A report into institutional racism in the Church of England has found that there is a “lack of diversity in leadership” within the Church.
The Behind Stained-Glass report has been six months in the making. The Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice drew upon the experiences of non-white and ethnic minority clergy, and found that there is a “significant mismatch between the Church’s espoused aspirations for racial justice”, versus the “lived realities” of people from minority ethnic or Global Majority Heritage (GMH) backgrounds.
“Senior roles are predominantly occupied by white males,” says the report. Suggested reasons for this are “biased recruitment and progression processes and stereotyping”.
It is proposed that many GMH individuals do not envision themselves in CofE ministry, as they do not presently see role models who look like them heading up churches.
The meritocracy of traditional theology degrees was also noted as a hindrance to people from ethnically diverse and working-class backgrounds: “Greater value appears to be attached to UK qualifications and people from ‘traditional Anglican’ backgrounds compared with others with more diverse experiences and routes into the ministry.”
Positive elements of ordination are also highlighted, such as the “leadership and intentionality” of dioceses such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Southwark, who have been proactive in gathering data to analyse the racial diversity of their clergy.
Going forward, the report recommends that all dioceses implement a Diocesan Anti-Racism Plan, including measures to “systematically collect” data regarding “the demographic composition of those in its ministry”.
Culture changes are also recommended, including a “zero tolerance” policy towards both “overt and subtle” racial discrimination.