The Cottesloe Declaration

The statement has three parts. The first says that the theme of the seven days was the Christian attitude to race relations, that the delegates were united in rejecting all unjust discrimination, and that their convictions on apartheid itself diverged widely; it adds that the agreements recorded do not represent in full the convictions of the member churches. The second lists seventeen agreed points, among them that no believer may be excluded from any church on grounds of colour or race, that there are no scriptural grounds for prohibiting mixed marriages, and that the permanent exclusion of people from the government of their country cannot be justified. The third makes requests to the government on particular matters.

The archive’s introductory note says that the consultation was followed by a strong reaction, especially from the Afrikaans-speaking churches, and that the Dutch Reformed churches and the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk decided to resign from the World Council. See the Churches and Apartheid.