The Episcopal Church of Sudan

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SECOND PASTORAL LETTER
To all the Episcopalians in the Sudan and the Diaspora

 

 From His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul,
Archbishop and Primate of the
Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan 

June 2009

Greetings to all ECS Christians, bishops, priests and deacons of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan in the name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Dear all,
Once again I am sending you a Second Pastoral Letter because the Church has the power to change the life of our communities and our leadership is to show a good example, because the pastor and the bishop are the most influential force that God has planted here on earth.

The Church must redeem us from the crisis facing our country.  Bishops and clergy, Christ has given you the power to preach, teach and heal our people.  You must be effective evangelists, you are to strengthen Christian families, to transform our communities and change their lives and attitudes.  My hope is therefore that you will never be deceived by what is happening around you and will stand firm for Christ.  We are to offer healing to the wounded hearts.

Brother bishops, clergy and the laity of ECS, we are being challenged to establish a faithful community in the Sudan in this twenty first century.  The future of the Sudan rests in your hands.  We are to build bridges between the tribes and communities, to offer truth to confused communities and to offer a sense of belonging to the marginalized people of Sudan.

When things were very difficult in America for black people, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC and painted a picture of the world without prejudice, hatred or racism “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content.”  After 40 years his dream has become true and now the American President is of African-American origin.  I am feeling the same; we should not be threatened by this confused situation in the Sudan.  One day we will be there.  Let us be always alert and remain committed for the rest of our people.  Please inform our people to be wise and that they should not allow themselves to be used by the enemies of our people.  Your land is the promised land and others want to take it over from you and use it for things they want, but first of all they want you to be confused so that later they can be able to take over the land.  Your land has become the source of your death.  Let us have a vision where the people cast off their fetters, but that “blessed is he who keeps the Law”.  (Proverbs 29:18) 
A vision is a picture of something you want in the end, like the country you want, the New Sudan: a country where our children live in peace, a country where we respect the rights of all ethnicities, a country without racism, hatred, tribalism or prejudice.  Let us all pray to God to give us a clear vision, which will keep us focused and firm during this critical time we are now going through.

My dear clergy, l am expecting you to make your best effort in building the Church of God in the Sudan.  Christ promised to empower us and walked with us.  We need to remember that doing so requires prayer and spiritual disciplining.  When doing this we must be ready to pay the price by devoting our lives to building the Kingdom of God.  A community without vision wastes time and losses energy, it gets distracted and eventually becomes demoralized and is taken over by unwelcome situations.  We are to be aware that we are accountable.  
My dear clergy of the ECS, l need you to establish a clear mission and values so that you can reach every last person and guide them towards spiritual maturity.  We are to advise all the politicians in the Sudan, wherever we meet them, that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is no longer just for the NCP or SPLM or any other party: it is the property of the Sudanese people as said by the late Dr. John Garang.  If there are some elements within us who are working to undermine the CPA, we the religious people must pray to Almighty God to expose those elements within us.  We do not know them, but God knows and sees them and even knows their names, and he will know how he is going to deal with them.  God will write the peace and love of this country in their hearts.

Because of this l am asking all the bishops and the clergy of the ECS to be alert and to constantly pray for the peace of the Sudan at this crucial time of elections and the referendum.

This time we need freedom.  For fifty years the people of Sudan has been through great suffering.  Let the Almighty touch the hearts of our leaders and make them fear that they are going to be accountable to God and to the people of Sudan when the time comes.  Two and half million dead is enough.

I am appealing to the beloved tribes of Dinka, Nuer and Murle, wherever they may be.  Be informed that we are praying for you.  You have provoked God’s anger on your communities and disasters on yourselves (Jer. 44:7-8) because God is not happy.  If you do not repent, you provoke God.  You have rebelled against God and against the people of Sudan.  The current situation is therefore a curse and you will have to bear the guilt upon yourselves and your coming generation (Isaiah. 24).  You have defiled the earth because you have murdered your own brothers; you have broken the everlasting covenant between you and God.  Woe to you (Isaiah 24:5-7), you betray yourselves and the Lord’s curse is upon us, you will not get away with it, you had better return to the Lord and repent now.  Woe to your work in darkness.  Highways are deserted because of your behavior towards each other.  Woe to you as the land is mourning, wondering what is happening to my children. 
Come back to me my children before the sun sets (Psalm 53:1-3) or we will bring your conduct before God, because it is now clear before God and the Sudanese people that you are the ones destroying the CPA and God will not forgive those people among you – you can hide before the people but not before God.  I appeal to the Dinka, Nuer, Murle and others in the Sudan to repent before the people of New Sudan.  Cry out to God in your names; come to God and, be reconciled and let justice be done.

The Vision of ECS:

For the coming eight years ECS’s vision is “a strong Church on a strong indigenous foundation.”  The war destroyed the fabric and foundation of society in Southern Sudan and shattered the people’s confidence and productive capacities.  The Church must play a prominent role in reforming bodies, minds and spirits for the purposes of creating a peaceful, prosperous and self-sustaining society.  A strong Church, built on the bedrock of faithful servants cannot be undone by changing social, political and economic tides, so the people have to own the Church and all the faithful must be involved in Church development.

A. A faithful, loving, trusting Church

The Christian faith provides the means to rectify habits and patterns that set humans to war.  It stands against power politics; it questions entrenched patterns of division.  It proclaims an alternate narrative that defines who we are in relation to God, to one another and to the world.  As faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, we dismiss tribalism in favour of loving one another as Christ loved us.  We carry this message to successive generations, trusting that each will honour their duty to God, the country and to all creation.

B. A transparent, confident, sustainable Church

The Church must demonstrate faithful stewardship through honest, accountable, confident and sustainable management of its human and capital resource; “For to all those who have, more will be given and they will have in abundance but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away” (Mt.25:29).  Accordingly, we seek to move our bishops and priests away from their dependency on outside incentives, as this is neither an indigenous nor a sustainable solution to the Church’s costs.  Bishops and priests are the servants of the Church and the Church should pay them.

C. A Church confident in doctrine

The Church must develop a single doctrine and liturgy that are distinctly Sudanese yet wholly Anglican.  The Church must stand up for its beliefs on the world stage without undue influence from the interests of prospective funders.  This crucial act of faith further highlights our needs for financial independence.

D. A respected ECS

The faithful witness of the Church depends upon the respect it is afforded locally and internationally.  The Church leader who has misused funds has tarnished the reputation of the Church, and must atone and repent.  Christ must be put above division caused by personal allegiance.  We must unite in the same mind and the same purpose.  To that end the bishop and the clergy will encourage broad community involvement and inclusion in the affairs of the Church to dispel ignorance, corruption and mistrust.

E. An ECS as an integral part of the New Sudan

The Church must participate in the nation building of post-war recovery and advocate for Dr. John Garang’s vision of a new Sudan: where all peoples, tribes, languages and religions are afforded true respect.  The Church must work with the government to ensure that a secular society respects all faiths.

A divided Church and a divided nation cannot achieve their goals; instead they must be united to serve the nation.  I am focusing to transform the ECS from a small minded, tribalistic, dependent and static entity into a forward-looking, united, self-sufficient, dynamic Church that exercises its unique gifts fully while sustaining interdependence within the Anglican Communion.  This transformation demands significant restructuring of the whole institution and its personnel, and this cannot be accomplished without the financial and human investment of our trusted partners the world over.

New Dioceses:

For the past one year in office, the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan has inaugurated five new dioceses, namely:

  1. Terekeka,
  2. Pacong,
  3. Akot,
  4. Twic East and
  5. Aweil

The Suffragan see of Awerial, under the Diocese of Yirol in Lakes State has also been inaugurated.  During my visit to these places mentioned above, these places appeared self-sustainable and proved by their actions that they do not require any external support.  This first year in the office of Archbishop I have visited twenty dioceses in the south, and will be covering the remaining dioceses in the northern part of the country soon.

My dear citizens, let us continue in pray for our Church and our country, and for God to identify the spoilers of the CPA.  My dear bishops, priests and deacons, let us monitor the coming elections and keep all the citizens always well informed so that they make the right decision.

I wish you all a most holy and blessed Trinity tide.

Yours in the love and peace of Christ,

His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul Yak
Archbishop and Primate of the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan and Bishop of the Diocese of Juba