AGM 2001
Although our numbers were small, there were plenty of people present with real experience of the Congo to bring the meeting alive, and paint a picture of what life is like today. They spoke of the current political unrest, but also of small, but significant signs of hope. We were reminded that the Congolese rely on our help to bring peace, not least by prompting the government to give solid financial support rather than just parliamentary promises of help.
We heard of the new research role at ISThA, helping students gather up the stories of the 'faith journeys' that form the history of the Anglican Church, and to produce material for local school children, so that Christians in the future will be better-equipped for their role in society. The need for strong and wise leadership was ever-present in our thoughts as we prayed thankfully for milestones achieved - like Bishop Diropka's thesis, the steady growth in church membership, and the commitment of the young people to face difficult and dangerous situations bravely, and we asked for spiritual strength for all those facing personal set-backs.
Our new patrons bring a combination of long service and devotion to the Congo, with vigour and enthusiasm for a new hands-on experiences: this promises well for the Association, and all we can do to support our sisters and brothers in their lives. One new member was filled with such enthusiasm as she heard about the real Congo, and not just what she found in the papers - information that she would put in a prayer sheet to use with her friends.
Next year we may meet at a different time, and / or place, so others can hear the stories face-to-face too, and then share them with their friends. Please fill in the survey, so the Committee can plan what you really want!
Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt, one of our new patrons, sent this message: First, I am very sorry indeed that I cannot be present with you; but I leave today for three weeks with the Church in Burma at the invitation of the new Archbishop, within a Partnership Link of very long standing. I shall, I know, find there many aspects of the lives of most people, and much in the situation and calling of the Churches, which will help me to pray with still more understanding for our sisters and brothers in the DRC.
From your News-Letter, and also from my membership of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes and Genocide Prevention (which tries to concentrate especially on the needs of the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda), and from a range of more personal sources, I constantly seek to understand better the situation in which the Church of the Province is called, as we are called everywhere, to Praise and Obedience. I am humbled, and full of admiration and thanksgiving, and constantly encouraged, by the Church's faithfulness against enormous odds - and then by the generosity and prayerfulness in its support of you who make up the Congo Church Association.
The Trustees met three times during the year and, as always, distributed the income of the Association as evenly as they could across the dioceses. Our policy is to give block grants, so that the dioceses themselves have the maximum flexibility in using monies that come to them. We include in that distribution (though at a lower level than full dioceses) the Province as a whole and the area of Kisangani diocese that is around the capital, Kinshasa – one of our dioceses in waiting.
The other significant area of grant is the support we give to the ISThA. This theological college continues to operate, though it has faced very great disruption, and in the year in question we have seen another of the ISThA’s graduates join the bishops of the church with the election of Revd Funga Botolome as Bishop of Kisangani. Bishop Funga has now been consecrated and installed.
We also distribute designated funds to the projects for which they are specified. Other giving relates very often to training needs and for the need to support the ministry of bishops and their transport – very often we have to act with speed to meet emergencies, and the Commissary General and the Chairman have to make a swift judgement to release funds for some specific need.