The Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr, Cape Town

Today, people have come from all over the world to mark a very significant moment in the life of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. For some, if not all of us, it is inconceivable - Anglicanism in south Africa is almost synonymous with the name of Desmond Tutu. But Desmond would be the first to reject that image, and to point us all to God, and the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the vision of the Kingdom of God which has been the inspiration of the people of South Africa; it is the crucified and risen Christ who has walked with his people - a long walk to freedom.

So it is in the context of our faith in the God who is for us that we come to celebrate the life of the Church, and the churches, within which the ministry of Desmond Tutu has been nurtured and now reaches its formal end. I must beware of this beginning to sound like as funeral oration. No-one could possibly imagine that we have heard the last of Desmond yet! And those of us who are visitors today join together in this celebration with you, the people of South Africa together with your President, who is so greatly admired throughout the world, and leaders of your neighbouring nations of Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, and no doubt others who have been inextricably bound up in this great journey, the Road to Freedom.

That marvellous passage from Roman gives us a firm foundation from which to build our appreciation of the Church's ministry over the past thirty years and more.

quot;We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."

The ministry of the Church of South Africa, and in other parts of the Province as well, has been a shining example of that calling - a calling which requires us to be a Good Friday people, an Easter people and a Pentecost people. Let me briefly explore those three descriptions a little further.

(a) A Good Friday People

None of us who come from beyond these borders can really enter into the experience of the African people.

The horrifying reality of life may be summed up in a description from the deeply moving autobiography of HE President Mandela.

"It was a crime to walk through a Whites Only door, a crime to ride a Whites Only bus, a crime to use a Whites Only drinking fountain, a crime to walk on a Whites Only beach, a crime to be on the streets after 11.00 pm, a crime not to have a passbook, and a crime to have the wrong signature in that book, a crime to be unemployed and a crime to be employed in the wrong place, a crime to live in certain places and a crime to have no place to live."

But whilst some can only look back in horror at what was allowed to develop, here in the country, at enormous personal cost, figures of great courage and prophetic witness refused to submit to the oppression. Some of them are here today. Some are names who are known the world over, many more will be remembered as unnamed, unsung heroes - as Desmond said, when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984:

"This award is for you - three and a half million of our people who have been uprooted and dumped as if they were rubbish. The world says that we recognise you, we recognise that you are a people who love peace."

Today is an opportunity to salute this struggle. You have walked the way of the Cross. Together you are seeking to build a new South Africa. It is not an easy task, problems remain, antagonism is not at an end. The Cross remains a part of your experience as it does for so many people across the world. It was one of your great leaders, Chief Albert Luthuli, who drew up his Statement of Principles in 1952, when he was forced to give up his Chiefdom because of his membership of the ANC, and entitled it:

"The Road to Freedom is via the Cross"

How prophetic was that title. Its author was a deeply committed Christian, and he knew that the way of the Cross is the only way for Christian people. But we need to be reminded of it. Over and over again. Wherever people are hurting, wherever they are downtrodden, wherever they hunger, or are homeless, wherever the light has dimmed, and hope is lost, there we know Christ will be; and there too should his disciples be, standing alongside, sharing the journey of suffering, reassuring the people that they are not alone, not forgotten. This is not a detached and patronising companionship, but one which should deeply affect both the carer and the cared for.

(b) An Easter People

But the task of the Church does not end there any more than the story of Jesus Christ ends with the Cross. We are Good Friday people but we are also Easter people. The Cross, the instrument of torture and death, is transformed, in Christ, into a vehicle of hope and new life.

In South Africa, the Churches have always proclaimed a message of hope amidst the suffering. That remarkable paper known as the Kairos document, published in 1985 by a group of South African theologians proclaimed:

"At the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and at the very centre of all true prophecy is a message of hope... We believe that God is at work in our world turning hopeless and evil situations to good so that God's Kingdom may come and God's will may be done on earth as it is in heaven."

I have often noted how central to hope is laughter and singing. For me the story of South Africa and Desmond's laughter has been inseparable. Quick to protest over injustice, his irrepressible joy with good, noble things has been outstanding. His laughter ringing out has given courage and confidence to a downtrodden people. Many of us who had the privilege of being present at the Inauguration of Nelson Mandela as President will never forget the joy of that day - the singing, the drums beating out their messages of hope and all combining in a wonderful hymn of joy, reconciliation and hope. But isn't this the story of South Africa? Isn't this so often what you have shared with the rest of the world? An African once said to me: "When we stop singing will be the day when we lose hope and die". The song of South Africa must continue until all are truly free and equal and able to share the resources which God has given this fair land.

(c) A Pentecost People

But there is the third element to our life as the people of God. In aligning ourselves with the suffering of humanity, and keeping open the doorway of hope and promise, we are also called to live as a redeemed people. That new life which the Risen Christ promises must be signalled to the world in the way we live and behave now.

I always remember the wonderful story of Desmond's first encounter with his great friend and mentor, Trevor Huddleston, who so deeply impressed Desmond by the simple act of doffing his hat to Desmond's mother. The quality of the life we live as God's people will, to a great extent, determine the effectiveness of our mission. That remains the challenge to the Churches here in South Africa, as it does all over the world. Can we sustain an image of the Kingdom of God, however imperfect, in all that we do as a Church? Well, we need to remember that God gave us, and continues to give us the gift of the holy Spirit to enable us to discern the way which is right. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" Paul writes. We are equipped. We have all that is needed, but we must choose to act for and with God.

This has been a constant theme of Desmond Tutu's, throughout his ministry. A fearless and outspoken critic of all that is unjust, a constant and unflinching companion of his sisters and brothers who were suffering. During the dark days when President Mandela was in prison his was one of the few voices heard in my country and abroad. He has remained wholly committed to his great vision of a rainbow people of God, reconciled to one another, living in a rich harmony of culture and creed, inclusive rather than exclusive, working together for the common good, rather than against each other for personal gain or accolade. This, truly, is a picture of a Pentecost people, a people whose hearts are filled with the love of God. It is a vision to which the New South Africa is committed. It is a vision to which we should all be committed. It is a vision which this broken world desperately needs to catch. The Christian faith is soaked in it. May the Holy Spirit break through the barriers we construct, that the world may see and rejoice in the love and joy and peace which comes from God.

But I would be failing in my task if I stopped there, for in spite of all I have said, and all that Desmond has stood for, this farewell is to a person, and individual, wonderfully partnered by Leah and their family. Today we salute you too, Leah. Thank you for being the great support, an anchor and a marvellous companion who has shared Desmond's story and journey. Desmond is one of a handful of people who is instantly known and recognised throughout the world. He has been an extraordinary Ambassador for Christ, and will continue to be so. A man so prophetic could never be universally popular, nor would he have wished to be. Even amongst his friends, he has never been comfortable, for he expects the best possible of everyone. He sets high demands on himself, and looks to others to do the same. But there are few who could hold hundreds of students at Oxford University entranced throughout a mission as he did last year; few who could defuse a difficult and even potentially dangerous situation so effectively with that infectious laugh together with a few carefully chosen words; few who could stand so steadfastly against earthly powers, and still command such respect.

Desmond, on Thursday the BBC did a nice report on you. It ended with you and Leah ascending into the heavens in a hot air balloon. One thing we know about you is that your feet are firmly on the ground. But we all hope and pray that you and your Church of the Province of South Africa will continue to lift our sights heavenwards to the love of God which has been poured into our hearts.

The Archbishop went on to present Archbishop Tutu with a specially commissioned silver casket set on the top with malachite and a Canterbury Cross, the centre of which is set with a tanzanite stone (local to South Africa). The text of the presentation follows:

"Now, before I climb down from the pulpit, I want to acknowledge in a more material way, this momentous occasion.

But first, let me offer to you, Desmond, a message from your old friend, Bishop Trevor Huddleston, who was on the telephone on Friday. He said:

"Millions all over the world will be joining in tribute to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, for his life and work. Personally, it has been my greatest privilege to have known him from boyhood, and he has always remained a firm friend. He is a God-send in the field of truth and justice. Long may he live."

It has long been my intention to introduce a special award, which would be made only very rarely; an award to individuals from around the Anglican Communion who, through their lifetime, make a quite outstanding contribution to the life of the Communion, and to our own witness in the world. There could be no more suitable person to receive this first award. Desmond has given his life to the people of South Africa, and to preaching the Word of God through his life as well as his words, wherever he has gone in the world. It is my delight and my privilege to invite Desmond to receive the Archbishop of Canterbury's award for Outstanding Service to the Anglican Communion. And let us pray that as he moves into this new sphere of his ministry, he and Leah will continue to be richly blessed by God."