Doral Hayes, CTE Principal Officer for Ecumenical Development and Relations attended the event on behalf of CTE along with Shermara Fletcher, CTE Principal Officer for Pentecostal, Charismatic and Multi-cultural Relations.
Here Doral shares some of her reflections on this event.
Liverpool was an appropriate location for this conference given its history and close connection with slavery. On the first afternoon after people gathered, we were treated to a walking tour of sites of significance such Liverpool Parish Church, Bluecoat Arts Centre, the Athenaeum and Abercromby Square. Each stop filled with stories of people’s lives and a new and more nuanced understanding of how these opulent spaces were linked to the transatlantic chattel slave trade.
The message of the conference was that justice can only be achieved through hearing the truth, through deeply listening and through an honest understanding and admission of the role the Church has played in the transatlantic chattel slave trade. These are deeply uncomfortable and challenging truths and at times there were uncomfortable and painful conversations.
Although other churches have an acknowledged role in transatlantic chattel slave trade, the links with the Church of England are particularly significant due to the size and significance of the Church of England as well as its status as the established Church.
A significant first step
In his opening address the Archbishop of York in quoted the Ghanian proverb “until the lion has told his story, the hunter will always be a hero” and as he acknowledged the depth of connection between the church and slavery he declared that “at this truth telling conference, let us in the Church of England acknowledge that we have been humbled”.
There is still much work to do, but in holding this first conference, the Racial Justice Unit was taking a significant first step and it was a powerful time together.
Stories, both historical and current, were told in different ways across the three days of the conference from a range of presenters both in person and online. These included Rev Professor Kelly Brown-Douglas, Professor Robert Beckford, Rev Dr Daniel Eshun, and Senator Rev Canon Dr John Rogers. There were also performances from Peter Braithwaite and the Love and Joy Gospel Choir and an opportunity to watch the film After the Flood together.
Ecumenical highlights included a conversation between Catholic priest Fr Timothy Kesicki, SJ and Monique Trusclair Maddox who have worked together in the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation in the USA on the impact of Jesuit slaveholding on families. There was also a presentation from CTBI Director for Justice and Inclusion Richard Reddie, who spoke alongside reparations activist Esther Stanford Xhosi and psychotherapist and co-founder of the Anthony Walker Foundation, Steph Walker on the issues of healing and repair.
Deeply humbling and shameful
As a minister of the Church of England, I found the truth I heard at this conference not only educational but deeply humbling and shameful. It was good to see a number of senior Anglican clergy present, including CTE Trustee Bishop Anderson Jeremiah, Bishop Rosemarie Mallett, Bishop Arun Arora and Bishop David Walker. But in the interest of telling the truth, I was disappointed not to see more senior clergy present, especially those who, like myself, are white and so have not been personally affected by issues of racial justice. There was a sense that this event was ‘preaching to the choir’ and many were missing who needed to hear these important truths and the impact they are still having on individuals and communities first-hand.
On the final evening, there was a Communion service in Liverpool Cathedral, and we were reminded by Bishop Rosemarie Mallet “to speak the truth with integrity”, and that “the church should lead on matters of diversity, equality and inclusion”. Bishop Rosemarie encouraged us towards an “audacity of honesty” and “to speak the truth in love”.
Later that evening after a wonderful time of food and fellowship in the cathedral Rev Guy Hewitt, Director of the Church of England’s Racial Justice Unit, gave a challenging address and reminded those present that “England and our church history is written in African blood” and encouraged those gathered to “journey to find unity as one race a human race”.
As Churches Together in England, I pray that we too will hear these painful truths and commit to unity together as one human race – all equally loved by God.
Min. Shermara Fletcher Hoyte, CTE Principal Officer for Pentecostal, Charismatic and Multi-cultural Relations writes:
It was truly wonderful for my colleague, Doral, to attend and join with me at The Church of England’s Truth Telling Conference. Her presence offered a valuable opportunity to engage with the broader and more complex dimensions of racial justice, and to reflect on its implications for the ecumenical landscape, particularly at regional and local levels, where this work must take root to bring lasting change.
Doral’s attendance served as a powerful reminder that the pursuit of racial justice is not the responsibility of a few, nor is it confined to moments of public crisis. Rather, it is a journey that we are all invited to walk, a shared and sacred commitment that unfolds in the often slow, sometimes uncomfortable, but deeply necessary work of systemic and spiritual transformation.
True allyship is not performative, it is persistent. It shows up in rooms where stories are being told, histories are being acknowledged, and futures are being shaped. That’s the work. And it belongs to all of us.
Read more about the Church of England Racial Justice and the Truth Telling Project