Newsletter
From Sheenagh Burrell, ALMA Co-ordinator
almacoordinator@london.anglican.org T: Tuesdays: +44 20 7932 1231
Happy Easter everyone! This is a rather retrospective newsletter as we have had an unusually busy first quarter of the year! Our partnership fizzed in February with three visitors from Mozambique! Many in the ALMA London community had the chance to meet them at Diocesan House on 13 February or as they were out and about at various link parishes and meetings.
Bishop Carlos Matsinhe (Lebombo) and Bishop Vicente Msosa (Niassa) visited London after attending the New Bishops’ Course in Canterbury.
Revd Teodosio Tovela who teaches at St Christopher’s Seminary in Maputo, came on a month’s study visit, attending classes at St Mellitus College, taking various training modules in the Diocese, and meeting trainers in the Diocese and the Cathedral, attending lectures by three eminent theologians as well as managing to visit Canterbury, St Albans, and Durham Cathedrals. We are very grateful to partners in London too: at St Mellitus, the Cathedral and the Diocese for making this such a productive visit. Particular thanks to Russell Winfield, Neil Evans, Ann Ruby and to Brigid and Martin Russell who hosted Teodosio.
This weekend David Junior from Maputo arrives as a delegate at the Commonwealth Youth Forum.
You can follow ALMA news on Facebook even if you are not on Facebook yourself. Our web editor Paul, has added an embedded link on the Home Page of our website that takes you directly to the ALMA London Facebook page. This is a great way of keeping up to date between newsletters and to seeing more photos than it is possible to share in print. (I will include the dates of the Facebook posts mentioned in this newsletter so you can access them easily).
14-18 April Commonwealth Youth Forum
19-21 April the Mozambican delegate David Lourenco Uamusse Junior, Youth Co-ordinator for Green Anglicans, in the Diocese of Lebombo will spend time in Diocese of London with the Youth Apprentices and ALMA. (Unfortunately the delegate from Niassa is no longer able to come)
10-20 May Thy Kingdom Come- global wave of prayer
12 May Installation of Bishop Sarah Mullally as 133rd Bishop of London
8 July ALMA Sunday – our 20th. 3.30-5.00 ALMA afternoon tea at St Vedast alias Foster, 4 Foster Lane EC2V 6HH. 6.00- 7.30pm ALMA Sunday Eucharist St Paul's Cathedral with Bishop Vicente Msosa, Bishop of Niassa.
At the same time as the Bishops’ visits we became aware of flooding in each partner diocese.
A. Severe flooding in Messumba and Lakeshore: In Messumba this was caused by the re-routing of the river to enable a bridge to be built, thus diverting floodwaters towards homes that had never previously flooded. Other Niassan Lakeshore communities were also affected -753 families in total, with 62 families taking refuge in the Cathedral. The wonderful emergency committees and Equipa da Vida kicked into action and headed up a comprehensive response. Please see our article in the News section which has photos of the flooding; emergency plan and then Bishop Vicente's visit on 12 March with Revd Mwechumu, and Messumba Village Chief Massanche. They crossed the river and visited families at the resettlement camp who were affected by the floods. They presented supplies and mosquito nets.
B. Disaster at Hulene rubbish dump in Maputo when heavy rain dislodged the dump killing 17 people and impacting many more - see the BBC News report. The Diocese of Lebombo has a long standing ministry in the dump, started by the late Revd Juliao Mutemba. Anglican Social Action were quick to respond (see photos on fb 23 Feb) and also flooding in Matola (fb photos 20 Feb)
C. Flooding in the Songo and Uige areas of Angola. Rain destroyed 180 residences in the neighbourhood of Ana Kandande, seven in Cabonda and a church. Two congregations belonging to the parish of Epiphany, in the area of Quica, were totally destroyed. A spokesman for the Civil Protection and Fire Brigade, Isildo Meote, who provided information to Angop, explained that in the municipality of Songo rain also destroyed two primary schools, the local Catholic Church, the administration's coverage and the residence of Kinvuenga commune employees
The ALMA strategy group agreed to send £2000 to each partner diocese to assist with the local churches’ response to the floods and the Hulene disaster. Anyone wishing to contribute to these relief efforts is welcome to do so (the gift aid form on the Donate Now section of the site enables you to specify if there is a particular area you wish to support).
If you would like more insight into this training Intentional Discipleship, it can be accessed as a web resource too in English and also in Portuguese. John Kafwanka encourages us to “recognise the difference Christian faith can make in communities and nations if we became intentional in our daily discipleship” (See fb 8March).
But very sadly, just after we shared these and the wonderful photos and videos of Palm Sunday processions and services in Lichinga (see fb 27 March) and Nacala (see fb 10 April), Archdeacon Isaias Benedito died unexpectedly after his return from Malawi. We hold his wife, five children and the Diocese in our prayers. (Fb 1 April).
When they left the UK in February Bishops Carlos and Vicente met with Bishop Andre (Angola) at Synod of Bishops in Johannesburg. Synod started with an Eco-retreat. Growth and Multiplication were also on the agenda. Archbishop Thabo reports in Living Water “After receiving advice from our Canon lawyers, we agreed on the process required to transform Angola from a Missionary Diocese to a fully fledged Diocese of ACSA. We also considered the best way forward for establishing a Missionary Diocese in Niassa”.
That this Synod affirm the companion Links between the Church of England's dioceses and other parts of the Anglican Communion; encourage the Diocesan Companion Links to maximise their contribution to the hospitality programme prior to the Lambeth Conference; and call upon the parishes, deaneries and dioceses of the Church of England to make international links a central part of their strategy for mission and discipleship, drawing on the resources of the Diocesan Companion Links and the Mission and Development Agencies.
Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell said:
“Companion Links should not be seen as a ‘product’ of the Anglican Communion. They are the Anglican Communion”
Some challenging things here for us to reflect on! The Church Times has a report on the contributions to the debate if you would like to pursue this further.
It was good to hear from Bishop Carlos about the plans for the new Lusophone Seminary supported by all three partner Dioceses who have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding. This was Bishop Vicente’s first ALMA meeting and it was good to hear his Diocesan priorities, his hopes and fears. We were able to pray in depth for both our partner Bishops and it would be good if you can continue to do this personally, in Link Parishes and also during Thy Kingdom Come global wave of prayer 10-20 May.
Key priorities for prayer are:
It’s always good to share link parish news too so please do let us know your news and specific prayer points.
Finally, we look forward to Bishop Sarah’s installation on 12 May and to giving her a very warm welcome to the ALMA partnership and (almost!) the third decade of this special friendship in the Gospel.
All best wishes,
Sheenagh Burrell
ALMA Co-ordinator
Tel: +44 20 7932 1231 Tuesdays Diocese of London, London Diocesan House, 36 Causton St, London SW1P 4AU.