All shortlists for senior Church of England posts must include at least one ethnic minority candidate, a report has said.It is one of 47 recommendations made by the Archbishops' Anti-Racism Taskforce, which was established last year after the Black Lives Matter protests.It said the Church has "an alarmingly retrograde trend" when it comes to ethnic minority senior bishops. Failing to act would have "devastating effects" on the future of the Church.The archbishops of Canterbury and York welcomed the report but did not commit to enforcing the recommendation on shortlists.It comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, this week said the Church should not use non-disclosure agreements, following BBC Panorama revelations that they were being used to silence staff complaining of racism.The taskforce examined 25 previous reports on racial justice over the past 36 years and said that despite hundreds of recommendations, the Church had overseen "decades of inaction" which "carry consequences".It called for annual reporting on recruitment, mandatory training in all dioceses to embed anti-racism practice, and for full-time racial justice officers to be employed in every diocese for a five-year term.It wants to see a plan drawn up to increase representation of minority ethnic people to at least 15% at all levels of governance by 2030, reflecting the proportion of minority ethnic worshippers.Currently, there are just five minority ethnic bishops and nine deans, archdeacons, and senior staff.The most recent figures reveal 93.7% of senior staff in the Church - including bishops, archdeacons and cathedral clergy - were white British. All the proposals have a timetable for action and details of which part of the Church is responsible for delivery."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.The taskforce also said statues linked to slavery in churches should be given extra context. "While history should not be hidden, we also do not want to unconditionally celebrate or commemorate people who contributed to or benefitted from the tragedy that was the slave trade," the report said.
Stephen Lawrence, an 18-year-old black British teenager, was murdered on the 22<sup>nd</sup> April 1993, in a racially motivated attack in Eltham, Southeast London, about half a mile from where I lived at the time. The fallout from the investigation that followed had far reaching consequences, leading to calls of ‘institutional racism’ and for systemic changes to policing. Uncomfortable though it may be, in February last year, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, told General Synod that there was ‘no doubt’ that the Church of England ‘was still deeply institutionally racist’; and Synod members voted to ‘stamp out conscious or unconscious racism’ from within. This led to the creation of the Anti-Racism Taskforce to ‘carry out preparatory work ahead of the launch of the Archbishops’ Commission to address racism in the Church of England’. Their report is due to be published on Thursday April 22<sup>nd</sup>, which incidentally, is also the launch of Stephen Lawrence Day. After some years of working with the diocese concerning racial matters, I am delighted to say that the Racial Justice Focus Group (RJFG) has been set up in our diocese by the Bishops. This group, which has the backing of Bishop’s Council, is chaired by Bishop Jo. Its overall aim is to ‘<strong>promote greater racial diversity within the Diocese of Guildford and its leadership; and to ensure that people from all racial backgrounds are enabled to fulfil their potential within the Body of Christ’. </strong>Currently, two emerging strands of the group’s work include: creating a database to help to bring to light any aspects of racism in our processes and practices; and identifying and naming the realities and challenges of racial discrimination in our diocese. You can read more on the group here. Reflecting on the Gospel for Sunday, Jesus got alongside his disciples, who were afraid, and invited them to touch the wounds of his crucifixion and see that he is real (Luke 24.39). I would like to invite you to come alongside us, reach out and touch the wounds of racism and see that they are real; and fulfil Jesus’ prayer of unity that all his people might be one; and ‘that the Church, would be united in Christ and united with one another so that the world may believe in Him’ (John 17.21).As I close, I leave you with this prayer, which was written by the RJFG for this year’s Chrism Service:Father of all creationwe humble ourselves before you.We come as we are, united by your cross,as a people of diversity and difference.Different cultures, different ways, different names, different colour,different strengths, different gifts:We come as one in Christ.We are your people, and you are our God.Help us to follow your example, and reach out to others as you have reached out to us;and teach us to love one another as you have loved us.This we ask in Jesus’ name.Amen.
