The following are my notes of a seminar delivered by Anderson Jeremiah, Anthony Reddie, Elizabeth Henry, Lusa Nsenga Ngoy and Sharon Prentis. Any inaccuracies is my responsibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
BAME\nare at the mercy of the majority community. Being white is the norm. So,\nminorities are defined by not being white instead of the rich diversity each of\nus brings. Lives of minorities are of inferior status and less valuable if not\nnegligible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nchurch in general and the Church of England in particular is a product of the\nwider social framing. The church replicates and mirrors the normativity of\nwhite lives as special, superior, essential and all others as inferior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Society\nand church are primarily defined by a particular privileged majority community\nthat sees the minority communities as neither equal nor valuable; as something\nthat needs to be included at the behest of the majority community. There is a\ngatekeeper, there is fencing and framing within which the minority community\nhas to be accepted. So, you will be accepted if you fit into the norm. However,\nthe gospel of Jesus Christ questions such a social framing. It gives self-worth\nto every living being bearing the image of God as proclaimed in the Old Testament,\nas a God who embraces everyone and redeemed by the blood of Christ, gathered as\na family as described in the book of Acts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nchurch by its very nature is diverse. It cannot be defined by one particular\nnorm. By its very nature, the church cannot be defined by any one majority\ncommunity. Therefore, if BAME lives are not valued in the Church of England it\nhas to seriously reconsider its definition as a church. If the Church of\nEngland is defined by a white majority, is it a church? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minorities\nin the Church of England continue to be measured from the white privileged\nposition which has access to power, opportunity and agency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To\nask the question \u2018do BAME lives matter in the Church of England\u2019 is absurd. It\nshould be axiomatic that all lives matter. If our lives mattered we would not\nbe asking the question in the first place. We wouldn\u2019t need a movement if\nhumanity had behaved in the way God had intended. We have to start with the\nfailure of the church to be the church. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theology of good intentions <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nthe church is accused of not caring for those on the margins they set up a\nworking group, they produce a report, they have apologetic rhetoric that says we\nhave not done better in the past and promises that we will do better in the\nfuture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After\nthe working group has been wound up and the report has been published with its\nrecommendations life goes back to normal. Things are done the way they were\nbefore; until another incident forces another apology… Then we go through the\nsame cycle again. Another working group, another report, another set of\nwords… another theology of good intentions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead\nwhat we need is radical action for change. And dethroning of whiteness <\/p>\n\n\n\n Original\nsin of theology; silence in the face of white supremacy <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nChurch of England has to ask itself who is its real lord and master. Is it\nJesus Christ, a Palestinian Jew who was on the side of those on the margins or\nis its white supremacy? Until that question is addressed our lives are not\ngoing to matter; they will continue to be governed by the theology of good\nintentions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How\ncan a white person in 2020 ask \u2018what does racism look like?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do BAME lives matter in the Church of England? The answer to the question is: the evidence tells us not and the experience tells us not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My\nfamily have been Anglicans since 1643. They were slaves and indentured slaves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nmy mum came to this country from the Caribbean, she, like others, went to an\nAnglican church but it wasn\u2019t the church for her. She ended up in a Pentecostal\nchurch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Often\nBlack lives do not matter. We are being called to repent, to lament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nmoment the Church became captive of imperial powers it lost its ability to be\nthe church that originated in the margins. (I wonder whether the moment the\nChurch became safe, it lost the voice it was meant to speak with. It stopped\nbeing persecuted because it was no longer posing a threat). <\/p>\n\n\n\n What\nwould the church\u2019s reorientation look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those\nwho currently hold the power in the church need to relinquish it and step back.\nWith power comes privilege. Will there be relinquishing of power? <\/p>\n\n\n\n All\ntheology is contextual. It is also autobiographical. It is (wrongly) presented\nas universal. This is especially so with white theologians. They pretend to be\nneutral, well informed, scholarly …Utter nonsense. Everyone should admit\ntheir starting point, their bias. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Theology\nis human speech about God. God does not do theology. Humans do. But we do\ntheology from our locatedness as creatures. God is the creator; we are his\ncreation. We can only write partially. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nwe have all our voices around the table, then and only then we get close to who\nGod is. It\u2019s a lot better than just having a limited number of voices, usually\nwhite. So, a question worth asking is: who is missing from around the table?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a\nminority seminarian I learnt European theology. By doing so I lost my \u2018mother\ntongue\u2019; because I was being taught to speak someone else\u2019s language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Education\nis key to transformation. But it\u2019s sad the church has lost its pedagogical tool\nof empowering and equipping people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How\nto enable BAME people in more senior roles in the Church of England? <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nwould never need to say: how to enable white people to do so; to get there and\nto flourish effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nhave the reports. We know what\u2019s needed. What we need to do is to remove the\nstructural barriers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nis a lot of patronage in the church. This is likely to benefit white people. We\nhave to be honest; we have an appointments process that is not fit for purpose.\nThe church needs to make room for talented BAME people. The patronage which\nmeans there is a lack of transparency. So, the structures and systems that\nallow this have to be changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How can we be a model for society?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nhave Jesus as our model. He thought things were not right, so he decided to\nchallenge it. He wanted to offer a new model. He invited people to follow him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So,\nthe very task of the church is to be the alternative model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The church\nshould enable the presence of God in every community that we live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nthe presence of God is not facilitated by each one of us whatever ethnic\nbackground we happen to be then we cannot call ourselves as church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nany situation we should ask: who is advantaged and who is disadvantaged. We\nshould then ask what we need to change in order to advantage the disadvantaged.\nWhat structures and models do we need to operate so that the normative way of\ndoing things is turned over? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nBeloved Community in the Episcopal church is a good example. It contains\nrepentance, reconciliation, proactive action, identifying with those on the\nmargins and having courageous conversations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nwas said of the First Century church: look how they love one another. Do we now\nreally love one another? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Council\nof World Mission is another example. They moved their headquarters from London\nto the global south in order to decentre empire. They are planning reparations.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bishop\nFrancis-Dehqani, a Persian Christian added: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The following are my notes of a seminar delivered by Anderson Jeremiah, Anthony Reddie, Elizabeth Henry, Lusa Nsenga Ngoy and Sharon Prentis. Any inaccuracies is my responsibility. BAME are at the mercy of the majority community. Being white is the norm. So, minorities are defined by not being white instead of the rich diversity each … <\/p>\n