Thursday, July 29, 2010

Bishop Praises ‘Brave and Faithful’ Church


From The Living Church-

Reports about thefts, rapes and murders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and of mass attacks that create refugees in the tens of thousands, are not abstractions for the Bishop of Winchester.

The Rt. Rev. Michael Scott–Joynt, Bishop of Winchester since 1995, became the patron of the Congo Church Association more than a decade ago. He has visited the nation five times since becoming the association’s patron.

His most recent visit was just after Easter, when he offered Bible meditations for Congolese Anglicans’ small House of Bishops. During Bishop Scott–Joynt’s visit, a renegade militia attacked the Bishop of Bukavu, the Rt. Rev. Bahati Bali Busane Sylvestre, and his family at home.

“I heard two days ago of attacks and fighting and killings in an area I have visited,” Bishop Scott–Joynt told The Living Church in a telephone interview July 21. “I have sat in homes with bishops and been told, ‘You’re safe now, but we must leave soon.’”

The bishop said he first became acquainted with Congolese bishops during the Lambeth Conference of 1998.

“I receive enormously from them,” he said. The bishop said he has learned “a lot about the New Testament and a lot about living as a Christian” from his Congolese brothers and sisters.

The bishop said he’s become especially aware that the suffering in the DRC reflects the story of the Church throughout history.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/7/29/bishop-praises-brave-and-faithful-church

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