Racial Justice

Racial Justice Covenant 2026

Parishes and chaplaincies across the Diocese of Guildford are being encouraged to renew their commitment to racial justice following the launch of a refreshed Racial Justice Covenant earlier this year.

Building on the Covenant first introduced in 2023, it calls on churches to celebrate diversity, challenge racism and consider how we can become communities in which people of every race, ethnicity and culture are truly welcomed, valued and able to flourish.

The PCC at St Anne's would like to adopt the Covenant. However, we also feel strongly that we want to do this properly. Simply agreeing to a document at a PCC meeting and putting a poster on the wall would be relatively easy. We want our commitment to mean something: for the wider St Anne's community to understand what we are committing ourselves to, and for all of us to have an opportunity to learn, reflect and perhaps challenge some of our own assumptions.

We are blessed at St Anne's with a welcoming and inclusive church community, and some of the challenges experienced elsewhere may be less immediately visible to us. But that does not mean we have nothing to learn or reflect upon. Racial justice invites all of us to listen, to ask questions and to reflect honestly on our own attitudes and unconscious biases, as individuals and as a church.

Ellen began that conversation with us in her sermon last Sunday. It is just 13 minutes long and well worth listening to - Ellen's sermon

Bishop Paul also explains the Racial Justice Covenant and why it matters in this short, two-minute video:

Watch Bishop Paul's two-minute video

A date for your diary - Saturday 24 October
As an important part of this process, the PCC has arranged a morning on Anti-Racism and Unconscious Bias, open to everyone:

  Saturday 24 October, St Anne's Church Centre
  9.30am for coffee and cake
  Finishing around 12.00-12.30pm

We hope this will be an interesting, thought-provoking and worthwhile morning, giving us space to learn and talk together. We would really encourage as many people as possible to come. Please sign up at the back of church or online here.

Following this period of learning and reflection, the PCC intends formally to adopt the Racial Justice Covenant on behalf of St Anne's.

If you would like to understand more about the Covenant in the meantime, the Diocese has further information and resources here:

Read about the Racial Justice Covenant - Diocese of Guildford

For us, this isn't about ticking a box. It is about continuing to become the kind of church we aspire to be: a community where every person knows that they are welcomed, valued and belong.

With our thanks,

The PCC and Churchwardens of St Anne's

Ellen began that conversation with us in her sermon last Sunday. It is just 13 minutes long and well worth listening to: