Good Hope MCC Newsletter for October 2011

Season of Creation

It’s the dawning of a new season: Spring is in the air, with earlier morning light and new possibilities. It’s the promise of new beginnings. Although the cold will possibly stay with us in Cape Town for a while longer, it’s time to start shedding the dead skin of the old season and invite in that which is new into your life; to cut away the dry leaves and branches.

During Spring we are also celebrating a ‘Season of Creation’ in the church. When taking part in the symbolism of the sacraments, we weekly make use of the elements of bread, wine and water. But in the context of creation and environmental concerns, we are reminded that these symbols consist of the natural elements of grain, grapes and water. They connect us to the earth in a very powerful way.

The Season of Creation kicks off with Arbor Day on 5 September. I’ve once come across these beautiful words from Johann Lanz entitled ‘Trees’:

‘If we are to straddle above and below,
Within and without,
Let us befriend trees,
For it is trees that reach both downwards
And upwards,
That hold both the dark and dirty,
Beautiful complexity
Of what lies below us in the soil,
With their roots,
And the soft caresses of sunlight and wind
That lie above us,
With their leaves’.

At our Sunday worship we will mainly reflect on texts from the gospels of Matthew and John during this season. We find beautifully rich organic imagery in these texts. You can listen for the contrasts between heaven and earth, or rather land and sky (Jn 3:12-13; Mt 3:17; 12:40). Eerie natural powers are at work – the wind (Jn 3:8), the nights (Mt 12:40), the desert (Mt 4:1), the earthquake (Mt 28:2) and lightning (Mt 28:3). Then there are also dark depths from where something new comes forth – the womb (Jn 3:4), the fish’s stomach (Mt 12:40), the river (Mt 3:13), death and the grave (Mt 28:2,6). Animals are fellow-actors in the texts – the snake (Jn 3:14), the fish (Mt 12:40), and the dove (Mt 3:16). The earthly signs of renewal are furthermore quite important – signs of birth (Jn 3:3), of baptismal water (Mt 3:16) and of morning light (Mt 28:1).

As we journey through this Season of Creation and become aware of the change of the season around us, and as we become newly sensitized to the plight of creation (especially in the context of the UN Climate Change conference, COP17, which will be held later this year in Durban), let us not only ‘befriend the trees’, but also make space for new life to burst forward within our own lives and within the life of our church.

(Laurie Gaum)

Upcoming Services

Our Preachers for the coming services are:

30 Oct: Abe Pieterse
06 Nov: Diane Fisher (MCC Elder)
13 Nov: Andrew Teu
20 Nov: tba
27 Nov: Beaulah Durheim

Would Jesus discriminate?

In March 2011, Good Hope MCC took part in the annual Cape Town Pride Parade with a very important message: Would Jesus Discriminate? The message was short, but effective, especially to our not so inclusive brothers and sisters who greeted us with non-loving messages. On the 24 September, we did it again, this time in the Eastern Cape, at PE’s first pride parade. We were a party of 4 who journeyed the long road by car, what was supposed to be an 8 hour journey, turned out being 10hours. To keep us in the Pride spirit, we couldn’t help but to dress the car’s dashboard with a shocking pink feather boa, there was certainly no doubt we were “family”.

Anyways, with limited time, we printed some fliers for distribution at the parade. The parade attracted about 700 participants and the church was the only religious organisation represented. We may not have had the fancy costumes or a fabulous float, but our huge banner with the message: Would Jesus Discriminate surely received a warm welcome by our fabulous community and surprisingly from the not so fabulous community. People came to congratulate us and thank us for our support as a Christian based organisation. We were most certainly a hit and probably one of the most photographed groups other than the colourful Lola Fine and “Lady Gaga”. All in all, again I can say, mission accomplished.

We have gone with a purpose to reach out to those in need for a spiritual connection and left them with hope and the loving message that God Adores You! Who knows, PE may be home of our next MCC in time to come.

(Dominic Kessell)

Quest

Quest is a series of 5 meetings to learn more about MCC as a denomination. At the end, one is free to decide whether you would like to become a member of GHMCC, or remain a friend of the church. As a previous participant said, “Quest is to figure out whether I understand the church, and whether the church understands me”. Topics for discussion include the history of MCC; the mission and vision of GHMCC; inclusive gospel – reconciling spirituality and sexuality; spiritual gifts; discipleship and ministries amongst others. There is ample opportunity to ask questions during the discussion.

Following the previous Quest series, 3 participants chose to become members and were inducted on 31 July. We welcome them as full minister-members of GHMCC.

The next Quest series will start in late October. For more information contact Elma at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Out in Africa 18th and 99/100th South African Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

21 to 30 October 2011 in Cape Town, Nu Metro V&A Waterfront and Johannesburg NuMetro Hyde Park.

Visit www.oia.co.za for more information or book your tickets online at www.numetro.co.za

Screenings include:

• Breaking Out of the Box + Whisper Not
• Going Down in La-La Land Gun Hill Road
• Heart Breaks Open + Drive
• Heartbeats
• Howl
• Pariah
• Room in Rome
• The Adonis Factor + F*#k Buddies