THE “heresy” of racial injustice is steadily being addressed in individual ways in each of the 42 dioceses within the Church of England, a latest progress report suggests.
The report, published by the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) on Tuesday, dedicates a chapter to every diocese, detailing progress on racial justice and targets for further work.
This evaluation is ready against the recommendations of the report From Lament to Action published by the Archbishops’ Anti-Racism Taskforce (News, 23 April 2021). It identified five priority areas: participation, governance, training, education, and young people.
Dioceses were asked three broad questions: how had these recommendations been implemented; what specific structures, strategies, and processes had been implemented in 2022/23; and what examples could they offer of excellent practice and case studies.
As well as analysing written answers and documents, the CMEAC recorded 51 Zoom conversations.
The report says: “A couple of dioceses were found to have been responding to diversity for a while, perhaps labelling it as Intercultural, Interfaith, Diversity or Inclusion. Some became involved within the work as a response to the death of George Floyd [News, 5 June 2020].”
For most, nonetheless, the concentrate on racial justice began in response to From Lament to Action. “A minority had just began to deal with this area. In each case, dioceses got a possibility to explain their present position, the following steps, and, where relevant, their past journey.”
In terms of recommendations, many dioceses reported “listening” to GMH and UKME leaders; connecting with racial-justice charities and black-majority churches; working with communities to explore links with the transatlantic slave trade; combating modern slavery; learning from church schools; and improving training and recruitment processes.
Common practices within the dioceses included projects on contested heritage and diocesan links to the transatlantic slave trade; regular podcasts, interfaith events, Lent courses, and other resources on racial justice; and the telling of life stories, for instance, to commemorate Windrush 75.
At the beginning of every chapter, the demographic of every diocese is summarised in percentages. Several dioceses, similar to Leicester, Manchester, and Sheffield, also provide more specific figures for GMH/UKME congregants, confirmations, lay leaders, and vocations. In some cases, these are set against numerical targets for the following five years.
In a foreword to the report, the Very Revd Rogers Govender, who chairs the CMEAC, writes: “Racism is a heresy and a sin, and as Christians now we have a responsibility to eradicate racism and exclusion in all its forms within the Church in addition to our wider society. . . There continues to be a lot to perform, not least in raising awareness, education, and prophetic actions.”
He said on Tuesday that almost all dioceses had already began the work of racial justice before the Anti-Racism Taskforce released its report. “I’m encouraged by the examples of prayer, faith, and motion detailed on this report. Each diocese is exclusive, and all are on a journey towards justice, inclusion, and equality for all people.”
The deputy racial-justice director for the Church of England, the Revd Dr Sharon Prentis, said: “We cannot afford to neglect this work — we’re a Church of the entire nation, and this must include people from all parts of society, including UK minoritised ethnic and Global Majority Heritage (UKME & GMH) communities.”
