Steve Hayes and Billy Graham in black and white

From The Editor of this blog:

Steve Hayes is my oldest internet friend going back to when we only had email to communicate. Steve lives in South Africa and is a cleric in the Serbian Orthodox Church. I highly commend his blog. Steve is a fount of wisdom.

New post on Khanya Billy Graham in black and white by Steve The death of Billy Graham was followed by a flood of posts on social media, some praising him to the heavens as more honourable than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim, and others damning him as a would be war criminal who urged US President Richard Nixon to kill a million people in Vietnam. I thought I would steer clear of all the hype, and not read any of it, pro or con, until a few internet friends posted things that I thought worth paying attention to. First was Jim Forest of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship, who met Billy Graham in 1988 when he visited the USSR at the invitation of the Russian Orthodox Church, on the occasion of the celebration of a millennium of Christianity in Russia: At the airport waiting for our flight to Kiev, I asked Graham what had led him to undertake his first trip to the USSR in 1982 despite advice from Vice President Bush not to go. "I had been briefed at the Pentagon about what would happen if there was a nuclear war," he replied. "I had been to Auschwitz and seen how limitless is our capacity for evil. And I was thinking about Paul saying in his first letter to the Corinthians that he was called to be all things to all people. I realized I had closed myself to the people in the Soviet Union. So I felt I had to say yes to the invitation I received from the Russian Orthodox Church inviting me to take part in a peace conference they were preparing in Moscow." Speaking in Kiev, he gave a vintage Graham sermon: "My grandfather never dreamed of the changes that have happened in our world -- space travel, color television, travel from continent to continent in a few hours by jet airplane. But some things never change. Interest in religion never changes. The nature of God never changes." He spoke about God's love for each person, a love we cannot damage by our sins. Graham recalled a Moscow lady who told him, "I am a great sinner." He responded, "I too am a great sinner, but we have a great savior." He recalled Prince Vladimir and his conversion. "He turned away from idols and destroyed them, opening a new path in life not only for himself but for millions of others right down to our own time. God never changes, but you and I must change just as Prince Vladimir changed a thousand years ago." He ended his sermon saying, "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  (see Jim Forest's book Religion in the new Russia). The second was Irving Hexham who posted a link on Facebook to a sermon preached by Billy Graham in South Africa in 1973, in which he said that Jesus was not white. I was there. I heard it. I also heard John Gatu of Kenya, who preached immediately before him, who in my opinion preached much better. I said as much in response to Irving's Facebook post, but that is not the full story. Facebook lends itself to the visual equivalent of sound bites -- one-liners that never tell the full story. That is why I prefer mailing lists and possibly blogs for discussing such things. And there was a story behind that sermon that deserves to be told again. The rally at which Billy Graham was the main speaker was the culmination of a 10-day conference, the South African Congress on Mission and Evangelism. The conference was organised by the South African Council of Churches and African Enterprise, an evangelistic (and Evangelical) organisation. The organisers wanted to make the conference as widely representative of South African Christianity as possible, and, in particular, to bring "Evangelicals" and "Ecumenicals" together (they weren't too bothered, at that stage, about the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox, whose presence would probably be even more scary to Evangelicals than the Ecumenicals). SA Congress on Mission and Evangelism Rally at Kings Park stadium, Durban, at which Billy Graham preached. 17 March 1973. And if anything was going to bring the Evangelicals in, it was Billy Graham, who was a hero to most of them. So he was there as bait. The Evangelicals would come to hear Billy Graham, they wouldn't come to hear John Gatu, no matter how well he preached. And the bait worked. Billy Graham Rally at Kings Park, 17 March 1973 Many Evangelicals remained suspicious, and shied away from the Ecumenicals, whom they regarded as "political" (if anyone deserves that epithet today, it's Evangelicals, especially American ones) and too focused on the "social gospel". But many overcame their suspicions and joined in. I heard Billy Graham preach on one other occasion, at Earls Court in London in 1966. On that occasion I and those with me handed out pamphlets critical of some of Billy Graham's comments on the Vietnam War. The pamphlets were produced by the Christian Committee of 100, of which I had become a hanger-on. Billy Graham rally at Kings Park, Durban I had been told by several Anglican clergy that they did not approve of Billy Graham, because they did not like "emotionalism". The way they described it, it sounded as though he had an almost hypnotic effect on the crowd, getting them all worked up.  But I was disappointed. I was less than impressed with his preaching on that occasion. Far from being emotional, it was rather dull and boring, and there was no appeal to the emotions at all. But on both occasions it clearly worked for some people, who went forward to commit their lives to Jesus Christ as Saviour. For some of them it may have been a recommitment. I've seen many people respond to such "altar calls" again and again. An Anglican monk once told me that he did at a Billy Graham crusade. As he got up to go forward, the ushers stopped him, and said "Not you." "Why not?" he asked "It's for those who have committed their lives to Christ." "But I have." "No, it's for those who have committed their lives to Christ today." "But I do, every day." So the Evangelical ritual of the "altar call" is not necessarily well understood outside Evangelical circles, but Billy Graham's preaching nevertheless influenced a lot of people and, I believe, brought many closer to Christ. He was certainly the best-known itinerant evangelist of the 20th century. So what Billy Graham said in South Africa that day may have helped some white Evangelicals to see that racism wasn't OK for Christians, and thus he may have planted some seeds that germinated and helped in some way to end apartheid 20 years later. But at the time it was a huge disappointment. It could have done with a bit of "emotionalism". There were 50000 Christians there, of all races (the government had demanded that they be segregated, but they weren't, people sat anywhere they liked). They were expecting something to happen, but it didn't. John Gatu preached a far more stirring sermon, and perhaps he should have spoken last, and sent out the crowd as manic street preachers, and they probably would have done it. Billy Graham started off well -- saying that though we all come from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds, we are all one in Christ, and waved his arm round the packed stadium and said "This is the church". And then he proceeded to preach a sermon full of bad cliches and mediocre pulpit jokes. If he had taken up the consciousness of unity that was beginning to emerge, and expounded on it, something might have happened. It was ready to happen. Fifty thousand black and white Christians gathered together, of all races, all classes, sitting together. There might have been a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We could have prayed and sang and exchanged the kiss of peace, and it would have been great, but it fell flat. About a fifth of them came forward for the appeal at the end. For the rest of us, there was nothing more. We could leave, so leave we did. A great anticlimax. The third piece is from Brenton Dickieson, who writes in his blog about Billy Graham, C.S. Lewis, and Me | A Pilgrim in Narnia. I think he comes closer to giving a balanced assessment of Billy Graham than many when he writes: Graham leveraged early superstardom to do very specific things that shaped American Christianity for the next three generations. In particular, Graham’s insistent and consistent ecumenism, his global interest, and his unapologetic views of racial integration—even going so far as to bail Martin Luther King, Jr. out of jail—are imprinted upon post-WWII American Christianity. In particular, it was Billy Graham who shaped what is now known as evangelicalism, distinct from and overlapping with both fundamentalism and mainstream liberalism. With all the things we may quibble about, for millions of people around the world, Graham made faith personal. Brenton Dickieson is a student of C.S. Lewis, who, like Billy Graham, influenced many Christians, not through his preaching, but through his writing. In his blog he describes how Lewis met Billy Graham, and their impressions of each other. It really is worth a read. Steve | 23 February 2018 at 8:10 pm | Tags: Billy Graham, evangelicalism, evangelicals, evangelism, evangelists | Categories: Christianity, people, religion | URL: https://wp.me/p3gtp-2KT

Hallowe'en is upon us. No, it's not late October. But it is Hallowe'en in the Eastern Orthodox Church

This post below comes from the blog Khanya.  Khanya is the work of Steve Hayes who lives in South Africa. You can read about him in the "About me" section of his blog.  Steve is the oldest internet friend (since the late 1990s) of The Editor of Beside The Creek - first, they corresponded by email ... and then cam blogging and Yahoo Groups.  Steve is of an Anglican background but is a Deacon in the Serbian Orthodox Church these days.  Please note that the Orthodox calendar is Julian not our western Gregorian calendar ... so feast days in the Eastern Church occur differently from those in the Western Church.

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The evening of the Saturday after Pentecost is the Orthodox Hallowe’en, following immediately upon the Leavetaking of Pentecost.

Synaxis of All Saints – Orthodox Church in America:

The Sunday following Pentecost is dedicated to All Saints, both those who are known to us, and those who are known only to God. There have been saints at all times, and they have come from every corner of the earth. They were Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics, and Righteous, yet all were perfected by the same Holy Spirit.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to rise above our fallen state and to attain sainthood, thereby fulfilling God’s directive to “be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16, etc.). Therefore, it is fitting to commemorate All Saints on the first Sunday after Pentecost.

In the Western Church All Saints Day is always on the same calendar date, November 1st, so Hallowe’en is always the evening before, and it is followed by All Souls Day on November 2nd. In the Orthodox Church the calendar date varies, because Hallowe’en is always on the Saturday after Pentecost. And All Souls Day is always a week before, on the Saturday before Pentecost. Actually the Orthodox Church has more than one All Souls Day — there are several of them, spread through the year.

There are saints commemorated by name on every day throughout the year, but All Saints Day we remember all those, known and unknown, who have lived lives pleasing to God.

Troparion — Tone 4

As with fine porphyry and royal purple,
Your church has been adorned with Your martyrs’ blood shed throughout all the world.
She cries to You, O Christ God:
Send down Your bounties on Your people,
Grant peace to Your habitation, and great mercy to our souls!

Kontakion — Tone 8

The universe offers You the God-bearing martyrs,
As the first fruits of creation, O Lord and Creator.
Through the Theotokos, and their prayers establish Your Church in peace!

More hymns from the Orthodox Hallowe’en Vespers

Tone 6 (from the Pentecostarion) (Having placed all their hope)

The Saviour’s inspired Disciples
became instruments of the Spirit through faith.
They were scattered to the ends of the earth,
sowing the glad tidings of the true faith.
From their divine garden the army of martyrs blossomed in grace.
They became images of Christ’s saving Passion,
enduring every kind of torture, scourging, and fire.//
Now they boldly pray for our souls.

v. (3) For with the Lord there is mercy and with Him is plenteous redemption, and He will deliver Israel from all his iniquities.

The noble martyrs, burning with love of the Lord,
laughed at the fires and were consumed as burning coals.
Through Christ, they burned the withered arrogance of error.
They stilled the roaring of beasts with the voice of their prayers.
Beheaded, they decapitated the demonic hosts.
By the shedding of their own blood they watered the Church with faith.

v. (2) Praise the Lord, all nations! Praise Him, all peoples!

The heroic martyrs wrestled with beasts and were torn by their claws.
They were dismembered, slashed with swords, and shot with arrows;
they were consumed in the flames and pierced with lances.
All this they willingly endured,
for already they saw their unfading crowns, and the glory of Christ,
before Whom they boldly pray for our souls.

v. (1) For His mercy is abundant towards us; and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.

Come, let us praise the heroes of our faith:
Apostles, martyrs, holy priests, and noble women!
They fought for the faith in every part of the earth.
Though born of earth, they were united with the heavenly hosts.
Through their sufferings, they triumphed over evil by the grace of Christ.
As unfading lights, they illumine our hearts,
and with boldness they pray for our souls.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O divine choir of martyrs,
ye are the pillars of the Church and the fulfillment of the Gospel.
By your deeds ye have fulfilled the Savior’s words.
Ye have closed the gates of hell and defended the Church.
The shedding of your blood has dried up the libations poured out to idols.
Your sacrifice has nourished the body of the faithful.
Standing crowned before God, ye amazed the Angels.
Pray unceasingly to Him that our souls may be saved!

Now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

A Serbian Orthodox Pentecost at the Monastery of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Gerardville, Gauteng, South Africa.

My oldest internet friend is Steve Hayes. 

 Steve, formerly an Anglican,

is a Deacon in the Serbian Orthodox Church in South Africa.  

Here is a post from his blog, Khanya.

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Pentecost at Gerardville by Steve On the Monday of Pentecost Archbishop Damaskinos of Johannesburg and Pretoria visited the Monastery of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Gerardville, on the western edge of the City of Tshwane, in Gauteng province, South Africa. Since the death of Father Nazarius (Pribojan) in 2008 there have been no monks living there permanently. Archbishop Damaskinos had not visited before, but came to see, and to discuss Fr Elias Palmos's plans to revive the monastery and develop the site (of 25 hectares) as a mission centre. The clergy with Archbishop Damaskinos after the Divine Liturgy in St Demetrius Church. Deacon Stephen Hayes, Fr Elias Palmos, Archbishop Damaskinos, Fr George Cocotos, Archimandrite Athanasius Akunda Fr Elias inherited some money from his father, and set up a trust to buy the land to be used for the church, and the Holy Community of New Sion to administer the centre on behalf of the church, with provision for the revival of the monastery, and future plans for a theological school, a mission centre, and a parish of the Archdiocese, using St Demetrius Church, the biggest church on the site. The congregation at St Demetrius on Pentecost Monday, 2014, with Archbishop Damaskinos The Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit seems an appropriate occasion to pray for the Holy Spirit to breathe new life into the place and those who are living there now, and will, we hope, with the blessing of Archbishop Damaskinos, do so in future. The monastery site is on a portion of the farm Vlakplaas, and in the past another part of the farm was used as a place of torture and murder. We hope that the prayers of the people here will cleanse the land of its ugly past. Archbishop Damaskinos has a tour of the monastery site. There is enough land at the site for many different kinds of activities without disturbing the peace of the monastery. Some of the celibate clergy are hoping to live there soon, to restart the monastic life, and help develop the centre. There is room for several different expressions of monastic life, including male and female monasteries, but for the immediate future we hope there will be enough people to reestablish the monastic life in one community. Archbishop Damaskinos giving ikon cards to some of the children who were at the service The parish of St Demetrius has been in existence for some time, and serves those those live to the south and west pf Pretoria, including those at the children's home in Atteridgeville. Eventually it is hoped to build a church in Atteridgeville too, and indeed the foundations have been laid, but in the mean time the congregation in Atteridgeville has readers services, and are brought to St Demetrius by taxi for the Divine Liturgy. With the possibility of more priests living at the monastery, it will also be possible to have more regular services at the parish church of St Demetrius. It is also hoped, with the blessing of Archbishop Damaskinos, to have youth gatherings, to bring together young peoiple from different parishes, and have some teaching on the Orthodox Christiasn faith. It wouold also be a place for people of all ages from different parishes to come together, and Archbishop Damaskinos spoke of the possibility of holding such a celebration later this year. When the Most High came down and confused the tongues He divided the nations but when He distributed the tongues of fire He called all to unity therefore with one voice we glorify the all-holy Spirit (Kontakion for Pentecost) The Monastery of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is a place for people of all nations, and it was fitting that on the feast of the Descnet of the Holy Spirit people of several different nationas and languages gathered. St Demetrius Church, the biggest church at the monastery Please pray for the Archbishop and the Archdiocese of Johannesburg and Pretoria, and for the Holy Community of New Sion, that through their efforts, guided by the Holy Spirit, Orthodox monasticism may be established in southern Africa.