FROM THE METHODIST MINISTER

Dear Friends,

As I write this, the issue that has captured all the head-lines, and is dominating discussion both in the Press and on TV is that of Rhodesia and UDI. No doubt by the time you read this a decision will have been made, and we shall know whether a new era of conflict and bloodshed in Central Africa is to be inaugurated, or whether the voice of sanity and justice prevails.

I think it is worth saying that if our Christian conscience is truly sensitive, then we will have surely agonized and prayed over this problem in the past weeks. True, Rhodesia is far away, but we know by now that our Christian responsibility in this age extends far beyond the boundary of parish or even country. The Rhodesian question confronts us starkly with our responsibilities. For one thing, all the leading protagonists are practising Christians. Of the two main African Nationalist leaders, one is a Methodist local preacher and the other a Presbyterian minister. The articulate voice of the tiny white opposition to Mr. Smith's government is that of ex-missionary Garfield Todd. Mr. Smith himself has declared himself to be "deeply religious", and we are told that a high proportion of the quarter of a million, white settlers are regular church goers.

The claim of all these people - our fellow disciples - upon our prayers and upon our understanding is great, and we must not fail them. Nor must we fail to give our voice and our vote to the policies that are the most likely to create conditions in which the dignity and the welfare of men and women can reach their full potentiality. The future potentialities of both the four million Africans and the quarter million Europeans in Rhodesia lies in the balance. Perhaps it is true, as several commentators have said, that the issues of peace and war in Africa as a whole, and therefore in the world lie in the balance. Let us pray, let us seek to understand, and let us decide our view on the basis of Christian responsibility.

DENIS E. GARDINER.

PARISH NOTES

A Warm Welcome

To Mr. and Mrs. E. R. Mountford and their two children, as they begin their residence in Munn's Lane, having come from the Bexley area. They have already expressed great appreciation of our village and already joined in some of our activities.

Safe Arrival

In Australia by Paul and Janette Saxby has just been confirmed. Married here on 24th July they left by air on 16th October and intend to live in a new town of some, 33,000 people, 12 miles outside Adelaide. We send them our very best wishes. We shall miss their presence, too, at our Sunday worship.