The Official Blog of the Lichfield Cathedral Youth Fellowship visit to the Diocese of Matlosane, South Africa

21st-29th October 2011




The Diocese of Matlosane

The Diocese of Matlosane covers over half the North West Province of South Africa, an area of 24,432 sq. mls., is 165 miles from north to south as the crow flies and 145 miles from west to east.

The Diocese is organised into 4 Archdeaconries, North, Central, Cathedral, and South. The Church of the Resurrection at Ikageng (Ika-heng) was inaugurated as the Cathedral in 2004, the first Cathedral to be established in a township in South Africa.

In October 2009 there were 41 clergy in the Diocese: Bishop Stephen, Bishop Sigisbeth (ret’d), 36 priests and 3 Deacons.

Of the priests, 2 are retired, 3 others over retirement age, and 21 are Self Supporting. There are only two white clergy, one of whom is over retirement age.

The clergy serve 20 parish churches, most of which have daughter churches and a very large number of outstations. The majority of the congregations are black, and there are over 80,000 communicants in the Diocese, some of whom receive the sacrament very infrequently due to lack of transport.

There are also 2 ordinands in full time training at the College of the Transfiguration, one paid for by Lichfield Diocese.



Wednesday 26 October 2011

Day 5: Museum visits

We'll post more detail as soon as we get a chance.  But yesterday, Tuesday, we spent at the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto and the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. 




It was disturbing, in a good way.  In the evening, we ate out in the courtyard of some members of the Cathedral congregation, in a simple township dwelling.  It was beautiful.

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