Centenary of Archbishop Trevor

Centenary of Archbishop Trevor Huddleston to be celebrated in London

A photographic exhibition and a thanksgiving service at St Martin-in-the-Fields to honour the centenary of Father Trevor Huddleston’s birth this month.

Centenary of Archbishop Trevor

Sophiatown-circa-1949-Photo-Peter-Magubane“No white person has done more than Trevor Huddleston in the struggle against apartheid” – Nelson Mandela.

Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and the Johannesburg based Trevor Huddleston CR Memorial Centre are honouring the centenary of Father Trevor Huddleston’s birth this month with a photographic exhibition, ‘Called to Justice and Freedom — Father Trevor Huddleston’, opening on 15 June and a thanksgiving service on Saturday 29 June at 11am, both at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

The service will include tributes to and the legacy of Archbishop Trevor by Fr Nicolas Stebbing, Community of the Resurrection and Baroness Glenys Kinnock.

An Anglican monk in the Community of the Resurrection, Huddleston was sent to South Africa in 1943 to take over the running of the Anglican mission in Sophiatown and Orlando. The mission included the largest school for black children in Africa – St Cyprian’s. He also oversaw St Peter’s School, whose alumni include Oliver Tambo, Jonas Gwangwa, Hugh Masekela, Zakes Motau, Fikile Bam, and many other leading lights of South Africa.

Influenced by his faith and the realities of life in apartheid South Africa, Huddleston became a major voice in speaking out against apartheid. He was instrumental in the resistance to forced evictions and removals of some 65,000 people from his beloved Sophiatown to places like Meadowlands (Soweto) and Lenasia, based on their skin colour.

HuddlestonOn his recall to England in 1956 he published ‘Naught for Your Comfort’, a seminal work on the effect of apartheid and his opposition to racism which influenced the rest of his life. As Bishop of the Masasi (Tanzania), Bishop of Stepney, Bishop of Mauritius and Primate of the Indian Ocean he continued to play a leading role in the struggle against apartheid. Archbishop Huddleston, with others, launched the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the UK in 1959, serving as its Vice President 1961 to 1981 and President 1981 to 1994.

He was awarded the Isitwalandwe Medal (the highest honour the ANC bestows) at the 1955 Congress of the People, in Kliptown, alongside Yusef Dadoo and Chief Albert Luthuli.

This Medal will be presented by Huddleston’s Community to a young South African, as part of the service, at St Martin’s on 29 June, attended by family and colleagues, and the South African High Commissioner, Dr Zola Skweyiya.

Tony Dykes, Director of ACTSA said, “Archbishop Huddleston dedicated much of his life to the struggle against apartheid. He inspired thousands of people in Britain and beyond to campaign for democracy, dignity, equality and rights. As South Africa prepares to mark 20 years of freedom, we should celebrate the role that Trevor Huddleston and others played and be inspired by their example to be active, to play our role and support the people of southern Africa as they work for a better future.”

The service is open to all but it is essential to register in advance for the reception at: E: info@actsa.org     T: 020 3263 2001

There will be a light reception in South Africa House afterwards, courtesy of the High Commissioner.

The exhibition will run until 20 July in  St Martin’s Hall located in the crypt of St Martin’s and the entrance is via the glass pavilion to the left of the church.

Admission is free but please visit the St Martin’s website www.smitf.org for opening times of the St Martin’s Hall.