Monthly Newsletter from Fr. Michael G. Schwarte, Priest in Charge
Fr. Michael G. Schwarte
Email Fr. Schwarte at stmarkstroypriest@gmail.com
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January 10, 2022
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9 Less than a month ago on December 26th 2021 Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu died in Cape Town, South Africa, he was 90 years old. Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on October 7th 1931 to a schoolteacher and laundress in Transvall, South Africa. Though he wanted a medical career, Tutu was unable to afford training and instead became a schoolteacher to high school students. That career ended as a result of an act that relegated Blacks to inadequately funded schools in 1957. After he resigned his post as a high school teacher he attended St. Peter’s Theological College in Johannesburg and was ordained an Anglican priest in 1961. In 1962 he moved to London, where in 1966 he earned his M.A. from King’s College London. He returned to South Africa and taught school as well as administered scholarship funds as the associate director for the World Council of Churches. He was appointed dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg in 1975, the first Black South African to hold that position. In 1975 he was elected Bishop of Lesotho and held that position until 1978 when Tutu accepted an appointment as the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches and became a leading spokesperson for the rights of Black South Africans. In the 1980’s, racial unrest due to the lack of equality was a daily news item drawing national and international attention to the iniquities of apartheid. Apartheid for our younger readers is the racial segregation and economic discrimination against the nonwhite majority in the Republic of South Africa. Tutu became one of the predominant voices for equality and peace through nonviolent means. His peaceful opposition to violence in response to such injustices was legend. In 1984 the Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to Tutu and sent a significant message to South African President P.W. Botha. In 1985, Tutu was installed as Johannesburg’s first Black Anglican Bishop, and in 1986 he was elected the first Black archbishop of Cape Town, thus becoming the primate of South African’s 1.6-million-member Anglican church. In 1988 Tutu took a position as chancellor of the University of the Western Cape in Bellville, South Africa. In 1995 South African President Nelson Mandela appointed Tutu head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated allegations of human rights abuses during the apartheid era. Tutu’s theology of restorative justice and his introduction of ubuntu to the rest of the world have born marvelous fruit. Ubuntu is a Zulu proverb that says: “I am a person through other people. ... Archbishop Desmond Tutu explained it this way: “One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu — the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. Well done, good and faithful servant… Enter into the joy of your master. Matthew 25:23 Fr. Michael Schwarte D.Min |
St. Mark's Staff
Organist - Dr. John Jinright
Choir Director - Dr. Catherine Allard
Sexton - Dorothy Green
Groundskeeper - David Darnell
Choir Director - Dr. Catherine Allard
Sexton - Dorothy Green
Groundskeeper - David Darnell