January 23 - 29, 2006
by Nancy Frank
Juba, Sudan
Excitement seemed to be in the air as the 8th Provincial Synod of the Episcopal Church of Sudan gathered in Juba, Sudan, during late January, 2006. This is the first time the Synod has been able to meet in Sudan in almost 20 years. Visiting observers from ECS, bishops and their delegations were housed all over the city of Juba as the 200 plus attendees came together. Fritz Gilbert, Treasurer of AFRECS, and I attended. Last April’s scheduled meeting had been cancelled due to the insecurity of the roads. Sunday’s welcoming service was over three hours long as visitors were introduced. Announcements were numerous and hymns frequent. Prayers mentioned the peace, the opportunity and the hope in everyone’s heart.
In my prior visits to Sudan, “when the war is over” was a phrase I had heard over and over. The war has now stopped and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is mostly holding. Many presenters and discussants observed that this is the time to move out of the war state of mind and to plan and work for the future. Even so, there was frequent mention of the attacks and unrest on the southern border and of the continuing humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
The challenges faced by the Episcopal Church of Sudan are enormous. Discussions of the need for income generation, leadership, management, fiscal independence and fiscal transparency highlighted the need for new energy and creativity. One major challenge given the virtually universal poverty prevailing among Southern Sudanese is for parishes to find ways of financially supporting their clergy and the programs of the church. A study of the best means of providing theological education for all pastors was the focus of a long and searching discussion. Sudanese bishops have depended on a yearly grant for their personal support from the Sudan Church Association in Great Britain during the war. There was great concern that the grant is expected to be reduced for the bishops. Provincial level employees haven’t been paid in several years due to a lack of funding. The Provincial structures in Juba and Khartoum will now need to work together to serve dioceses throughout all Sudan whereas before the Peace Agreement neither the opportunity nor the challenge even existed. One of the more vexing problems the ECS faces comes from a pair of dismissed ECS Bishops (Roric Jur and Peter El Birish) who have established a “Reformed Episcopal Church of Sudan.” Well funded, they are creating additional Bishops and competing for the loyalty of parishes. With courage and determination, the delegations focused on the overwhelming challenges facing the Episcopal Church of Sudan.
A visit to the tomb of Dr. John Garang was arranged. His tomb is near the legislature buildings in Juba and under a canopy. Flowers and decorations cover the area where he is buried. All were invited to sign a memory book. Tributes abounded in the book and all I could think and write was, “Peace at last.”
Following the Synod, there were two days of CORE meetings. Eight
Western partners and eight Sudanese Provincial staff and volunteers met
to discuss funding, the Provincial challenges and the need for
development in the dioceses…..all in the context of extreme penury. I
was asked as Executive Director of AFRECS to attend as an observer. The Ven. Michael Paget-Wilkes of the Sudan Church Association and the Rev.
Enock Tombe, General Secretary of the Province of Sudan, co-chair this
committee and it was with painstaking care and commitment that the
Sudanese, the NGO’s, the American Church and the British Church
representatives planned the use of the few available resources for the
maximum benefit of the Sudanese Episcopal Church and the Sudanese.
Juba has suffered in its years of occupation by the armies of the
Government of Sudan. There is only a very short patch of tarmac in the
whole city. The rest of the roads are hard packed dirt with
multitudinous potholes. Electricity is sporadic and undependable.
Water runs sometimes. Upkeep on buildings has not been done during the
occupation. Despite that, there is one cybercafé with six computers and
a tented camp recently constructed to house the burgeoning NGO staffs
which are moving there to take part in the rebuilding of Southern
Sudan. It also has a cybercafé.
Fritz and I were grateful to go to this meeting. In Africa face-to-face
relationship is the basis for any later working relationship and we
started that for AFRECS. While discussing the Project Registry with
each bishop and his delegation separately, I had the chance to start
connecting AFRECS more personally with the Sudanese Church that we have
committed to link more closely to America. It was a grueling trip and
very hot but the AFRECS presence is welcomed and accepted by the
Episcopal Church of Sudan.
We must continue to be reliably present in the important moments of the Sudanese Church.