Page 9 - 2nd Proofs

I N T E R N A T I O N A L P A R T N E R S H I P S M I N I S T R Y

C A T H E D R A L O F S T M A R Y T H E V I R G I N , J O H A N N E S B U R G
A N D S T M A R T I N - I N - T H E - F I E L D S , T H E B E G I N N I N G S O F A
C O N T I N U I N G P A R T N E R S H I P

The idea of forming partnerships between churches in different
countries has its theological roots in the New Testament understand-
ing of the church as one body, consisting of many interdependent
members, each with its own role, none more important than another.

When the idea of partnership between St Martin-in-the-Fields and
the Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin, Johannesburg, was first mooted,
the ecumenical movement had been around for a long time, but
notion of a local church forming a partnership with a church over-
seas was relatively new. The impetus to build such partnerships can
be seen as part of the widespread movement after World War II to
foster better understanding across national boundaries, a move- In Johannesburg he stayed for four days with Frank Nelson, the sub-
ment, exemplified, for example, in the proliferation of “town- Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral and met Revd. Godfrey Henwood, the
twinning” initiatives and the exchanges these links encouraged. Dean of the Cathedral, he also preached in the Cathedral. In his jour-
nal John recorded his feeling that, for all their widely different con-
An obvious and compelling reason for St Martin-in-the-Fields to have texts and history, St Martin's and St Mary’s Cathedral have much in
begun exploring the possibility of a partnership with the church in common and that a partnership between the two churches was ‘the
South Africa was the proximity of St Martin’s to South Africa House, obvious link’.
opened in 1933 as the South African High Commission. In 1961,
when South Africa withdrew from the common wealth, South Africa Back at St Martin’s the possibility of such a partnership was soon
House became the South Africa Embassy. high on the agenda. It was immediately recognised that there was
With South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 this imposing common ground in the commitment of both churches to addressing
building was once again the country’s High Commission in the UK. the needs of homeless and disadvantaged people. From the outset
Throughout the apartheid years St. Martin-in-the-Fields was commit- the case for the partnership was promoted by the church’s Interna-
ted to and much involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement. The steps tional Committee.
of the church became a place of vigil and protest against the injus-
tice of the regime represented by the building just across the road. While the idea of supporting the church in South Africa was generally
– if cautiously - welcomed, not least by the then Vicar, Canon Geoffrey
From the early 1990s, two concurrent and interwoven initiatives Brown, not everyone agreed with the proposal to establish a link with
marked a much closer engagement between St Martin-in-the-Fields one specific church in the country. The argument voiced - on the PCC
and the church in South Africa. The Living South Africa Memorial, as here and there in the congregation - was that we should affirm all
now incorporated in the Bishop Simeon Trust, was the vision of the churches in South Africa equally. Much the same objections were
Douglas Board and Tricia Simmons and was established to fund raised to the proposal that the proposed bronze sculpture in the
education, health and development projects in and around Johan- church should commemorate the victims of violence and injustice in
nesburg. This initiative was seen from the outset as contributing to South Africa specifically. “What about all other such victims?” the
St Martin’s deepening relationship with the church in South Africa. dissidents asked.
At the same time a ‘physical memorial’ was commissioned. This Such misgivings could only be countered by insisting on the principle
bronze piece, the work of Chaim Stephenson, stands inside the that you only affirm everybody by making a specific commitment to
south-east entrance to the church and was inspired by the famous somebody. Again, the grounds are theological. God loves the world, a
image of the 13-year-old Hector Pieterson, killed in the Soweto upris- truth not called in question but by the fact that he chose to be incar-
ing of 1976, being carried by a fellow student. The sculpture was nate in first-century Palestine – rather than, say, in twenty-first centu-
dedicated by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in October 1994 ry Paris. It is what theologians call “the scandal of particularity”.
as a memorial to ‘the victims of violence and injustice in South Afri-
ca’. In March 1992, the Parish Council received correspondence from St
Martin-in-the-Fields, London, concerning the link between the two
Fundraising for the Living South Africa Memorial and its objectives to parishes. The parish council replied with a “Statement of Intention”
fund development projects was launched in 1992, but (on the advice that read as follows: “Recognising that Christians are dependent on
of Archbishop Tutu) the unveiling of the ‘physical memorial’, the one another in the Body of Christ, and rejoicing in the growing of
sculpture by Chaim Stephenson, was postponed until after South friendship between our two churches, we, the Council of St Mary’s
Africa’s first democratic elections. The second initiative was focused Cathedral, Johannesburg and the Parochial Church Council of St Mar-
on the possibility of a link with a specific church in South Africa. In tin-in-the-Fields, affirm our intention to foster that friendship in a part-
June 1990, Revd. John Pridmore, then ‘Director of International and nership in which we shall seek to share our insights, gifts, and experi-
Interfaith affairs’ at St Martin’s spent three weeks in South Africa. He ence in our common mission, and we make this commitment for a
had joined the clergy team at St Martin's the previous Autumn. period of not less than ten years.” -

Author: Revd. John Pridmore (Former Associate Vicar, St Martin’s Church, London & edited by: Revd. Godfrey Henwood (Chairperson: International Partnerships Ministry).
The Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin - Newsletter I page 9