Another of AE’s strengths has been the ability to partner with other organisations, both Church and secular, and to build an ethos of partnership among groups which initially believed they could “go it alone”. We need each other. We need to be one. Jesus, Himself, said: “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one.” (John 17:11) We believe that, in unity, people can achieve far more than they ask or imagine. This lay behind the great Christian gatherings of past years. All had elements of unifying the Church to meet head on, through strength, the issues facing the nation at the time.

All contributed significantly to the miracle of the reconciliation between people, denominations and even nations. The effect of the South African Christian Leadership Assembly (sacla) in 1979 had such a positive impact that today many people regard it as a major turning point in their lives. It played a crucial role in moving the Dutch Reformed Church towards withdrawing their support for apartheid, thus ushering in favourable grounds for dialogue which came to a head when, in 1990, apartheid was declared a heresy by the church speaking from the platform of the Conference of Church Leaders in South Africa in Rustenburg. The Church in partnership!

AE played a major role then, and has now been asked to organise the second sacla, to be held in Pretoria in July 2003. Former chairperson of the AE SA Board, Bishop Mvume Dandala, and AE’s International Team Leader Michael Cassidy are co-chairpersons of the current initiative. AE can lead the way, calling together Christians, irrespective of denomination, to identify present-day problems and see how they can be addressed by the Church together to the glory of God.

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