The Dean of York, the Rt Revd Dr Jonathan Frost, writes:
I trust this finds you and yours in good heart. Your brothers and sisters at York Minster hold you in prayer as we all begin to emerge into the post lockdown sunlight. As we do so, we must embrace a challenge shared by Church and nation: to work with courage and energy to build a racially just society in which all can flourish.
We were all horrified by George Floyd’s murder. Those awful events, circulated worldwide via social media, held up a mirror to ‘civilised’ societies everywhere, including our own. The Black Lives Matter movement now provokes conversation, greater collective awareness and openness to change.
The publication of From Lament to Action, commissioned by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, is set in this wider context (full report: bit.ly/fl2afull and its summary: bit.ly/fl2anews). It is a disturbing read. Over the last forty years, various CofE reports into racial justice made over 150 recommendations but almost completely failed to act. This is, in part, why many describe the CofE as institutionally racist. The evidence points to our hearts and feet not being engaged with our easy words. It would appear, from the evidence of inactivity alone, that lifting the burden of injustice from UKME people within and outside of the Church, has simply not been a priority for us.
From Lament to Action does what it says on the tin. It calls us to bold action. To repentance and a change of direction. It is an invitation to prayer and to seek first Christ’s kingdom in which racial justice matters.
I am finding helpful a prayer which Pope Francis has offered us; it is wonderfully accommodated to need and expressive of the disciple’s vocation within church and world. It is my prayer that you find it so too.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart:
transform our hearts.
Teach us to love God and our neighbour
with generosity.
Pope Francis