Since the introduction in October of new forms of worship at Evensong, our congregation has been challenged time and again to consider and debate demanding questions of faith, Christain attitudes and religious practice. At Evensong on December 9 the questions were posed in a powerful and thought-provoking sermon on what we can do to support our missionary work overseas. The speaker was Dr. Louise Pirouet, a notable authority on the Church in Africa.

Dr. Pirouet argued that we must ensure that we all aspire to the highest standards in matters affecting our relations with people in developing countries if our aim of supporting missionary work is to be achieved.

In particular, we must be generous in giving foreign aid, we must fight racial intolerance in Britain and do all we can to oppose racism in Southern Africa. On aid, it was suggested that we should give more and give for the right reasons. We should give more aid because we were under an obligation to bring about a fairer distribution of wealth. And we should give to those in need regardless of political expediency or opportunities for commercial exploitation. On racial intolerance in Britain, it was argued that the Churches could combine to halt and reverse the trend towards increasing intolerance in this country. In particular, Dr. Pirouet was very critical of the Immigration Act which, she claimed, discriminated between prospective immigrants on grounds of colour. What was the use of sending missionaries abroad and collecting funds for their support when we allow their work to be undermined whenever Christians from their countries come here and experience discrimination?

Finally, Dr. Pirouet outlined why she thought it was wrong to encourage investment in Southern Africa and why she was thankful that the Anglican Church had stood by its decision to support the World Council of Churches in its policy of giving medical and educational aid to freedom movements in that area. The majority of Africans were not principally concerned with a rise in living standards, as was often claimed, but with a far more basic issue - the struggle for justice and freedom under a government whose tyranny was not much improvement on Hitler’s. It was our reaction to questions such as these, in the context of Southern Africa, which indicated the genuineness of our concern for the Oiurch in Africa as a whole.

Only by facing up to these various problems can we give the right kind of support to our missionary work overseas.

After the service the congregation was given a chance to discuss these hard-hitting comments both with Dr. Pirouet and a priest from Mozambique whom she had kindly brought along to give a first-hand account of the African situation. Surprisingly, there appeared to be little dissension between the preacher and her audience and most of the discussion revolved around the recent persecution of Africans by the Portuguese in Mozambique and the reasons behind this oppression. But Dr. Pirouet did re-iterate her view that there should be no rapprochement with the authorities in South Africa, however much it seems as if some Africans wish it. As had happened in the Sudan, the Africans may be working out their salvation in ways which, at the time, appear dubious to outside spectators.

The only voice of protest to be heard concerned the matter of racial prejudice in Britain. Dr. Pirouet felt that certain jobs were increasingly being designated as for ‘blacks’ only. Several people, however, believed that this was grossly overstating the case. But can we be so sure that such a situation could not arise here?

Perhaps the question of our treatment of foreign students in Britain and our attitude to South Africa seemed at first remote from a discussion of missionary aid, but anyone who heard Dr. Pirouet’s sermon must surely have taken the point.

Source: The Spire Magazine - 1974 January