Evangelical Head Backs Church’s Apology for Role in Slave Trade

The General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, Rev Joel Edwards has responded to the Church of England’s statement of apology for its previous stance in the slave trade. The EAUK leader commended the comments saying “repentance is a good first step”.

|PIC1|The Church of England has apologised for profiting from the “dehumanising and shameful” slave trade, two centuries after its members helped bring about its abolition in Britain.

Rev Edwards, gave his praise to the comments, yet he also stated that the issue should not just be left there. He called for all UK Christians to look to the future and to work together to eradicate any forms of racism, and make sure it becomes a thing of the past.

“I tend to feel ambivalent about national apologies. There is a danger that they can become the province of white liberals and black activists. In this case, however, I think the Church of England was right to apologise as long as the issue is not now shelved,” said the EAUK General Director.

He added, “Repentance is a good first step, but it is so important that Christians continue to look at positive ways, in consultation with the Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice, to fight racism in the future. Actions can not only speak louder, but can make sense of our words.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual head of the world's 77 million Anglicans, said the Church had a duty to share the “shame and sinfulness of our predecessors”.

“It is not about political correctness ... wanting to wipe the record clean," he told a meeting of the church's governing body, the General Synod, in London on Wednesday. "It is part of what we are as a Christian community: A corporate acknowledgement of repentance.”

|TOP|More than 10 million people were exported as slaves from Africa during 350 years of the trade, the Synod heard. Each year, about 80,000 people were sold to work on sugar and cotton plantations.

Rev Joel Edwards said, “In the run-up to the bicentenary celebrations for the Abolition of Slavery this is the challenge for all Christians and not just the Church of England.”

He concluded, “I would also encourage Christians everywhere to rejoice in the actions of the Christian reformers who helped to ensure the passing of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. They left us a proud legacy, but we must not rest on our laurels, instead we must continue to challenge governments and institutions because slavery, in its various forms, is alive and well in our world.”