St Anne's - our partner church in South Africa
The Diocese of Lichfield in 2008, in connection with the upcoming Lambeth Conference, wanted to establish links between churches in the Diocese of Lichfield and churches in its partner dioceses. The suggestion was to create links between English churches here in this diocese, and churches in those partner dioceses elsewhere in the worldwide Anglican Church.
St John's has taken advantage of the opportunity and has become linked with St Anne's Anglican Church in the South African diocese of Matlosane. Our link began in January. Over the past months, we have been sharing information about St Anne's. We have been praying for St Anne's, for its needs, for the mission it believes God has called it to in its locality. They have been praying for St John's as well. Over the weeks and months, we have been in quiet regular communication, mostly through email.
The hope, through this scheme and link, is that not only will there be support for each church through prayer, but also each church can learn from each other's insights as we share, as well as gain a greater, fuller vision of the worldwide Body of Christ, the Church. As we state in the Creed and as the Bible reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12, there is only one Body. This is a great opportunity to learn about another part of the Church Body. Finally in July,we will receive two church members - Alan and Abraham- from St Anne's for two weeks.
General information about St. Anne’s
R St. Anne’s is a small Parish in Stilfontein, a mining town approximately 160km South West of Johannesburg.
R The church was built in the 1950’s to serve the then new town which grew in size as more gold mines were opened in the area. The population of Stilfontein now is about 11,000 (4,200 houses).
R Although in apartheid days Stilfontein was a ‘white’ area, St. Anne’s today is a very mixed Church ethnically. It’s made up of approximately 80 family units, many of which consist of one member e.g. elderly white widows; and younger black domestic workers who live in the homes in which they work.
R The vicar, Canon Mafora, known as Father Thom, is assisted by 5 Lay-ministers and occasionally by 2 ‘retired’ Priests.
R St. Anne’s Support and Care Centre (known as ‘the SCC’), is the Outreach arm of St. Anne’s, based at the church, but working among destitute people, orphans, and those suffering from HIV and AIDS in Khuma – an adjacent township, and 2 rural villages – Gannelaagte and Kopela about 200km away.
R There is also a “Ladies Club”, whose main aim is to raise funds and ‘attend to the fabric of the church’ i.e. furnishings, kitchen equipment, etc. They are also known to be very good hostesses and many of the Matlosane Diocesan meetings (e.g. Synod) are held at St. Anne’s, as we are fortunate enough to have the necessary facilities.
