For over thirty years, the dioceses of Oxford and K&K have been sharing in mission.
The link is lived out in partnerships that connect people in parishes and ministries throughout both dioceses.
Snapshot
The Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, also known as K&K, is located in the northwest part of South Africa and covers an area about the size of Germany, including substantial parts of the Northern Cape and North West provinces. It includes 46 parishes, many of them with multiple outstations. The churches are diverse in nature - large and small, in urban and rural settings, conducting worship in Tswana, Afrikaans, English, Xhosa and Sotho.
Bishop Brian Marajh was enthroned as K&K's bishop in 2021.
Find out more about the diocese and cathedral.
Historically, the diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman has come together for a 'family weekend' once a year - sometimes as a whole diocese, sometimes by archdeaconry. Alistair Andrews created a video from his photographs of the 2018 Family Weekend - a literal 'snapshot' of the diocese.
Our work together
Our partnership in the Gospel takes many forms. At diocesan level, we both share in prayer and reflection and work jointly on different areas of mission. Parish-to-parish links enable particular communities to develop strong friendships and partnerships of prayer and action.
Diocesan work
The diocesan links are founded on mutual friendship in Christ and shared learning. Over the years, we have presented at each other's diocesan conferences, shared thoughts around specific areas of work, and engaged in some larger scale projects together. This year, we held our 2nd link summit, bringing together people from both dioceses to share in worship, study, and discussion of key questions relating to our mission.
Sharing in prayer: read the November K and K Prayer Diary
Find out more about the 2023 Link Summit
- Members of the K&K leadership have spoken at our diocesan conferences for clergy and lay members of the diocese. We, in turn, have worked with them on clergy schools and gatherings.
- In 2017, we identified some key concerns - making disciples, care for creation, poverty and inequality and the role of young people in the church - that are shared on both sides. In a summit held in Kimberley, 30 people from each diocese reflected on these questions, responses for each context and how we could support each other. You can read about the summit in a collection of stories here.
- In 2019, we initiated a youth exchange programme. The hope is that this programme will enable young people from K&K to broaden their experiences and to help Diocese of Oxford parishes to have a better understanding of the languages and cultures of K&K, so that we can deepen our relationships. In the first instance, a young person from K and K, Ona, came for a year to Warfield Parish, where she shared in the parish's youth work and also did online Setswana language tutoring.
- The diocese has worked alongside K&K leadership, including the Social Development Officer and, more recently, the Action and Outreach Committee on projects in K&K relating to capacity building, access to food, and HIV/AIDS. We sponsored a session in which a group working on access to food in Boegoeberg and groups working on sustainability in south Oxfordshire met to exchange experiences and ideas and members of the K and K SAFCEI group have spoken at a 'Green Shoots' online meeting.
Parish links
Vision
What does it mean to be a link parish? It's about sharing together in God's mission through prayer and action, learning from each other and growing together in love of God and neighbour. The following quote from the agreement signed by Huhudi and Moulsford gives a picture:
“We, the above, rejoicing in our unity as brothers and sisters in the Lord, wish to encourage each other in the work of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and building the kingdom of God in our communities."
"We wish to grow together in understanding and love and to learn from each other about our calling, our vision and the challenges that face us. We will seek to achieve this by: regular communication and, where possible, personal visits, the giving and receiving of practical and spiritual support, the assurance of our love and prayers."
There are currently six parish-to-parish links Batlharos/Newbury Deanery, Huhudi/Moulsford, Lacey Green/Kuruman, Ritchie/Hitcham, St Cyprians/Christ Church (cathedrals), Taung/Summertown and Wolvercote - as well as two parish-to-programme links, Hope for the Living (Roodepan)/Thame and The Burning Bush Project/Dorchester Team.
Finding out more
- Take a look at short summaries from:
Interested in becoming a link parish?
Get in touch with the Link Chair and Link Co-ordinator, whose details are below. They'll be able to start the process by telling you more about what a link entails and finding out about your parish's hopes and expectations.
Contact
The Revd Canon Sue Booys
Kimberley & Kuruman Link Chair
01865 340 007
The Revd Canon Nick Molony
Link Coordinator
01844 273 895
Maranda St John Nicolle
PWM Project Officer
07493 377 580