With the South African Council of Churches (SACC)

• 

Details

Written October 2023

By the time we were appointed as leaders in Southern Africa in 1994 The Salvation Army had renewed its relationship with the SACC. Shortly after our arrival we visited its general secretary, Brigalia Bam, who had served on the Women's Desk of the World Council of Churches. She and my wife, Margaret, clicked almost immediately. I reflected that whilst we had both been out of the country for so many years, and worked in different ways, it had been with the same objective of establishing peace with justice in our homeland. 
 
Shortly after the new South African constitution came into force, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was appointed to head the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He attended a meeting of the council, urging church leaders to engage with the process. And we did. But there was more to this than simply drafting a submission to the commission. I felt it my duty to cultivate a process of reflection within the denomination, and in this I not only had the full support of our leadership team, but also relied on the helpful encouragement of Brigalia Bam. We invited a facilitator to convene a senior staff retreat on healing as a wounded healer.  We encouraged staff and pastoral workers to attend seminars on the same topic especially developed for post-apartheid South Africa. My wife arranged something similar for women at Africa Enterprise, an organisation that had been very influential in cultivating a commitment to finding a peaceful way forward for South Africa.  
 
Words like confession and repentance, reconstruction and development, forgiveness and transformation, restoration and restitution abounded in conversation.  We discussed the issues at length as the country was trying to discover ways of living together in a society where justice goes with peace. There were so many lessons to learn. Not least was to recognise that the process was far from perfect, but also that this was not a one-off event. It needed to be the beginning of new life and of a new way of life for all.  On reflection I see this as a model applicable for others who have experienced social exclusion. That includes The Leprosy Mission and people affected by leprosy. 
 
Please Lord, make me a continuing instrument of your peace. 

October 2023