A bishop who spoke at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding has drawn criticism after suggesting controversial “woke” church reforms.
The Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Bishop of Dover, has claimed that racism plagues the Church of England and says the body must not be afraid of being called “woke”.
The bishop is drawing up a “race action plan” to help the church “embrace racial justice” and increase the number of ethnic minorities in senior positions.
She said: “I am in no doubt that the church must continue to work at embedding racial justice in all its life and structures – lip service will not do, neither will ticking boxes.
“Those who are frightened by the authenticity of this movement want to scare us into thinking that being woke is a sin created by people on the Left.”
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said that despite some change, the church’s learnings from its past are not enough, saying: “I continue to lament, because what we have done has not been good enough and that is a scandal and an affront to God.
“Today, we discuss racial justice. Tomorrow, we will think about how we move forward into the future in response to the church’s involvement in chattel slavery.
“And all of this requires us to be honest about the terrible failings of the past, not to flinch from the failings and challenges of the present, and to build a better future.”
On Sunday, a motion put forward by Bishop Hudson-Wilkin was passed by Synod (the Church of England’s legislative body), saying it should “encourage parishes and deaneries to develop local action plans to address issues of racial injustice”.
Members of the Synod discussed racism in the church with barrister Daniel Matovu said his whole life he has been forced to bear a cross “because of the colour of my skin”.
“You white folks have no idea, particularly those of you who are white male, heterosexual and not disabled. You’ve only been given small sticks to carry, with which to beat the rest of us,” He said.
Another lay member, David Hermitt, said the church must take action to tackle racism in order to reverse falling membership and draw in “more radical” young people.
But Dr Rakib Ehsan, author of Beyond Grievance: What the Left Gets Wrong About Ethnic Minorities, said that “no sphere of British life” was free of “divisive identitarian thinking”.
He told the Telegraph: “Abandoning traditional Christian values in favour of the unholy trinity of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the established Church of the land risks alienating conservative ethnic minorities who have little time for the politics of grievance and victimhood.”
