Reps Circular

Dear ALMA Friends,

Bishop of London

It is a great delight to share with you that the appointment of Bishop Sarah Mullally as the 133rd Bishop of London was announced yesterday. Bishop Sarah is currently Bishop of Crediton in Devon and before ordination was the Chief Nursing Officer of the UK. Thank you for praying alongside us at the end of November as the interviews took place. Please continue to pray for Bishop Sarah as she prepares for her consecration in 2018.

Heavenly Father, send forth your Spirit and raise up for us a Bishop to serve and guide your Church in this Diocese; give to us a person of wisdom and strength, compassion and grace, holiness and learning, vision and energy; that through a Shepherd of your own choosing your Church might be built up and your faithful people united in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lusophone Conference

The Third Lusophone Conference (of Portuguese speaking Anglican Dioceses) also took place at the end of November in Oporto, Portugal. It was attended by our partner Bishops and lay representatives from their dioceses, delegates from Brazil and Portugal, and this time it included ALMA, represented by our Vice Chair, Archdeacon John Hawkins, Anglican Alliance, Green Anglicans, MANNA, and USPG who also partner work with Angola and Mozambique. It was good to have all partners worshipping together and sharing their contexts and stories:

“We have learned more about our stories and become friends. We have realised the diversity of the contexts in which we live but also celebrated how we united we are in Christ”

“Together we can be more prophetic and be a strong voice for our people. We now need to develop our work in theological education to help our Churches cope with the challenges of their contexts.”

The conference agreed to the creation of The Anglican Communion Lusophone Network Sunday, at the Feast of Christ the King, (last Sunday of the Liturgical Calendar).

And that key priorities were:

1. Young people and women in Church Mission
2. Christian education and theological studies
3. Diaconal and creation caring
4. Communication including the setting up of a website

There is also a new page on the Anglican Communion Website for the Lusophone network: Rede Lusófona da Comunhão Anglicana

“16 days against Gender Violence”

16 days against Gender Violence, a time of global activism, coincided with the Lusophone Conference. We are so grateful to RESTORED whose publication ‘Ending Domestic Abuse - a pack for churches’ is now available to download in Portuguese. This is one of the resources Archdeacon John shared with the conference and which Bishop Jorge Pina Cabral, Bishop of Portugal, shared on Portuguese TV.

Here are some images of the simple action which took place around the world to mark the 16 days - at London Diocesan House and in Maputo.

Diary Dates

February. Official Opening of Benguela School, Angola. A St John’s Pinner and ALMA Lent Appeal Project with thanks to the late Rose Thompson, ALMA Rep.

13 February. ALMA Meeting 6 - 8 pm Main Hall at London Diocesan House, with light refreshments from 5.40 pm. We hope Bishop Carlos Matsinhe (Lebombo) and Bishop Vicente Msosa (Niassa) will be with us after attending the New Bishops’ Conference in Canterbury.

February. Visit of Revd Teodosio Tovela from Lebombo to St Mellitus College on exchange.

May. Possible visit from St Stephen’s Golfe Luanda to St Stephen's Canonbury.

9 July. ALMA Sunday afternoon tea at St Vedast 3.30 -5 pm followed by ALMA Sunday Eucharist at St Paul’s Cathedral at 6pm. Our visiting partner Bishop will be Bishop Vicente Msosa (Niassa).

News from Partners

Angola

• Growing the church is an ongoing challenge in the missionary Diocese of Angola where the goal is to grow the church into more of the provinces of this huge country (five times the size of the entire UK). Bishop André Soares visited the church in M'banza Congo in the Northern Angolan Province of Zaire 14-17 December. On 15 December Bishop André met Dom Vicente, the RC Bishop of the Diocese of Zaire. They were able to discuss issues that affect their dioceses and, also the presence of the Anglican church in that region.
• In Luanda there are ambitious plans to grow the church there by building a new church centre in Camama, near the stadium which will ultimately include a Cathedral, Polytechnic and a social housing/income generating project. These are early days and currently the church is raising funds to purchase the land.
• The first Archdeacon of Southern and Central Angola -Ven Pedro Vilar Jamba, based in Benguela was installed in addition to the ordination of a deacon: Regina Mendes Panzo from Lubango and two new priests: Rev. Antonio Domingos from Benguela and Rev. Benjamim Chiquete Armando. Please pray for these new ministries and the new area, as well as for Luanda South where Ven Adão Alexandre is the new Archdeacon.
  
• Benguela School, (St John’s Pinner and ALMA Project) is almost finished and will be opened officially in February 2018. This is an eight classroom school and has two school sessions each day. Negage School extension (St Paul’s Winchmore Hill & ALMA Project) is also almost completed.
• It is also good to hear of the Halo Trust’s latest work to clear the landmines that are the residue of the 40-year civil war in Angola. This programme restores land for housing and agriculture and has also generated employment. In Huambo there is a new initiative which has trained 100 women in demining

Lebombo

• At the end of October the Diocesan Family weekend took place in Maciene around the Cathedral and it is a delight to be able to share in the procession and worship in this film. There were a couple of accidents on return journeys: Fr Alfredo from Nhamavila, (just back in Mozambique after his visit to St Paul’s Knightsbridge with our Link officer Ivan Macie injured his leg after his motorbike hit a tree; and two priests Revd Domingos Catema from Chimoio and Revd Miguel from the Epifania in Tete were involved in a bus accident. Happily, all are now doing well.
• November saw the 40th Lebombo Mothers’ Union Conference at St Mark’s Matola a time of great joy. Again, it is wonderful to be able to join in the celebrations through the film
  
• On 21 October we lamented with Lebombo at the loss of Enoque Muianga (Paulino) who worked in the Diocese mostly on Anglican Social Action and who had been a key part in accompanying London visitors to Lebombo. We pray for his mother, daughters and grandchildren.
• On the third Sunday of Advent, 17 December 2017 the Parish of Saint Barnabas Bagamoyo in Maputo opened their new Children’s playground after the service. They celebrated this special outcome of their centenary year, thanked all their collaborators in the project and prayed for the children who would use it.

Niassa

• Belated Congratulations to Bishop Manuel and his wife Laura who had a baby girl, Ayanda, on 12 September.
• Bishop Vicente is one of the five members of the co-ordinating group for the next Lusophone Conference in 2020/2021 along with Bishop José Jorge Pina Cabral-Portugal, Reverend Garcia Kazailawoko – Angola. Reverend Antonio Nhaca – Libombos Diocese, and Reverend Magda Guedes Pereira – Brazil
• More than 5000 activists from 220 communities across northern Mozambique celebrated World AIDS Day — sharing drama and skits with each other and with the community at large, doing door-to-door teaching about HIV, and encouraging people to take advantage of the HIV testing sponsored by the Ministry of Health. We pray that those who are living with HIV — especially those who learn this information for the first time today—feel supported and loved, and may those who fight daily against HIV and its negative effects regain energy for their work in the year ahead.
• We are sad to share the death of Revd Daniel Ande Whisky, formerly serving in Mandimba and more recently at Yohannah Abdula in Lichinga. Please pray fro his widow and children. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

London News

• Many ALMA Friends will want to see the plaque in memory of Donald Arden which was unveiled at St Alban’s North Harrow - appropriately on Sunday 5 November according to Bishop Tom Butler - because Donald set off fireworks wherever he was! Donald and Jane retired to North Harrow and it was as part of the Willesden World Church Group that Donald encouraged a link with Mozambique in the late 1980s that grew into ALMA in 1998. It was moving to hear Jane Arden include ALMA among the amazing list of initiatives Donald was a catalyst for!
  
• We delighted in receiving two visits this autumn from Ven Diniz Mbenuca (Niassa) to St Nicholas Shepperton and then Ivan and Fr Alfredo to St Paul’s Knightsbridge who were able to be at our October ALMA Meeting. Ivan and Fr Alfredo have shared:

  “It was remarkable in the history of my personal life and in the pastoral mission the Love and affection that unites us through prayer in Jesus Christ, although distant from each other and with different cultures, we share the same message of the Bible.

  It should be noted that the pilgrimage to Westminster Abbey at the Mass in memory of Saint Edward, the Evening Prayer in the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Meeting with Members of the ALMA, the conversations during the meeting with the parishioners of St. Paul in Knightsbridge and all places where we spent during the visit, cemented in a very remarkable way the faith and how excellent it is to be united in prayer to save the Souls.

  With the Mozambican blessing of bringing the people of Nhamavila in their hearts and in prayer for the fortification of the companionship ALMA, we subscribe”

• It is also a joy to share the creativity of St John’s Notting Hill. They hosted the Lebombo Pilgrims one evening in the summer and like the other hosting churches were presented with a cross with an ebony Christ by Bishop Carlos. They have had this gift made into a processional cross – as a thanksgiving for the relationship with their Lebombo link parish in Chambone.
  
• In London Diocesan House the Lebombo cross, presented to Bishop Rob on ALMA Sunday, is now on display on the second floor (in the corridor between the lift and the door into the meeting rooms) alongside one of the memorable images of the pilgrims at the end of the ALMA Sunday Service. Are there any other stories like this to share?
  
• We continue to hear encouraging feedback on the pilgrimage to London:

  “It was a total joy to share musical fellowship with the Mozambican pilgrims”

  “I found it very moving to be singing as part of that congregation that day – the words of 'The Church’s one foundation' were so pertinent at that service”

• We now have an ALMA You tube channel and the film Geoff Lumley has edited from the various amateur video taken during the pilgrimage is a total delight. Please can I encourage you to take ten minutes to look at this over the Christmas period? It is so encouraging! As well as the film there is also a slide show with music. Please do share these widely – on your church facebook pages too.
• At our October ALMA Meeting Bishop Rob shared his visit to Lebombo and Niassa in April for Bishop Vicente’s enthronement in Lichinga, and challenged London to learn from the example of our partners particularly about church planting, lay ministry and learning from those who minister powerfully with fewer resources.

  We were also delighted to welcome churchwardens from St James’ Piccadilly who presented Ivan and Fr Alfredo with vestments they no longer needed to be taken to Lebombo to serve and bless the growing church there.

  There are more photos of this evening and many of the other items mentioned in this newsletter on our Facebook page: ALMA London. We would love you to LIKE and FOLLOW us. This is the easiest way to receive and share news (often as it is happening!) between newsletters.

  

It is almost Christmas now and this newsletter comes with very best wishes from me and the London ALMA Team to you and your families this Christmas and for 2018.

“May God, who works
in the smallness and weakness
of the Christmas Child
work in our weakness
and smallness” (Rowan Williams)

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.