Almighty and everlasting God, who didst enkindle the flame of thy love in the heart of thy holy martyr Bernard Mizeki: Grant to us, thy humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

#BernardMizeki is remembered today. He gave his life as translator and evangelist among the MaShona in what is present-day Zimbabwe. He was murdered on this day in 1896 in a tribal uprising and is revered throughout Central Africa as a witness to the gospel of Christ. pic.twitter.com/ysXfvjwOGc

— Parish of Moseley (@ParishofMoseley) June 18, 2022

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst enkindle the flame of thy love in the heart of thy holy martyr Bernard Mizeki: Grant to us, thy humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Morning Prayer this morning at @Southwarkcathed, led by @deansouthwark , commemorated Bernard Mizeki, the first Zimbabwean Martyr.

The service which can be found on the Cathedral Facebook Page https://t.co/LgbpANo1SS pic.twitter.com/cviv9rg2rz

— Southwark Diocese (@SouthwarkCofE) June 18, 2021

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst enkindle the flame of thy love in the heart of thy holy martyr Bernard Mizeki: Grant to us, thy humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church of England commemorates Bernard Mizeki, Apostle of the MaShona, Martyr, 1896 https://t.co/tiiLNrriqL

Image: https://t.co/9bkzXOBAKw pic.twitter.com/dYUb96aT7Z

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) June 18, 2020

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst enkindle the flame of thy love in the heart of thy holy martyr Bernard Mizeki: Grant to us, thy humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Tuesday we remember Bernard Mizeki, Catechist and Martyr in Mashonaland, 1896. Anglican Churches of Central and of Southern Africa honor him as their primary native martyr and witness. pic.twitter.com/LD6qQG2q2u

— Louisville Cathedral (@ChristChurchLou) June 17, 2019

When Cyclone Idai struck the Southeast Africa coast last week, it swept away everything in its path, including churches, schools and homes in the Mozambican port city of Beira and beyond.

By Sunday, the number of confirmed deaths caused by the storm in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, already surpassing 700, continued to rise as churches, Christian relief organizations and agencies raced to aid the three countries most affected by the tropical storm.

After causing extensive flooding as a tropical storm, the cyclone — traveling at a speed of up to 177 kilometers (106 miles) an hour — made landfall on the Mozambican coast on March 14 and continued inland. On Saturday, agencies reported that the number of deaths had reached nearly 750 and was expected to rise in the three countries.

Last week, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said the number of deaths in his country could reach 1,000. Initial government estimates said nearly 1.8 million people were affected by the floods — including 900,000 children, according to UNICEF….

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The Archbishop of York has put on a dog collar for the first time in almost 10 years, ending his symbolic protest over Robert Mugabe’s leadership of Zimbabwe.

In December 2007, Dr John Sentamu cut up his dog collar live on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, promising not to wear one until Mr Mugabe left office.

He said Zimbabwe’s leader had “taken people’s identity” and “cut it to pieces”, prompting him to do the same.

On Sunday, he returned to the Marr Show and reinstated his collar as promised.

Mr Mugabe left office dramatically on Tuesday after 37 years of authoritarian rule.

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Churches in Zimbabwe have spoken with hope about “the birth of a new nation”, after military action on Wednesday appeared to curtail the rein of President Robert Mugabe.

In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, the Zimbabwean Council of Churches said: “We see the current situation not just as a crisis in which we are helpless. We see the current arrangement as an opportunity for the birth of a new nation. Our God created everything out of chaos, and we believe something new could emerge out of our situation.”

In the hours that followed the military intervention, the general secretary of the Zimbabwean Council of Churches, the Revd Dr Kenneth Mtata, called on all political and civil actors to rebuild a broken society.

Dr Mtata, a Lutheran pastor, said from Harare on Wednesday: “The current situation was inevitable. We had reached a point of no return. Our politics of attrition and toxic public engagement has had its logical conclusion.

“Our hope is that we can put back the train on the rails of democracy and citizenship engagement. We hope the current situation is only a transition to something that will be participatory and just.”

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Over the last 14 years the Episcopal Church has suffered a nationwide schism since electing an openly homosexual bishop. Some conservative congregations, including several in Northern Virginia, left the denomination to create the new Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Another church Washington helped govern at the same time as Christ Church was The Falls Church, whose congregation joined ACNA. It lost its historic property in litigation to the Episcopal Church but continues to thrive and grow while meeting in a Catholic high school auditorium. It has even planted several successful new churches.

Christ Church remained in the Episcopal Church and has headed in a more liberal direction. One Christmas Eve sermon I heard got political, as I shared here. And in recent years the church has hosted a labyrinth, advertised by a large banner outside the church to passing commuters. This arguably New Agey fad is popular in some liberal Protestant churches, and I wrote about it here, noting that neither Washington nor Lee, if alive today, were likely to walk the labyrinth.

I mention the political sermon, the labyrinth and support for same-sex marriage because they could all be interpreted as unwelcoming signals to potential worshipers who don’t share Christ Church’s form of Episcopal liberalism. This kind of church invariably attracts a demographic that is nearly all middle and upper class, educated, socially liberal urban white people. Churches that stress their welcome-welcome-welcome message of inclusion over a firm orthodox theological message typically are, whether realizing it or not, actually welcoming some and discouraging others. In my visits to Christ Church I have noticed the well-dressed congregation is not very diverse. Removing the Washington and Lee plaques will not likely expand its demographic.

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In an interview from Zimbabwe, Bishop Malasa said he also asked the faithful to pray for one another, the Church and the country, because they are salt and light of the world where justice, peace and freedom should always prevail.

“When people chose to be greedy, jealousy, self-centeredness and corrupt, things does not work out for the majority, so we should be praying that this vice should go, and that every person should appreciate the need of the other,” said the Rt. Rev. Malasa.

The Bishop explained that Christianity is irrelevant when its followers do not show love, mercy, humility, peace and compassion on others, adding that the clergy have to cultivate a spirit of servant leadership.

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The Archbishop of York has told Premier that Robert Mugabe must leave power.

Dr John Sentamu has said the country has “become rubble” during his leadership.

The 92-year-old president has been in power since 1980.

John Sentamu was speaking as around five million people in Zimbabwe are in need of assistance as a result of the ongoing drought in southern Africa.

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Like many, I discovered Drucker through his extensive writings in the discipline of management. But as I read his books, I got little hints that he might be something more than a gifted writer of bestselling business books. Though some credit him with the founding of management as an academic field, and most associate him with such books as The Effective Executive (1967) and Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, and Practices (1973), I noticed that his earlier works, from the 1940s and 1950s, had more expansive titles such as The End of Economic Man and The New Society. I also learned that his academic training was not in management but in law; he had obtained his European doctorate in international law. I began to see Drucker as a social and political thinker as well as an astute business mind. This is, after all, the man who viewed management primarily as a liberal art.

Since making that realization, I have studied his earlier books. Drucker thought a lot about such things as totalitarianism, decentralization, limited government, an American type of conservatism that he thought had special characteristics, social harmony, the impact of mass production on human beings, and other topics. One subject that preoccupied him in those earlier decades was the Christian faith. In an attempt to draw more attention to a somewhat forgotten aspect of the man and his work, I will in what follows identify and discuss some of Drucker’s key themes regarding the Christian faith in relation to society and government.

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The Anglican Diocese of the Central Province of Central Africa has revealed plans to build a US$120 million university in Chitungwiza, about 35km south-east of Harare.

Anglican Diocese of Harare Bishop Chad Gandiya said the church was looking beyond secondary education; “Anglican Diocese of Harare has its intention to build an integral university in Chitungwiza. It makes sense for the university to be placed in Chitungwiza, a city that is growing and a home to many institutions providing secondary school education”.

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The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has introduced a new course on “greenhouse theology” to empower priests with knowledge about creation, the environment and its preservation.

Harare Bishop Chad Gandiya announced this yesterday at a press conference held at St Mary and All Saints Cathedral in Harare which was attended by many high-level government officials including the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Saviour Kasukuwere.

“The course on greenhouse theology is taught to all those training for the ordained ministry in the Anglican Church and it is our hope that the priests will take this to the parishes they will be assigned to in their dioceses,” said Bp Gandiya.

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THE Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA), which inherited a huge debt and dilapidated infrastructure from excommunicated Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, has embarked on a massive rebuilding exercise.

The church’s infrastructure collapsed after it was forcibly occupied by Kunonga until last year when the wrangle ended.

CPCA Bishop Chad Gandiya said the church had started a massive reconstruction exercise to repair the damage that was caused by five years of total neglect.

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Foreign-owned banks, mines, and businesses have heard that, to fulfill a campaign promise made by Mugabe, their assets may be seized and restructured into a majority national ownership arrangement.

Now it appears the considerable property of the Anglican church in Zimbabwe, though it is mostly a black membership, may also be under renewed scrutiny by the unscrupulous.

The chief Anglican bishop in Zimbabwe, Chad Gandiya, this week accused a renegade clergyman and friend of Mugabe of restarting a campaign using brutality, the courts, and police to seize churches, orphanages, and missions owned by mainstream Anglicans.

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Thousands of pilgrims from Zimbabwe and beyond are expected to gather in Harare next week to commemorate the life of Bernard Mizeki, a lay African catechist and missionary martyred in 1896.

The celebrations, between 14 ”“ 16 June, will be the first ones held at the martyr’s shrine in more than five years. Previously Anglican pilgrims had been barred from the site by excommunicated former bishop Nolbert Kunonga.

Bishop of Harare the Rt Revd Chad Gandiya told ACNS, “After having been in exile for five years and failing to host these celebrations at the shrine, this years’ celebrations are indeed special and the theme God is faithful could not be more timely.

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Anglican Bishop of Harare the Rt Revd Chad Gandiya has said that forgiveness still remains the biggest challenge for Christians in his diocese after years of “living in exile”.

Bishop Gandiya said: “People are very happy to have returned to their churches but they are still hurting. The church needs to find new ways of teaching on healing and forgiveness.”

The Bishop was referring to the pain suffered after breakaway bishop Dr. Nobert Kunonga and his supporters grabbed church properties including churches, schools and orphanages, leaving Anglicans nowhere to worship.

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For the past five years, Robert Mugabe’s government has, in effect, persecuted the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe. As I blogged previously in 2011, the ex-bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, a long-time Mugabe supporter, sought to take his diocese out of the Anglican Communion, ostensibly because of Anglican Communion support for gay rights. The church thereupon deposed him and chose a new bishop, Chad Gandiya. But, Mugabe continued to support Kunonga and a pro-Mugabe judge gave him “custody” of church property pending a high court ruling. Kunonga also ended up with a confiscated, previously white-owned, farm. Pro-government goons over the past five years have, in effect, overseen the transfer of the cathedral in Harare, Anglican schools, orphanages, and parish churches to Kunonga and his supporters. The archbishop of Canterbury protested directly to Mugabe last year….

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Archbishop Nolbert Kunonga of the Anglican Church of the Province of Zimbabwe says he has surrendered all property belonging to the Church of the Province of Central Africa and that he would abide by the Supreme Court ruling.

Speaking at a Press conference in Harare yesterday through his provincial diocese secretary, Reverend Admire Chisango, Dr Kunonga said he would forge ahead with his spiritual work despite the setback.

Dr Kunonga who was breaking his silence since the Supreme Court ruling said he would respect the court ruling that conferred ownership rights to his rival CPCA, ending a five-year legal battle.

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The Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) yesterday said it had taken over most of the properties from defrocked Bishop, Nolbert Kunonga, following a recent Supreme Court ruling.

The court, a fortnight ago ruled that Bishop Chad Gandiya’s faction was the rightful owner of the properties which Kunonga had grabbed.

Gandiya’s press officer, Precious Shumba, said although the CPCA had faced resistance in some of the parishes, most of the buildings had been taken by midday yesterday.

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Writing to supporters around the Anglican Communion, Bp Chad Gandiya said that, despite a Supreme Court order recognising the cathedral as belonging to CPCA’s Diocese of Harare, excommunicated bishop, Nolbert Kunonga “did not leave willingly.”
“Yesterday Kunonga was evicted from the Diocesan Offices and Cathedral yesterday,” he wrote. “He refused to handover three diocesan cars in his possession. He came back later with thugs with chains who started chasing people beating some (some of the guards we had hired were beaten).
“When our people reported it to the police they were shunted from one office to the other because the police said, “they were too junior to deal with the Anglican matter”. Eventually they were served and riot police were sent who arrested some of the thugs and we are grateful for that.

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The Zimbabwe Supreme Court has handed the breakaway bishop of Harare, Dr. Nolbert Kunonga a surprise loss and ordered he turn over the diocese’s churches to the lawful bishop, Dr. Chad Gandiya.

The decision caps five years of legal battles between Dr. Kunonga and the Church of the Province of Central Africa and its bishops of Harare, Dr. Sebastian Bakare and Dr. Gandiya. It has also been marked by violent intimidation of Anglicans loyal to the province ”“ estimated to be over 90 per cent of its members ”“ with the security services and police intervening on behalf of Dr. Kunonga to drive Anglicans out of their churches.

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The ex-communicated Anglican Bishop, Nolbert Kunonga, has lost the latest round in his controversial campaign to take over Anglican Church properties from the main church (CPCA).

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed five appeals that had been lodged by the Kunonga faction, as well as two others launched by his Manicaland counterpart and supporter, Bishop Elson Jakazi.

The appeals were struck off the court’s register after Kunonga’s lawyers made a u-turn and claimed he was still the CPCA’s legitimate Bishop of Harare. This is despite the fact that Kunonga formed his own Church Province of Zimbabwe and appointed himself Bishop of Harare.

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Whilst the British Government seem to be considering easing some sanctions against Mr Mugabe and his personal allies, I am not convinced that the time has come to weaken international opposition to the President of Zimbabwe’s irresponsible, undemocratic, lawless, and at times brutal regime. I certainly won’t be placing an order for a new clerical collar at Wippells just yet.

We cannot allow Robert Mugabe off the hook. When I cut up my clerical collar, I said I would not put it on again until Mr Mugabe had gone from office ”“ we need to stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe and not forget the abuses and exploitation they have suffered at the hands of that administration.

The reason given by Her Majesty’s Government for this ”˜step change’ in relations with Zimbabwe is the work going in to drafting a new constitution for that country. The recent meeting of European Union foreign ministers, which agreed to lift these restrictions on Mr Mugabe’s colleagues, have made this decision dependent only upon whether a ”˜credible’ referendum is held on the new constitution. Perhaps if they had read the draft constitution they might have taken a different view.

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Anglicans in Zimbabwe’s Diocese of Masvingo may once again face arrest for trying to commemorate the life and ministry of Arthur Shearly Cripps1 and for carrying out their ministry.

As ACNS reported last year, clergy and pilgrims were prevented from holding their celebrations at the Shearly Cripps Shrine by excommunicated bishop Dr Norbert Kunonga supported by police. Dr Kunonga claimed to be in charge of the shrine and 78 Anglican churches in Masvingo Diocese.

The Bishop of Masvingo, the Rt Revd Godfrey Tawonezwi has revealed that this year they have had to move the event to the beginning of August for the same reasons, but that the police have labelled the planned gathering “illegal”. No-one knows whether meeting at the shrine will end in arrests.

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A former Anglican bishop has been ordained a deacon for the ordinariate.

Robert Mercer, who was received into the Catholic Church in January, was ordained by Auxiliary Bishop Alan Hopes of Westminster at Allen Hall seminary in London. He will be ordained a priest on Monday.

Mr Mercer, 77, was Bishop of Matabeleland, Zimbabwe, in the Anglican Province of Central Africa. He was bishop for 11 years before leaving the Anglican Communion to join the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, part of the worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion. He served as metropolitan bishop from 1988 to 2005, when he retired to England.

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Excommunicated Anglican Church Bishop Nolbert Kunonga continued his onslaught on members of a rival faction after parishioners at St Andrews Arcadia Church in Harare were kicked out of their place of worship over the weekend.

Kunonga was given legal custody of church property by the Supreme Court last year and is using that to evict rival members of the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) led by Bishop Chad Gandiya.

Since his excommunication, Kunonga has taken possession of several Anglican Church buildings around the country, claiming sole custody of the property.

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Zimbabwean police stopped a retreat of 80 clergy over claims that their prayer gathering was not given police clearance under sweeping security laws, the country’s mainstream Anglican church said Tuesday.

Zimbabwe’s Anglican church has been split by a breakaway group led by a bishop close to the president, who has seized church properties without police intervention. The bishop has been excommunicated by world Anglicans.

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Stories of child abuse and neglect at an Anglican orphanage have tempered Zimbabwe Anglican’s celebrations at legal decisions provisionally returning church property to them.

Today the Anglican Diocese of Harare revealed that children at the Shearly Cripps Children’s Home–an orphanage taken from the church by supporters of the excommunicated bishop Nolbert Kunonga–have been suffering under those who replaced the legitimate staff.

“It has been brought to the attention of the Anglican Diocese of Harare (CPCA) that orphaned children at Shearly Cripps are being ill-treated, under-fed and have become exposed to all forms of threats,” said a spokesperson for the diocese. “Reports indicate that one child allegedly drank a harmful substance and was rushed to hospital for urgent medical attention.”

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