Friends - the letter below is from Jan and Ruth Ann Hall - Coordinators of our I3L church partnerships in Zulu-Natal. As is typical of Jan, it is pretty long, but it is a MOST moving account of an Installation Service that they attended and a wonderful gift to the church and the pastor from our Congregation in Littleton - well worth reading and sharing! - LL
Greetings to Paul Nickerson, the MaCUCC Area Ministers and, by bcc's, to several churches whose decisions on participation are pending, or that have expressed interest in the i3L program towards the latter part of 2006 or beyond --
We are back in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, traveling here for the sixth time in seven years. We have come here mainly to work to further church-to-church relationships between individual Congregational churches here and those in Massachusetts. We hope to start several additional relationships in early 2006, but over our five months here we’ll also be meeting with the fifteen KZN churches that have already begun these relationships over the past two years, to help enhance their links to their counterparts in Massachusetts.
The airline gives us a four suitcase baggage limit for our trip here and back, and we’ve made a habit of using that space not just for our own clothing needs, but as a means of further communication back and forth between the ‘matched’ churches here and back in Massachusetts. So, on this trip over, about half of that volume was filled with Sunday school children’s pen-pal and other letters, and scrapbooks and photo albums describing the Massachusetts churches, and a number of prayer shawls, a commemorative medallion and a plate, bulletins and newsletters, videos and audio tapes, and other greetings and explanatory items, intended both for the introduction of the to-be-matched churches and to foster the relationships with the already participating Massachusetts churches. This is a wondrous collection of personal items that we know will be appreciated here. We even brought one small stuffed Easter toy along with the letter from one of the Massachusetts pen-pals to her friend in a township near Durban.
We had one very special delivery to make this past Saturday afternoon, which we wanted to tell you about:
Saturday, March 11, 2006 was a bright, warm day in late summer. In the early afternoon, we took a route we are pretty familiar with, driving south from Durban on the N2 superhighway until we crossed the broad estuary of the Illovo River, banked by expansive cane fields feeding the namesake sugar mills. We follow a couple of twists and turns after the exit ramp, and then ten kilometers or so along a dirt road to where there’s a paved road from nowhere but through the Imfume community. This road isn’t finished, but there seemed to be more of it than there’d been on our last visit.
Along this road is an American mission church, the mother church of the Imfume Congregational Church, which is one of the circuits (a single congregation with several spread-out regular worship points) of what is now the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, in its KwaZulu-Natal Region. We’d first visited this church on Palm Sunday of 2005, and then again a few weeks later, to initiate a connection between the Imfume church and one of the Massachusetts Conference UCC churches. We were back this day as representatives of the Congregational Church of Littleton, to make a special delivery of a gift to their ‘matched’ church at Imfume.
The country around the Imfume church is mainly sugar cane fields scattered with small rondavel houses in the traditional Zulu style, but the mission church sits in a small stand of tall trees. We sought to park in one of the spots shaded by the trees, but the best ones were long taken. We knew there’d been a meeting at the church that morning and now, in early afternoon, as we walked from our car over to the church, we saw a large group of folk, many in the white blouse and cap of Isililo, the UCCSA’s Zulu churches’ women’s group, moving together from the church, past the refreshment tents that were set up behind the church, up towards the new manse (the parsonage) as part of the overall dedicatory activities of this day.
When we’d visited Imfume in 2005, the manse had been on its way to being finished, after an effort of many years. Today, we looked in on this new house just behind the church. It was impressively large, with a substantial and equipped kitchen, a large sitting room, several bedrooms and a large bathroom, a garage (with an automobile in it), and an office for the minister’s use. Finished ceramic tiles were used as flooring throughout. The electricity was on, though the land line telephone wasn’t installed yet, but to come.
The manse, and the funding to provide for the automobile for transport about the circuit, were prerequisites for the circuit to call its own full-time minister. It has been fifteen years since the circuit has had its own minister. During that time they have made do with an acting minister who generally came once a quarter to lead worship and celebrate communion. Saturday was a day for celebration indeed!
We had come to Imfume this afternoon to attend the special service for the installation of Rev. Psycology Lindokuhle Perfect Gumede as the minister of the Imfume Circuit. Rev. Gumede was one of a group of seven newly-ordained ministers of the UCCSA who were being installed in their churches over the past several months since their collective ordination back in November. This was a tremendous step forward for the denomination in KZN. When we first came to know them they’d had 65 congregations (and 275 or so churches within those congregations) served by 27 ministers. There hadn’t been many new ministers, especially in the Zulu churches, over the past couple of decades, and the need for ministers was acute. So this day at Imfume was part of a joyous succession of such installation days through which a new and vibrant phase in these churches is anticipated, as a new, young group of ministers begins their service.
Mandla Msweli, a leader in the Imfume church who’s been serving as a main contact point for the Littleton relationship, told us how they see the joinder of the minister and the congregation as if it were a wedding, a covenant and commitment for a long time. And the ‘wedding’ theme was an interesting note – it was seen in the white suit with a flower spray in the lapel that Psycology was wearing from the morning’s events, and in the decorations in the church itself, with the white-and-powder-blue (the UCCSA colors) cloth forming an arch at the front of the main aisle of the church, and a type of bunting spread about the area holding the pulpit, altar and lectern. Near a table at which the new minister and his wife sat during the service, there was a small self-circulating waterfall and pool placement, which gurgled throughout.
Psycology’s wife, Zanele, was dressed in her Isililo uniform, but with a special cape draped over her shoulders. This, we’ve learned, is indicative that she is a minister’s wife. We know that this makes her in effect the ‘mother of the church,’ and much is expected of her in the running of its affairs, and especially in regard to the activities of Isililo.
Sometime after the designated 2:00 p.m. starting time, but not inordinately so in our experience here, we were asked to join in the procession into the church for the installation service. This is the Region’s affair, so the service is led by its Moderator and Chairman, and other officers and ministers from around the Region participate. There are also representatives of other churches, and of the Regional bodies of the Isililo women’s and Amabutho (substantially) men’s groups, and of their respective younger affiliate groups; and friends of the family and of the minister’s home church. Many of the officials from churches and groups are in the procession as well.
The denomination in KZN has white and Coloured churches as well as Zulu ones, but on this occasion it was an all-Zulu affair, led by Rev. Armstrong Makhanya of the Umlazi-Lamont Circuit, the presiding minister for the day in his role as Chairman of the KZN Region, and by Rev. B.R. Dlamini of the Inanda Circuit, the Moderator of the Region, who was the day’s preacher. They and others came in their black ministerial robes and the red stoles with various versions of the UCCSA’s dove and cross logo prominent. We were the only non-Zulu faces in evidence this day.
The installation portion of the service followed a liturgy prepared by the Region, and was largely in English. But the music was in Zulu, and there was tremendous and vibrant congregational singing of hymns and choruses. There was a formal choir, which somewhat unusually wore robes for the occasion. But the real action was when the congregation got going. We recalled that Imfume has the reputation as the best-singing of the KZN churches, and even on this day when the Imfume congregants didn’t make up most of the assembly inside the church, they were much in evidence when it was time to sing, and the music here was assured, and forceful, and soared with joy and purpose. It was truly wonderful.
We had made arrangements with the Region’s officers to allow us to make a brief presentation on behalf of the Littleton church, as part of the service. Our time came after the formal installation, and before the latter, mainly Zulu language, portion of the service which included Holy Communion and the sermon. So we came next after Rev. Armstrong Makhanya, having led Psycology and the congregation through the liturgy emphasizing the minister’s role and the relationship between the congregation, and the minister, and broader church, pronounced Rev. Gumede, under the authority of the KZN Regional Council of the UCCSA, to be installed as the minister of the Imfume Congregational Church.
But we were not asked to rise to speak until a couple of points were emphasized by Rev. Makhanya – that our speaking at this time was an unusual circumstance, a special dispensation, and not one that anyone should assume was granted lightly (in other words, that the fact that we were getting to speak even though we weren’t included in the printed program, was not going to open the floodgates at this or other installation services! … though on this day, what seems to have been a similar request for a presentation from the nkhosi, the chief or local traditional leader, was to be honored as well); and second, which was emphasized several times, we had promised to be brief.
So we stood to address the gathering, and brought greetings from the more than 400 churches of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ -- Congregational churches of Massachusetts – 15 of whom were now building direct one-to-one relationships with churches of the UCCSA in KZN. We explained that we were back in KZN this year in order to work on beginning more of those relationships, but also to visit and work with the already participating churches here.
The people at Imfume would know that theirs is one of those 15 KZN churches, and that their relationship is with the Congregational Church of Littleton. And it was at the request of the Littleton church that we’d come to Imfume this day, to make a special presentation on their behalf on the occasion of Rev. Gumede’s installation.
Before making the presentation, we needed to provide some background. The Imfume members would recall, but others in attendance might not know, that the ‘match’ between Imfume and Littleton is a special one also because of a particular shared history. The founding minister of the Littleton church in 1840 was James Bryant, who left there after a few years to join the American Board’s mission to the Zulus. And in 1849, it was James Bryant who was the founding minister when a church was formed at Imfume; a short while later, he died. Rev. Bryant had written home to America that his parishioners here called him ‘Ubilanti.’ And we have taken to referring to the people of the Littleton church, and the people of the Imfume church, together as the ‘children of Ubilanti.’
So, when they learned of the installation this day, and that we would be back in KZN in time to attend, the Littleton church sent with us two very special items which we wished to present on their behalf. The first was a card of greeting, to Rev. Gumede and the Imfume congregation from the Littleton church, signed with special notes by a number of the Littleton members and including appreciation of your growing relationship, and closing with a reference to this being from the other ‘children of Ubilanti.’ This card we gave to Rev. and Mrs. Gumede, but with the hope that it could be seen and read by others in the Imfume congregation later.
The Littleton church had also sent with us a beautiful hand-made stole, which Ruthann unpackaged and displayed. There were murmurs and applause of appreciation from the assembly. We mentioned the dedicatory language inked on the reverse of the stole, including especially the note about ‘Children of Ubilanti’. Ruthann and Zanele helped Psycology remove the red UCCSA stole he’d been wearing through the service, and to don the new stole from Littleton. And Jan read the enclosed dedicatory note from Vern Swett, the senior minister, Gail Wright, the associate minister, and Debra LeBrun, the minister of music, and on behalf of the Littleton church, which explained that the stole had been made by a woman in Massachusetts and purchased at the bookstore at what is now called Andover-Newton Seminary, where James Bryant had trained ‘before he became our minister, and then became your minister.’
Upon hearing this additional significance of the stole, there was an even louder murmured ‘aah’ of approval. And then, as the closing portion of the note was read expressing the hope that as the stole was worn in the service of the Imfume church, it would constitute a reminder of the connection to the Littleton church and as a symbol of their common bond as ‘Children of Ubilanti,’ there was general applause and laughter. It was great fun to be part of this.
Rev. Makhanya was most gracious as he re-claimed direction of the service, explaining the ongoing effort to form church-to-church connections through the “Ibandla lami linge lakho / My church is your church” program in more detail than we’d sought to do under our time limitation.
The local nKhosi gave a brief speech and presented a quilt or duvet. In our experience there seems to be a tendency for these items to be given on hot days, and then the recipients, here Psycology and Zanele, have to wrap themselves up in it to demonstrate!
The service moved on to a communion service. We want especially to note that at this, the first communion officiated by Psycology Gumede as the new minister of the Imfume church, he wore the stole that had just been presented on behalf of the Littleton church. That was a special moment indeed.
After the long in the absolute but relatively brief charge-sermon, in Zulu, from B.R. Dlamini, the service concluded. We recessed with the ministerial and officialdom group. We then had to take our leave, to return to Durban in preparation for our next day when we were to travel to another church at Impaphala in southern Zululand. We couldn’t stay for the meal which was on offer in the tents.
But it was a very good day, a special opportunity to feel a crossing of a bridge between church friends who, while a third of the way around the world from each other, and experiencing opposite seasons, yet are remembering that they are family, and are forging a relationship which speaks of the oneness of the church and of God’s world.
Our thanks and congratulations to all of the Children of Ubilanti, and our greetings and best wishes to you all from KwaZulu-Natal! -- Ruthann and Jan.
Ibandla lami linge lakho / My church is your church
Ruthann and Jan Tore Hall
c/o Berea Congregational Church
P.O. Box 51281
Musgrave 4062
Rep. of South Africa
SA phone: +27 (31) 561-1454
SA cell: +27 (73) 646-6331
US phone: +1 (978) 733-1421
US fax and voice mail: +1 (978) 418-6010
i3L@comcast.net
