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Top C of E cleric slams church for 'monochrome' leadership

<span>Photograph: WPA/Getty</span>
Photograph: WPA/Getty

A former senior Church of England official has criticised the institution’s record on racism, while many of its bishops are publicly backing the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Rev Arun Arora, a vicar in Durham and formerly the C of E’s director of communications, says the “monochrome nature of the senior leadership” of the church looks “perilously archaic”.

Writing for the Observer, Arora and three co-authors say the church is presenting a “contradictory picture”, with many in leadership positions responding on social media to the death of George Floyd using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, while glossing over issues of institutional racism. The authors point out that the retirement of John Sentamu as Archbishop of York this weekend will leave no BAME diocesan (senior) bishops in the C of E.

Related: Beaten in Uganda, abused in the UK: John Sentamu’s long struggle against injustice

“When the Conservative party – hitherto unknown for racially progressive leadership – appoints a BAME man and a BAME woman to two of the four highest offices of state and appoints others to the cabinet, the monochrome nature of the senior leadership of the C of E begins to look perilously archaic,” the article says.

Although there are five BAME suffragan (junior) bishops, “if we were to add up all of the C of E’s serving BAME bishops, out of over 100 bishops we would still be counting on one hand”.

You get bishops who begin to understand the issues, but when they retire, the church reverts to factory settings

ADA France-Williams, author

Earlier this year, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said he was ashamed of the Church’s institutional racism. Speaking at a debate on the Windrush generation at the general synod, Welby said: “When we look at our own church, we are still deeply, institutionally racist. Let’s be clear about that.” He added: “I’m ashamed of our history and I’m ashamed of our failure … I’m ashamed of my lack of urgent voice to the church.”

Father Andrew Moughtin-Mumby, rector of St Peter’s Walworth in south London, who initiated the debate in February, said Floyd’s death and the disproportionate number of BAME people who have died of Covid-19 amounted to “trauma upon trauma for people of colour in the UK, US and beyond”.

However, some in the C of E leadership were on a “real journey”, he told the Observer. “George Floyd’s murder has woken people up… I think we will see change quite quickly.”

ADA France-Williams, whose book Ghost Ship: Institutional Racism and the Church of England will be published next month, said: “You might get bishops who begin to understand the issues, but when they retire the church reverts to factory settings. The template for what a priest should be is still white, male, straight, educated.”

Related: How can the Church of England speak about race when its leaders are so white?

Last week, a black trainee priest who applied to become a curate in a C of E church posted on Twitter a rejection email which said “the demographic of the parish is monochrome white working class, where you might feel uncomfortable”.

Augustine Tanner-Ihm said: “Bishops make statements [on] #BlackLivesMatter this week, I’m still struck by this I received & many more from Diocesan Staff this year. Also the 8 different dioceses that rejected me for a curacy. I guess not all black lives matter.”

The C of E said the letter was “plainly unacceptable” and it was “seeking clarity from the diocese”.