OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday
THE South African Council of Churches is to address racism among its 26 member churches, focusing on “exorcising white attitudes”, gender issues and poverty alleviation.
The declaration was contained in a plan of action released at a media conference following a three-day SACC conference in Kempton Park.
The plan of action included the compilation of a checklist of “white” attitudes which member churches would be required to say whether they adhered to or not.
This would be done to give Christians the opportunity to identify “the degree to which we all suffer from the ‘white system’, whether perpetrators, victims or ‘rescuers’ [church],” said the document, which SACC reconciliation director Bishop Patrick Matolengwa said required only technical changes.
Predominantly white congregations at member churches would further be challenged to discuss the effects of apartheid and their own racism and “to take practical steps to redress the evils of racism”.
Further action to counter stereotypically “white” aspects of churches includes the development and implementation of programmes “to convert individuals and systems to Christ so that ‘white systems are exorcised'”.
Churches should “commit to authentic racially integrated congregations”, the document said.
SACC vice president Lindi Myeza said this “cross-pollination” would involve bringing congregations from different racially characterised residential areas together to enable them to share one another’s way of worship.
Member churches would also teach about race and xenophobia in confirmation, youth groups and other teaching classes.
The preamble of the declaration noted that “racism today is a system that locally as well as globally empowers white people”.
On gender issues, member churches would be encouraged to apologise to women for deliberately discriminating against them by hindering them from entering the ministry and making laws that prohibited ministerial recognition.
On poverty alleviation, the SACC said it would launch a voluntary fund to raise money for education and job creation. The council said it would also petition the government to implement basic income grants to benefit poor families.