In this commonly read text, Phillip was sent by GOD through an Angel to reach out to the Ethiopian eunuch – a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians - who was travelling from worship in Jerusalem back home. His struggle was READING a text which was filled with LIFE and yet couldn’t understand. Philip initiates a conversation with him and this is in part how it goes:
30. Philip said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31. And he (eunuch) said, “Well, how could I unless someone guides me?”
This brings me to the theme of this message: TEACHERS TEACH and LEARNERS LEARN.
From this conversation and the willingness by both parties to carry out their respective responsibilities, GOD’s objective to save the eunuch was achieved and eventually through baptism he belonged to the LORD.
This model of relationship extends well to teachers and learners in class. As learners struggle with the reading material in search of saving knowledge, teachers must be there for them to guide and encourage. It must always ring in the minds of teachers that without them interpreting and analyzing knowledge, learners, like the eunuch, will always find it a struggle to understand.
Similarly, it remains primarily the responsibility of learners to take the initiative to learn and struggle through the knowledge material in order to demonstrate the willingness and readiness to learn. This attitude then encourages the teachers since they will realize the learner to be a willing partner. As the saying goes, “it takes two to tango…” For education to thrive both the learner and teacher must play their roles to the fullest.
In this way the South African Council of Churches (SACC) joins the rest of the country in great anticipation as schools re-open and children grabbing the opportunity to be taught, learn and acquire the necessary knowledge that will improve their lives and save them from destitution.
Over years the Church has always been an accompaniment in matters of education which is life-giving. This is because through education communities learn sound values upon which the human view of life is sharpened. Through education leaders are produced and society acquires skills to turn living conditions into better experience. South Africa stands to become even more of a better nation provided we take education seriously and invest all our resources in ensuring that children access it.
Equally, our role on the continent of Africa and the world will be enhanced and made even much more visible provided children of this nation are helped to go through a sound, balanced, well-resourced and competitive education system.
As the year of teaching and learning begins, we appeal to all parents to ensure that their children are fully registered for school. In cases where children stay by themselves, orphaned or neglected, we plead with churches, neighbors and other welfare community organisations to take responsibility and ensure that no child is left out of school.
It is very disheartening that we have children in this country who live on the streets and are without care and support. It is a growing culture that demands of society to make the necessary interventions.
We similarly implore on all teachers to defend the right of these children to learn by committing themselves to effective teaching. Over the years we have seen how some teachers would neglect their responsibilities to teach only to blame it on the children when they later fail. Teachers are parents, leaders and guides.
Their vocation is endowed with the high responsibility that children in South Africa do not continue to live in ignorance and backwardness but are able to join the demands of the competitive world to make their contribution as equal world citizens. This is a noble responsibility second to none and teachers must carry it out with honour.
As it has been said time and again, no amount of teaching and parental accompaniment will ever produce results if learners are themselves not ready to learn. It has to be drilled in the mind of our children to take their own education seriously by using all the resources of time, mind and effort to learn and be teachable. Success is driven by the energy and willingness to fight back all temptation and distraction that cause delay in life.
Obviously the Department of Education has to carry out its responsibility of ensuring that material resources are made available. Unlike in Limpopo Province where it is reported that there are no books at schools as the Department of Education failed to order stationery and textbooks on time, government has the sole responsibility of ensuring that the environment of learning and teaching is highly equipped with the required resources. Scholar transport, feeding programmes, grants for norms and standards must all be made available so that nothing is used against our resolve to produce an educated nation.
We wish all learners, teachers and parents a very fruitful and successful year of learning and teaching; knowing that knowledge liberates fully. Let us later converge at the end of this year to celebrate real success and not mediocrity.
The Rev. Mautji Pataki
2011 GS Messages
Christmas Message from the GS
“The Spirit of the Lord is with me. He has anointed me To tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me To announce forgiveness to the Prisoners of sin And the restoring of sight to the blind, To forgive those who have been shattered by sin, to announce the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Luke 4:18-19
Fellow believers, we have now come full cycle and have arrived at a point where the celebrations of the redeeming birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ have begun in earnest. We sense and see the mood of celebrations all over the streets, in our homes, cities, towns and villages. It is a birth in the history of the Christian faith that is responsible for having saved the world from what loomed large as a potential human catastrophe. Without Christ, the people of God could have perished in sin – both of omission and commission.
Human character has a way to drift away from God’s prescribed ways and in this way committing a sinful act. This is because once we are a distance away from God we tend to love ourselves more than Him. We get drawn into selfishness while despising others. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ heralds a new and saving beginning where as the Prophet Isaiah puts it,
“The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light. The light will shine on those who live in the land of death’s shadow.” Is.9
As we celebrate this birth we must resist the temptation to engage in those activities that add darkness and death to our lives. We must refuse to remain a people led by darkness and evil because the opportunity to live in light and to walk away from death is presented to us.
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) is awake to the fact that there are some people who would use this time to destroy their lives and those of us through reckless and negligent driving which in many cases end up in fatal motor vehicle accidents. Our roads are forever painted in blood because we fail to respect each other, fellow motorists and the law that seeks to guide and lead us. In this way we deny many families the joy that comes with Christmas because this is the time when many children who because of the migrant workers system live without their parents and only get to see them.
Christmas must be defined by the presence of organised worship, joy and noise that seek to glorify God. Excessive intake of alcohol, illicit drugs and other intoxicants militates against this spirit. This is because those who engage in all this end up initiating acts of abuse and violence against others. Him born on this day decried suffering that is caused by one on another. He advocated peace that is found in the knowledge of God.
Let us therefore use this time to remember, prayerfully, all those nations and individuals who experience war, famine and neglect. Their experience hurts Christ’s mission among the people of the world.
We have to be of one mind with the Lord Jesus Christ when he talks about the vulnerable groups whom he has come to save from the strong forces of the world responsible for their misery. Our calling is to embrace one another in the spirit of unity and allow God’s Spirit to lead our ways and direct our intentions.
South Africa is one such nation where people are still divided based on material accumulation and class. The most vulnerable continue to groan in their loneliness and weakness. The powerful, on the other side, look the other way and feel detached from the suffering of their fellow citizens. This is not the environment conducive to receive the Lord who calls us to repentance and we seek his face.
The Church must rise to the occasion and lead the processes of national reconciliation. Those who cry for land must be accorded land according to the principles of sharing and caring for one another. Those who crave for food and for shelter must be listened to and be afforded the opportunity to cut their slice in this competitive economy. The poor cannot continue to experience death when the rich and the affluent live in opulence...and we are made to believe that there is nothing wrong with the system.
For Christ to restore sight to the blind is to move us out of the misery of illiteracy and the poverty of education. As we celebrate him, let us be mindful that there is a throng of our people who live and are without decent educational facilities. There must be a deliberate effort to advance education as a defence in the world where the uneducated are despised and rejected. Every child must therefore be provided with an opportunity to be in school and to be supported throughout without dropping out of school. This is adding sight to the blind.
Similarly, access to health is part of Christ’s historic mandate. He comes into our lives so that we may “have life and life in abundance”. What Christ advocates is life without need. Our hospitals, clinics and other facilities that are designed to provide good health must be equipped in such a way that this purpose is not defeated. Life in abundance must be translated into a happy life. This is how our Lord Jesus Christ has to be celebrated.
Those who turn Christmas into a festival to display wealth and opulence, materialism and social class contradict the very nature and character of he whose birth took place in a manger, at a small village of Bethlehem in Judea. Whereas he was a King, he wasn’t born in the comforts of Kings. Whereas he was a Master, his birth was announced to the shepherds far away from Herod and those in his league. His own mother could not find maternity space in the Inn. It was a humble birth and yet the most powerful the world has ever seen.
SACC wishes you a happy Christmas filled with joy.
Nov-Dec 2011 The much awaited COP17/CMP7 has started in Durban and listening to some of the delegates, it is quite important that much must be done in order not to prolong the debate but rather find solutions to a challenge that threatens the demise of the world including human life. On the positive is the spirit of determination to fight by those who represent even poorer communities. The powerful still has to say something to energise the passion and anxiety already displayed by the weak.
For its part, the SACC invites all Christians to pray for the success of these discussions. It must not happen that on our very soil in Africa, powerful nations take decisions about our own demise. This is because it is factually recorded that those who emit lethal gases more than anyone else are not the African nations. We need to call upon God to guide the talks so that humanity could be saved.
The SACC released a small liturgical booklet, "The Healing of Creation: Climate Change, COP17 and beyond" to inspire worship services all across the country in search of God's solution that is clearly beyond human capability. The booklet is a resource which would be found in churches and Provincial Councils' offices for easy reading and reference.
There are also extensive documents on CD roms which will also be accessible through our website to serve the same purpose as that of the booklet. Our determination is for all Christians to join this struggle of saving what God gave to us as a gift to be in charge of. We can only become good stewards if we save water, recycle plastic and tin, preserve the soil, and purify the air. These we do by planting more trees in our environment while urging communities including children not to litter.
I am hopful that each one of us would do something in our own environment to ensure that this campaign becomes a success and mother nature saved.
October 2011
On Climate Change:
From where many South Africans and I sit, we have come to observe that the momentum for our country to host COP17 is gaining huge grounds.
We hear even in the corridors of government through the pronouncements of the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation that South Africa is indeed ready to host the world as its descends on Durban in Kwazulu-Natal to hold the 17th International Conference of Parties on Climate Change.
Our challenge as South Africans and indeed Africa is to confront the question, “what will make COP17 different from all the other 16 that went through much earlier hosted by other countries and nations?” In other words, at the end of this Conference, what is it that the world could show to demonstrate the willingness and the readiness of the powerful to share good life with the weak and the less influential in our societies. These are pertinent questions behind which lay answers for the redemption or destruction of the planet earth.
Over time, we are told, heavy industrialization and technological advancement by countries of the North and West has led us to this near calamity through the works of carbon emission and energy resources. This is because those among the multi-nationals and corporate who persistently pursue capital and profit at the expense of the poor have now posed serious danger to how the environment is supposed to feed and to take care of humanity.
It is in God’s original plan and intention that the air, the waters, minerals, soil and many other natural sources are meant to sustain human life than destroy it.
So the question that begs the attention of the Church and indeed the SACC is “how does climate change connects with the gospel of Jesus Christ”? In an effort to give answer to this question a lot has been done by theologians in a variety of presentations. Whereas Paul refers to the “groaning creation”, David refers to “the earth as belonging to God with all in it…”. The writings of the Genesis also refer to how God appointed human beings to be stewards of creation, not to spoil it but to preserve it. So, this puts it beyond question how the gospel would relate to issues of environment.
Several consultations have been organized by the ecumenical organizations including All Africa Conference of Churches, Fellowship of Eastern and Southern Christian Councils, Ecumenical Justice Network, Southern Africa Faith Communities Institute and many others who on certain occasions work with the relevant government departments and NGOs.
Our appeal therefore is for member churches and Christians in general to participate in all manners possible to make this conference a success. In small cells and communities, Christians are encouraged to pray for both the environment and the talks that will be taking place in Durban so that they go far to reach the objective which is to save both the environment and people.
These prayers must be sustained and theologically sound. They must call for action on the part of the part of those with the responsibility to design appropriate policies to save the earth, environment and the people from apparent calamity.
People are invited to attend the rallies, demonstrations and lobby groups that will be taking place in Durban as from the 27th November to 04th December, this year. There will be a rally about which detailed information will be given. Similarly an Interfaith service whose particulars would also be later related.
The intention of this message is to galvanise youth, women and everyone else including clergy and Church Leadership to take the lead and make COP 17 work out in the favour of the people who suffer more.
During the Advent season we symbolically participate in the waiting of the patriarchs, Kings, Prophets and Priests, as we await Christ’s final and glorious return. Something in the fabric of the cosmos shifted as creation became a fitting vehicle for God’s redemption work..Read More >>
Come Celebrate! was published to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the South African Council of Churches in 1993. It consisted of two books in one volume. The first, written by Rev. Bernard Spong, then head of the SACC's Communications Department, is a brief account of the Council's first 25 years. The second, by the head of the SACC's Faith and Mission Unit at the time, Rev. Cedric Mayson... Read More...
Mission Statement
The SACC works for moral reconstruction in South Africa, focussing on issues of justice, reconciliation, integrity of creation and the eradication of poverty and contributing towards the empowerment of all who are spiritually, socially and economically marginalised.
Vision Statement
The SACC as part of the Body of Christ is a communion on a pilgrimage promoting Justice, Dignity and the Fullness of Life
S O U T H A F R I C A N C O U N C I L O F C H U R C H E S
BREAKING NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Political Hit Squads – Enemies of the Nation! 26 January 2012
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) finds the recent media reports on the existence of political hit men squads in Limpopo to be very disturbing, concerning and outright unacceptable within the values of the peaceful and democratic South Africa.
At the heart of our concern is the failure by certain groups and individual to understand and respect life as sacred and GOD-given opportunity. No one, it doesn’t matter how powerful they are, have the right or even the privilege to end another person’s life. This is a right reserved only to GOD who remains in charge of our beginning and end – the Alpha and Omega.
The SACC therefore calls upon those who are behind the establishment of hit squads in Limpopo Province and elsewhere in the country to desist from this practice and invest their energy in finding solutions through dialogue, debate and engagement. GOD has endowed all of us with brains and minds to resolve even the most incomprehensible challenges.
We are quite happy and do congratulate members of the Hawks, Crime Intelligence and the Police who acted on time and with precision to effect the arrest of the suspects. We further invite members of the public with information to come out and report these kinds of criminal activities to the law and security agencies.
We deserve a peaceful, secure and stabilized country in order to enjoy the fruit of our constitutional democracy. Advocates of death are therefore a great disappointment to what this country has so far achieved and thus need to be locked up in prison!
Rev. Mautji Pataki SACC General Secretary
e-tolling - January 2012
In Defence of the Poor People of South Africa who are already over-burdened with tax and fuel levy, the SACC calls on Government to scrap the e-tolling system immediately.
South African Council of Churches -
Khotso House, Johannesburg -
Press Statement
19 January 2012
Call to Government to scrap e-tolling
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) in support of the call made by other civil society organisations including Cosatu, calls on the Government of South Africa to scrap completely the controversial e-tolling system that has been initiated by SANRAL in Gauteng Province.
Whereas we are aware that Government through the Minister of Transport brought the implementation of the project to a halt so that, as he says, other alternative ways of proceeding could be explored, we find it unacceptable and unaffordable for the poor people of this country who have no other viable public transport system to turn to, to be made to pay even much more than they are doing at the moment.
We are definitely mindful that once the e-tolling gets implemented, prices on basic food and fuel will rise while the people’s income levels remain the same and low. This system of doing economy is evil for it reduces human beings to mere objects meant to feed a system that does not improve but destroy their livelihood.
We hold strong the position that the South African government has the responsibility to ensure that the road infrastructure caters for the needs of its citizens. These citizens are already heavy-burdened with taxes and fuel levy where money for the maintenance of the road infrastructure should come from. Government’s argument that our tax base is not sufficient enough to take care of our public road infrastructural needs is lame and devoid of all accuracy if one was to take into consideration the report by the Auditor-General pointing to the fact that corruption and mismanagement of public funds is on the rise in this country. Therefore paying more taxes can only be interpreted to be making up for the difference attributed to corrupt activities.
It would therefore be in the interest of justice for the people of South Africa not to register for the e-tolling system and allow government to foot the bill.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary Rev. Mautji Pataki General Secretary
South African Council of Churches - Press Statement on Department of Education in Limpopo
January 2012 -
Khotso House, Johannesburg
The South African Council of Churches is highly disturbed by reports from many parts of Limpopo Province that point to lack of stationery, books and other learning materials as schools re-opened for the new year of learning and teaching. The act is so unfortunate that it is tantamount to feeding learners darkness when they ask for light, ignorance when they ask for knowledge.
We find it inexcusable that the material that was supposed to have reached the schools by now has not yet been delivered at a time when learners and teachers are ready to start work. Apart from all these accusations and counter accusations as to whose responsibility it was to order books, we call upon the parents, communities, parent associations and civil society including churches to organize themselves and demand books, scholar transport and food-at-school on behalf of their helpless children who are clearly failed by those who are supposed to be facilitating their success. Strict deadlines must be adhered to in this regard because it would not be helpful for anyone to receive books in June.
In this embarrassing instance, communities, learners and teachers must refuse to be drawn into a mudslinging exercise that seeks to apportion blame on the National Department of Education which we learn took over the administration of Limpopo in December when books could have long been ordered.
This act is a violation of the learner’s right to education and therefore those who are responsible have to be drawn before court to answer for a deed so destructive in the life of the innocent people. It is criminal and therefore not a matter to be treated lightly when adult leaders and officials violate the constitution of this Republic.
Released by the General Secretary of SACC
Rev. Mautji Pataki General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki, General Secretary
South African Council of Churches (SACC)
January 2012
“Glitzy Funerals” - A Capitalist Ploy to rip the Poor of their little earnings!
Thabo Rampola’s writing in the City Press Edition of 15 January captioned, “Let’s bury these glitzy funerals” demands an elevated attention as it echoes the sentiment already expressed by the SACC’s Triennial Conference Resolution 14 of 2004. That resolution reads as follows:
“As people are created in the image of God, we affirm this God-given dignity in our earthly life and even after death…and therefore extend our respect for life to those who have also passed on and their families. In respecting the dead, we should however not respect death and burial, but the person”.
The Conference, attended by just about 26 Member Churches including Church Leaders, went on to commit itself to the following programme of action:
To promote and invest the churches’ resources in life enhancing initiatives;
To call upon church members including leaders, ordained and lay, to make public pledges about their burials, i.e how they would wished to be buried in line with the spirit of this commitment;
To accompany the bereaved families with (financial) advice and guidance pre, during and post burials.
To cushion these noble ideas, Conference further resolved to invite all church members in South Africa to set up living legacies and endowment funds for their beloved. Instead of using huge sums of money for burial, funds could be channelled to establish bursary funds and memorials in the name of the departed person.
Like the resolution and the letter of its spirit, Rampola goes for the jugular vein from the onset, targeting values that are out to promote “crass materialism” and selfishness while eroding the basics of African and Christian values of bereavement. Indeed the world with all its cultures might have evolved over time but that is no justification to use human death, suffering and the loss life to justify the raking of massive profits by individuals who are only driven by greed and self-enrichment.
In his article, Rampola correctly argues that the public advertisements and the commercialization of funerals demonstrates a deliberate portrayal of black people to be the principal consumers of “glitzy funerals” and yet there are other population groups in the country who are by far wealthy and opulent but who are by design not targeted by these advertisements. This then leaves those behind the adverts with some tinge of racial innuendos and yet death knows no colour, wealth, poverty or social class for that matter. As to when and where it strikes, we all end up in the grave – in our case, a place elsewhere beneath the ground where it is highly impossible for the dead to receive their admirers.
Our point is to alert the unsuspecting prey of this hegemonic attack which comes in the name of “decent funeral” that it is in fact modesty and not display of opulence that lends decency to the way the living treat the dead. In Rampola’s words, “the very last but not least thing that should be erased from our list is the revered casket which takes away the largest amount of cash as we budget for a burial.”
Those who peddle and promote a lie that caskets are made of highly durable and costly can’t-get material valued at R50 000 and more as Rampola contends, only need to be exposed and their businesses paraded as exploiters of the poor in the name of decent service.
Communities, rich and poor, need to be dissuaded from investing in death for in it there are no returns. In other words life, including self-satisfaction, fulfilment and spiritual healing, cannot be attained through burying your loved one in a “glitzy” way. Those who are bent on this illusion are just showy victims of a highly capital-driven ideology which seeks to present wealth possession, materialism and affluence as affirmation of the worth and value of a human being even in death.
There is no beauty in a corpse and therefore no need exists to clothe it in fancy and expensive bed-linen as though it would ever feel the comfort normally reserved for the living. It is only when the mind fights reality that a corpse could be treated as a “living organic”. Otherwise it is the soul of the departed that lives.
In recent time and in pursuance of its own resolution, the SACC went into partnership with the Financial Services Board (FSB) on a financial wellness programme that seeks to educate communities on “modest funerals” and the value attached to them. Of course in our present-day South Africa you hear people referring to it being their right to bury the loved ones in any costly manner possible as long as they have the money to do so. This is definitely not the point. The point is people have to learn to be good stewards of the resources under their care so that other people who have none or less have the possibility to benefit from the same resources while still alive.
Investment is made wiser when its proceeds and dividend improve the lives of the less fortunate than to be splashed deep into the grave where no one stands to benefit. This is Christ’s teaching, to take care of one another and never to boast publicly of your wealth in from of those who are hungry, poor, unemployed and destitute. What do you think the biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man is all about if it doesn’t teach that it is a sin to brag about your possessions in front of those who can’t afford?
In my vocation I have come across family situations where after bereavement members are left destitute following failure to service the debt accrued from the funeral. As Rampola states that expensive and highly celebrated “lunch” is served at “breakfast” time I could only agree that it is an anomaly associated with funerals as the distinction between the two meals is naturally clear.
Let us wake up from this deep sleep and allow ourselves to be counted among those nations whose resources get used to advance life rather than celebrate death.
South African Council of Churches (SACC) Khotso House, Johannesburg Press Statement SACC Mourns the Death of Ilse Naudé.
The South African Council of Churches is deeply saddened by the death of Ilse Naude, wife to the late Rev. Dr Beyers Naude who once served as the Council’s General Secretary. The SACC coveys its heartfelt condolences to the family with great hope that the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom Ilse and the rest family have invested their trust, will bring healing.
We have always known Ilse to be the strong force and character behind Oom Bey’s ministry at a time when he had to disengage from the Afrikaner community following his convictions against apartheid and state theology. We remember how sad and difficult it was for him to arrive at such decision and yet with Ilse alongside him it was achievable. In Ilse, Oom Bey had a strong shoulder to cry on.
The South African Council of Churches thanks God for a life so well-lived and meaningful as Ilse’s life demonstrated. We wish it were possible for the nation to produce more of such women as Ilse so that the challenges we face today could be confronted with solid faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So much was Ilse dependable that Oom Bey never felt lonely on a path that was destined to define him as a traitor. Throughout his house arrests, Ilse remained a symbol of hope for him and the children.
As we lay her to rest, our fulfilment is derived from her fighting spirit for justice and peace in our land. We hold no regret, as the ecumenical movement in this country and the world that we had a gift in Ilse at the time when we needed such as her. We may not as yet have achieved the goals that he lived and fought for as injustice and poverty continue to characterise our land. However, we are confident that one day we will achieve a nation where no one goes to bed hungry, without water and food.
The SACC will pay the family of Ilse and Beyers Naude a special pastoral visit in the next few days.
We pray to God to receive Ilse’s soul that she may rest in eternal peace.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary Rev. Mautji Pataki General Secretary 02/01/2012
South African Council of Churches (SACC) Condemns Bomb Attacks on Christians in Nigeria
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) finds the bombing attacks on churches and Christians in Nigeria to be unacceptable and thus condemned in the strongest way possible. We find it even more insulting of the Christian movement that the attacks were planned to coincide with the celebrations of the birth of Christ. Christmas is about joy and peace, life and redemption. He whose birth gets celebrated was named by the Prophets to be The Prince of Peace – suggesting that he wouldn’t advocate for anyone’s death or injury. When we celebrate his birth, we are reminded of him as the Way, the Truth and the Life. Irrespective of who is behind the attack, the killing of other people for whatever reason is unjustified and does have no space in the hearts of the God-fearing. Christians need to be afforded their own space, equal to all other religions in the world, to worship God devoid of any such attacks as we have witnessed in Nigeria. It is not a choice but a duty on our part to come together for fellowship and glorify God. We therefore call upon all South Africans, Africa and the world to:
Hold national prayers in remembrance of the victims of this attacks
Express solidarity with those that are under attack
Extend word of condolence to the bereaved families
Pray for all the people of Nigeria including those behind the attacks
Campaign for a Peaceful Nigeria
The world is a better place to be when there is goodwill among its people.
Released by the Office of the General Secretary
Rev. Mautji Pataki
General Secretary
26/12/2011
PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA
President Jacob Zuma’s Statement is a disappointment.
The South African Council of Churches finds the statement by the President Jacob Zuma on the role of Christian faith in South Africa to be very disappointing and irrelevant to the project of building a nation where all religions receive equal respect and recognition. We are even taken aback by the fact that his statement is made out of no provocation.
There is more sense when Christians take care of orphans and the aged because that is the command from our Lord Jesus Christ – to take care of one another, to love one another, feed the hungry and cloth the naked. It is this command about the vulnerable groups which brings out the solid foundation upon which the Christian faith is built.
Without going anywhere deep in history, the church has established some of the most solid health and education institutions where personality of high note were also produced. South Africans continue to live the legacy of such individuals. Our contribution to the liberation struggle against colonial and apartheid regimes speaks volumes of how much the Church has done. Those who will celebrate the Centenary of the liberation struggle in Mangaung next year will find that a Wesleyan Methodist Church has become a national heritage because community meetings used to take place there. This history cannot simply be erased from the face of our nation by a statement that seeks to demobilise Christians.
We call upon the President to view Christians not as a threat but a community of believers whose mandate is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ whose core values are care, justice, peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, and many others intended to build our nation. Our intention is to live by these and make South Africa a happy home.
Released by Office of the General Secretary
The Revd. Mautji Pataki
22/12/2011
SACC
YOUTH FORUM
On the road to the SACC Youth Forum Elective Conference, Johannesburg 13 – 15 December 2011
As a result of 2008 SACC Youth Forum Church Youth Leaders’ Consultation, the Forum has gone through the restructuring process; as Dr Brigalia Bam was quoted in EcuNews of 1996 “the need for united Christian witness and action is as demanding in the new South Africa as ever before” and as such this in our view is very important. The ecumenical youth movement in South Africa must be consistent in being lively. Some of the changes made and those that will be proposed are not radical shifts in basic purpose but only in emphasis.
These proposed changes are meant to make the SACC Youth Forum lively, and most importantly relevant to the constituency we serve; while remaining prophetic. There is no doubt that the cornerstone of the churches and youth’s role in the societal development of our nation is through having youth who are united in purpose and critical in thinking, to create the desired change. The SACC Youth Forum is looking forward to a Conference which will change the course of history of our society and its people.
PRESS RELEASE COP17 CMP7 6 DECEMBER 2011
South African Council of Churches (SACC)Welcomes statement by the People’s Republic of China Urges Carbon Quartet to end Climate Insensitivity
DURBAN: SACC welcomes the statement by the People’s Republic of China (the number 1GHG polluter in terms of total GHG emissions* but not per capita) signaling that it is now ready to commit to a legally binding agreement on reduction of GHG’s. We find this position morally sensitive to the need to build world solidarity on matter affecting climate change.
A binding commitment during the Durban round of talks on Climate Change will strengthen both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and also benefit the BASIC group of countries (Brazil, South Africa, India & China) which includes the host nation. Read More
PRESS Statement
SACC-LED WORSHIP SERVICE FOR COP17 AND CLIMATE JUSTICE ACTION
Who can attend?
Everyone is welcome The Service is organised at a special request from the President of COP17 and the SA Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, The Honourable Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and will be conducted by the General Secretary of SACC, The Revd. Mautji Pataki and other local clergy.
The SACC regards the participation of churches and Christians in matters of climate change and climate justice action as driven by ethical, moral and spiritual imperatives in solidarity with the poor, marginalised and vulnerable communities.
The service will spread the ecumenical message on Climate Justice Action and use the "Liturgy for the Restoration of Human Communities" contained in its recent publication,
"The Healing of Creation: Climate Change, COP17 and Beyond".
Released by the office of the general secretary
30 November 2011
The Rev. Mautji Pataki - 082 862 4396
Contact: Rev Keith Vermeulen 082 523 0701
PRESS RELEASE The South African Council of Churches (SACC)
Conference of Parties (COP) 17/ COP Members of Parties 7
SACC Resolution supporting the promotion of the Green Climate Fund
The 16th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) held in Cancun Mexico resolved to establish the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Given the urgency and seriousness of climate change, the purpose of the GCF is to make significant contributions to the international community’s attempts to mitigate its effects.
The Fund seeks to make a significant contribution towards the achievement of the ultimate objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and, in the context of sustainable development.
The Fund (GCF) will promote the paradigm shift towards low–emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their Green House Gas emissions.Read More
What? A Service to Uphold the Discussion and Decisions being made at UN International Conference on Climate Change.
Where? The Uniting Presbyterian Church on D 1059 Hambakahlemkhonto Road, UMLAZI
When? Sunday the 4th December 2011
Time? 10h00
*Applications close on the
5th December 2011*
The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) seeks to support local and international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and bring a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with just peace, based on international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.
SACC co-ordinates EAPPI inSouth Africa. To become one of the Ecumenical Accompaniers and spend three months in Israel/Palestine experiencing life with survivors of the occupation, and return home to advocate for just peace in Israel and Palestine, people of all faith and religion are welcome (25yrs and above).
Please contact the SACC office of EAPPI at the following address: dudu@sacc.org.za
An application form and relevant information will be forwarded to you.
Rev. Mautji Pataki, the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches shared with us the story of his journey and what motivated his decisions in life.
The Moravian Church in South Africa (MCSA) seeks to appoint a Director for its Theological Seminary. The mandate for this position is to provide management and leadership in respect of the academic and administrative functions of the seminary; to plan, manage and evaluate the performance of student ministers and oversee their training programmes up to the B.Th honours and Licentiate level. CLOSING DATE 25 NOVEMBER 2011Read More...
The SACCYF will be holding its elective conference in December 2011 with church
youth structures of member churches of the SACC.
SACCYF President
Vuyani Pule
As such Koinonia and many other issues will be reflected upon. An agenda for the ecumenical youth movement in South Africa would be paved.
Church youth structures would be composed of youth leaders and members from various sectors of society in which they serve besides their respective churches. The conference would provide an opportunity to have critical theological reflections on many thematic issues which affects both our spiritual and physical lives. Read More...
SACC Youth Forum The SACC Youth Forum is the fellowship of ecumenical youth organisations within the Church which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures which proclaimed in Word and deed the gospel of incarnation of Jesus Christ... Read More...
RECENT EVENT
The meeting with the Public Protector took place on Monday the 21st November 2011.
Rev Mautji Pataki (SACC General Secretary), Adv Thuli Madonsela (Public Protector), Ms Rinel Hugo (SACC NEC Member), Bishop Lunga Ka Siboto (SACC NEC Member).
New South African Outlook Magazine
Ecumenical Magazine for Thinkers & Decision Makers
Do not miss this one… New South African Outlook Magazine Special Edition now out!
It features the interview of the new SACC General Secretary, the Rev Mautji Pataki, a vibrant ecumenical activist who among other things comments on problems that confront South Africans today.
The Special Edition also features important conversations on the vision of ecumenism in the 21st Century, with contributions from such sharp scholars as Dr Simangaliso Kumalo and Rev Dr Prince Dibeela.
You cannot miss contributions by Provincial Councils, our Parliamentary Office and also the SACC Youth Forum
MORE than 200 youths representing the African continent are coming to Soweto. The youths will take part in the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Durban from November 28 to December 9.
The South African Council of Churches Youth Forum arranged for a caravan to travel from Nairobi, Kenya, to Durban, to teach youth about the environment Read More....
