On Sunday, February 25, 2024, the Church of England’s General Synod passed a motion calling for racial action plans.

The Telegraph carried the story, ‘Church of England tells parishes to set up “race action plan” put forward by pro-BLM bishop’ (emphases mine):

The Church of England has told all of its parishes to draw up “race action plans” after a pro-Black Lives Matter (BLM) bishop urged it to embrace being “woke”.

The General Synod, the Church’s legislative body, passed a motion on Sunday which said it should “encourage parishes and deaneries to develop local action plans to address issues of racial injustice”.

Here is where a big issue comes into play. The bishop in question, Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Bishop of Dover, was the first female and the first minority Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons.

She is also the first female and first minority bishop.

She also led the prayers at the Sussexes’ wedding in 2018.

As such, what she said in 2020 is quite objectionable:

The bishop was born in Jamaica and became the first black female Church of England bishop when she was appointed to the see of Dover in 2019.

In June 2020, she addressed BLM protestors outside Canterbury Cathedral and called for “structural change in all walks of life” in response to the death of George Floyd.

She also said that month that the Church discriminated against black clergy and was “still stuck” in a mindset that “black people couldn’t possibly lead, or can only minister to black people”.

The following year she objected to a independent report for the British government which said that the UK is not inherently racist:

In April 2021, she condemned as “deeply disturbing” a Government-backed review of race in Britain that found this country “should be regarded as a model for other white-majority countries” on race relations.

She has had every advantage the Church could possibly give. What more could she want?

The article says that the percentage of minority CofE members is 7 per cent. Yet, this motion puts forward that forensic racial plans be put in place up and down the country.

The Bishop of Dover:

called on the Church to expand the number of bishops, cathedral deans and other senior churchmen who are from ethnic minorities.

And:

The Very Rev Rogers Govender MBE, the Dean of Manchester, told Synod that the Church’s failure to do so before now was a “pernicious sin”.

We have a lot of Minority clergy in those roles already.

Here is where the hypothesis goes wrong. Minority members of the CofE account for seven per cent. The BLM clergy are, however, looking at general population figures which they want the Church to match. Clearly this is faulty reasoning. Stick with the seven per cent:

The Church’s most recent data shows 4.1 per cent of clergy are from an ethnic minority background, compared to the 18.3 per cent that make up the total population in England and Wales.

Unfortunately, self-flagellators participated in the motion:

The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, spoke animatedly as he said the Church “has not been good enough” on diversity and inclusion, that “racism and discrimination rupture our body” and asked, “May the Lord have mercy upon us”.

The Rt Rev Martin Gorick, the Bishop of Dudley, said every Anglican who becomes a parish representative in his Diocese of Worcester now has to undertake compulsory unconscious bias training.

Bishop Hudson-Wilkin said in response that every other diocese should follow suit …

The Rev Rachel Webbley, team rector in Whitstable, Kent, told Synod she was a “recovering racist” and said she was shocked by “just how much white resistance there is to feeling discomfort about racial injustice”.

During the pandemic, we breathed a collective sigh of relief as the government stopped diversity training:

The training was axed across government and the civil service in December 2020 because there was “no evidence” that it improved equality.

Now we have a monitoring group working closely with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York:

Bishop Hudson-Wilkin’s motion also called on dioceses to prioritise the “collection, monitoring and measuring of relevant data” and asked for a “review and strengthening of the role of the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns” to be considered.

The committee advises the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on race and advocates for “positive action to increase the inclusion and representation of BAME people across the Church”.

It is thought that adopting these measures will increase church attendance.

One lay member said:

the Church needed to become more anti-racist to reverse its falling membership figures because “young people” are “more radical than we are”.

Another lay member, Daniel Matovu, made this comment:

he had been forced to bear a cross throughout his life “because of the colour of my skin”.

“You white folks have no idea, particularly those of you who are white male, heterosexual and not disabled,” he said. “You’ve only been given small sticks to carry, with which to beat the rest of us.”

Bitterness?

I am not sure why it is so difficult to comprehend that in a largely white country the established Church is 93 per cent white.

This will do so much damage. Once again, it falls to two non-Christians to put the correct perspective on things:

Dr Rakib Ehsan, the author of Beyond Grievance: What the Left Gets Wrong About Ethnic Minorities, told The Telegraph: “It appears that no sphere of British life is free of divisive identitarian thinking – including the Church of England.

“Abandoning traditional Christian values in favour of the unholy trinity of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the established Church of the land risks alienating conservative ethnic minorities who have little time for the politics of grievance and victimhood” …

Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, the director of Don’t Divide Us, said: “Black people, like anyone else, need the same justice as their fellow citizens, not a special ‘racial’ kind – you’d think a religion that preaches we’re all equal in God’s eyes would get this.”

In the end:

No members stood up to make speeches opposing the motion as it passed by 364 votes in favour to zero against, with two abstentions.

Pathetic — and unbiblical.