Not in church
Sir: May I, as one of the "lay lackey" organisers of the special service to mark the start of the Europe for the Third World Week rejected from St. Paul's Cathedral, beg space in your columns to reply to the article appearing in the December 1 issue of The Spectator.
The purpose of this service, subsequently held in Southwark Cathedral with the Archbishop of Canterbury preaching, was for leaders and others of all Christian denominations in this country to be seen to be praying together about the appalling poverty identified with the Third World and to be seen signing a petition containing Practical steps our Government in all conscience should take.
As Christ gets the lawyer to point out after his story of the Good Samaritan, it is just not good enough for us to offer prayers at a distance without getting involved in the situation. If Jesus Christ wanted to keep himself pure and untainted from human affairs he would never have lived and died a human. He would never have shrunk from the nitty gritty and neither must we or we become figures of mere religiosity. So much for "the purity of Christianity" for which your correspondent claims Dr Martin Sullivan of St. Paul's has struck a blow by keeping worship there unsullied by our type of involvement.
Your correspondent goes on to appeal: "Let churches be used for teaching the word of God and churchmen confine themselves to their ministry." I don't care what churches are used for or how churchmen confine themselves so long as we love as Christ loves. Of course economic matters between countries are complex matters but unless we learn and pray in telligently about the actual reasons that make us rich while a developing country is poor, how can we hope to be their neighbour as Christ commands and show them mercy by, for example. adopting fairer trading policies. F. Pynt 11 Buckingham Street, London WC2
Previous page
