Wilhelm's space

What our friends say. Read more here from the SELK Info pages on the LCSA pastors convention this week from the perspective of participant Prof. Dr. Werner Klän:

“Pastoraltheologie, Apartheid und Ordinationen
SELK: Werner Klän auf Pfarrkonvent in Südafrika

Hartbeespoortdam (Südafrika), 22.3.2012 – selk – Vom 19. bis zum 22. März fand im „Good Shepherd“-Rüstzeitzentrum der römisch-katholischen Kirche im südafrikanischen Hartbeespoortdam der diesjährige Pfarrkonvent der Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (LCSA), einer Schwesterkirche der Selbständigen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (SELK), statt. Etwa 60 Pfarrer und Vikare, einschließlich der Missionare der Lutherischen Kirchenmission (LKM) der SELK waren versammelt, um unter Leitung von Bischof Dr. Wilhelm Weber jun. über den Weg der Kirche und theologische Fragen zu beraten.

Als Gäste waren die Pfarrer Dr. Brian Saunders, Präses des Bezirks Iowa-West, und Timothy Scharr, Präses des Bezirks Süd-Illinois, von der Lutherischen Kirche–Missouri-Synode (LCMS) sowie Prof. Dr. Werner Klän von der Lutherischen Theologischen Hochschule Oberursel der SELK anwesend. Die Arbeit des Konvents war gerahmt von Morgen- und Abendandachten und geprägt durch einleitende Bibelarbeiten.

Der erste Schwerpunkt war Fragestellungen der Pastoraltheologie gewidmet. Präses Scharr schilderte die Verfahren bei Berufung und Neubesetzung von Pfarrstellen in der LCMS. Präses Saunders referierte über Visitation als geistliche Hilfestellung. Bischof Weber erläuterte eindringlich den Zusammenhang zwischen der Ordnung der Ordination und dem geistlichen Leben des Pfarrers. In der Aussprache kamen auch die Nöte der Pastorenhaushalte der jungen Schwesterkirche der SELK deutlich zum Ausdruck.

Einen weiteren Schwerpunkt bildeten Fragen, die mit der Hinterlassenschaft der Zeit der Apartheid in Südafrika in Zusammenhang stehen. Pfarrer Dr. E. A. Wilhelm Weber D.D. sen., langjähriger Dozent am Lutherischen Theologischen Seminar in Enhlanhleni, berichtete ausführlich aus der Geschichte der LCSA, Prof. Klän erläuterte die Stellung des früheren Direktors der LKM (Bleckmarer Mission), Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf, zum Kirchenkampf im „Dritten Reich“, zum Bekenntniskampf nach 1945 und in seiner Auseinandersetzung mit der Apartheid in Südafrika. Der frühere LCSA-Bischof David Tswaedi D.D. stellte die bis heute spürbaren Auswirkungen der Apartheid auf das Leben und den Bestand der LCSA dar. In der Aussprache wurden nicht zuletzt die immer noch bestehenden Ungleichgewichte in den Lebensverhältnissen der verschiedenen Bevölkerungsteile in Südafrika benannt.

Den Höhepunkt des Pfarrkonvents der LCSA bildete die Ordination von drei Vikaren zum kirchlichen Dienstamt. Der Bischof ermutigte die jungen Geistlichen, in ihrem Amt und Dienst Gott zu Gefallen zu arbeiten. Neben den beiden Bezirkspräsides aus der LCMS überbrachten Pfarrer Christoph Weber im Namen von Missionsdirektor Roger Zieger die Grüße der LKM und Prof. Klän im Namen von SELK-Bischof Hans-Jörg Voigt die Segenswünsche der nördlichen Schwesterkirche. Es sei für ihn besonders bewegend, so Klän, dass er Zeuge sein könne, wie drei junge Männer, an deren theologischer Zurüstung er in den vergangenen vier Jahren zeitweise habe mitwirken dürfen, nun in den Dienst des Herrn der Kirche eingewiesen worden seien.
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Carnival time at the University of Pretoria!

Come one, come all! It is carnival time at the University of Pretoria. In their first concert season for 2012, the University of Pretoria Symphony Orchestra will be dazzling audiences with a production narrated by none other than Tobie Cronjé on 22 and 25 March 2012 in the Musaion.

The mighty lion roars as the magnificent elephants waltz by and tortoises will perform the Can Can, as a lone wolf howls at the moon in an outrageous production of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals and Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.

The University of Pretoria Symphony Orchestra will be expertly portraying these tales through music, with each instrument having its own story to tell and its own character to portray.

In this comical production of side-splitting proportions, Tobie Cronje will be kicking off the performance with an original narrative of Peter and the Wolfincluding beautiful solos from the orchestra.

Carnival of the Animals follows with a bombastic, triumphant, marching opening, accompanied by piano genius Wessel van Wyk and rising star pianist Jannie le Roux as the two soloists, as well as a text performed by Cronje.  The UP Symphony Orchestra promises to put a smile on all faces, young and old.

The University of Pretoria Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce that this programme will feature in Absa’s Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in April 2012. This will be the orchestra’s sixth invitation to the KKNK festival.

As part of their community service the Department of European languages at the University of Pretoria teaches German at local schools and also at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane (LTS). Angelika Weber teaches basic German Grammar to those students at LTS, who want to learn this. It is fascinating how those, who already do a number of new languages (English, Greek and Hebrew) still volunteer for this extra-class. Obviously its good fun and not quite such a drudge as some would like to make out. Here are some postings, they created in the last week.

Katlego Monyepao; Benjamin Kaumba; Henry Walker; Robert T.K. Sulniely; Paul Baibai Kurakpio; Mduduzi Nkosi; Jefferson F. McGill; Emmanuel S. Tengbeh; Emmanuel Enosa; Chifunilo Benson Tembo;

Prof. Dr. habil. Werner Klaen is presenting a paper on Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf and his engagement for a clear Lutheran witness during the time of apartheid. He was the Director of missions in Bleckmar and took a very strong interest in these confessional matters. Here is the paper: Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf_Apartheid_2

Dean Johannes Mafereka is leading today’s Bible study at the LCSA pastor’s convention. Here is his paper for your perusal and edification: Philippians 3 How to be Faithful (Mafereka)

“Early in the morning my praise shall rise up to Thee…”

Rev. Sephai (NW) and Rev. Nkosi (KZN) are leading the devotion (Order of Matins), Dean Thwala is giving a paper “Called to be a pastor” and then our friends from the LCMS are introducing the themes “Calling process: What is this?” (President Scharr) and “Visitation as Pastoral help” (President Saunders). My brother Christoph is giving an update on Lutheran missions and I will lead the workshop on “Ordination formula and the pastor’s life”. Tonight Rev. Nkambule and Rev. Mosenogi are leading Vespers.

During the 40 days of Lent every Sunday is somewhat of an exception to the rule – already anticipating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter. This is especially true of the 4th Sunday during Lent called “Laetare” (Rejoice!), which gives it it’s other name “Little Easter”. Therefore the liturgical colour is also the exceptional “pink” instead of the regular “purple” – even if that has not quite become practice in our church yet. The readings proclaim this joy of Easter already in this time of Lent: Already – even if not quite yet! It’s this tension that is also dominant in the Old Testament reading of the holy prophet Isaiah 54,7-10 and also with the comfort in all trouble proclaimed by the holy apostle St.Paul 2.Cor.1,3-7. We are all called to faith by the most holy gospel which proclaims the exorbitant harvest, which comes from the fruitful death of the Son of God (Joh.12,20-26).

We still don’t sing the “Gloria” and the only praise is that of the quite one of the “Agnus Dei”: “Oh Christ – Thou lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us!”

John 12:24 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

This Sunday “Laetare” has the watchword from the holy gospel of St.John quoting Jesus Christ: “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (12,24)

The sermon for this Sunday Laetare in 2012 is on the epistle to the Phillipians 1,15-21 and we are happy to post that in seTswana by Rev. T. Ratsefola and translated into Zulu by Rev. E.A.W.Weber DD. Read more here: Lutheran order of worship in Zulu for the 4th Sunday in Lent (Laetare) with a sermon by Rev. T. Ratshefola and Lutheran order of worship in Tswana for the 4th Sunday in Lent (Laetare) with a sermon by Rev. T. Ratshefola.

Bishop H-J.Voigt from the SELK has also thankfully posted a sermon on this text in German. He writes:

Bischof Hans-Jörg Voigt stellt uns sein Werkstück zur Verfügung. Herzlichen Dank dafür! Er schreibt:  „Liebe Predigtwerkstättler, für den kommenden Sonntag ist mein Werkstück endlich wieder einmal rechtzeitig fertig geworden. Die griechische „apokaradokia“ hat es mir angetan. Diesen Gedanken könnte man sicher noch ausweiten. Aber auch die Freude bei Paulus taugt für eine Themenpredigt an Lätare. 

Ich wünsche Ihnen und euch Lätare-Freude bei der Vorbereitung der Gottesdienste. 

Ihr / euer Bischof Hans-Jörg Voigt“ . You can read his sermon under the following link too:  Sermon on Phil 1,12-21 for 18.3.2012 – Lätare – Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt (SELK)

Informed people are getting nervous – and president Zuma did not much to dispel their fears yesterday either, when he responded to the questions in parliament concerning the endevours by the ruling ANC to change the constitution of our country. He was verbose and trying to be jocular too, but that was just more scary. It’s obvious that the constitution is not required by a majority, but rather by the minorities under threat. That’s what makes a democracy a safe place for such as these.

Read here, what F W de Klerk has got to say after 20 years have passed since that decisive referendum in South Africa:

“At the end of 1991 the National Party lost a key bye-election in Virginia to the Conservative Party. The Conservatives crowed that we had also lost our mandate to continue with the constitutional negotiations and demanded a whites-only election.  Their claims were greatly amplified on 19 February 1992 when the National Party lost another key bye-election – in Potchefstroom. Its majority of 2 000 in the 1989 election was wiped out and replaced by a CP majority of 2 140 votes. The CP’s claim that we had lost our mandate to negotiate seemed to have been vindicated.

We had for some time promised that we would hold a referendum at some time to enable the white electorate to express its views on the negotiation process. Our defeat in Potchefstroom convinced me to do so as soon as possible. I accordingly announced my decision to hold a referendum to the NP leadership and caucus the next morning.  I did not put the question to a vote – which I might well have lost – but decided to use my powers as party leader to decide on the issue myself. I was determined to resign if we lost the referendum.

The question we put to the electorate on 17 March 1992 was “Do you support the continuation of the reform process that the State President started on 2 February 1990 and which is aimed at a new constitution through negotiations?”

In the run-up to the referendum I told audiences that I was not asking for a blank cheque.  I said that we had already reached broad consensus in the negotiations on a number of key points regarding the future constitution. These included a multi-party democratic system; a parliament comprising an upper and lower house; the necessity for a Bill of Rights; the separation of powers; the independence of the judiciary; proportional representation; a strong regional basis for the future dispensation; the maintenance of language and cultural rights;  and  community-based education for those who want it.

I said that there were a number of issues on which we were still seeking consensus. They included the prevention of domination and the abuse of power; effective protection of minorities; the protection of property rights; career security for public servants; a market-based free enterprise economy; maximum constitutional protection for regional and municipal government; and the dispersal of the powers that were then concentrated in the hands of the State President.

I truly believe that it was on 17 March 1992 that the great majority of white South Africans finally and decisively turned their backs on 350 years of white domination.  In my victory speech on 18 March 1992 I said that they had finally closed the book on apartheid. “The White electorate has reached out, through this landslide win for the YES vote, to all our compatriots, to all other South Africans and the message of this referendum is: Today, in a certain sense, is the real birthday of the new South African nation.”

The mandate that we received enabled us to proceed with the negotiations and to nail down virtually all the goals that I listed in my pre-referendum speeches.

Now, ironically, almost exactly twenty years later, many of the fundamental provisions of the constitution that we subsequently negotiated and adopted are under threat.

On 5 March the ANC released policy discussion papers claiming that the ‘first transition’ had served its purpose and should now make way for a ‘second transition’. The discussion papers proposed that the present provincial system should be amended and that the property rights should be reviewed to facilitate land reform.

This followed the announcement the previous week of the government’s plan to ‘review’ the judgments of the constitutional court, accompanied by dark rumblings from the President regarding the need to review the court’s powers.  It coincided with the South African Languages Bill that would effectively strip Afrikaans and seven black indigenous languages of their official status.

Our Constitution has served us well. It has provided a firm foundation for the development of our ‘rainbow’ nation. It has provided the framework for sustained  economic growth and impressive social development.

Our failure to make substantial progress against poverty, inequality and unemployment cannot be ascribed to any shortcoming in the Constitution – but rather to inappropriate policies. The Constitution is under pressure not because it is standing in the way of transformation – but because it is limiting the power of the executive and the legislature to do as they please.

The time has come for all our communities – not just white South Africans as was the case twenty years ago – to stand up for the values and rights on which our new society has been based.  Their response will – in a very real sense – determine the sustainability of the new South African nation that I believed was born on 17 March 1992.”

As confessional Lutherans, who hold mission and evangelism very dear and who also ascribe to the dicta: “Lutheran Church does Lutheran Mission” and “Lutheran Mission leads to Lutheran Church”, all efforts to clarify what it is about Church and Evangelism lie very close to our hearts. These are very challenging times and we as Lutheran Church are responsible to give a faithful account of the hope that is within us – based on the promise of our God, the only Lord of both his Church and his mission. May he grant his Holy Spirit in richest measure as many people from many different parts of the world gather to work on the meaning of church and mission in this world and under his good governance +

Read here, what the WCC announced this morning: (ENInews)–Some 300 church leaders from various parts worldwide will be gathering in Manila from 22 to 27 March for a pre-assembly of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. Hosted by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), the gathering is expected to update the WCC’s mission and evangelism statement, which was written in 1982. “The Philippines can help take a look at mission and evangelism from the side of the oppressed and not only from the traditional understanding of conversion,” NCCP general secretary Fr. Rex Reyes told ENInews. [426 words, ENI-12-0154]