The Methodist Church in Britain has been told it must "recognize that we have not eradicated the problem" of racism yet.

Rev Dr Jonathan Hustler, Secretary of the Conference, said he was "appalled" by the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, and the continued injustice experienced by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people. 

He said this experience of racial injustice was "shamefully" prevalent in the Methodist Church in Britain and that it needed to "repent" for historic failings. 

In a statement, he endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement, adding that "racism is a denial of the gospel".

"However, we have to recognize that we have not eradicated the problem from our Church, despite the excellent work of many over several decades," he said.

"Such a Church will celebrate and not be afraid of diversity; it will be disciplined and uncompromising in its refusal to tolerate any form of racism; it will work to encourage the vocation of those from minority groups to serve in positions of senior leadership; and it will be one in which all people can be confident of the welcome that they will receive as they share in worship and ministry with us."

He added: "We repent of the ways that we have fallen short of that in the past and of our slowness in changing our ways and we continue to look for ways in which we can witness to the all-encompassing love of God and become the transformation that we long to be. 'Only the Spirit's power can fit us for this hour': we pray, 'Come, Holy Spirit, come!'

Rev Patrick Kandeh, Chair of the Methodist Church's Belonging Together Ministers' Group, said he had watched recent events unfold in America with "dismay".

In a letter to black leaders in the United Methodist Church, USA, he spoke of the "trauma" experienced by American BAME communities as a result of the "constant onslaught" of police and state brutality. 

"We can hardly imagine the trauma that you and the people in your communities are experiencing as you endure the constant onslaught of police and state brutality, over-policing of black and brown neighbourhoods, under-funding of schools and education, voter rights restrictions, mass incarceration that serve an industrialised and commercialized justice system and which targets black and brown people, and a limited health-care system that neglects the poorest in society," he said.

"All of this, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic which adversely affects black and Asian people more disproportionately both here in the UK as it does for you in the US, due to the socially-constructed conditions that we endure. We are sorry that you have been carrying such burdens of injustice for centuries."