The first black female deacon in the Church of England has lost her appeal against the decision to disband her parish in south London.
Reverend Yvonne Clarke, ordained in 1987, has served All Saints Shirley in Southwark Diocese for over two decades. In 2020 the diocese set out plans to dissolve her parish in a move that was labelled "indirectly discriminatory."
The congregation is 80 per cent black and the parish has a large proportion of African Caribbean residents and migrants, according to Clarke and “provides important leadership in an area of high minority ethnic population.”
Reverend Clarke and All Saints Spring Park Parochial Church Council (ASSP) appealed the decision to dissolve the parish earlier this year, arguing that it would disproportionately affect these minority groups.
The Church commissioner argued that the parish’s viability had been thoroughly assessed, noting a consistently poor financial performance compared to other parishes and ongoing concerns about capacity for governance.
The parish, which is part of the Southwark Diocese, is to be divided between two others in south London and Clarke’s role will be terminated in twelve months.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council said it was satisfied that the decision “did not involve unlawful discrimination or any failure to take into account the needs of minority ethnic communities" and ruled that church commissioners did not have to abide by the Equalities Act as they were not a public body.
Following the ruling, Clarke said: “Naturally, I am disappointed with this judgement, which will result in the dissolution of a unique, black-led parish and the termination of my role as one of the few black vicars of Jamaican heritage in the Church of England."
"The church commissioners recognise this will come as a disappointment to the Reverend Yvonne Clarke and wish to acknowledge her ground-breaking contribution as the first black woman ordained as a deacon in the Church of England, and one of the first female priests," a CoE spokesperson said.
