The Church of England must include at least one candidate from a minority ethnic background on shortlists for bishops and other senior roles in a drive to rid the church of “racial sin”, a report says.
All governing bodies within the church, including parish councils, should have at least 15% of minority ethnic representation by 2030.
A failure to take immediate action will be “potentially a last straw” for many clergy and worshippers from minority ethnic backgrounds, with “devastating effects” on the future of the church, it adds.
The church must also take decisive steps to address the legacy of the C of E’s involvement in the slave trade. Referring to statues and monuments, it said: “We do not want to unconditionally celebrate or commemorate people who contributed to or benefited from the tragedy that was the slave trade.”
The report, From Lament to Action, was produced by an anti-racism taskforce set up by the archbishops of Canterbury and York after George Floyd’s murder last year. It reviewed 25 previous C of E reports on race from the mid-1980s – from which most recommendations were ignored.
The taskforce calls for 47 actions, with dates by which they should be implemented. They include the creation of a racial justice directorate “to be an engine of change, reversing the C of E’s record of inaction”, and racial justice officers in every diocese by this autumn.
Bishops should undergo “reverse mentoring” by a clergy or lay person from a minority ethnic background, and all dioceses should produce annual reports on diversity in their recruitment of clergy and lay staff.
The church should formally adopt a “racial justice Sunday” in February each year, starting in 2022, with special commemorative liturgies and prayers.
Racism is a sin, the report says. “Racial sin dehumanises people by taking away their fundamental God-given human dignity. Wherever racial sin flourishes systematically, either in society or in our church, we must challenge it together.”
The report highlights the lack of people from UK minority ethnic (UKME) or global majority heritage (GMH) backgrounds in senior leadership. There is only one senior bishop and four junior bishops from UKME or GMH backgrounds out of a total of 111 – “an alarmingly retrograde step”, the report says.
“As the UKME/GMH population in England has grown, the participation rate in senior leadership and other areas of the church has in fact decreased from already low levels.”
Shortlists for all senior clergy appointments, including bishops and deans, and senior lay leadership posts should contain at least one UKME/GMH candidate. “Where it does not occur, the recruiter must provide valid, publishable reasons.”
Parishes must become more inclusive; “One of the barriers to inclusion or continued participation in the C of E for those from UKME/GMH backgrounds has been the challenge of ‘cultural assimilation’ into the church, where there is perceived to be little or no room for cultural expression outside a culture which is predominantly white and middle class.”
It says a new C of E racial justice commission must “take decisive action to address the history and legacy of the C of E’s involvement in the historic transatlantic slave trade”.
Rev Dr Anderson Jeremiah, a member of the taskforce, said it was “impossible to understand Christianity without making reference to colonial history. [The C of E’s] history is very deeply intertwined … if I want my white brothers and sisters to engage with this, they need to know where [their Christian faith] has been shaped.”
In a statement responding to the report, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, said: “We have seen, time and time again, people being bullied, overlooked, undermined and excluded from the life of the church, from the family of God. It breaks our hearts, and we are truly sorry.”
They committed to immediately implementing five of the report’s 47 recommendations, but made no reference to the recommendations on shortlisting for senior posts.
Rev Arun Arora, the co-chair of the taskforce, said he hoped the report would be a “watershed moment in the church’s journey towards racial justice”.
He said he was confident the archbishops and bishops were committed to change. “Full implementation of all actions has the potential to be a gamechanger for the church. A failure to do so will mean the loss of an opportunity to be the church that God calls us to be.”
Elizabeth Henry, who resigned as the C of E’s race adviser last year, said: “This is a time of racial reckoning which gives a real chance for the church to get it right once and for all. If they fail, there will be no more watersheds, no more listening to the endless talk of sorrow for ‘past wrongs’ or admissions of regret and shame that the church is ‘institutionally racist’. Nothing but vigorous and positive action will suffice.”
