All language subtitles for Panorama.2021.04.19.Is.the.Church.Racist.1080p.HDTV-Eng

Tonight on Panorama...

Forgive us all that is past...

The Church of England's broken
promises on race and racism...

There's a culture of fear
where people pretend to be OK,

but they're really battling.

It makes you feel invisible.

It makes you feel
absolutely powerless.

We speak to clergy
claiming discrimination...

Why would you, on a letter
which is asking for a job

opportunity, why would you draw
attention to my ethnicity?

The Church's former top advisor
on race relations...

Based on the racial reckoning
of the church, I'm afraid

they've abysmally failed -
and it's not fit for purpose.

..and the man who's been brought
in to help change things...

The issue isn't so much that we
haven't talked about it enough -

the issue is that we haven't acted
upon it enough.

..but the church has
been here before...

I mean, look, that does shame
the church, doesn't it?

Well, it...
Yes, it does.

So, will it finally act,
and practice what it preaches?

I tried my very best for the Church
of England, I couldn't...

I can only be me.

Michelle Delves is a junior
vicar here at All Saints

Church in Hartlepool.

She's mixed race, and working class.

She's happy now.

But when she started out,
she says she was shocked by the lack

of diversity in the church.

It's mainly male and female,
middle and upper class.

I got there, and I've just never
felt as black and poor.

I felt like I'd landed
on an alien planet.

She enrolled at Cranmer Hall
in Durham in 2016.

It's a bible college that's
been training students

for more than a century.

Only one in ten accepted
for training into the Church

of England are from ethnic
minority backgrounds.

I often had things I wanted to say
or to ask and, you know,

I would sit with my hand up
for a while and then

just put it down.

There's almost, like,
there's a covert...

It's a silent threat.

Growing up in Bradford
in the 80s, racism was a fact

of life for Michelle.

I've had the most horrible
things said to me but,

it was very in my face
and I could deal with that.

The thing that really scares
the pants off me about this

institutional racism is that
you don't know it's

happening to you.

A few months into her
studies, she even tried

changing her appearance.

I'd stopped wearing wraps
on my head, I'd kind of tone down

the colours that I wore.

So, it's not that anybody's saying,
"You've got to take your wrap

off your head," but you start
to kind of accommodate this thing.

She says her growing sense
of isolation was made worse

by a lack of understanding
within the Church.

All through those two years
of training, you know,

people kept saying,
"Oh, play the game."

So, you go to your tutorial,
which is supposed to be

where you air these things,
and you try and air them honestly -

and straightaway it's like,
"Oh, you need to deal

with your emotions."

Instead of being heard,
I felt I was managed.

Michelle says she told
friends and lecturers

at the college how she felt,
but at the time was advised not

to make a formal complaint as it
would go on her record.

But, after leaving college, she took
her complaint to the very top.

I wrote to the Archbishop
of Canterbury because I just

felt I was so tired
and nobody was listening.

This is who I am, and I can't tell
you how heartbreaking

it is when you feel like you're
coming close to losing that -

not because you can't do it,
but because other people

think you can't.

In response to her note,
the Archbishop's office told

Michelle of their "anger and sorrow"
on hearing about her "experiences",

saying, "much more needs to be done
about institutional racism

in the Church".

Cranmer Hall told Panorama...

It says because it "received no
formal complaint from this

student" at the time,
it was "not able to

address the allegations".

It says it's "keen, if Michelle
would be willing, to explore these

concerns thoroughly."

# Jesus is here...#

The Church of England welcomes more
than 800,000 worshippers every week.

Of the clergy who lead them,
only one in 25 is from an ethnic

minority background.

For seven years, Dr Elizabeth Henry
was the Church's top

advisor on race relations.

Is the church for everyone?

It should be, shouldn't it?

Because of the teachings
of Christianity, there is one body

and we are all members
of the one body.

She was so disillusioned,
last year she quit.

I felt frustrated by the lack
of progress with issues of racism.

I wanted to start to put my energy
and my focus where I felt that

I could genuinely and truly
make a difference.

Elizabeth continues to support
minority and ethnic clergy.

Like this junior vicar, who doesn't
want to reveal her identity

because she fears losing her job.

I felt trapped, and I just
remember counting down

the minutes and seconds,
hoping that I was going to get out.

When she was at bible college,
she says she was racially abused

in class by a white student.

I was told to make a complaint.

I made a complaint and I was told
to turn the other cheek.

How did that make you feel?

Devastated.

Silenced.

I realised I was on my own,
and that what had happened

they were going to do
nothing with it.

Elizabeth has counselled many
others, who say even

complaining about racist abuse
carries its own risks.

The issue that came up again
and again and again was the feeling

that they were not safe
within the church.

It wasn't safe to complain.

That in taking that complaint
of racism further, that that

will then somehow mark them out
as being a troublemaker.

Professor Robert Beckford has
spent a lifetime studying

issues of faith and race.

He says the Church's complaints
system needs a complete overhaul.

The situation on complaints
is an absolute mess.

Clergy do not know who
the complaints are going to,

there is not one single system.

And as a consequence of that, people
don't know how their complaints

are going to be dealt with.

The situation is archaic,
it's out of date, and it's

not fit for purpose.

Meet Alwyn Pereira,
originally from Kenya.

When he finished his training
as a junior vicar in 2015,

he spent two long years trying
to find a job.

It was really difficult.

I couldn't work out why
I wasn't getting a job.

You kind of wonder how can
I improve, what can I do

to get my application up there,
and I fired off an email

to the bishop saying,
"My applications are not working,

what's wrong, can you help me?"

Finally in August 2017,
Alwyn got a job interview.

After all the knock-backs,
he was determined to succeed

and asked to see a copy
of his personal record.

The Church calls it a Blue File.

Every member of the clergy
has a blue file.

And this blue file contains
information about you from just

about anyone you come
into contact with.

The Church says any comments
should preferably be

made with the agreement
of the person concerned.

Now this file follows
you wherever you go and it can

come back to haunt you.

When Alwyn got his file,
he found a letter that no-one had

told him anything about.

It was from Mike Hill,
Bishop of Bristol, who'd

overseen his training.

It started out saying, first of all,
that I was Sri Lankan.

And then it made this critical
statement in which it said:

"All people from the Indian
subcontinent, like Alwyn,

have issues around communications,
around clarity and truth."

That was like a blow to my heart,
that you could describe

and denigrate an entire group
of people, saying that they

are, effectively, liars.

That, to me, was utterly shocking.

So, you can't believe any of this.

The thing is you're
not even Sri Lankan.

That's right and it's
immaterial of where I'm from,

because why would you draw attention
to my ethnicity?

Alwyn, too, wrote to the Archbishop
of Canterbury, who forwarded his

letter to another bishop.

But for months the matter
still wasn't dealt with.

I lodged a complaint -
expecting my complaint

to be taken seriously,
to be looked into.

And I found that nothing
like that happened.

It was more of a shooing away.

It was kicked into the long grass.

My case demonstrated
that there isn't a proper

process or practice.

Angry and frustrated,
he took the Bristol Diocese

to an employment tribunal,
and asked the Church for any extra

information it held on him.

They handed over emails.

The judge ruled, though,
that too much time had

passed since the emails
and letters were sent.

But he agreed some of them
could "infer discrimination".

One, from another bishop,
was about a job Alwyn had

been turned down for.

It was rejected on the basis
of "cultural eccentricities."

So, racism?

Racism.

No question about that?

No question, the actual email said:
"Alwyn, has more skills,

"more expertise than some
of the people we are shortlisting,

"and getting interviewed."

But my applications were resisted
on a racist criteria.

Armed now with the emails
and the letter, Alwyn

took his complaint to a Church
disciplinary tribunal, that deals

with allegations of serious
misconduct against clergy.

At the tribunal, Bishop Hill
admitted racial stereotyping.

Although he'd already retired,
he was formally rebuked and ordered

to attend unconscious bias training.

Unconscious bias training
for a year of Allwyn's life,

lost in legal battles
and recrimination, fear

that his career is over?

One wonders if that
sanction really is enough

to absolve the original sin.

Bishop Hill apologised,
saying any racism was unintentional.

Finally, Alwyn got a job
as a Vicar in Hampshire.

He still feels let
down by the system.

I don't feel I've had justice.

That's probably the biggest factor -
that this is the Church.

This is the place that has a moral
duty, on behalf of the whole nation.

The Diocese of Bristol says...

Peterson Feital, who's Brazilian,
had high hopes for his career

when he moved to London in 2011.

He was hired as a trainee vicar
by a church that had a mainly white,

middle class congregation.

His task was to reach out to diverse
communities who don't

normally attend church.

The vicar who gave me
the job, he said, "You are

everything we need."

And by that he meant:
we need energy.

We need you to be you.

Peterson qualified as a vicar and
for a couple of years he thrived.

I know it's not my day,
but I feel you have to see my face

from time to time...

But when the vicar who hired him
left, he says everything changed

with the arrival of a new boss.

Things began to be said to me
in a one-to-one situation,

such as, "Your English
is not very good.

"I don't like your preaching,
and you are too Brazilian

"in your compassion -
you're not very coherent."

People of my kind, of my colour,
"is just not clever enough."

So, you are convinced it's racism?

Well, I have no other way.

How am I supposed to translate those
things said to me, to my face?

Over time, Peterson says,
things got worse...

One morning, my new boss
comes into my office

and he looks very agitated,
and he looks straight

into my eyes and says,
"Peterson, you've got to find a job

with people of your kind."

And then he pauses, and he said this
most remarkable thing.

"If London diocese is going to give
you a job, it's going to be

for a diversity show.

They're going to give you it
for a short period of time

and they're going to drop
you like we always do".

And then he left.

Shut the door behind
me, I then cried.

That's how it was.

Peterson repeatedly
complained to senior staff

at the London Diocese
about the bullying and racism

he says he was experiencing.

And then I'm beginning to be told,
"Keep your head down."

"Because no-one is going to be able
to prove there is any racism.

"No-one is going to really believe
you, and if you are going to create

"any problem, you're not
going to get a job anywhere.

I tried to change my
personality for them.

I did.

And I'm ashamed of it.

I tried to stand in the pulpit
so many times and speak English

in a way that would please them,
to speak sermons, to, you know,

do the most eloquent,

"white" as I could,

because I loved them.

But, I couldn't.

Right?

I just couldn't.

I tried my very best for the Church
of England, I couldn't.

I can only be me.

The me that I am,
they didn't want it.

After ten years in the Church
of England, Peterson's

contract wasn't renewed
and he was made redundant.

He left with a payment
of just £2,000.

Now, he's out of work,
and claiming benefits.

The Diocese of London
says it's appalled

at what Peterson has experienced.

It says it's spoken with Peterson
regarding the process

for bringing formal complaints
against those involved.

Making a complaint about racism
in any organisation is daunting.

Elizabeth Henry continues to support
church staff going through formal

complaints processes.

One case in particular
sticks in her mind.

A really shocking incident
was a young black man who received

a picture of a banana.

But that banana had his head
superimposed upon it -

and underneath it said "Bananaman".

That is a deeply offensive
and deeply racist image.

He took it to HR, and he
did file a grievance.

And the decision was
that it wasn't racist.

But that wasn't the end
of the story, Elizabeth says

the young man finally
settled his case - but with

a gagging clause attached.

That person left, and he received
a very small compensation,

however he was forced to sign
a non-disclosure agreement.

I'm aware of others who've
complained of racism and they too

have received compensation,
and that's been contingent on them

signing a non-disclosure agreement.

And that doesn't deal
with the issue of racism.

That buys silence.

The Church told Panorama that,
whilst it can't comment

on individual cases,
"Any behaviour of the sort described

by Dr Henry is unacceptable.

Confidentiality agreements

are for use only in exceptional
circumstances, where open processes

may not have reached resolution."

It says, "Everyone has a right to be
treated with dignity and respect,

free from bullying and harassment
on the grounds of race,

gender or any other reason".

Last year, the Church itself
could no longer stay silent.

Elizabeth Henry was sitting directly
behind the Archbishop of Canterbury

when he admitted to the Church's
ruling body that the

Church had failed.

There is no doubt when we look
at our own church that we are still

deeply, institutionally racist.

Let's just be clear about that,
it was said to the College

of Bishops last year and it's true.

Three months later, in the wake
of George Floyd's death,

Church leaders across the country
took the knee to highlight

injustice in society.

Amongst them, the
Bishop of Leicester.

He's one of 42 Senior
Bishops in England.

Only one of them is from
a minority ethnic background.

It's almost like, "OK
so the job's done."

But the confession, it's not
a new phenomenon, or a new awakening

or a new enlightenment
in the Church.

For the Church to survive, the
Church needs to reimagine itself.

That's exactly what the
Church says it's doing.

It's set up an anti-racism taskforce
to "ensure greater equality".

One of its chairs is the Vicar
of St Nics in Durham, Arun Arora.

A former employment lawyer,
he's held senior positions

within the church.

I've experienced my fair share of...

Slights and humiliations.

Being invited to a conference
and pulling up outside

and being told that I wasn't allowed
to go there to pick up my

client, as a taxi driver.

Taxi driver?

Being asked by another priest,
actually, whether I

was his taxi driver.

Driving up to the office
where I was director

of communications with my keys
in my hand - to be asked

by somebody in reception,
if I was her taxi driver.

It happens once and you can
say, "Oh, OK, you know,

that's a funny story."

It happens twice, you begin
to go, "What is this?"

And it happens a third time,
then you begin to think,

"What is wrong here?"

There's been a lot of talk
about racism within the Church.

The issue isn't so much
that we haven't talked about it

enough, the issue is that we haven't
acted upon it enough.

Is this then a watershed moment?

It has the potential...

To ask of ourselves,
why have we failed?

Why have we failed to
implement those actions?

This isn't the first time
the Church has attempted

to address issues of race.

I can remember in 1985
when the church produced the Faith

in the City document.

It demanded urgent action.

And that was 35 years ago.

It's sobering looking back
at all the words the Church has

written about racism over 35 years.

Report after report -
more than 20 of them.

This is Faith in the City -
it talks about "the alienation

experienced by black people
in the Church of England."

The Passing Winter.

"Congregations need to be familiar
with minority ethnic people

exercising leadership skills
within the Church, otherwise

the Church will be regarded
as having a hidden racist agenda".

And this is An Amazing Journey -
"Dioceses should work

at implementing recommendations
and not just tinker at the edges."

If these reports had been
implemented, would we still need

a task force in 2021?

The Archbishop of York is second
in command of the Church of England.

He helped set up the taskforce
and is embarrassed by the lack

of action, despite all the previous
inquiries, some of

which he took part in.

I

I mean,

I mean, look...

Yeah.

You don't need to tell me.

But, that does shame
the church, doesn't it?

Well, it, yes, it does.

As I say, I'm, I'm somebody who
wrote those reports, some of them.

Um...

But, Archbishop, did you say
to yourself after you wrote these

reports and you didn't see them
implemented, this is not

the place for me?

Did you reflect on any of that
when none of this was implemented?

Well, some of it has
been implemented.

Some of it has.

But some of it hasn't.

I'm not sitting here to defend
the Church's record.

I want to make this change.

It is simply the case that UK ME
people are underrepresented

and disadvantaged in many
of the structures and systems

of our church, and that has
a terrible knock-on for our mission

in the wider communities we serve.

I don't believe the Church
of England is full of racists,

I believe most people in the Church
of England want to

make these changes.

We have not found the way
of doing that yet.

Which is what is so appalling
about the situation.

This isn't the British Army, or
the BBC, or the Metropolitan Police.

This is the Church of England.

But it doesn't mean to say the whole
Church of England is wrong.

It means we've got some
things we need to address,

and they're really important,
and we're going to address them.

The Church faces
an existential crisis.

Sonic

Sonic market

Sonic market the

Sonic market the vast

Sonic market the vast majority

Sonic market the vast majority
attending

Sonic market the vast majority
attending on

Sonic market the vast majority
attending on Sunday

Sonic market the vast majority
attending on Sunday are

Sonic market the vast majority
attending on Sunday are white

Sonic market the vast majority
attending on Sunday are white and

attending on Sunday are white and
elderly.

attending on Sunday are white and
elderly. Quite

attending on Sunday are white and
elderly. Quite frankly,

attending on Sunday are white and
elderly. Quite frankly, they

attending on Sunday are white and
elderly. Quite frankly, they won't

elderly. Quite frankly, they won't
be

elderly. Quite frankly, they won't
be around

elderly. Quite frankly, they won't
be around much

elderly. Quite frankly, they won't
be around much longer.

But we have a lot of black and brown
people also going to church

who want to be part of the Church's
future and its ministry.

And I think appointing black
or brown bishops go a long way

to showing these people
that they matter.

And this is what I understand
the taskforce is going to say.

They will recommend quotas
for ethnic minority clergy

and non-white candidates for every
top job - and overseeing

it all, they'll call
for a Racial Justice Unit.

With this, the Church does
seem to recognise that

there's a lot to be done.

One major reason is its own numbers.

In the last decade alone,
Church attendance has

gone down by around 20%.

This is Bromyard in
rural Herefordshire.

Here, a new vicar joined five years
ago and the parish is thriving.

We just think, what she's
brought to the Church

has been so refreshing,
new, vibrant, and really

what the Church is about.

It is quite refreshing to have her.

And I feel that God
does work through Kina,

and you can sense that.

Kina Robertshaw came
to the UK from Zambia.

If the Church is going to thrive,
should it perhaps be looking to

learn from communities like these?

I have never experienced any
animosity from the congregation.

It's interesting that one time
I did a funeral for this

family and, bless this man,
he just came and walked towards me,

then he said, "Little did I know
that one day it was going to be

a black person doing
the funeral for my mother."

So he just came and said thank
you for doing my mother's funeral.

Despite the fact 50 years ago
when they saw a black person,

they just shut the door.

Well, you've got a Norman
church in rural England.

Yet what's going on inside that
building is a very modern concept.

It's diversity, it's
multiculturalism.

It's a woman of colour,
who is the Vicar, ministering

to a predominantly white parish.

But even Kina had been told,
during her training,

that she wasn't the right material
for the job.

The person who was helping me,
to see if I can be a Vicar,

said this to me, "Well,
Kina, I really can't seem

to see how, you know,
where you would fit."

She even said,

"Oh, because of your spirituality,
your background, your

colour, or whatever -
I don't think you'll ever feel

at home in the Church of England."

Kina wouldn't accept
that she didn't fit in,

and wouldn't give up.

She feels, though, that
until the leadership changes,

nothing will really change.

The challenge is the Church
of England, the leaders.

How come we don't have
representatives in leadership

of black people, people of,
you know, Asian or other ethnicity?

Why aren't we seeing more of that?

What is the future for the church?

I don't know if there is,
because based on the racial

reckoning of the church,
I'm afraid they've abysmally failed.

and it's not fit for purpose.

A tough assessment, but one perhaps
that some in the Church

itself now acknowledge.

It's told Panorama, "The Bible
teaches that we're all made in God's

image and all one Christ.

We must reject the sin of racism
and now make urgent changes

so all God's people are welcome
and can flourish in the Church."

But can it really deliver
on these promises?

I think we need to recognise
that the Church is a

fractured institution.

It's a fallen and broken institution
- made up of fallen and broken

individuals just like me.

That there comes a time when apathy
and complacency will not cut it any

more and that a time arrives
for vigorous and positive action.

That time is now.