He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. ACTS 11 v 24
The commemoration day for this Church is 11 June
1.2 Church establishment:
It was sometime in 1993 when St Barnabas Church was established, after having been an outstation (branch) under St Andrews Church - Ngangelizwe. In 2009, the Bishop of the Diocese of Mthatha, Bishop Dr Sitembele Mzamane, decided to make this Church a Parish.
- In 2009, the first Rector of this Parish was Rev Thembeka Mateza
- From 2010 to 2011, Canon E.Z Myeko was the second Rector
- In 2012 Rev A.M Mabindla became the third and current Rector.
Church slogan: "Eli! Likhaya lethu sonke apho uYesu Asisiseko…"
"This is a home for us all, where Christ is the Foundation…"
CHURCH STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS
Church functions and operations are guided by Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, as well as the Acts of the Anglican Diocese of Mthatha.
There are Nine Parish Church Council Members.
There are three Church wardens.
The leaders of the guilds mentioned below are also involved in decision making:
- The Mothers Union;
- St Bernard Mizeki Guild ( a man's guild)
- St Mary Magdalene
- GBFS Guild (Girls and Boys guilds)
- The Servers guild,
- The Youth guild and
- The Sunday School
The Church Rector is the accounting officer, accountable to the Archdeaconry of the Freedom Park as well as to the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Mthatha, Dr S.T Mzamane.
MEMBERSHIP
Current membership:
St Barnabas Church has a membership of about 110 congregants.
35% of these members belong to the Mother's Union = 39
10 % belong to St Bernard Mizeki guild. = 11
5% belong to St Mary Magdalene = 5
10% of the members are young people (Youth) = 11
15 % of the total membership is composed of GBFS and Servers who often belong to both guilds. = 17
25% of the rest belong to the Sunday School = 27
The financial viability of the above members is as follows:
There are only about 9 members of the MU guild that are working and from that number only two (2 are professionals; all others are unskilled and are not on permanent jobs. The rest of the members belong to the old age pension.
All the eleven (11) members of the Men's guild are not working and some have never worked. Only four (4) are on pension.
There are only two (2) members of the St Mary Magdalene that are working; all others are unemployed.
All our young people are students and most of them are at tertiary institutions.
The GBFS and Servers are all at high school and therefore do not have any source of income.
CHURCH GROWTH
There are small chances of church growth in terms of numbers, the reason being the history of the area which is dominated by tradition and land boundaries.
There are no developments in terms of expanding the area but instead the daughters and sons of these old age people are moving to town and to the informal settlements.
There are greater chances of growth in terms of Spirituality. In fact this is taking place, due to the commitment of the Parish Rector to the Lord Jesus Christ, and also the fact that the Rector is a member of the Renewal Ministry and Evangelism Group in the Diocese ( Abavakalisi - known as Iviyo in other Dioceses). This is an evangelical wing of the Anglican Church, preaching Christ Crucified and His power to save sinners. A witness to this in the Parish is the commitment and faithfulness that is found from the congregation, the continuous attendance to Church gatherings and their commitment to stewardship and giving teaching, which can be seen from their monthly pledges. Their support to Diocesan activities cannot be measured. They are always willing to learn when it comes to the Word of God. They have a teachable spirit. They also support each other very much when it comes to bereavements and the needs of others.
CHALLENGES
As indicated above, Poverty and unemployment is a great challenge.
There is a high birth rate as a result of the above.
HIV & AIDS is also a challenge though there are no figures yet.
There is also a high rate of crime, drug abuse, drunkenness and a lack of vision among the young people.
The Church congregation have a vision to build a Church Rectory and a vision to expand the church a bit and also to build an office and a Rector's vestry. The obstacle to all the above is finance.
STRENGTHS AND SUCCESSES
The idea of working in groups or Prayer cells has shown good results in the church. Those that are weak are able to be identified and followed up.
This Church has never failed her dues (pledges) to the Diocese even for a single month. This shows their commitment to God and respect to the Leadership of the Church.
It is the culture of this Church to make home visits to bereaved families even if they do not belong to the Anglican Church.
This Church has continued to observe all the Church festivals such as Family days, Easter, St Andrews, Pentecost etc
They honour God in Worship and are continue to be faithful witnesses of God through their deeds and works.
Prepared by: Church Wardens and Rector
Mrs Suki Mjokwa, Mr A Kholwane, Miss Eunice Goli and Rev A.M Mabindla ( Parish Rector)
