Anger as Church of England suggests congregations are 'racist'

The Church of England sparked fury last night after suggesting congregations in rural parishes around Britain are racist.

In a review by its controversial racial justice unit, the CofE took aim at congregations in predominantly white areas for their ‘lack of cultural awareness’.

It also claims ethnic minorities are ‘viewed with suspicion’ by churchgoers and clergy in 'rural/remote’ and ‘traditional- conservative’ locations.

The 68-page report brands the CofE as ‘structurally and institutionally’ racist. Elsewhere, it singles out ‘the North’ for having fewer Black and Asian clergy, suggesting it’s due to the region not being regarded as ‘attractive or welcoming’.

Titled Behind the Stained Glass and carried out over a six-month period, it concludes: ‘The evidence confirms the existence of both structural and institutional racism within the Church of England.’

Clergy reacted with consternation last night and said the racial justice unit had clearly ‘set out to reach its own foregone conclusion’.

Reverend Ian Paul described the finding of institutional racism as ‘completely unproven’, saying: ‘The idea that congregations or panels being white-majority is a problem is bizarre – we live in a white-majority country.’

Mr Paul, a member of the General Synod and Archbishops’ Council, added: ‘The report appears to reflect more than anything the ignorance and prejudice of those who wrote it.

‘The table at the end is ignorant and offensive, reflecting the ill-informed stereotypes of the authors.’

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The CofE report – based on internal data and interviews with 109 people from 24 out of 42 dioceses – breaks down churches into four groups and suggests only ‘liberal/progressive’ churches in urban areas are accepting of people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The report said that dioceses will be required to implement an ‘Anti-racism Action Plan’ and all senior clergy forced to undertake ‘whiteness awareness’ training.

Veteran General Synod member Prudence Dailey said: ‘The thing I find most upsetting and offensive about this report is that it correlates an attachment to tradition and history with racism.’

The Commission for Racial Justice will produce a final report later this year after more than three years of examining racial discrimination in the church.

It was launched after the Archbishop of Canterbury declared that the CofE is ‘deeply institutionally racist’ as he apologised for the Church’s history in 2020.

Welcoming the report, the commission’s chairman Lord Boateng, who was Britain’s first black Cabinet minister, said it demonstrated that CofE leaders pay ‘lip service’ while presiding over an institution rife with ‘structural and systemic racism’.