God is no Unjust Judge

Sermon preached at Trinity, Houston 2013.  The first in a series on naming the names.

Check out this episode!

My Last Full Day in Cape Coast, Ghana, October 17

This morning began early. We had to all be ready for the bus to take us to the service at the Cathedral.  Yesterday I had been asked to preach at the service commemorating The Rev. Thomas Thompson and The Rev. Philip Quaque.  I thought it would be a little service; then a few of us would take the wreath over to his tomb and that would be that.

So here is the story in brief...The Rev. Thomas Thompson was an SPG missionary and he brought the Anglican Church to the Gold Coast during the slave trade era.  He essentially was a colonialist (SPG even had been given several plantations that profited from the slave trade).  It is REALLY a wild story.  So Thompson decides to take three eleven year old boys back with him to England to learn to be priests and then they could be sent back to spread Anglicanism throughout the area of Cape Coast.  Two of the boys died in transit the third was Philip.  He grew up in England, lost his tribal tongue and traditions and then married a white woman.  He completed his studies in England and he returned to the Gold Coast to start the church.  He was given a small room at the "slave" castle and a room from which to do services.  Just below the room were three dungeons housing over 1,000 men for shipping to the Caribbean and United States.  Philip had an awful time and really couldn't get much started; no one today is surprised. Beyond the slave trade issues, Philip's ministry was hampered by bad luck and a lack of funding.  Even his wife died in childbirth.  Philip did not give up though and did begin a small school.  Thompson (who had theologically defended slavery) and Quaque (who tried to do mission to a native population from a slave castle) are complicated figures in the least.

What was interesting is that as I would speak to our new friends here and I would say these two men are very complex figures in the history of this country and our own!  I would ask, how do you deal with the problems that flow through their narrative?  The answer was always the same.  Without Thompson there is no Quaque to bring the Anglican Church here, without them we might not be here.

God has a way of redeeming the world.  God has a way of redeeming us.

Philip remains highly regarded for being the first African ordained in the Anglican Church and the first African missionary.

The service was anything but small! There were a lot of people there. There were tons of school children for this is a holiday after they go to church.

We had a beautiful service.  I will upload my sermon; with translation.  And, some videos. Everyone was taking videos of the service...including the seminarians, so I joined in during the offertory.

When the service was over the Bishop led us out of the Cathedral and across the street to the slave castle where we laid a wreath at the tomb of Philip Quaque who is buried in the middle of the Cape Coast Castle compound.  It was truly powerful.  As I laid the wreath on the tomb I was so mindful of our own history in Texas with the slave trade and our part in participating in an abomination that is difficult to fathom and describe.

When the service was over our group received a free tour.  We started out with a video that described the world of Ghana prior to the arrival of the traders.  Then how the trading industry grew from gold and spices to people until it was a massive industry; the British, Portuguese, and Dutch even giving weapons to the people so they could be at war with one another and then turn their captives over to the slavers.  We then took a tour of the museum which was well done.

I wasn't allowed to take pictures. I will say that it was powerful and moving and sad.  One part of the museum was where we walked into a room that was built like a ship and learned about how the africans were crammed into the ship.

Then we walked out of that room onto an auction block - very moving indeed.  One of our group ask how many died and why did they keep doing it with so many deaths?  The answer was that, "Over half of the men and women taken into slavery every made it to an owner.  But the price was so high for the individual human beings that it remained a profitable export."

The castle was originally built by the Portuguese who lost it in war to the Swedes. The Swedes lost it to Norway and Norway in turn lost it to the British.  The British took over in 1664.  For over two hundred years they would house 200 men and women per cell rotating them out.  

Estimates of the number of slaves transported from Africa vary from 12 million to 25 million – one estimate says that in 1700, at the height of the slave trade, more than 650,000 slaves were exported in that year alone – but whatever the numbers, they're huge, and most of these slaves came from West Africa and the Congo-Angola region. The trade started in the 1500s and over the next 300 years they were shipped out in what has become known as the African Diaspora, with one-third ending up in Brazil, one-third in the Caribbean islands and the rest throughout the Americas. The slave trade did not completely end until the 1870s, though Britain abolished its slave trade in 1807, signaling an end to Cape Coast's role in transporting slaves.

There were over 40 such forts across the coast of Africa, 30 were in Ghana. Two are within a 30 minute drive from one another.

After we were finished began to make our way through the castle.  We first went past the trading room where the slavers would bargain for the shipment, then we made our way through to the court and then the living quarters.  

We then descended into the slave cells.  

Only after excavating underneath the human waste in 1974 did they realize there was a brick floor beneath.

The men were taken through a tunnel to the front of the fort.  The tunnel began in this room which is the sorting room.  Only the strongest were sold; the others were left to die in the cells. The guide reminded us that the slave trade was not just about slavery but the control of the population still at home through the means of torture and terror.  

We then went to the women's cells.  The cells were even worse for the women.  A greater percentage of the women died because of the illness and disease.

We then made our way out of The Door of No Return.  Here our pilgrimage walk ended.

We paused together and prayed asking God's forgiveness upon us and all humanity.  We were surrounded by fishermen.  We were quiet for a long time.

The guide told us to look up and there on top of the door on the outside was written "the door of return."  

We were told that in 1974 people began to make their way back to Ghana from the islands and the US and South America...everywhere people settled after slavery, and, they would make their return voyage home...so it is here that I begin our journey home as well.  

As I walked out I saw one of our members sitting and visiting and learning how to mend nets.  

I will post the sermon and some videos on my Facebook page soon.

Our Third Day in Cape Coast, Ghana, October 17

We were up early for a long day of visiting people today.  We were greeted with a bit of a rainy morning.

We began our day at an eye clinic which sees over 16,000 people a year and helps with every kind of thing you can imagine. They do basic eye care as well as surgery.  The staff is doing amazing work and the place was well cared for and in the process of expanding. They desperately need new equipment and would like to raise the money to get the equipment overseas.  They will need approximately 30,000 U.S. dollars to get everything in and set up.  This will enable them to do cataract surgery the way we do it in the U.S.  They have the trained doctors, just need to get the equipment here.  This is their cost for an up to date clinic.  They are continuing to add on. Amazing work...truly amazing.

We then made our way to St. Nicholas Seminary.  It was founded in 1975.  It is the center of training for West Africa. It is an Independent Anglican Seminary and its dean (Victor) has been elected the new bishop of the Cape Coast. He has served on the Anglican Doctrinal Commission, The Covenant Design Group, and now the Indaba group.  

Today Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Guinea, Sudan, and Western Sierra Leone all have students there.  It has raised up and trained 4 missionary bishops.  Currently there are 40 students. We were able to visit with them and they were wonderful!  They train men and women; though they don't have the dormitory space they would like. So, they are building the dormitory as we speak as well as a new chapel.

They were wonderful hosts and sang with us and we shared our experiences as leaders and as seminarians. I love spending time with seminarians anyway...so this was a delight.

We closed the day with a trip to one of the finest and best run boys school in Ghana...its name...you guessed it St. Nicholas.  It was begun as a school to raise up African priests.  Its first buildings were built in the afternoons by the students after class and can still be seen today.  They have all faiths at the school but have Anglican worship for all the main school events and on Sundays (with other worship provided).  Here are pictures of the school bell tower that rings the kids to awake and to class, the hand bell at the head's desk in the cafeteria, and a sign from the cafeteria that reads, "manners make the man."

We were able to go to the hotel for a little while. My friend the horse greeted me. We did a quick turnaround and were at a nice reception at the bishop's home to visit with the diocesan leaders.

Our Second Day in Ghana, October 15

Today we woke up and had a lovely breakfast overlooking the Cape Coast. We then piled into the bus for what was going to be an exciting day!  We went first to the Bishop's Court.  There we met with Bishop Daniel in a more formal setting.  He welcomed us and we were given water. In the tradition of the tribe here water is a sign of a hospitality. We received our water and then we were introduced to the Bishop Coadjutor elect Dean Victor.  He is the dean of the seminary and a rector.  We also met the various leaders of the diocese including the headmistress of the school at the Bishop's Court.

The bishop then spoke these words: "I am Bishop Daniel and I am the servant of the servants of God."  Wow!  What a wonderful way to begin.  He then talked with us for a while focusing his conversation on the unity of God's diverse creation.  He was passionate about God's love and joy in diversity; unity and not uniformity.  Then Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, and Canon John Peterson, former Secretary General and current President of the Compass Rose Society spoke.  We each introduced ourselves.  It is at these moments that I am proud to represent the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.  Both Bishop-elect Victor and Bishop Daniel were delightful. Bishop Daniel was humble and kind.  He is very wise to be sure.

When we were done we were taken by Bishop Daniel to meet the tribal chief of the Cape Coast.  His name is Osabarimba Kwesi Atta, the second.  We were brought in with drums and singing.

We then greeted the tribal council and they greeted us. We were given water to refresh us. Then there was an exchange of greetings. Once again there were introductions all around.  Afterward I found out that one of the woman chiefs (for both men and women can serve as a tribal chief/elder) has a sister in TEXAS! It is truly a small world.  Then there was a lot of dancing.  I joined in of course and there was a great deal of love and happiness and joy in the room. It was a powerful experience of welcome.

Then Chief Osabarimba talked with us.  He is an Anglican choir member and often is known to speak and quote the bible at the local church where he attends.  He did so in fact with us and he repeated the message that we are all part of God's family, that we are to love one another, that we are to follow Christ and to serve God.  Bible verses floated in and out of the message he had for us.

Afterwards we shared smoked octopus while we talked a bit.  Then the most gracious thing happened. We had of course presented the chief with the Jerusalem tile of the Compass Rose, in turn he gave each pilgrim a gift.  Truly generous!  Then I was humbled to be invited to pray a blessing upon the chief which I did.  What a gracious moment for me.  Afterwards we took pictures with him and visited with the tribal council before going to visit the Cathedral Church.

Christ Church Cathedral is across from the British slave trading fort! Today it is a lively center of the Ghanian Church here in Cape Coast.  With a mix of worship from drums to the hymn book they are a growing and thriving congregation.  The Dean greeted us as did the staff and we were able to hear about the work they are doing.  We learned that Canon Peterson and Canon Kearon would be made honorary Canons of the Church of the Cape Coast an the Cathedral there!

We had lunch, then journeyed to see the Portuguese slave trading cite. We will visit the British Castle on Thursday. Here is the entry to the slave castle.

What I am amazed at is how the tragedy of war and slavery and the diversity of tribal communities has impacted the culture here in a very profound way.  The focus of ministry here is unity, love, a focus on Jesus and the spreading of the Gospel, and a true desire to be Anglicans and to form Anglicans.  Because, Anglican spirituality is a faith of reconciliation and love where all people can come together and be one family.

It was a good and beautiful day.

Our First Day in Ghana: Monday, October 14

We slept well and were up and at breakfast which was a lovely omlette and fresh fruit with coffee.  We immediately packed up and got on the bus and headed to the Cathedral to greet the bishop, see the cathedral and to visit the tomb of the first African president of Ghana.

We arrived and took a tour of the cathedral.  The Anglican Church of West Africa was founded here in Ghana; we would find out that is was spicifically founded in the Gold Coast area.  

The great missionary work was undertaken by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG).  They sent out bishops who then raised up leaders and missionaries to further spread the Gospel throughout the mission districts. 

Trinity Church once collected rain water into a great cistern in order to provide clean water for the people.  Here is a picture of the rain gutter.

It also started schools.  While the cistern doesn't work anymore the diocese in Accra is growing and seeking to become self sufficient.  Below is a picture of one of the school houses and a picture of a few boys.  They were in trouble and so had been sent out to the carpark to get their hair cut.  The young man cutting the hair was doing a fine job and the boys were willing to visit and drag out the plan (skipping as much school as possible).

The next stop was the Presidential Tomb of Kwame Nkrumah.  While he was exiled after a coup (sponsored by the U.S.) he had been a builder of Ghana's future. He had built a great deal of infrastructure including a very important dam project. He was part of the Independence from the colonial power of Britain and proclaimed Ghanian Independence on the polo field - which is now the presidential tomb and museum complex.

We then visited with the Bishop Torto of Accra.  He is called Bishop Daniel (there are two bishop Daniels here in Ghana).  We greeted the bishop and talked about the mission of the communion and the mission of the Compass Rose Society.  Bishop Daniel has been a bishop for one year.  He was delightful.  We talked about his focus on liturgy (bringing in drums), mission and growth, and youth as his priorities.  The Diocese is engaging in a number of projects to increase the Independence of the diocese.  He said that the diocese was focused on empowerment of leaders, spirituality, financial stability, ecology and health.  He was presented with a Jerusalem made tile of the Compass Rose.  

We then went and had a traditional meal in Ghana outside under this stunning tree.  I had fish, pepper sauce, and banku (a dough you eat with your hands combining the peppers and fish together).  Kofi, our leader and a priest, seminary professor, and rector said, "You are a brave man."  It was good to be sure...though a little messy.

We then headed off to the Cape Coast.  Along the way there were many street vendors selling plantain chips, cd's, sweet rolls, nuts, clothing items, and souvenirs...all walking up and down the street.

It was a four hour bus drive to our hotel and we got in very late.  We arrived late and Bishop Daniel (of Cape Coast) was there to great us!  We ate a quick bite to eat after checking in and went to bed in order to get some rest.