Sanctuary: how an inner city church spilled onto a sidewalk

by Christa Kuljian

Christa Kuljian’s Sanctuary: How an Inner-city Church Spilled onto a Sidewalk is based on how the Central Methodist Church in downtown Johannesburg and its controversial Bishop Paul Verryn came to offer refuge to people who had nowhere else to turn. Many ask, how did a place of worship turn into a shelter for thousands of refugees? Where did they come from? Why are they still there? Seeking to answer such questions, Kuljian fluently combines many elements: interviews with members of the refugee community and residents of the Church, and key figures like Bishop Paul Verryn, who has often been at the centre of the storm; historical material on the church and its role in the city since the early years; and an understanding of urban dynamics, migrancy, and South African and southern African politics.

389 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, Sanctuary is the story of how an inner-city church and its controversial bishop came to offer refuge to refugees, the homeless and others who had nowhere else to turn. But it is so much more. It tells how Central Methodist and Bishop Paul Verryn refused to let Johannesburg, South Africa, the church, state institutions and the rest of us turn our eyes away from the crisis in Zimbabwe and from the poverty, inequality, injustice and xenophobia around us. It tells also of leadership from the people we call ordinary and from those we call charismatic. It highlights the many different kinds of power and the ways in which they are exercised. It asks hard questions of us, wherever we may be, as citizens, community members, followers of faiths and leaders. It does so with fairness and compassion capturing the courage, resilience, despair and joys of this microcosm of what could be any contemporary urban society.