On a sunny, summer day, the disciples and their master sat talking on a
grassy knoll in the Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye.
One disciple told the others about some trustees of a diocese who would
not release finances for ministry. A
young man had been encouraged to explore ministry in the diocese and had arrived
to begin his training and work, but the wealthy diocese would not put up any
funds for his accommodations, let alone a stipend or even funds for education. 'The trustees appear to have understood their
role to be to guard the diocese’s investments, not to deplete its funds through expenses incurred for actual ministry,' concluded the disciple.
‘I will tell you a story that I heard as a schoolboy,’ said the master
to his disciples. ‘There was a dairy
farmer by the name of Wolraad Woltemade living in the Dutch Cape Colony of South
Africa. In the early hours of the 1st
of June, 1773, one of the Cape’s violent storms put the Jonge Thomas, anchored off
Table Bay, at great risk. The captain
fired his cannon to alert those on shore of his ship’s distress. Woltemade heard the cannon, saddled his
sturdy horse, and hurriedly headed to the bay.
Meanwhile, the ship broke from its anchor and wrecked on the rocks,
breaking in two. Soldiers stood along
the shore, helplessly witnessing the catastrophe. They feared for their lives were they to
attempt a rescue. Woltemade, however,
pressed by them and coaxed his faithful steed into the turbulent waters. His horse swam out to the wreck, and Woltemade
called for two seamen to jump into the water and grab the horse’s tail. Two hesitant sailors abandoned the sinking
hull, dove into the sea, grabbed Vonk by the tail, and were pulled through the
waters to the safety of the shore. Woltemade
and Vonk repeated this rescue again and again, until fourteen survivors were
rescued by them. Woltemade and his horse
entered the stormy waters an eighth time.
When they reached the Jonge Thomas, the remaining shipmen feared that
Woltemade would not be able to return again.
The battered hull of the Jonge Thomas was breaking apart. Too many of those still stranded at sea,
however, jumped ship for the only rescue offered by the colony. Holding on to Woltemade and Vonk, everyone
disappeared beneath the waters.’
The disciples sat in silence, with thoughts of a far off colony at the
tip of Africa, the Jonge Thomas wrecked on the rocks, and dying men holding on
to Woltemade and his horse in the raging sea.
‘It is just so in the Anglican Communion,’ said the master. ‘The Episcopal Church in the USA, closing a
church every week, has spent millions in litigation to wrestle church
properties from faithful members, crippling the Church’s mission and opting for
a false gospel. In the UK, the Church
sits with wealthy properties but dwindling memberships, like soldiers standing
on the shore while people are dying in the storm. The institutional Church has turned itself
into a trust and has forgotten its mission.
Ministerial training has faltered, and those willing to serve are
under-resourced. Imagine if the Church
were once again to become a mission.
Imagine if it rediscovered the salvation it is supposed to offer. Imagine if it released its resources to save
the lost. Imagine if it cared enough to
risk itself in ministry. Imagine if it left the comfort of its parishes and
dioceses and entered the stormy waters to seek and to save the lost and dying. Indeed, imagine
the outcome if the Cape colony had developed a Coast Guard and equipped it with
all it needed to rescue people from the storms and tend to their injuries. Imagine the Church about its mission.'
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