Cottesloe Consultation

Cottesloe Consultation
DateDecember 14–17, 1960
LocationCottesloe, Johannesburg, South Africa
CauseSharpeville massacre
Organised byWorld Council of Churches (WCC)
ParticipantsAll South African WCC member bodies
OutcomeCottesloe Statement

The Cottesloe Consultation was a conference held from December 7–14, 1960, in Cottesloe, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa.[1] The immediate impetus for the consultation was the international public outcry against the Sharpeville massacre that had taken place the previous March.[2] Prior to the consultation's convening, Hendrik Verwoerd, who was Prime Minister of South Africa at the time, called the consultation "an attempt by foreigners to meddle in the country's internal affairs".[3] The consultation was sponsored by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and all of the WWC member bodies in South Africa sent ten delegates to participate in the discussion.[4] One of the delegates was German theologian Wilhelm Niesel, author of Die Theologie Calvins.[5] The consultation was organized by WCC's Robert S. Bilheimer.[6]

  1. ^ John W. De Gruchy (2005). The Church Struggle in South Africa. Augsburg Fortress. p. 63. ISBN 0800637550.
  2. ^ Wim Dreyer (2013). Marry-Anne Plaatjies-Van Huffel; Robert Vosloo (eds.). "Fifty Years of Isolation: The Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk 1960-2010". Reformed Churches in South Africa and the Struggle for Justice: Remembering 1960-1990. African Sun Media: 134. ISBN 978-1920689100.
  3. ^ Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela (2004). A Human Being Died that Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 155. ISBN 0618446591.
  4. ^ Adrian Hastings (1979). A History of African Christianity 1950-1975. Cambridge University Press. p. 145. ISBN 0521293979.
  5. ^ Robert Vosloo (2009). "Calvin and anti-apartheid memory in the Dutch Reformed family of churches in South Africa". In Johan De Niet; Hermann Paul; Bart Wallet (eds.). Sober, Strict, and Scriptural: Collective Memories of John Calvin, 1800-2000. Brill Publishers. p. 227. ISBN 978-9004174245.
  6. ^ Paul Abrecht (2009). Harold C. Fey (ed.). "The Development of Ecumenical Social Thought and Action". A History of the Ecumenical Movement. 2. Wipf and Stock: 245. ISBN 978-1606089101.