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Transatlantic Slave Trade - BUGB Apology

Thursday 15 November 2007

The Baptist Union Council of GB met at The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick from the 12-14th Nov 07 and had the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the main focus of its Agenda. After many hours of worship, listening and careful conversation the Council unanimously agreed the historic statement below on the subject.

'As a Council we have listened to one another, we have heard the pain of hurting sisters and brothers, and we have heard God speaking to us.

In a spirit of weakness, humility and vulnerability, we acknowledge that we are only at the start of a journey, but we are agreed that this must not prevent us speaking and acting at a kairos moment.

Therefore, we acknowledge our share in and benefit from our nation's participation in the transatlantic slave trade.

We acknowledge that we speak as those who have shared in and suffered from the legacy of slavery, and its appalling consequences for God's world.

We offer our apology to God and to our brothers and sisters for all that has created and still perpetuates the hurt which originated from the horror of slavery

We repent of the hurt we have caused the divisions we have created,our reluctance to face up to the sin of the past, our unwillingness to listen to the pain of our black sisters and brothers, and our silence in the face of racism and injustice today.

We commit ourselves, in a true spirit of repentance, to take what we have learned from God in the Council and to share it widely in our Baptist community and beyond, looking for gospel ways by which we can turn the words and feelings we have expressed today into concrete actions and contribute to the prophetic work of God's coming Kingdom.'

Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary of the Baptist Union of GB said: 'It was an extraordinary privilege to be a part of this BUGB Council. People listened with great care and spoke with an honesty and grace which enabled us to move forward on this highly charged subject.

I am absolutely delighted that Council felt able to agree this resolution and I believe this takes us a significant way forward. The statement is unusually long because it is essentially a word of testimony. It's an account of how God led us not to a simple conclusion about an agonizing part of our history but to a new way of relating to one another as a Gospel people within which we take full account of the people that we are today and the histories that have shaped us."

The statement was seconded on behalf of BMS World Mission by Revd David Kerrigan, BMS Director for Mission.

BMS's General Director, Alistair Brown speaking from the US, said "In recent days we have had the opportunity again to listen and respond to our sisters and brothers. We hurt because they hurt, and we recognise that some of our forebears were the perpetrators of the wicked evil of slavery. So we must express our deepest sorrow, sadness and shame. But sorry is not enough. As a result this apology comes from the depths of our hearts and is offered not just for the sin of years ago but for every act of prejudice or discrimination that still happens today. At BMS, we are pledged to work to end injustice in today's world, and we will never give up on that".

There will be a fuller account of this historic resolution in The Baptist Times on the 22/11/07.

- Ends -

NOTES TO EDITOR

THE BAPTIST UNION OF GREAT BRITAIN (www.baptist.org.uk)

The Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) is the Baptist family in England and Wales (there is also the Baptist Union of Wales). It is made up of over 2000 churches, 13 regional associations, the national resource centre based at Didcot and 5 Baptist colleges. The Union works with others in mission locally, regionally and internationally. There are some 150,000 members of Baptist churches associated with the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

The Baptist Union Council of GB meets every March and November. It consists of some 200 members mostly drawn from churches, Associations, colleges and co-opted delegates. At Council the work of the Union and issues facing it are reported on and discussed. Council works through the newly formed Trustee Board and Executive Committees which oversee the work of Mission, Ministry and Faith & Unity.

Contact Details
Amanda Allchorn (Head of Communications, The Baptist Union of GB)
Mobile: 07929 339240
Email: aallchorn@baptist.org.uk

BMS WORLD MISSION (www.bmsworldmission.org)

BMS World Mission is a Christian mission organisation, working in around 40 countries on four continents. BMS believes in holistic mission, an approach that stays true to the Christian call to evangelisation without neglecting the duty to take care of the physical needs of the poor. BMS works through long, medium and short-term workers, teams and volunteers, as well as a large number of supported national partner workers around the world, providing people, funding, training and expertise in the core areas of our work: Church planting, Development, Disaster relief, Education, Health, Media and advocacy.

As one of the world's oldest Protestant mission organisations (founded in 1792 by William Carey, the father of modern mission) BMS has longstanding relationships with partner organisations, umbrella mission agencies and local church unions in the countries in which it works. This, along with a long-term approach, ethical policies and supreme cultural sensitivity, has made BMS one of the most trusted names in mission worldwide.

Contact Details:
Mark Craig (Director of Communications, BMS World Mission)
Mobile: 07811 696144
Email: mcraig@bmsworldmission.org