Church of England slated for snubbing trainee black vicar

THE Church of England has become embroiled in a racism row for turning down a black trainee vicar because a “monochrome white working class” area might make him feel “uncomfortable”.

Augustine Tanner-ihm, 30, was turned down for a curacy at a parish in Hertfordshire after being told that despite his “obvious gifts”, he would not fit in, in the area.

The Church of England is now facing accusations of “hypocrisy” for publicly supporting the Black Lives Matter protests while denying the trainee vicar a position in a diocese due to his race.

Mr Tanner-ihm received the letter in February, but he has only made it public now following the reaction of the Church of England to the Black Lives Matter protests.

Mr Tanner-ihm, an African American whose ancestors were slaves and who is studying a masters in theology at Durham University, said the Christian narrative was about “actions not words”. He said: “It’s really nice they said ‘black lives matter’, but they need to do something about it. I love the Church of England, but the institutional, systematic racism is still there.”

Mr Tanner-ihm had been applying for curacy positions – he applied to around eight different parishes, but was mainly turned down due to funding problems. However, one diocese in Hertfordshire denied him the job due to the ethnicity of the parishioners, who were deemed too white.

Mr Tanner-ihm said he was left “bitterly upset” and “broken down” by the response.

The Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, apologised to Mr Tanner-ihm, and said: “This incident and the hurt we have caused serves to heighten our awareness of the need to improve. We wish Augustine well with his search for a curacy and with his future ministry.”