Over the last month, Black History Month, we celebrated the achievements and contributions of black people in our diocese. We invite parishes to recommit to pursue diversity by signing up to the Racial Justice Covenant, if you haven’t already, and make use of our toolkit.
The covenant is a charter for change. It’s based on principles of being disciples, encouraging diversity, committing to representation and taking accountability. By signing the covenant you commit to:
- Being a disciple of Jesus.
- Encouraging, building up and celebrating the racial diversity of the Body of Christ.
- Improving the representation of UK Minority Ethnic/Global Majority Heritage (UKME/GMH) people in your congregation and in both lay and ordained leadership.
- Accountability and transparency in your systems, structures, and processes.
Do you know if your church congregation is reflective of the people who live in your parish? Do you know how to talk to people about racism? Have you thought about what you would or should do if you have a concern about racism or racial justice?
The Racial Justice Toolkit builds on covenant’s principles and gives you some tools to:
- reflect and act on situations and issues where there is potential for racial discrimination
- think about best practice, what is going well, what needs to be celebrated
- consider the changes we need to make.
Diversity is fundamental to God’s creation, a gift to be enjoyed and relished. Yet in so many of its dimensions, diversity is a gift that is challenging and complicated. By stepping up and challenging our own perceptions and biases we can step into the gift that diversity is. We get to create sustainable long-term anti-racists behaviours and actions; release potential in God’s church, and enable the flourishing of all God’s people.