Anglicans plan to fast-track black and ethnic-minority clerics

Black, Asian and minority ethnic clergy are to be fast-tracked into senior positions within the Church of England.

Following a discussion at the most recent General Synod in November the Church will in 2016 begin to identify potential “leaders” to form a talent pool of clerics from ethnic minority clerics.

According to The Guardian, its members will be mentored and trained with the goal of increasing diversity among bishops and other senior clergy.

The move comes as membership of black majority and other ethnic churches continues to grow, bucking the trend towards a general decline in church attendance. Black and ethnic Churches are leading church growth particularly in London where, according to Brierley Consultancy, two-thirds of all new churches to open in London between 2005 and 2012 were Pentecostal Black Majority.

Meanwhile just 2.8 per cent of Church of England clergy are from ethnic minorities, with only one bishop, the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu.

Richard Zipfel, a trustee of the Catholic Association for Racial Justice, welcomed the initiative but said that it would have to be handled carefully to avoid putting a disproportionate amount of pressure on a small community.

“They have to think of the whole process and encourage black and ethnic minority lay people to take up leadership roles,” he said.

“I’d encourage a form of mentoring that reached down further into the lay population and think not just of bishops but of how to increase involvement in a variety of roles.”