Churches to Commemorate 10th Anniversary of Racial Justice Sunday

Racial Justice Sunday, coordinated by the Churches' Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ) under the national official ecumenical organisation Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), will be observed by churches in the UK on 11th September. This year it will mark the 10th anniversary of campaign.

Three major services around Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England, involving thousands of churches and schools, will be held. At St Paul's Cathedral in London, the Bishop of Southwark, Rt Rev Tom Butler, and Rev Dr Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance have been invited as the keynote speakers.

Rt Rev Kieran Conry, President of the Catholic Association for Racial Justice; Rev Ermal Kirby, Chair of London North East Methodist District; Archbishop Gregorios, Oecumenical Patriarchate, Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain; and Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Britain will also participate.

At the same time in Scotland, Archbishop Mario Conti; Rev David W Lacy, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Rt Rev Idris Jones, Episcopal Bishop of Glasgow, will participant at Pollockshields parish church in Glasgow.

A third service is taking place at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cardiff, at which leaders of minority ethnic Christian communities and leaders of other faiths will be present.

Just as previous years, CCRJ is producing a pack of resources to guide churches to pray for an end to misunderstanding, racism and injustice. It also encourages thanksgiving for human diversity.

Racial Justice Fund is also being highlighted, it provides grant support to organisations and projects working to combat racism and empower black and minority ethnic communities throughout Britain and Ireland.

Other information such as ideas for what to do on and after Racial Justice Sunday, sermon notes, drama sketches and stories from people who have suffered racism, are also included in the resources pack.

The Catholic Association for Racial Justice, the Methodist Racial Justice Committee, the United Reformed Church Racial Justice Office, CYTÛN (Churches Together in Wales), the Refugee Project of the Irish Bishops' Conference among others are supporting the CCRJ campaign.

From 1971 to 1990, ecumenical work on community and race relations was done by the Community and Race Relations Unit (CRRU) of the British Council of Churches (BCC). The BCC was renamed in 1990, becoming the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland (CCBI). In 1992, the Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ), which continues to fight for racial justice, monitoring trends in government policy on race relations, immigration & asylum and criminal justice, replaced CRRU.