Church backs S.A. talks

Press, 14 September 1976, Page 12

Church backs S.A. talks

The church in South Africa should continue to advocate meetings and discussions between parties in the hope that a solution to racial violence will be found, according to a South African church leader. The Rev. Abel Hendricks, the first Coloured man to

become president of the h Methodist Church in South ib Africa, is in New Zealand to C meet and speak to church p leaders and groups. d The church, he said, was always called to identify it- h self with the oppressed, the I poor, and the hungry. In this t situation the church could t not escape its God-given n tasK to give guidance and t

hold out to people the possibility of a more humane Christian solution to the perplexing problems of the day. Commenting on the violence in South Africa, Mr Hendricks said he believed the role of the church was to continue advocating meaningful dialogue. This would be done by bringing

.parties together in the hope J that solutions and answers (would be found. The church never really took sides in any situation but looked for justice and righteousness, he said. Race relations had deteriorated in South Africa over many years. It would be difficult having pushed people so far apart for them to develop mutuality, cooperation, and understanding, he said.

Mr Hendricks, who lives in Cape Town, is well known for his work in the Cape Flats Methodist Mission, a resettlement area for thousands of Coloured families.

He was asked to go there by the Methodist Church to discover the role of the church among people who had to move from their homes. With his wife Freda, he was involved in setting up such things as a social outreach programme and a; house-church concept. The social outreach programme included adult education, care for the aged, sports, and recreational facilities. The house-church concept involved the taking of services, such as baptisms and Communion, in the homes of Christian families because there were no church buildings. There was no easy solution to the complex problem in South Africa, he said. To bring about any meaningful change, it all came down to scrapping apartheid. Even this however, would not guarantee a peaceful change. It was a long painful process and Mr Hendricks said he did not see a snap decision being made.