This paper describes an initiative by the Methodist Church in South Africa to identify vacant land it owns that could be allocated to housing projects for homeless families and, in rural areas, to support their livelihoods. Working with the South African Homeless Peoples Federation, this initiative is reviewing Church records, checking them against other official records, and identifying and visiting potential land sites larger than one hectare. This will result in a list of land sites that can be developed by the Church and the Federation. The initiative is also important in encouraging more action from the government on land redistribution and tenure reform, and in setting an example that, hopefully, other Churches Will follow.
