By Bellah Zulu, ACNS
Anglicans Ablaze is one of Africa’s largest and most popular Christian gatherings. What began as a two day meeting to “seek and listen to God’s will” for the Church in Southern Africa has become a major conference for the whole Church.
In 2010, around twenty leaders from across the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) met in the city of Kloof in South Africa. After time spent in prayer and worship they received words and pictures regarding this conference.
“God spoke to us and we began to plan,” said the Revd Trevor Pearce, Director for the provincial church growth institute called Growing the Church (GtC) which is organising the Anglicans Ablaze conference.
“Our first conference was a provincial leaders conference and took place in the city of Durban in October 2011. The aim was to listen to the needs of our people, share the vision for a life-changing event, inspire people and prepare for a much larger event to take place in 2012,” he added.
The team's common denominator was having a passion for mission, evangelism, church planting and church growth. “This was the challenge that we put before them: 'What is it that God wants us to do together, which we will not be able to accomplish on our own?'”
Primate of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said the first conference in October 2012 had been “a wonderful and inspiring time."
"It was an amazing celebration of the goodness of God, and of our distinctive though challenging Anglican calling,” he added.
More than 1,400 Christians gathered at the New Life Conference Centre in Johannesburg South Africa to be “anchored in the love of Christ, committed to God’s mission and transformed by the Holy Spirit.”
He added: “We came with excitement, anticipation, commitment; even if a little unsure of what to expect, perhaps a bit lost or fearful, or aware of obstacles in our lives and in our church.
“But we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and has done far more than we could ever ask or imagine! God is love, and has met us in love, and called on us to abide in his love."
Drawing from the successes of the last conference in 2012, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa is determined to make this year’s event bigger and better. The next conferencemwill be held this year from July 2 to 5 and is designed to build on the previous conference to “take us deeper into God for a wider impact in our communities,” said the Revd Pearce.
“Last time, we only had 1,400 attendees but this time around we are planning for 3,000. We will use the Anglican Communion’s five Marks of Mission to help us focus sharply and widely,” he added.
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa is one of the largest and most diverse provinces in Africa, both culturally and ethnically. It covers South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Lesotho, Swaziland, St Helena and Tristan de Cunha in the Atlantic Ocean.
Organise say that a conference like this one therefore gives the Church there a chance to “experience God’s love breaking down the barriers of the social, political and historic divisions within our nations, and breaking down the differences of tradition, style, and labelling within our church.”
This year's event also boasts a special guest: the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who will be a keynote speaker.
Other speakers will be the primate Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Steve Mainer from the New Zealand Church Missionary Society, and Nancy Njagi from the Centre for Urban Mission Kenya, among many others.
“At the last conference God offered us a turning point, and we have found it so: a turning point for many individuals, and for our Church, which may also go on to become a turning point for our parishes, our communities, our nations,” said Abp Makgoba.
“This is ACSA’s Conference, but most of all we want it to be God’s Conference, shaped by God in all its planning, as well as led by God in all that we do and share together in Bryanston, Johannesburg.”
Preparations have now reached an advanced stage with Christians from Africa and beyond expressing interest in attending. Many have registered via the conference website as well as on www.myanglican.org
Tony Lawrence, a youth leader from South Africa called the conference a “not to be missed” event and encouraged Christians, especially young people, to invite as many people as possible using various social media.
The Anglicans Ablaze conference has certainly enjoyed resounding support from Christians in Southern Africa. For instance, the ACSA Synod of Bishops warmly and heartily endorsed this year’s Anglicans Ablaze conference and even led the way by making sure that all the bishops together with their spouses registered to attend the conference.
Archbishop Makgoba is optimistic about this year’s event and has called on Christians world over to “regularly pray for the conference and for everyone involved,” regardless of whether they will attend or not.