Weekly Newsletter, 5 June 2020
I’m sure you’ve been very aware of the sad story of race and cruel policing coming out of the USA this week, a story which casts a shadow back across the Atlantic to the UK and challenges us all about the extent to which we judge people based on the colour of their skin.
I grew up in a part of England that, rather like rural Worcestershire, had a tiny Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) population. And when you’ve only got white people to mix with, it’s hard to avoid absorbing the assumptions and language they use about those who look different to them.
Despite that, I don’t think I’d have called myself a racist at that age. At least not a conscious one. Then, aged 19, something happened to me that opened my eyes to the more subtle danger of racial stereotyping. To get to a football game, I had to walk through deprived inner-city Moss Side, in Manchester. It was the first time I’d ever really experienced an area with a large BAME population, and I was taken aback by how it made me feel. To be clear, nothing at all unpleasant happened to me as I walked through it, and yet I was worried that almost everyone I saw there, was going to rob me.
It took me a while to work out why I had this reaction, and of course the problem was not with them, it was with me. For years the majority of the BAME faces I’d seen were bad guys in shows like Starsky and Hutch and other (mainly American) TV dramas and films, and for want of any better examples, that was where my brain went to for stereotypes.
The psychologists define a stereotype as a “fixed, over-generalised belief about a particular group or class of people”, and it isn’t essentially a bad thing, In fact, it’s a rather helpful unconscious process our brains use to enable us to respond quickly to situations, based on previous experience.
Where it becomes a problem is when our brains are stuffed full of duff information that we’ve absorbed from TV. If all our data about BAME people comes from US crime dramas, we’ll end up making some pretty terrible decisions! For all I know, the Moss Side residents I unconsciously feared were going to rob me could have been on their way to a Bible study!
Two stints of living in London helped me come to terms with this, and I’ll be forever grateful to God for introducing me to so many wonderful, godly, BAME people there! But it has left me very aware of the danger of stereotype or institutional racism in the church, and the challenge the church faces, particularly in a “white” area like rural Worcestershire, to avoid this sort of “accidental” racism.
To be clear the Bible gives us no grounds for racism. All people are created in God’s image and are equally valuable in God’s eyes. But stereotyping makes it hard for us to always look at people through God’s eyes! That’s why its so important we all work at loving and befriending people who do not act or look like we do.
But fixing institutional racism goes beyond friendship. Many of the institutions and tribes of the Church of England have been rightly criticised as “stale, male and pale.” You could add Oxbridge educated to that list too! And change will only come when those who control access to that sort of power and privilege, begin to open the door to those (irrespective or race, class, and education) who are different to them.
I’ve been encouraged by the moves the Church of England has made on this in recent years, but there is still much to be done. So please pray for change in the Church of England, and in yourself: for we all need to be wary of our own stereotypes.
One day we’ll stand before the throne of God, in a heavenly worship service, with the redeemed people of God, people of every tribe and tongue, every people and nation. It would be an awful shame if we couldn’t enjoy it to the full, because you were worried some of them were going to rob you!
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Briefly, a few other bits of news. And remember, please also scroll down through the rest of this email to see details of readings for this Sunday, links to some fun things we’ve spotted this week, and our updated prayer list.
1) Covid-19 & Churches Update
There’s still no update this week on when our church buildings may be able to reopen, though I still hear the 4 July date as being potentially significant. This will not however be for corporate worship.
The archdeacons wrote to church wardens this week to let us know that the Church of England has established a working group under the leadership of the Bishop of London (a former Chief Nursing Officer) to prepare some good practice guidelines for us when we are allowed to reopen, and that reopening will be a slow and gradual process.
I have circulated some updated and lengthier thoughts to PCC members and service leaders about this, though I have yet to work out how to serve communion while keeping 2m away from everyone! If anyone would like access to the thoughts, please send me an email.
When the encouragement does come to reopen, our church councils will need to take a final decision on re-opening after they have completed a risk assessment to show that whatever hygiene standards are required by the government and Church of England can be maintained. As you can imagine without toilets and running water, it will be tricky in some of our buildings.
Until then please continue to be patient and prepare yourself for a “new normal” post lockdown, one in which we learn to co-exist with Covid-19!
2) Church finances – please help out!
Like all small charities, your local church is suffering a significant financial shortfall as a result of lost income from collections and special fundraising events we’d have run through the summer.
Whilst there’s still some hope we might be able to run a few events in the open air later in the summer, we do face a very challenging future financially. If you are in a position to give an additional gift at this time, it would make a huge difference.
If you live in the Hanleys you can make use of a new giving arrangement that the PCC there has set up to allow the giving of a gift online.
At the moment, not all of our churches have this facility, but I hope others will be online soon. In the meantime, if you are able to give a gift to help fund your local church, please contact the treasurers direct and they’ll let you know what to do.
3) Services on DVDs and CDs
Every week I produce the services on DVD and CD for a small number of folk across the area who don’t have internet access. It’s been a lovely way for them to stay in touch. If you know of anyone else who would be helped by this ministry, please let me know. And can I say a big thank-you to Alison, John and Robina, who are helping with distribution in Ripple and Welland!
4) Get Togethers
We can’t meet physically as church at the moment (but I hope those of you who can, have enjoyed some small social gatherings since the rules were eased last weekend) but Zoom continues to be a good tool to help us keep in touch and meet with a crowd of folk! If you’ve not tried it yet, and have a computer, do give it a go – it’s possible to leave the video off and just talk, or even just to listen in to others chatting.
5) This week’s Online Events
Click the links on the list below to take you direct to the event at the appropriate time.
Sunday 7 June
Live at 9:30am
Prerecorded, (stream at your convenience)
Tuesday 9 June
- Quiz Night – starts 8pm – login on Zoom from 7:50pm. Click here to join.
Wednesday 10 June
Every Day except Sunday
Services for Sunday 13 June
- Service of the Word (traditional) – PRERECORDED available from midnight
- Church Family (contemporary)– Facebook Premiere at 9:30am and PRERECORDED available from midnight.
- Evensong (PRERECORDED, available from 6pm).
We long for the day when we can all gather together again, but in the meantime, stay safe, stay prayerful, and God bless!
Reverend Barry Unwin
Vicar, Hope Church Family
