The Diocese of Blackburn, alongside other Dioceses, has made remarkable progress in matters of racial justice in recent years due to intentional engagement at many levels.

That’s the view of our Bishop’s Adviser on UK Minority Ethnic and Global Majority Heritage matters, Rev. Sarah Siddique Gill, who is also the Vicar of St Stephen's with St James’ in Blackburn.

However, Rev. Sarah said there is much still to be done across the whole Church ‘to challenge the inherent attitudes of those who consider that Racial Justice doesn't matter’.

Rev. Sarah was speaking at the recent meeting of General Synod (the church’s Parliament) in London as part of a debate on a motion which was moved by the Bishop of Dover, Rt Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin. It was also Rev. Sarah’s maiden speech to General Synod.

The debate successfully concluded with Synod overwhelmingly backing a call for ‘crucial’ resources to remain available for racial justice, as Synod members heard that more work needs to be done for the full inclusion of Global Majority Heritage (GMH) people in the Church of England.

Contributing to the discussion, Rev. Sarah said: "I urge the house to support this motion as we continue to promote the much needed work of Racial Justice in the Church of England.

“Coming from a rich Punjabi Pakistani cultural heritage (of which I am very proud) my Christian spirituality is rooted in the context of a majority Muslim community. 

“God has created every person regardless of cultural, ethnic or linguistic background in His image. Therefore it is mandatory to continue to challenge the inherent attitudes of those people who consider that Racial Justice doesn't matter. 

“It may be possible that they have not experienced cultural/ethnic diversity or they do not want to entertain cultural/ethnic diversity. 

“That minority ethnic communities are equal partners in the Church of England is an asset in inspiring the church in the UK to meet the challenge of declining membership.”

• Read a full report of the Racial Justice debate here. 
• Watch Rev. Sarah’s speech to Synod (and the rest of the debate) here on YouTube. Rev. Sarah speaks from 1h 12m 13s.

Captions for above pictures:

• Rev. Sarah Gill delivering her maiden speech to General Synod
• Rev. Sarah Gill