In April we started a journey of bringing Christians and Churches together to seek racial justice in Leeds. This ecumenical gathering was the first of its kind in the city, and we were all inspired by what was said in our panel discussion, the creative spoken word from Testament, and Bishop Smitha’s closing call to action. Since then, we’ve been hard at work to build on that momentum and continue to build an ecumenical anti-racist response in Leeds. The steering group met this week to reflect on the questions you asked, which were published in City Theology in Spring. Read the article here.
You can hear Faith and Racial Justice Lead Dwayne Hutchinson talking about our work on Churches Against Racism on BBC Yorkshire Faiths programme with Kat Cowan! Head to BBC sounds here, and skip to 1:17:40
Left to right: Siaa Liane Mathurin (Wellsprings Together), Alistair Cheetham (LCI), Dwayne Hutchinson (LCI), Pastor Sunita Wasson (New Testament Church of God), Revd Dave Ho Young (St Barnabas’ Church Alwoodley), Canon Paul Maybury (Leeds Minster), Bishop Tony Parry (New Testament Church of God)
We’re thrilled to be able to share new creative monologue resources from Leeds spoken word artist and beatboxer Testament, which the Diocese of Leeds have developed into two short films. You can watch them below.
- Visitor (8 minutes) tells the story of a family looking for a new place to worship, who desperately need community, welcome, and a real Church family. Instead, they are met with pleasantries – but two years later, it’s clear they’re still outsiders.
- In Chocolate Digestive (6 minutes) we meet the vicar of a parish church who is thrilled to welcome the new Black curate as ‘a breath of fresh air, yeah brotha’. But his ignorance is uncovered when he’s reluctant to speak out for true racial justice.
The Bishops Priests and Pastors watched the video resources from together at the steering group meeting. The group agreed that the messages in the videos were powerful and true depictions of people’s lived experiences, and will be a great resource for training ministers to help people understand the racial injustices in churches. 
Another focus of the meeting was on the question: “Churches have many up-to-date policies – however, how do we get people to realise that they need to look within themselves and identify that’s where the problem lies?” This was one of the questions that came out of the Churches Against Racism gathering in April.
Bishop Tony Parry of New Testament Church of God commented that there is no on size fits all approach to this. Revd Dave Ho Young of St Barnabas’ Church Alwoodley said that “policies are easy, but repentance is what we are looking for.” New member of the group Siaa Liane Mathurin, Chief Officer of Wellsprings Together, reminded us that “racial justice is a Biblical issue”.
The group will continue to meet to look at how the church can not only work towards an anti-racist future, but meaningfully repent for what’s been done in the past.
At the Hook Lecture on Wednesday next week, we’ll be exploring the theological call on the church to be proactive in responding to racism wherever we see it – within our church institutions, and in wider society. We can’t wait to welcome back Richard Reddie to Leeds Minster, as well as inviting a response from Professor Johanna Stiebert, Director of the Centre for Religion and Public Life at the University of Leeds. You can sign up for your place here.
We hope you’ll keep walking with us on this journey towards an anti-racist Church and an anti-racist city.