In July 2024, the Church of England published the Progress on Racial Justice across the Church of England Dioceses, which examined the progress by dioceses in implementing the recommendations of the report From Lament to Action (FLTA), by the Archbishops’ Anti-Racism Taskforce.
Read how the Diocese of Southwark responded to the FLTA recommendations
Resources from the National Church, designed for use during Black History Month, including Services of the Word, a Eucharistic service, Prayers of Lament and of Commission, and links to further resources for Bible studies, youth work, Messy Church, and music are available on the Church of England website.
National Church’s Black History Month resources
Download To the tune of adornment, Adukeh’s poem written for our 2021 Black History Month celebration, held at Southwark Cathedral on Saturday 2 October.
Download To the tune of Adornment
Watch Lord Boateng’s speech, given at General Synod in February 2022.
“Our rich ethnic diversity in this Diocese is God’s gift and blessing which we celebrate. I am greatly encouraged that the Diocesan Synod voted unanimously to endorse the Anti-Racism Charter which we are committed to implementing fully. There is no place for racist attitudes and behaviours in this Diocese. The Charter will guide us as we journey forwards in faith, hope and love for the people of South London and East Surrey.”
The Bishop of Southwark, The Rt Revd Christopher Chessun
The Charter is active and intentional. It says: “being anti-racist is not the same as simply not being racist. It is not enough as a Diocese not to be racist; instead we must actively counter, disrupt and oppose racial injustice. This isn’t an easy task, it takes introspection, as well as continued intentional action and is not a static description of ourselves.”
The key principles of Southwark’s Anti-Racism Charter are:
- an explicit theological understanding that God’s kingdom is multi-ethnic, and that it is through our baptismal covenant that we recognise and respect the dignity of every human being and our unity in Christ
- an intentional focus in our theological studies, liturgy, teaching, prayer, word and work to take strategic and practical actions to combat racism and inequality
- a clear strategy for increasing and sustaining diversity in our governance structures at Diocesan and parish level so as to ensure representation and participation of people from diverse ethnic backgrounds at all levels of our organisation.
As well as its three key principles, the ARC includes six Diocesan commitments and a 12-point action plan for leadership and development.
Over the coming months, the Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice will be investigating racial incidents in the Church of England. The Commission will explore whether systems are in place to address experiences of racism and the extent to which existing policies and procedures are effective. The Commission is working to assess the impact that racism has on the wellbeing, sense of belonging, participation, and/or vocation of Global Majority Heritage (GMH) / UK Minoritised Ethnic (UKME) communities in the Church. Find out more here – and read about Southwark’s commitment to racial justice here.
