Report on Receiving of CHN Sisters into Diocese

For many of us the idea of Anglican nuns and monks seem foreign and yet Anglicanism possesses a rich tradition of religious orders. By their lifestyles of poverty, chastity and obedience these men and women seek to literally obey our Lord’s command: “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that you have cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33). They are living signs to us – challenging our attachment to this world and our belief in eternal realities. They call us by their lives of renunciation to ground ourselves in a lifestyle of worship, witness and service.   In the busy and ever increasing speed of this world we are desperately in need of such signs, to remind us of the goal.

Valentines’ Day 2009 saw the receiving of a new religious order into the Diocese of Christ the King. Within the ancient walls of St Peter’s Priory Church we welcomed Sisters: Nondimiso (sister-in-charge), Nokuthula (Victoria), Nonhlahla, Ntswaki (Eunice) and Maureen who will form a new branch of the Community of the Holy Name (CHN) in Rosettenville.

Bishop Peter in his sermon, reflected on the history of the place and how each religious community that lived there, held out for us a mystery of our faith, expressed through their lives and the name of their community. He reminded us of the hope of the Resurrection held out for us by the brothers of the Community of the Resurrection, even within the dark days of Apartheid. Then he recalled the gentle ministry of the Holy Spirit manifested in the lives of the sisters of the Order of the Holy Paraclete. And now we receive with joy the CHN sisters whose mission is none other than to glorify and proclaim the Holy Name of Jesus.

Those ancient walls of St Peter’s, filled with history and prayer, seemed to resound with a new sense of holy joy as the exuberance of the CHN sisters filtered through the holy space. Even the Bishop had to blush when they presented him with a “Valentine Gift”. Anyone who comes into the presence of these Sisters will automatically find themselves smiling or bursting into an uncontrollable flood of laughter - for no other reason, except that they literally embody the joy of knowing and loving Jesus.  The Lord himself offers us a new wave of his Spirit in the ministry of the CHN sisters of Rosettenville.

So on behalf of the Diocese of Christ the King we welcome the CHN sisters into our lives and ministry as we seek to uplift the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN.

Father Kumeran.