: Well, every man for himself, but I don't think I'd want to publish where I needed to excise. It raises the question as to how much one can separate the person from the work. Perhaps an author drinks vodka -- perhaps he's mean to his wife -- perhaps he uses the k-word. Where does one draw the line?

World Heritage Site

I live on the edge of a World Heritage Site -- a national park -- and I not seldom take walks through the park. Yesterday evening I walked from Fresnaye to Camps Bay, perhaps 5km / 3mi in all, preparing my thoughts for today. This is an image of the track in false colour -- looking into the setting sun in the west.

"Prophetic Words"

I have said that we have sought to revive the "prophetic word" in our Church this year -- in a modest sense of the word "prophetic". We have sought to speak words of Holy Spirit wisdom, discernment, and love among us. I think that this has been one of the best things we did after the tragedy we suffered at the turn of the year. Tomorrow morning, I have decided to survey the "prophetic words" we have received over the past half year: ▪ A Sunday School child reminded us to rejoice in the Lord always, as we have a wonderful God and Saviour ▪ Our treasurer reminded us that we need to trust God, because the Lord provides ▪ I then spoke about the "prophetic word" itself, as part of a five-fold ministry ▪ Together with our treasurer, I said that Christians need to be faithful, as God is faithful ▪ I then spoke about changes, over the years, in the way that our Church is made up (its demographics), and how this was graciously given by God ▪ A Youth leader told us that it is OK for us to grieve as a Church, but the Lord has great things ahead for us ▪ I spoke about God's promise that people's ministry in the Church will have effect, and His Word will not return to Him empty ▪ And most recently, our office secretary shared with us that God is calling us to prayer as a Church, as prayer will cause His Word to bear fruit.

Commencement

Last week I received "graduation clearance" from Fuller Theological Seminary, which means that my Graduation is imminent. But then there is Commencement. In Africa, we do not separate Graduation and Commencement -- the two go together. I'm to attend Commencement at Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Los Angeles on the 9th of June 2012. But that's a big maybe. See the map of the world -- centred on London, naturally -- showing Cape Town (bottom) and Los Angeles (top). There wouldn't seem to be a farther place on earth. I spent the last of my savings to get to Graduation. And now Commencement? I'd go, I think, if I could.

Church Planter

I had a "ministers' lunch" this week. One of our number was a Church planter, who recently received a major US-dollar grant to plant new Churches. We wanted to know how he actually did it. He said: "We find a place to stay in a village, and we prayer walk." That was it. Having studied Church planting, I pointed out that the experts have made a science out of it -- there is a plan. He said: "If you think that something works, it doesn't." OBSERVATION: This was, I thought, a classic example of the difference between the Church Global North and Global South. Elsewhere on this blog, I contrast and compare "the notion of planned ministry" with "a sensitivity to God’s opportunities".

"De-Beeing" Operation

My three-wheel bakkie / pickup has two windows which serve as kind of scoops – scooping in the air as the vehicle moves forward. I call them “bee scoops”, as they scoop up bees, too. The photo shows me “de-beeing” my vehicle. I had, here, crossed the path of African Honeybees on their way to pollen. You may enlarge the photo by clicking on it.

Constituted vs. Unconstituted

One of the most basic distinctions between Churches -- not often noted -- is the constituted Church vs. the unconstituted Church. A constituted Church is run by processes. An unconstituted Church is run by individuals. Our own Church is constituted -- and I consider this to be one of the basic reasons for its viability. This builds a kind of confidence into the way that things work. OBSERVATION: In South Africa, all Churches must be constituted -- in other words, they must be registered with the state. However, in reality many Churches exist "underground", in the sense that they are off the radar of the state. Also, many Churches are constituted only in a technical sense -- meaning that they are not really run by processes, but by individuals.

Ethical Conundrum

I am very conscientious with money in the Church. So, I went hiking with my friend in Newlands Forest (pictured), and lost my spectacles -- an expensive loss, and my fault. But my contract with the Church says that the Church replaces the spectacles. The intention here was normal replacement -- although the contract doesn't say that. That's the first conundrum -- but it so happened that the Church was due to cover new lenses anyway, and I offered to pay for the frame -- an honourable solution. But then, last night, my insurers came into the picture, and paid out nearly 40%. This meant that, after paying for the frame, I would make a profit from my fault. The possible ways of dealing with this are too complex for one blog post. I have passed the buck, hoping that our accounts clerk will figure it out ...

Leadership Emergence Theory

A few years ago, I did a course on Leadership Emergence Theory. Afterwards I sent my professor this photo as evidence of what his course had done for me. OBSERVATION: In fact, that was my neighbour's Rolls Royce. Don't tell the professor, but I now drive a made-in-India three-wheeler.

Planned Giving Scheme

We have decided this year to get back to a "full" Planned Giving Scheme in the Church (in recent years, the Scheme was less visible than before). Looking over it this morning, if we should fill a chart with as many squares as we have members, with each square representing a R50 ($6.30) pledge per week, the Church should be in a strong position financially. This looks doable, although it would require a broad commitment in the congregation. OBSERVATION: While R50 a week is not a huge amount, it is also not a casual amount. For some members, in fact, R50 a week is too much (it would be more than a tithe). With this in mind, we might put R20 ($2.50) squares on the chart.

Colour Co-ordinated Cat

I took this photo at the old mission-station Wittewater. This is one of the village's characteristic cottages, but with modernised, much enlarged windows (there'll be an unaltered house on this blog sometime). The style of this corrugated iron roof appeals to me. The cat seemed perfectly colour-coordinated for the photo. Click on the photo for VGA.

Farmers On Bereavement

I find that farmers will often express themselves in unusual and original ways. No less so when my wife died. My farmer friends didn't seem familiar with such phrases as "Sincere condolences," or "My deepest sympathy." One said to me: "That's what I expected ja!" Another looked across his fields and said: "Animals die, people die!" ("Diere vrek, mense sterf!").

"Interesting" Mail

Every so often I receive ... call it interesting mail. Here's an example of a letter I received last week. The snippet shows how the writer signs off (his name is David -- you may click on the image to enlarge). OBSERVATION: In my experience, sweet lunacy may quickly turn sinister or aggressive -- this makes me reluctant to engage with such people.

African Honeybee

I photographed this bee about 80km / 50mi north of Cape Town -- the so-called African Honeybee. It has a reputation for being venomous -- however, it is simply more aggressive than other bees. It is quite different to the more dainty Cape Honeybee that we have in Cape Town (see Cape Honeybee). However, the Cape Honeybee is a threat to the African Honeybee -- for interesting reasons. The image is in VGA if you click on it.

(Red Hat) Linux

Today being my day off, I test drove CentOS Linux (pictured -- click on the image to enlarge). It was stunning. I couldn't fault it. I was so impressed that I had to know more. In fact, it is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in camouflage. RHEL is a huge commercial enterprise (Red Hat has $1 billion annual revenue) -- while this is a free version of RHEL, stripped of all reference to RHEL, for insignificant people on the planet. OBSERVATION: One thing puzzled me, though: the apparently sparse and cryptic software repository. But there are workarounds.

Sleepy Passenger

I went at the crack of dawn this morning to pick up my friend at Cape Town's central bus station -- and snapped this sleepy teenager claiming baggage after an overnight journey. An earlier photo of the bus station briefly became South Africa's most popular blog post (see Bus Terminal).

A Church Leadership: How Large?

The question arose last week: how large should our Church leadership be? Why not just a "hard core" of competent people? I said that representation matters, too. So, for example, we now have elders and deacons who represent our workers, our women, parents, youth, and so on. OBSERVATION: I might add that a Church may mentor potential leaders, too. That is, one would take people on board not so much for their present leadership ability as their future leadership potential and usefulness to the Kingdom.

Faith Is Required

This year our Church budgeted for a large deficit. Just as one has a staff budget, missions budget, property budget, so we have a deficit budget. Of course, one usually has a budget, then a budget deficit -- not a deficit budget. Anyway, we are Congregational. So the closer we got, this year, to successfully meeting our target (i.e. a large deficit), the more precarious it got. Our treasurer put a freeze on spending, threatened to slash salaries, and cancelled year-end bonuses -- which caused a bit of a flutter. I stayed out of that debate. However, at our lowest point I remarked to a deaconess, with tranquil heart: "There will be bonuses. You'll see." The matter of bonuses is still to be decided -- however, during the past two months we received about R100,000 ($13,000) in special income. For a modest urban African Church like ours, this is quite stunning. At this point in time, we have a budget surplus. And so you see how we stumble on, year after year. Faith is required.

Token of Thanks

From time to time, I hand out personal tokens of thanks to members. This morning I am handing out bookmarks to members who helped with our recent Church Fête. They cost R2 each to make (25 US cents). You may click on the image to enlarge to 55k.

Deathbed Repentance

It is not uncommon for people, in their final days, to repent of things they once were proud of or flaunted. This is striking -- because nothing has changed. They have the same memories of the life that is past. Why, then, do they suddenly see things completely differently? It's as if they saw it all along -- only they did not. OBSERVATION: Earlier this year, I went to visit a man on his deathbed. His wife said to me: "He wants me to go to people and ask them to forgive him. He's asked me again and again. But I don't know who -- or what for!"

Church Nursery Rhyme

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Here's a nursery rhyme my father taught me as a child. I haven't come across it since. I think it deserves to be better known. It goes like this (together with the actions shown):
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. . . . Here's a Church
. . . . And here's the steeple
. . . . Open the door
. . . . And here are the people!

Fête Result

This year, our Church Fête saw a one-fifth improvement over last year. Last year, it saw a one-third improvement over the previous year. Over two years, we have had a massive 59% increase in profits -- yet this was achieved with little additional effort. How did we do it? While I can't claim to be an expert in the dynamics of fêtes, last year we increased the variety of stalls, and this year we prominently advertised our need for goods. Also, I think the economic downturn may have helped us. The photo shows our Book Stall.

Resolving An Impasse

Usually, in leadership meetings, one has impasses over weighty matters such as mortgages, excommunications, liturgies ... Last night, in contrast, we had a complete impasse over what colour to make a Church sign. This was very nicely resolved when one of the deacons left the room ... OBSERVATION: There are more ways than one of solving a problem ...

Main Road Moravia

This is my pickup on the main road through Moravia -- the village Moravia, that is, in the Western Cape. It's quite out of the ordinary, as it is a carpet of leaves through a shady grove. Usually main roads in South Africa are wide and bleak -- built for tanks to turn in, it has been said. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.

Children In Church

Children take on many of the responsibilities of adults in our Church -- only not as often. I was reminded of this tonight when we appointed a child to say a prayer on Sunday. Children give spiritual input on Sundays, they welcome people at the door, they lead the worship -- and so on. The photo shows one of our children "manning" a Fête stall last week.

Congratulations Son

Son M. learned this morning that he has obtained his MA in Archaeology from Durham University. In typically English fashion, they wouldn't write "Congratulations!" Rather: "This is to confirm that we have received verification of your award ... You must order robes ... Durham University." OBSERVATION: I'm sorry that his mother couldn't receive the news. She was so proud of him, and as she neared the end, she told him to stay in Durham.

Calculating Ministry Dropout

Both my MTh and MA studies had much to do with ministry dropout. According to US statistics, one may expect a halving of survival in ministry every ten years -- which is pretty disastrous. Therefore, what are the chances that you (or your minister) should have survived in ministry at this point in time? Take the present year and subtract the year that you started in full-time ministry. In my case, this gives me 28. Divide by 10. Add 1. In my case, this now gives me 3.8. Call this figure y. Now calculate 2^y (your calculator should have an xy button, so you type 2 xy y =). Divide the result by 2. In my case, I now have 6.96. Call this figure z. Now calculate 100 ÷ z. That's your percentage chance of survival -- in my case about 14%. That's 86% chance that I would have dropped out by now. OBSERVATION: But note that statistics outside of the USA might well look better than this. Also, statistics within the USA may vary -- some better, some worse. If you borrow my Scarborough Dropout Formula, do mention this blog.

Walk-On Sundial

Our local park now has a walk-on sundial. I like this one. It is simple, clever, and accurate. I was able to tell the time to within one minute today. OBSERVATION: Sundials (gnomonics) was a hobby of mine. I designed a sundial -- published in Yale's Compendium -- which eliminated the need for perfect orientation. The one pictured here faces exactly south -- and needs to. The usefulness of eliminating the need for perfect orientation is that a sundial could be lifted off the ground and worn on one's wrist (in a manner of speaking). Notice incidentally how far Cape Town is off solar noon -- because we have one time zone for a pretty wide country.

Contributing Editor

Earlier this year, I was appointed Contributing Editor of a theological journal -- tasked with recruiting African theologians. I did some recruitment, but we immediately ran into snags. One was that I was channeling ... call it incomplete work to the journal. But as of today, I am granted more of the function of an editor. I am tasked with working with contributors, to get promising work into shape before it is passed higher up. I think this is good.

DRC Hopefield

This is the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC or NGK) Hopefield, about 130km / 80mi north of Cape Town. The Church was founded in 1844, and the sanctuary built in 1851. The Church called its first minister, J.H. Neethling, in 1853. Its organ turned 100 this year. While it may not be evident from the photo, this Church was in need of some renovation. So was the whole town.

Roadside Cactuses

The cactuses are blooming on the roadsides of Southern Africa (pictured). They may provide spectacular displays. These were snapped on the road to Moravia, on the north side of the Berg River. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.

(Not) Forgiving Oneself

I went to see a young(ish) woman who was terminally ill. She felt enormous guilt for having slept with a married man -- once her boyfriend. I said to her: “You need to ask God to forgive you.” She said: “No. I need to forgive myself.” This conversation repeated itself a few times. I said to her: “This is not working. It’s not possible to forgive yourself. Exactly how much progress have you made in forgiving yourself?” She said: “None.” OBSERVATION: She listened carefully, but I don't know how she resolved the issue -- if she ever did. She went into rapid decline and died.

Xaving Xubuntu

On Sunday my desktop's Linux Xubuntu interface crashed (Xubuntu has a passing likeness to Mac OS X). The solution was simple – I merely called up a different interface, since Linux was still intact. But I seemed to have disembarked on another planet. I wanted my old interface back. I tried upgrading Xubuntu. The upgrade failed. I tried again. It failed again. I quit on the upgrade, and decided on a re-install. But that blew my Windows partition out of the water (not too sad, that, except that my oscilloscope went with it) and once again (see a previous post) I lost all my old apps. Having said this, the new Xubuntu is clearly snappier than the old one. OBSERVATION: According to amatomu.com, 36% of the readers of this blog use Linux. Despite a few wretched incidents like this, I would hate to return to Windows.

Cold Front From The Ground

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Our ocean-side suburb is known for the cold fronts which hit it broadside from the south-west. These may completely change the weather within half an hour. It is one thing to see these cold fronts on a weather map, another to see them advancing from the ground. You may click on the image to enlarge to 190k.

Super User

Yesterday I became a Super User. I received a note from an electronics editor in Europe: “Oh yes. You have been promoted ... I have bestowed upon you the highest rank of the establishment, that of Super User. ” OBSERVATION: So my electronics communications are now marked Super User. But it's rather humorous really, as I must be the rustiest Super User on the planet. (I used to be in awe of Super Users).

Delighted Winner

At our recent Church Fête, we had a competition of sorts, for four food hampers. I nicely captured the delight of one of the winners (pictured). OBSERVATION: Two members won two hampers each -- which was highly unusual. However, they had both submitted many entries. I think the competition brought the Church R1,500 ($200). Members donate items for the hampers.

Revealing Character

I find that there is nothing in the life of the Church that reveals character more than the Church Fête. Especially, I find that it separates cheerfulness from negativity -- but also resourcefulness from timorousness, patience from agitation, faithfulness from inertia -- even faith from unfaith. The photo shows our White Elephant stall, which was selling imitation flowers.

A Window On Urban Ministry

My blog (web-log) has the subtitle: A Window On Urban Ministry in Southern Africa. And this is what my blog is about -- it opens up my ministry so that people can look in. A major purpose of this is that ministers and future ministers might gain insight and encouragement -- and not only from the things that I or we do well. OBSERVATION: So this is not a Church blog, and it is not written firstly for my own Church. Instead, it offers a fairly rare opportunity for people to see urban ministry "live and unplugged". My first reason for starting it was what I saw as the estrangement between seminary classes and real ministry. See Church-Changing Blog for an example of responses I receive.

Counting The Takings

There are certain (photo) shots at our annual Church Fête which, year after year, are not to be missed. One is the glee of our Life-Deaconess E. (pictured) as she counts her takings at the end of the Fête. She has charge of our Second-Hand Clothing stall. You may click on the photo for VGA.

Health Without Conflict

A member gave me a call last month. She was worried, she said, that I might think that she had been involved in some murmuring in the Church. She wanted me to know that she had not been a part of it. OBSERVATION: I think this incident reveals a few things about my style of ministry. On the one hand, people are aware that they may need to answer for their behaviour in the Church. On the other hand, it shows that I tend to tackle issues at a "low level", and don't let them snowball. I think this is a good dynamic basically, and tends towards health without conflict. See also Conflict Resolution.

South African Church Attendance

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Westerners are not seldom astonished by Church attendance in South Africa. The collage above shows photos I took (from top left, clockwise) in Anglican, Dutch Reformed, Moravian, Emergent, United, and New Apostolic Churches. OBSERVATION: Not every Church looks like this of course, yet I didn't find it hard to find full Churches for these photos -- and there are more on this blog. See also Visitors in Church.

DRC Koringberg [2]

This is the exterior of the DRC / NGK Koringberg -- I previously showed the interior. In fact this is a composite of four wide-angle shots -- I stitched them together with the program Hugin. One wouldn't think, by its relatively modern appearance, that this Church was built nearly 90 years ago. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 60k.

"Effortless" Fête

I made one of those comments yesterday that a minister may never live down. I remarked how effortlessly our Church Fête had come together this year. But actually, I have the feeling that it has come together more spontaneously this year. I think one of the things we did better was to put up reminders at every turn. Our annual Fête takes place tomorrow.

Two Better Than One

Since I lost my wife, I realise how much time, energy, and money are saved by being two rather than one. Intuitively, one might think that it's more effort to be two -- with all the time, energy, and money one needs to devote to another person. But I have discovered that two is probably more time-efficient, less energy-sapping, and cheaper to do. This is not just a feeling. The current book For Better (For Worse): The Science of a Good Marriage backs this up with various statistics.

Close Call

I dread even to blog about this. Last week I was walking down a 4x4 track, deep in thought, and didn't notice a large Cape Cobra lying on the parallel track. It reared up high and danced, making a kind of grating noise. I first noticed it about one metre away from me. By some estimates, only one in two people survive a Cape Cobra bite (the best estimate: four out of five).

Rotary Award

One of our Church members (pictured, centre) recently received the Rotary's Service Above Self award -- their highest award granted to an individual. A maximum of 150 Rotarians per year, worldwide, receive this award. It is granted for "exemplary humanitarian service".

Axe-Swinging Husband

This one's not for the faint-hearted. A man who attended our Church had an affair with another man's wife. It was a classic. Her husband walked in with an axe, which he started swinging around. With his first blow, he chopped clean through our congregant's tibia, or shinbone. Then he swung the axe at his head -- but missed. Our congregant said he didn't know how, but he got out of there with a severed tibia. This caused him trouble for years, as it didn't set properly. OBSERVATION: And the moral of the story is ...

DRC Koringberg [1]

This is the interior of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC / NGK) Koringberg. Koringberg is a small town off the beaten track -- several kilometres west of the N7 between Moorreesburg and Piketberg. Thus it seems surprising to find a fairly large and apparently thriving Church here. The Church was built in 1924. Tinted windows give it its yellow glow.

A Unique Church

In my Minister's Message this month, I highlight ways in which our Church is unique, in good kinds of ways. It is multi-generational, it is multi-cultural, it is a direct democracy, it practices ministry by members, it governs its own finances, it is evangelical -- among other things. I ask members to think of the last three Churches they attended. Which of them exhibited these features? Of the last three that I attended -- judging superficially by what I saw -- none were multi-generational, just one was multi-cultural, just one was a direct democracy, none had ministry by members.

Lessons From The Farm

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Last week I spent five days on a farm. There was not much that could complicate my life on the farm, and I made good progress in a few areas of focus. But as soon as I got home, I seemed to see with new eyes the extraordinary clutter of my life. For instance, one mouse-click brought more than 100 e-mails pouring onto my screen. Then there was no food in the house ... no money in my pocket ... mail stuffed in the box ... several people (figuratively) "banging down my door" ... you name it. So there are lessons to be learnt from the farm. Click on the photo to enlarge to 60k. It's the Berg River -- taken from the farm.