Immanuel van Tonder was ‘n predikant van die NG Kerk by Tukkies se universiteitsgemeente, Universiteitsoord. Hy het egter Suid-Afrika verlaat.

Hy glo dat die Bybel niks sê oor liefdevolle, homoseksuele verhoudings nie, maar dat die Bybel slegs sekere homoseksuele dade veroordeel. Kyk Wat van liefdevolle, gay verhoudings?

Die volgende artikel sê ook meer oor sy sieninge.

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South African pastor brings Buddhist skills to Clifton Park church

20 Nov 2021

Immanuel Van Tonder loved hiking and exploring South African mountain trails like this. Now, Clifton Park is his new home. He’ll copastor a church there and teach courses in mindfulness. When fall comes to South Africa, the jacaranda trees blossom in purple. Van Tonder says valleys look like violet rivers and shades of lilac and plum splash the mountainsides.

Clifton Park

Pastor Immanuel van Tonder can’t help but feel a bit homesick for South Africa in autumn, the season when the jacaranda trees blossom with every imaginable shade of purple, from pale lilac to plum. Mountainsides shimmer, cloaked in lavender. Tonder would hike steep paths to see riverbanks turn violet and lilac. He was born in Zimbabwe, the son of missionaries, and jacarandas flourished in his birthplace, too, covering roadsides with purple blooms and snowy lilies.

But he said goodbye to all that when he arrived here New York just in time for autumn to co-pastor a Christ Community Reformed Church in Clifton Park. Even though a warm autumn muted the fall colors, any homesickness Tonder felt was banished by wonder.

“I put a Go Pro camera on my car dashboard so I could capture the bronze and gold covering the mountains, the splashes of red while I drive down roads surrounded by orange and yellow,” Tonder said, dreamily.

Taking in the rich, endless details of a new world comes naturally to Tonder, 53, who’s studied Buddhism, meditation and mindful living. His wife, Monika, is a doctor with 28 years of emergency care experience. She shares his belief that mindfulness and meditation improve physical as well as spiritual and mental health. He’s already begun teaching online mindfulness courses.

“The credo of my life is: ‘Gloria Dei homo vivens’ — The glory of God is being fully human and fully alive,” he said.

Tonder attended South Africa’s University of Pretoria earning a theology degree with distinction and won the Abe Bailey Scholarship, which is presented to one student annually for excellence in leadership, service, and academics. He and Monika have a grown son and a daughter pursuing STEM careers.

Tonder did postgraduate studies in mindfulness at the University of Pretoria and in London. He says the courses he teaches are inclusive for people of all faiths as well as atheists.

One key mistake he sees Americans make is that they worry too much over how to meditate. When he teaches his congregation meditation, he advises them to focus on calmness and to not worry about holding one image steadily in mind. He explains that a person can remain calm even while thoughts jump around like a monkey darting through tree branches.

“Stay calm as you observe your monkey mind,” he quipped. “Some people think if they change their sad thoughts, they will be happier. But don’t block your dark thoughts. Let them roll by you while you remain calm, at an inner point of stillness, without getting hijacked into their slipstream.”

He also demonstrates how to use yoga to help calm the mind and body, a technique his wife used when she was working 14 hour days trying to save COVID patients. Mindfulness isn’t magic that changes reality. But she and her husband understand how mindfulness can help a believer navigate reality serenely and clearly.

(See the first session of his 6-week online mindfulness course at www.Mindfulness.art)

The next course is Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. Register or get more information by texting Immanuel Van Tonder at 347 328 4037.

Written by Lynda Edwards

Lynda Edwards is a reporter, editor of Faith & Values and content editor. She began her career at PBS Frontline and freelancing for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Washington Monthly and Miami Herald. She was a Nightly Business Report associate producer at PBS and worked for The Village Voice in New York and Miami, The Associate Press and Gannett and newspapers in Arizona, South Florida, Tennessee and Colorado. You can reach her at LyEdwards@timesunion.com or 518-454-5403.