one shepherd, one flock
It's not been an easy week for the Church of England: a Panorama programme and an official report which leaves little room for doubt that we are not doing well when it comes to racial equality in the church. The report "From Lament to Action" can be read here and the programme "Is the church racist?" watched here.
Last year, the church was highly criticised by IICSA (the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) and we are also very aware that many people - possibly due to their gender, sexuality, differing abilities or status - do not feel that The Church of England is "for them". So it's not an easy week for us to have this passage from John's gospel: "There will be one flock, one shepherd".
Week by week we proclaim "We are the body of Christ". This idea is based on imagery from St Paul whose vision is of each person being an essential, integral and unique member of that body. In South Africa's apartheid years, Desmond Tutu called for a rainbow nation and insisted that whilst anyone suffered, everyone was suffering. I wonder if we need to start yearning to be a rainbow church where black, brown and white people; gay, straight and binary people; differently able people and people from across the nation’s social spectrum are celebrated as essential ligaments and sinews of the one body of Christ​.
It is so very sad and deeply troubling that the Church of England is in this state. But we are the Church of England - me and you - and reform needs to happen at both the national level and at the parish level. Over the last few months, since the events of last summer when the statue of Edward Colston was toppled, Aggy has been having conversations with BAME members of SMR church community. Her report will be discussed at PCC on Monday evening. I'm delighted to say that, on the whole, SMR gets a good write up from those who are part of the church: but then that's not really surprising, as those who found the church to be unwelcoming or unfriendly, racist or homophobic, would not have remained here.
We have identified equality and diversity as one of the key themes for The Redcliffe Plan - our new development plan - alongside sustainability and our use of technology which is clearly here to stay. Over the coming months there will be more about this new plan on our website and published in places like this. As part of this plan, Aggy has taken on the role of Diversity Champion and will be encouraging us all to consider how each one of us can take a step towards someone who is not like us and to share with them the love of the good shepherd who yearns for us all to be one flock.
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The Church of England is currently engaging in a national engagement, listening and learning process around questions of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage, and how these fit within the bigger picture of Christian Faith. We will have an opportunity to explore this together later in the year, but our engagement with this as a diocese will begin with two half-day conferences (both the same programme) which you are invited to attend, both on zoom.
Saturday 8 May: 9.30am – 1.30pm
Saturday 22 May: 9.30am – 1.30pm
You can book on https://bristoldiocese.eventbr...
Please contact Kat if you have any questions about Living in Love and Faith.
