Day and night, this new cathedral buzzes with excitement
By Lauren R. Stanley
RENK, Sudan - So what exactly does one do with a brand spanking new cathedral in the middle of Sudan?
Well, if you are Bishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Diocese of Renk, you fill it.
All day.
Every day.
With as many people and as many programs as you can think of.
And when you get all those people in and programs running, you come up with more programs to draw in more people.
Until suddenly, you have a cathedral that is buzzing with activity and filled with vibrancy from sun-up to sundown.
Students and
local priests gather to pray recently as the students prepare to
take their 15-day Sudan Certificate exams in Renk, Sudan.
The exams determine who can go on
to university.
At least, that's what is happening here in Renk, 250 miles south of Khartoum, in the border area between the Arab Muslim North and the black, Christian and traditionalist South.
The opening of any cathedral is always a joyous event, and this one's was no different. Four thousand people attended the dedication on Feb. 28, including the Archbishops of Canterbury and Sudan, the British Ambassador to Sudan, 10 Americans and a host of guests from throughout the country.
Since that glorious day, the cathedral has taken its place on the forefront of life in Renk, and in Southern Sudan. It is the first cathedral ever built this far north in the south, and may be the first Anglican one built in this country since independence in 1956. Those facts alone make it unique.
But St. Matthew's is more than bricks and mortar. It is a place where people come every day, sometimes to pray, sometimes to work, often simply to sit and talk and find peace in its shadow.
So what do you do with a place this big, this special?
Well, you start by adding an English-language service every Sunday morning, complete with communion, to bring in those who speak English, or want to improve their English, or who no longer wish to worship in Arabic.
Then you add in at least two Bible studies each week, conducted in Arabic, Dinka and English, and add in singing and prayers.
Toss in the praying of the Litany every Wednesday.
Add two youth gatherings per week for the young adults.
Have one night dedicated to Sunday School education.
Add another night dedicated to the women's group, called the Mothers' Union here.
Make Saturday the day for visiting the homebound and the ailing, bringing food and comfort and prayers.
And that's just for openers, as part of the regular schedule of the cathedral.
Then, in the very first month of its life, add in a peace, justice and reconciliation training event for 65 people from throughout Upper Nile Province. The training, sponsored and run by the Life and Peace Institute out of Switzerland, covered conflict negotiation; reconciliation; the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed last year that finally brought peace to this war-torn land; and HIV/AIDS training, among other things. Then send those 65 people out into the province, where they will gather and train others, until peace, justice and reconciliation become real, tangible things in the lives of Southern Sudanese. (The Life and Peace Institute has been astounded at how quickly Renk Diocese set up this training, and how quickly it is sending people out to do the actual work. Usually, it seems, there is a long delay between any training and putting it into action.)
Some of the 65 participants of the
peace, justice and reconciliation training celebrate at the end
of their training, which was sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese
of Renk in South Sudan in March, and conducted by the Life and
Peace Institute. The training took two weeks and covered
conflict negotiation, justice, reconciliation, understanding the
peace treaty and HIV/AIDS training.
At the same time (literally - one event was outside, the other inside), gather as many high school seniors as possible from all the Christian denominations and hold a prayer service for them as they prepare to take their Sudan Certificate exams, a grueling, 15-day event that will determine the course of their lives, and of Southern Sudan, for many years to come. Then, as the exams are taking place, make sure the students are cared for, tutored and prayed over every evening.
Follow these events with a huge peace rally in the town's football arena, with more than 600 people present, to stress the need for this new peace to become a real - and lasting - peace. Make sure you invite the local government officials, too, so they can hear the church's strident voice calling for peace and justice. Have the local Roman Catholic youth choir sing at the rally, and invite pastors from other denominations to speak, so that all know that the Christian churches here are united and speak with one voice for all the people.
Bishop Daniel Deng Bul, right, of the Episcopal Diocese of Renk in South Sudan, addresses the peace rally sponsored by the Diocese and St. Matthew's Cathedral. More than 600 people attended the rally in the town's football arena to hear church leaders speak of the need for peace, justice, reconciliation and development in South Sudan.
These events, and more, have made up the life of the cathedral in its first month of existence. There will be more events, and more people, just as soon as the bishop and the diocese can think of them. A desperate shortage of money limits what can be done, but hope is high here, and so is the excitement.
You can see it and feel it every single day at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Renk, Sudan.
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(The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley is an appointed missionary serving in the Diocese of Renk in the Episcopal Church of Sudan.)