Anglican Church of Southern Africa
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157.203.43.103
/* Diocesan bishops */
{{Unreferenced|date=October 2007}}
{{Anglican Portal}}
'''The Anglican Church of Southern Africa''' is the [[Anglican Communion|Anglican]] [[province (Anglican)|province]] in the southern part of [[Africa]], including 23 [[diocese]]s in [[Angola]], [[Lesotho]], [[Mozambique]], [[Anglican Diocese of Namibia|Namibia]], [[Saint Helena]], [[South Africa]] and [[Swaziland]]. The [[primate (religion)|primate]] is the [[Archbishop]] of [[Cape Town]]. The current archbishop is [[Thabo Makgoba]]. His predecessor was [[Njongonkulu Ndungane]].
Arguably the most recognisable primate was [[Nobel Peace Prize]] laureate [[Desmond Tutu]].
The province has an [[Anglo-Catholicism|Anglo-Catholic]] ethos and is regarded as the most liberal Anglican province in Africa, particularly on issues such as [[ordination of women]] and [[homosexuality]].
==Official name==
Once known as the '''Church of the Province of Southern Africa''', this name was dropped to avoid historic confusion as to its ambiguous name. The church changed its name to the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in 2006.
==History==
The first Anglican clergy to minister regularly at the Cape were [[Chaplain|military chaplains]] who accompanied the troops when the British occupied the [[Cape Colony]] in 1795 and then again in 1806. The second British occupation resulted in a growing influx of civil servants and settlers who were members of the [[Church of England]], and so civil or colonial chaplains were appointed to minister to their needs. These were under the authority of the governor.
The first missionary of the [[Society for the Propagation of the Gospel]] (SPG) arrived in 1821. He was the Revd William Wright. He opened a church and school in [[Wynberg, Cape Town|Wynberg]], a fashionable suburb of Cape Town. [[Allen Gardiner]], a missionary of the [[Church Missionary Society]] (CMS) went to [[Zululand]], and arranged for a priest, [[Francis Owen]] to be sent to the royal residence of King [[Dingane]]. Owen witnessed the massacre of [[Piet Retief]], the [[Voortrekker]] leader, and his companions, who had come to negotiate a land treaty with Dingane, and left soon afterwards.
The Anglican Church in Southern Africa at this time was under the [[Bishop of Calcutta]], whose diocese effectively included the [[East Indies]] and the entire [[Southern Hemisphere]]. Bishops en route for [[Calcutta]] sometimes stopped at the Cape for [[confirmation]]s, and occasionally [[ordination]] of clergy, but these visits were sporadic. It became apparent that a bishop was needed for South Africa, and in 1847 [[Robert Gray (bishop)|Robert Gray]] was consecrated as the first bishop of Cape Town in [[Westminster Abbey]]. The new bishop landed in [[Cape Town]] in 1848.
[[Image:Archbishop-Tutu-medium.jpg|right|thumb|[[Desmond Tutu]] (born 1931), former Primate of the Anglican [[Church of the Province of South Africa]], noted [[pacifist]] and a leading figure in the successful fight against apartheid]]
Some Church of England parishes in the then Cape Colony refused to join the Church of the Province of South Africa when it was constituted in 1870. These parishes expanded throughout South Africa calling themselves the [[Church of England in South Africa]]
(CESA). CESA is evangelical in its Churchmanship and drew up its own constitution in 1938. In the 1950s CESA managed to secure episcopal oversight from a retired Anglican bishop and CESA ordinations are recognised by the Anglican Communion. However CESA has not been invited to the Lambeth Conference. It is a separate church body of conservative evangelical orientation and is not part of the Anglican Communion although it is strongly supported by and has close ties with the Anglican [[Diocese of Sydney]].
[[Desmond Tutu]] rose to [[worldwide]] fame during the 1980s as an opponent of [[History of South Africa in the Apartheid Era|apartheid]]. Tutu was elected and ordained the first black South African Anglican [[Archbishop]] of [[Cape Town]], South Africa, and [[Primate (religion)|primate]] of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. He received the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1984, the [[Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism]], and the Magubela prize for liberty in 1986.
==Membership==
Today, there are at least 2.4 million Anglicans out of an estimated population of 45 million.
==Structure==
The polity of the Church of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa is [[Episcopalian church governance]], which is the same as other [[Anglican]] churches. The church maintains a system of geographical [[parish]]es organized into [[diocese]]s. The Province is divided into 23 dioceses and each is led by its own bishop:
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Cape Town|Diocese of Cape Town]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Angola|Diocese of Angola]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Christ the King|Diocese of Christ the King]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of False Bay|Diocese of False Bay]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of the Free State|Diocese of the Free State]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of George|Diocese of George]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown|Diocese of Grahamstown]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Highveld|Diocese of Highveld]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Johannesburg|Diocese of Johannesburg]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman|Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Lebombo|Diocese of Lebombo]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Lesotho|Diocese of Lesotho]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Matlosane|Diocese of Matlosane]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Mpumalanga|Diocese of Mpumalanga]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Mthatha|Diocese of Mthatha]]<ref>Formerly the [[Bishop of St John's|Diocese of St John's]]</ref>
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Namibia|Diocese of Namibia]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Natal|Diocese of Natal]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Niassa|Diocese of Niassa]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Port Elizabeth|Diocese of Port Elizabeth]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Pretoria|Diocese of Pretoria]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Saldanha Bay|Diocese of Saldanha Bay]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of St Helena|Diocese of St Helena]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of St Mark the Evanglelist|Diocese of St Mark the Evanglelist]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Swaziland|Diocese of Swaziland]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Umzimvubu|Diocese of Umzimvubu]]
* The [[Anglican Diocese of Zululand|Diocese of Zululand]]
===Diocesan bishops===
* The Most Revd [[Thabo Makgoba]] - [[Archbishop of Cape Town]]
* The Right Revd [[Andre Soares]] - [[Bishop of Angola]]
* The Right Revd [[Peter John Lee|Peter Lee]] - [[Bishop of Christ the King]]
* The Right Revd [[Mervyn Edwin Castle|Mervyn Castle]] - [[Bishop of False Bay]]
* The Right Revd [[Elistan Patrick Glover|Patrick Glover]] - [[Bishop of the Free State]]
* The Right Revd [[Donald Frederick Harker|Donald Harker]] - [[Bishop of George]]
* The Right Revd [[Thabo Makgoba]] - [[Bishop of Grahamstown]]
* The Right Revd [[David Albert Beetge|David Beetge]] - [[Bishop of Highveld]]
* The Right Revd [[Brian Charles Germond|Brian Germond]] - [[Bishop of Johannesburg]]
* The Right Revd [[Ossie Swartz]] - [[Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman]]
* The Right Revd [[Dinis Salomao Sengulane|Dinis Sengulane]] - [[Bishop of Lebombo]]
* ''See is Vacant'' - [[Bishop of Lesotho]]
* The Right Revd [[Molopi Steven Diseko|Molopi Diseko]] - [[Bishop of Matlosane]]
* The Right Revd [[Leslie Walker]] - [[Bishop of Diocese of Mpumalanga]]
* The Right Revd [[Nathaniel Ndaxuma Nakwatumbah|Nathaniel Nakwatumbah]] - [[Bishop of Namibia]]
* The Right Revd [[Rubin Philip]] - [[Bishop of Natal]]
* The Right Revd [[Mark van Koevering]] - [[Bishop of Niassa]]
* The Right Revd [[Bethlehem Nopece]] - [[Bishop of Port Elizabeth]]
* The Right Revd [[Johannes Thomas Seoka|Jo Seoka]] - [[Bishop of Pretoria]]
* The Right Revd [[Raphael Bernard Viburt Hess|Raphael Hess]] - [[Bishop of Saldanha Bay]]
* The Right Revd [[John William Salt|John Salt]], [[Oratory of the Good Shepherd|OGS]] - [[Bishop of St Helena]]
* The Right Revd [[Sitembela Tobela Mzamane|Sitembela Mzamane]] - [[Bishop of St John's]]
* The Right Revd [[Martin Andre Breytenbach|Martin Breytenbach]] - [[Bishop of St Mark the Evanglelist]]
* The Right Revd [[Meshack Boy Mabuza|Meshack Mabuza]] - [[Bishop of Swaziland]]
* The Right Revd [[Mlibo Mteteleli Ngewu|Mlibo Ngewu]] - [[Bishop of Umzimvubu]]
* The Right Revd [[Dino Gabriel]] - [[Bishop of Zululand]]
==Worship and liturgy==
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. A local variant of the [[Book of Common Prayer]] is used. The Church is known for having [[Anglo-Catholicism|Anglo-Catholic]] leanings.
==Doctrine and practice==
{{See also|Anglicanism|Anglican doctrine}}
The center of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa's teaching is the life and resurrection of [[Jesus Christ]]. The basic teachings of the church, or [[catechism]], includes:
*Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead.
*Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe.
*The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written by people "under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit". The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine.
*The two great and necessary [[Anglican sacraments|sacraments]] are [[Baptism|Holy Baptism]] and [[Eucharist|Holy Eucharist]]
*Other [[Anglican sacraments|sacramental rites]] are [[confirmation]], [[ordination]], [[marriage]], [[confession|reconciliation of a penitent]], and [[unction]].
*Belief in [[heaven]], [[hell]], and [[second coming|Jesus's return in glory]].
The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. These three sources uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work of [[Richard Hooker]], a sixteenth century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason.<ref> [http://www.anglicanlistening.org/anglican_listening_61766_ENG_HTM.htm Anglican Listening] Detail on how scripture, tradition, and reason work to "uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way".</ref>
===Social issues===
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa is regarded as the most liberal Anglican province in Africa, particularly on issues such as [[ordination of women]] and [[homosexuality]]. [[Gene Robinson]]'s appointment as [[Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire|bishop of New Hampshire]] in the [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America]] prompted warnings of a possible schism in the Anglican Communion. Retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated that he did not see what "all the fuss" was about, saying the election would not roil the Church of the Province of Southern Africa.
===Ecumenical relations ===
Unlike many other Anglican churches, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa is not a member of the ecumenical [[World Council of Churches]].<ref>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3587 World Council of Churches</ref>
==References==
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==Further reading==
*Elphick, Richard & Davenport, Rodney (eds). (1997). ''Christianity in South Africa: a political, social and cultural history''. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20940-0
* {{cite book
| last = Hinchliff
| first = Peter
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = The church in South Africa
| publisher = SPCK
| date = 1968
| location = London
| url =
| doi =
| id = ISBN 0-281-02277-1 }}
*Neill, Stephen. ''Anglicanism''. Harmondsworth, 1965.
* {{cite book
| last = Page
| first = B.T.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = The harvest of good hope
| publisher = SPCK
| date = 1947
| location = London
| url =
| doi =
| id = }}
==External links==
*[http://www.anglicanchurchsa.org/ Anglican Church of Southern Africa]
{{Anglican Churches}}
{{Anglican-southern-africa}}
[[Category:Anglicanism in Africa|Southern Africa]]
[[Category:Anglican churches|Southern Africa]]
[[Category:Anglican Church of Southern Africa| ]]
[[Category:Christianity in South Africa]]
[[Category:National churches|South Africa]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1870]]
[[de:Anglican Church of Southern Africa]]