God is calling for more racial diversity in the Church of England (CoE), Britain’s second most senior cleric has claimed, insisting that Christians must stand up “to denounce prejudice, racism, homophobia, and exclusion of any kind”.
Speaking to members of the General Synod via the video communications platform Zoom on Saturday, the newly installed Archbishop of York dismissed “weary debate” over the decision to close church buildings even to clergy during the coronavirus lockdown.
More important, the Most Revd Stephen Cottrell said, was his belief “that God is calling us to be a Church of glorious and profligate diversity”.
According to the 98th Archbishop of York, who succeeds Dr John Sentamu, the CoE remains “overly-dominated” by voices which are white, male and from privileged backgrounds.
One of three members of the General Synod coordinating group asked to talk about their work priorities, the Revd Dr Sharon Prentis expressed hope for greater “diversity”, asserting that “by being attentive to a variety of voices from different backgrounds, especially those who are not normally part of our consultative processes, we can truly be an intercultural, that is a Church that represents all cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds, an intergenerational, a Church of all ages, and an inclusive Church, in Christ.”
The CoE has been vocal in recent years in decrying an alleged lack of racial diversity in its ranks, with its most prominent cleric, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, even attacking his Church for being “deeply institutionally racist”.
However, earlier this week it dismissed concerns that the Church leadership was failing when it comes to reflecting political and viewpoint diversity among its bishops, many of whom are outspoken globalists.
Noting that Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party won a substantial majority in the last general election and 53.4 per cent of English people voted ‘Leave’ in the EU referendum — and an even larger two-thirds of Anglicans, despite the europhile urgings of Church leaders — lay member Tom Hatton asked whether the House of Bishops had considered “whether the membership of the episcopate reflects the full diversity of the political and social perspectives and aspirations held by the people of England”.
Replying on behalf of the Chair of the House of Bishops, the Bishop to the Armed Forces claimed that “there is no central record of the personal political and social perspectives held by the members of the House” and that members have criticised both Labour and Conservative governments.
However, a great many bishops were outspoken in campaigning against Brexit — which Welby condemned as “xenophobic” and claimed was promoting “poison and hatred”.
Prominent Christian blogger Archbishop Cranmer — a pseudonym — warned that the CoE’s “active hostility toward conservative philosophy” inflicts a “wound” on itself by offering “no welcome” to members of the public who are not on board with the globalist agenda.
“The church’s missional vocation to foster national unity is hindered by bishops who assert a visceral partisanship, indeed contempt for things which C/conservatives hold sincerely and believe deeply,” Cranmer wrote.
“The present focus is on diversity of ethnicity and sex (if not sexuality) in the Episcopate. If no way is found to restore social, political and intellectual diversity, and people feel increasingly alienated as they cease to feel that their political aspirations and social perspectives are reflected (or at least treated with respect) at the highest levels, the Church of England will simply decline further: people will leave, if they haven’t already left,” he added.
Breitbart London reported last week on Archbishop Cottrell’s claim that Jesus Christ “was a black man” who would have joined in with the Marxist, anti-family Black Lives Matter movement, many of which have erupted into violence in cities across the West.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, the church leader affirmed his support for “LGBTQ+ Christians”, blasted the CoE leadership as “still too white”, and insisted that the church has work to do “addressing the deep systemic issues of exclusion and prejudice”.
He does not, however, appear to have any plans to step down so that his prestigious position — previously held by a black man — can be filled by an ethnic minority replacement.
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