FINN(COM) DAILY RECORD: THURSDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2003
With Relevant Articles from FIBS
Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)
PRESS RELEASE FROM GOVERNMENT HOUSE
A SERVICE FOR THE Order of the British Empire will be held in St. Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday, 26 May 2004 at 1100. HM the Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Grand Master of the Order, will attend.
Those belonging to the Order and holders of the British Empire Medal who wish to attend should apply for a ticket giving their name, UK address, telephone number, appointment (GBE, KBE, CBE, OBE, MBE, BEM) and other decorations in BLOCK CAPITALS as soon as possible and not later than Friday the 19th of March 2004 to the Registrar, Order of the British Empire, Central Chancery, St. James Palace, London SW1A 1BH or e-mail
[email protected].Each overseas member or Medallist or Honorary member or Medallist may bring one guest (either his or her spouse or a friend) to the service. Due to the size of the Order and the seating capacity of the Cathedral, only one guest ticket can be permitted and no exceptions can be made.
FIBS NEWS DIRECT: 11 DECEMBER 2003
NEW CBFFI ARRIVES IN THE ISLANDS:
The Commander British Forces, Brig. Jamie Gordon, left the Islands today for his next tour of duty in Northern Ireland. He is replaced by Air Commodore Richard H. Lacey, who arrived on last night’s tri-star. Commodore Lacey is a helicopter pilot who is on his first visit to the Islands. He has served in Hong Kong and Northern Ireland and was Comander-in Chief of Strike Command during the first Gulf War.
PASSENGERS BUMPED OFF THE TRI-STAR:
Forty-two passengers have been bumped off today’s Tri-star because of a fault in an emergency exit door. The RAF say there’s no danger to passengers but they have to comply with safety regulations. Seven of the passengers staying behind are local. The decision about who missed out was left to the discretion of FIC.
LATEST 1982 ROW:
Argentine newspaper, LaNacion said on Tuesday that its prime concern on the nuclear weapons on Falklands war ships was finding out whether any radio active waste was left in the South Atlantic. The report said the British Foreign Office had informed the paper that the British would not be making an apology and saw no need to search for Nuclear waste in the area. Cabinet Secretary (Argentine) Alberto Fernandez said he thought it was a very grave matter that London had delayed for so long that ships bound for the Falklands had set off carrying nuclear weapons.
CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PRIZE DRAW:
Tickets are on sale now for the Children’s Christmas Prize Draw organised by the Falklands Advertiser. Any child up to the age of 15 can enter the draw. Tickets are a pound each and there’s no limit on the number of entries per child. Prizes include Digital cameras, gift vouchers from Kelper Stores and toys from Falkland Farmers. Entries should be sent to Suzie Hansen at Main Point. Money raised will be donated to Stanley House Fund and Camp Education Donations Fund. The Christmas Draw will take place on the 20th of December and results will be posted on the website falklandsadvertiser.co.uk as soon as possible.
(100X Transcription Service)
BISHOP TITO IN LICENSING AND CONFIRMATION SERVICE
By J. Brock (FINN)
Bishop Tito, the Head of the Anglican Church in Chile, has returned to the Falklands to License the Rev Paul Sweeting as Priest in Charge of Christ Church Cathedral and to confirm Helen Davies and Edward Freer into the Church of England. At a special licensing and Confirmation service, which was held at 1030 on Sunday, the 7th of December 2003, the Bishop read out the licence, which was signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt. Reverend Rowan Williams.
The service began with words of welcome by Mrs. Kathy Biles, the Lay Reader, who not only welcomed Bishop Tito and his wife, Myriam, but members of the other Churches in Stanley and at MPA and those listening on the radio. "It means a great deal to us that you have made the effort to come and be with us today," she said. "Tell Out My Soul," a hymn based on the Magnificat, was then sung and the Greeting by Bishop Tito. The Collect was especially written for the Reverend Paul Sweeting, Helen Davies and Edward Freer.
The Collect:
"God our Father, through your son Jesus you call us into the fellowship of your Church: We pray for Paul, Maxine, Jonty, and Adam and for Helen and Edward that each may be an instrument of your love. Continue to give to each your Holy Spirit so that they may live and work for you. We ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord."
The first reading, from 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 read by Mrs. Maxine Sweeting. The Gospel according to Luke (10: 1-12) was read by Mrs. Kathy Biles.
The Sermon by Bishop Tito:
I am so happy to be with you today. This is my second time, as you know, and the first time for my wife, Myriam. (And, if you want to practice your Spanish, we can talk in Spanish to you.)
Today, you are going to suffer in the same way we suffered when we received Missionaries, especially from England. You are going to suffer with my accent, with my strong Latin American Accent. But, at the same time, I would like to say if I commit some mistake in my words, please forgive me.
I was invited to preach in English in an English-speaking chapel we have in Chile and I was so happy preaching among them. The sermon was based about how important it is to be people of God. And I said ,"You are very impotent for God." And, I said it many times. After my sermon, the rector told me how to pronounce the word and what the other word meant. I don’t want to offend you, please.
I feel that being among you is like being an ambassador of my people of Chile. You can be sure that we have been praying for you. And, we are so happy that we can be linked in this way. Of course, if you go to Chile, you are very welcome to gather and to worship among us. We will be doing it in Spanish. In Santiago, we have an English-speaking congregation, as well as in Vinia del Mar.
Today, what I have in mind, is to encourage you about how important it is to think about mission. And, the title for my meditation today is, "Let Me Remind You of the Mission." As you know, our motto in Chile is to think all the time about "Anglicanos en Chile en Mission." Anglicans in Mission even. At our last synod that was last August, we decided to think about that motto. And, we decided to recover the inspired spirit of the British Captain, Alan Gardner, who left his home in the early 1800ds in order to come to Tierra del Fuego as a sign of obedience to Christ, to show love to the indigenous people of the land.
And, today for me it is a very significant moment in my life, being among you in this particular place in the world as this is the place where the first Anglican Bishop was sent in the 1800ds. He was Bishop Sterling. And, from here, the Gospel was spread to South America, especially with the work of Captain Alan Gardner.
Also, we can be so blessed receiving Missionaries, who have served our God in our country in the past. And, today we feel in our country that it is the time to bless others in the same way we have been blessed. Now, this time, we bless other people.
I hope our visit, together with Myriam, can be a blessing for you today and in the future. I don’t know if you know, I am the first Chilean Bishop, or Chilean to be Bishop in the Country. My predecessor was Bishop Colin Basley. Some of you have met him. When he came in the past. I think that is a sign of maturity in the Church. The idea of the missionary work is to bring the Gospel to the people and then to develop the community and the community will choose their own leaders for the future.
Mission today is a non-welcome concept. Or issue because it’s unpopular. There appears to be a tolerance against mission-work today. And, I think we need to recover the true sense of mission. And, why? The answer is very simple. Because God, our God, is a missionary God. And, when we read the Bible, the whole structure of it tells us about mission. For example, if we go to the Old Testament, the God of the Old Testament is a missionary God. The Bible begins with Adam, not Abraham – with the creation, not the covenant – with the human race, not a chosen race. And, the call of Abraham establishes this.
The rest of the Bible is an unfolding of this promise. From the beginning, in God’s mind, was the concept or the idea to reach the whole world for himself. From the beginning in Genesis and through to the Revelation, the last book in the Bible, the whole message is about people coming to God. For example, if we look at the book of Revelation, we see how the cry from people of every nation in different languages, different races coming to God and praising him.
If we move to the Gospel -–the Christ of the Gospel is a missionary Christ. Truly, Jesus Christ said that his mission was not limited to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. But it was temporary. Even Matthew’s Gospel, the most Jewish Gospel, emphasises Christ’s mission to the nations. And, when we see Christ’s mission was based on how to reach not only Jewish people but also Gentiles, in order to be his own.
When we look in the Book of Acts and we receive the message of the Holy Spirit, we discover that the Holy Spirit also is a missionary Spirit. The Book of Acts, Chapter one v 8 says "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Instead of the ends of the earth, we can say to the Falkland Islands because here is the end of the earth. And, you see, Pentecost was a missionary event. The whole book of Acts shows us how the Gospel was spread from Jerusalem to Rome and the continuation of that is having the message of the Gospel in other nations.
The letters to the Churches that Paul wrote and the other letters, also point to missionary Churches. Although the letters address the internal affairs of the Churches, their doctrine, worship, ministry, unity, holiness, they also describe the Churches’ life and mission in the world. Even in the local Church, if we receive the Gospel, we should also pass it on. I would like you to think a bit about the first reading we had today about the example of the Church in Thessolinica.
The climax of the Book of Revelation is a missionary climax also. The redeemed company will be drawn from every nation, and in each goal God promised to Abraham, will at last be fulfilled. Can you see? The whole message of the Bible is a missionary message.
Mission is part of the Church and we can say that mission is part of the Church identity. Every Church should have in mind how important mission is in the place where the Church is. If we go to Thessalonians, the first reading, we see that the example of that Church is a good example for us today. The Church of Thessalonica had quite a good number of new converts from paganism. They suffered opposition and persecution from the unconverted Jews. But at the same time, their testimony about Jesus disrupted the city. When, through the testimony of the disciple, Jesus went to that city, that city was different since that because when Jesus goes to a place to a life, to a community, something is happening for sure.
And, Paul’s purpose in writing his letter to them was to encourage the new converts in their trial, to give instructions concerning Godly living, to urge some not to neglect the daily word and to give assurance concerning the future of the believer who dies before Christ returns. Now, in this particular section of this Book of the Thessalonians it is related how the Gospel of God came to the community and how the community responded or reacted to that message. Here, we have a very good model in order to imitate. For example, the reading says, "Our Gospel came to you (Ch. 1 v 5). The Gospel of Jesus went to the people of Thessalonica with words, proclamation, with power, changing and confronting society with deep conviction, with the Holy Spirit. But also, the Bible says they welcomed the message with joy (V6) in spite of severe suffering," with the joy given by the Holy Spirit, you became an imitator of us and of the Lord. And so you became a mother to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. And finally the Lord’s message rang out from you the Good News was spread. You turned from Idols to God to serve the living and to God, the spreading of the Good News."
Can’t you see the motive of that Church? The first is they received the message then they welcomed the message and third, they rang out the message. I think this is a very good motive for us – to receive it, to live it and to spread it. When they received the Gospel, they opened their hearts, they opened their minds, they opened their bodies in order to enjoy the message that had been received. But at the same time, they understood that this message must be lived according to God’s purpose. They received it and at the same time began to practice and began to obey God’s message. They decided to adjust or re-shape their life in order to live according to the message.
And finally, after that, when they are living the message, when they have the message of the Gospel in their hearts, not only in mine but in their hearts, they decided to share the message with others. I think this is a very good motive for us also today to follow this example: to receive to live and then to share with others God’s message.
Now, having that in mind, I think it’s very good to have some reflection about that. For example, in our country, we have discovered that it’s very easy – for some it’s a kind of temptation – to think about how to maintain the Churches in order to spread the Good News of Jesus. Not only are we having reflections and we are having discussion about where we are in terms of mission. And all of us have been confronted with where we are. Are we mission minded or maintenance minded. For example, we have some very good examples of Paul’s, when he wrote with passion about not being ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. It’s in Romans. Paul wrote, "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel" – Corinthians, or "It has always been my ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ is not known." How wonderful that phrase is? "It has always been my ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known." (Romans again.)
Those expressions show us that in Paul’s mind and heart he decided to share that message with passion to the people. But after 2000 years of Christianity, one of our temptations today is to forget that we have been called for mission. No matter what we do, it’s to maintain things that we have received from others. But all the time, the call from the Lord is to remember that mission is important for the Church. Mission is important for you here in the Falklands. Mission is important for us in our country because we need to go to address the society, to address our community, because every society, every community needs to be transformed by the power of God.
We have people who are suffering in our midst. You have people who are suffering here in these Islands. What are we going to do for them? What will be our mission for the people? I would like to say one more time, we need to be confronted with God’s message and, what we do with that message in order to bless other people. To announce God’s message is a great blessing for those who are apart from God.
Let me tell you a little story about a man who became a Christian in Santiago, where I live. I was the pastor of his church and he said, "My problems began when I met Jesus." I asked why and he said that because before that his life was in his own way and he did everything according to his own decisions. But now, as a Christian, he was confronted with God and with Jesus and his Gospel day by day. He was so ambitious. He thought first of his own needs and he never thought about the others. He even didn’t think about the needs of his family – his wife and his children. But when he became a Christian, he understood that his life now is to serve others. And, that service started with his family. And, because he became a Christian, he began to renounce the things he did in the past, because of love because Jesus now is in his heart. The problems began because of the process of transformation in his life.
I think this is our challenge today. How do you bless others with God’s message? As I said, in our last synod, we decided to recover the spirit of Captain Alan Gardner and we decided to reshape our mission statement in the diocese. And, now our mission statement is "the mission of the Anglican Church of Chile is based on three pillars." 1. Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 2. Edification of the Body of Christ and 3. Service to all people. Doing this we want to glorify God. Why we wait for the second coming of Christ.
We Understand that a healthy Church is a Church based on those pillars. We have been called by God to serve our people, to continue the work of mission. We have been called by God to bless other people. But we need to be there if we want to be faithful servants of the Lord. We should be there to remember the prayer of Jesus, who prayed for us – for the new believers in the future (Jn. 17) I pray for these and for those who are going to believe in the future." But also, Jesus said, "Lord, protect them." Don’t take away from the world but protect them. Be in the midst of the world. I think this is a great blessing to be in the world serving God.
I have a question for you. And, think about it. Don’t give me the answer but think about the question. Who are you? Are you a people of God or people of the Church? Many times we come to the Church because it’s a custom, because we are familiar with coming to the Church. But sometimes we don’t have a good relationship with God. I remember many years ago I was confronted with that question. I was quite an old Christian and in the Church for a long time when somebody came to me with that question. Are you a man of God, or a man of the Church? People in the Church are doing many things but their relationship with God is far away. And, we need to recover that and to be confronted with that question. Where are we. It is important to be people of God or are we people of the Church? It’s also important to serve the people, to serve the Church. But our relationship with God must be fresh so we can be with Him all the time. Don’t forget that. But also, don’t lose the vision of our mission.
Let me tell you a little story about a man who went to a construction site and went to different areas on that site. He saw a man carrying bricks and he asked the man, "What are you doing here?" The man answered, "You see, I am carrying bricks for this new building. After thanking the man, he went to another part of the site and met a man who was painting a wall. And, he asked the same question. The man answered that he was painting the wall. And, after thanking him, he went to another man who was crafting the windows. He asked the same question and the man said that he was building a cathedral. Can you see the difference. Though working on the window, his vision was more than that. He understood that working on the windows at the end was building a cathedral. I think when we have these kinds of thoughts, that is good. "What are we doing here" is a question for us also today.
If we say that we are in a Licensing and Confirmation service – that’s OK. You are in a service. But if we say that we are working for the Kingdom of God and working for God’ mission, I think that’s the right vision to develop. A Church without vision of its mission is contradicting an essential part of its identity. Today I want to encourage you to recover the spirit of mission. When we develop that concept, it gives us life – it gives us strength.
This is my prayer for you that you develop in the way you are working for him. It’s my prayer for you that the Lord helps you in order to reach new people for him. The Lord wants to bless these Islands. The Lord wants to be the Lord of the Falkland Islands. But at the same time, the Lord wants to be the Lord of my country. We are in his hands. The only thing we need to do is to say, "Lord, here I am. Here we are. We want to serve you."
Then Bishop Tito explained why we should pray for Rev Sweeting in that he was called by God to do mission and to encourage people to do mission. "Never forget that we are nopt the only ones that are called by God to do His work," he said. He continued that the work of God was done by all of us together. He also thanked God for Helen and Edward, who would be confirmed.
The Induction:
The two Church Wardens, Keith Biles and Graham France escorted the Rev. Paul Sweeting to the Chancel steps and said, "Bishop Tito, we present to you Paul Sweeting to be inducted to the Office of Rector of the Parish of the Falkland Islands and Priest-in-Charge of Christ Church Cathedral." The Bishop and the congregation then prayed for Rev. Sweeting.
The Text of the Licence by the Most. Rev. and Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams:
"The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Douglas, by divine providence Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England and Metropolitan of the Episcopal Jurisdictions of the Falkland Islands and Christ Church Cathedral, to our Beloved in Christ, Paul Lee Sweeting, Clerk in Holy Orders, Greetings. We hereby admit you to the office of Rector of the Parish of the Falkland Islands and Priest-in-Charge of Christ Church Cathedral, Stanley, within our Metropolitan Jurisdiction, to hold the said office for a term of five years from 05 March 2003 and we do hereby institute you and invest you with all the rights and duties of the said office and commit you to the care of souls of the Parishioners of the Falkland Islands, saving to ourselves and our successor our Episcopal Metropolitan right."
In testimony, here is the letter signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and his seal.
The confirmation of Edward and Helen followed along with intercessory prayers and Holy Communion. "I, the Lord of sea and sky," was the offertory hymn and after the Blessing, the hymn, "My Jesus, my saviour" was sung.
After the dismissal, those attending the service enjoyed a parish lunch that was catered for by the Upland Goose Hotel.
