Plea for archbishops to act over racial inequality
ETHNIC MINORITY FOLLOWERS NEED CHANGE TO FLOURISH IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND, SAYS REPORT
THE Church of England (C of E) must act now and implement change to achieve greater racial justice and equality – or it could be the “last straw” for many ethnic minority followers, a report has said.
A lack of change could have “devastating effects” on the future of the church, a taskforce commissioned by the archbishops of Canterbury and York said.
Its report, From Lament to Action, published last Thursday (22), warned the archbishops that decades of inaction “carried consequences, and this inaction must be owned by the whole church”.
As of last month, only five bishops were from a UKME/GMH (United Kingdom Minority Ethnic/Global Majority Heritage) background, out of a total of 111.
The number of UKME/GMH deans, archdeacons, and senior staff in the National Church Institutions adds up to a further nine people, the report found.
“A failure to act now will be seen as another indication, potentially a last straw for many, that the church is not serious about racial sin,” the report said.
“Disregarding a significant part of the population, and thus denying the gifts they bring to the service of the church, is a loss to us all.”
The anti-racism taskforce was set up last year by the archbishops of Canterbury and York to ensure changes were made to achieve greater racial justice and equality in the C of E. Its co-chair, Revd Arun Arora, said if implemented, the proposals could help the church to achieve “cultural and structural change”.
“It will enable the Church of England to recover its prophetic voice in the area of racial justice, to the benefits of both the church and the nation,” Arora told reporters last Wednesday (21).
“It will be my hope that this report will be a watershed moment in the church’s journey towards racial justice.”
His fellow co-chair, Revd Sonia Barron, said implementing action for change was urgent.
“We cannot let this
moment
pass,” she said. “I ask the question – if not now, when?”
The report offers 47 recommendations across five “priority” areas – participation, governance, training, education, and young people.
Among the suggestions put forward are shortlists for jobs in the church to include at least one appointable UKME candidate; recruitment bodies to provide “valid,
publishable reasons” for a failure to include UKME candidates on shortlists; as well as the appointment of full-time Racial Justice Officers (RJOs) in every religious jurisdiction.
In putting the report together, the taskforce said they considered 25 reports from the mid-1980s onwards, with more than 160 recommendations that were made.
“Since then, the Church of England has considered motion after motion, debate after debate, yet we still find ourselves in the position where – throughout our life as a church – the flourishing of UKME/GMH Anglicans is hard to discern,” they said.
The archbishops welcomed the taskforce’s recommendations and said that they would commit to implementing five immediately.
“We hope we will be the generation to halt this cycle of inaction,” they said. “We pray for the wisdom, courage and grace to be leaders who will bring real change.”
It is estimated that people from UKME and GMH backgrounds make up 15 per cent of those who worship in the C of E.
of the proposals