About our New Parish Rector – Revd Melany Adonis

Revd Melany Adonis & husband, Hilton

11 May 2023

Dear Friends in Christ

Heartfelt greetings to each and everybody. I was asked to share a little of my story as introduction of who Melany Adonis is…

I am servant of God – our Creator, Christ our Redeemer and the Holy Spirit our Sanctifier, serving God’s Church since 1999. I am wife and married to Hilton for the past 31 years without whom I would not have made it thus far. We have been blessed with two amazing gifts – Joy and Stephano, our children who both live and work in Paarl. Apart from being mother, I am also daughter and very blessed to still have our mother, Judith Arendse, on earth. Mum also lives in Paarl. I am also sister to brothers and sisters from both the Arendse and Adonis clans. We thank God for the wonderful support and love we receive from our family.

By the grace of God, I was born into a teaching family with grandparents and parents being teachers. I also qualified as a teacher and taught for 10 years before I resigned. As teachers, my parents served the community and I grew up with a strong sense of community. I enjoy being with others – teaching, learning, supporting, serving and having fun as we journey together. I am also more of an introvert and therefore need enough time alone to reflect and pray.

God blessed me with different opportunities to learn. I was able to attend COTT and complete my Diploma in Theology after which I had the opportunity to complete a Post-Grad Diploma in Theology and Mth in Old Testament at SU. After ten years I was again afforded the opportunity to study and completed an Mth in Practical Theology.

I am grateful for the different opportunities to serve God in the Church. I have been an assistant in different contexts, a lecturer at COTT, and rector in different contexts. All of these were opportunities to learn and grow for which I thank God.

May this snippet of my story assist you as you prepare for this transition – for the new part of the journey of the Parish of Formosa with me.

God bless us all together as we pray and listen for God’s guidance.

Sincerely Yours,
Melany

Brunch – Feast of St Peter

Our Patronal Feast of St Peter the Confessor was held on Sunday 22 January 2023, following St. Peter’s “Feast of Title” on 18 January. Sunday’s gathering was a joyous celebration in the Lord, with the service being taken with grace and serenity by Reverend Stephanie who urged us to follow St Peter’s example and go out and “confess” the Lord. The choir sang “Thanks be the Thee”, the beautiful anthem by GF Handel, and the equally beautiful hymn “Now is the moment”, which was composed by Joost de Blank (the archbishop of Cape Town from 1957 to 1963 who was known as the “scourge of apartheid” for his ardent opposition to the whites-only policies of the then South African government). Both pieces of music had been chosen by Jacquie Bass for her 90th birthday which coincidentally occurred on the same day as the service. This was followed by an uplifting and gracious dance of worship by Zoe Pockpass. And then we sat down to a veritable feast in the hall. The meal came together thanks to the combined efforts of a small group of people and was enjoyed by some 40 members of the congregation including visitors. Many responded generously to the request for voluntary donations. We look forward to our next gathering!

Feast of St Paul – Letter from Fr Edwin

The Parish of Formosa consists of six populated Chapelries, namely St. Peter’s and St. Monica’s in Plettenberg Bay, St. Paul’s in Covie, St Simon’s in Kranshoek, St. Chad’s in Harkerville, St. Michael and All Angels in the Crags, Kurland and a former that has fallen in disuse simply as a result of the migration of people, namely St. Andrew’s at Redbourne. It is my wish and hope that we will continue to celebrate the invaluable contribution made to ministry not only by those Patron Saints whom we honour, but also the toil and labours of lay and ordained leaders and congregants over many years.

We today 25 January, congratulate and thank all the members, supporters, benefactors, and friends of St. Paul’s, Covie on the celebration of their Patronal Feast.

As your Rector and friend, I offer you my paternal congratulations on your Patronal Feast Day as we reflect on an extract from “Saints and Seasons.”

St. Paul, or Saul as he was known until he became a Christian, was born at Tarsus in what is known as Asia Minor. He was brought up in the strictest Jewish orthodoxy, studying for a time under Gamaliel, the most famous Rabbi of the day. It was but a few years after the death of Jesus that he first met with the new Christian movement, and he became one of the most fanatical of those within the Jewish church who were determined to stamp out the dangerous heresy which had sprung up in its midst. His conversion on the road to Damascus was the turning point of his life. Believing that he had been specially privileged to see the risen and ascended Christ (I Corinthians 15:8), the motive of his life from that day on was to spend and be spent (2 Corinthians 12:15) in Christ’s service. The Acts of the Apostles describes the dauntless courage and determination which led to his planting Christian congregations over a large area of the land bordering on the Eastern Mediterranean. His letters reveal him to be the first and greatest of the interpreters of the mind of Christ and laid the foundations of Christian Theology.

Tradition remembers him as small and insignificant in appearance, bald and bandy-legged(2 Corinthians 10:10); a more illuminating description is perhaps to be found in his famous chapter on love (I Corinthians13), which many have seen as an unwitting self-portrait. 

I want specially to assure you of my prayers for the rural community of St. Paul’s, Covie, and to express my gratitude to each of you for your perseverance in your calling amid the many trials you faced over the years. Each of us has our own challenges, and our own vocation, but we rely on the Lord, and on each other, for the strength to endure and to triumph in our ministry, the ministry of all believers as ministers in the order of Melchizedek.

So, we look not to do great things, but to contribute some small part and may we all persevere in our humble calling and take our place in service to God and people. Once more, I extend my paternal congratulations on your altar feast, and I wish you a joyous celebration in the Lord. Finally, we give thanks and glory to Almighty God for all things!