Here, Wale sheds some light on the scale of the challenge facing the church in helping young people find a redemptive alternative to a life of violence.
CT: Gun and knife crime is a real concern to people in the UK right now. What is your experience of it?
WHR: I’ve been a Baptist minister now for about 14 years and I used to have a church in Finsbury Park. As a pastor I was very much aware of the increase in violent crime and particularly gun and knife crime. That was of deep concern to me particularly as I buried a number of people – both young and old - who had lost their lives as a result of violent crime.
I left the pastorate about five years ago and since then I have become the national race advisor for BUGB. It was in this capacity that I spent a weekend away with young people last year, just taking time to invest in their lives really, and the main item on their agenda in terms of discussion and reflection was violent crime.
I was surprised by how things had changed since I had been a pastor in my church in North London, only five years ago. When I was a pastor violent crime was prevalent but not as prevalent as it is now and speaking to those young people only reinforced to me just how increasingly dangerous and concerning violent crime has become.
CT: So it is not simply something the media has latched on, it is actually getting worse?
WHR: I think it is. In the context of speaking to this particular group of young people - around 30 in all, every single one had been affected by gun or knife crime in some way, shape or form. If it was not they themselves personally, then it was a friend or a family member. They were telling me some really concerning stories in relation to gangs, the lure and attraction of gangs, the penalty of leaving gangs. All those stories really impacted on me.
It was within that context that I came together with Ascension Trust. I felt we had to link up and start to work together to curb and address violent crime, particularly where it concerns young black kids.
CT: Leading the funerals must have made a lasting impression?
WHR: Absolutely, it had a huge impact on me. These people were not members of my church but they were people in the community who died as a result of violent crime, and I knew most of them so I was privileged to do their funeral services.
CT: The media headlines, at least in London, tend to detail incidences of gun and knife crime involving black perpetrators and black victims. But is it confined to the black community and if so, what conclusions are we to draw from that?
