21 August 2008
Churches challenged to tackle discrimination and inequality
The Equally different? Campaign is designed to support
churches and Christian communities as they seek to be more open and
inclusive. It flows from the Church's first major report on
equality and diversity issues, presented to the Methodist
Conference in July this year.
The report challenged the Church to eliminate discrimination in an
increasingly diverse Christian community. In particular, it
highlighted the need for proper theological reflection on the
issues and practical action to counter discrimination, both within
and outside the Church. The Conference commended the Equally
different? Campaign as a practical way to uphold and resource
churches in this work.
Materials to support the campaign include housegroup and workshop
materials and a challenge to churches to embark on a month of
reflection on equalities and diversity issues. These are all
available to download free of charge at www.methodist.org.uk/equallydifferent.
More resources will be added as they become available, such as
worship material and youth and children's work guides, as well as
additions to the existing categories. There is also a downloadable
introduction to guide churches on how best to use the resources to
encourage inclusivity.
Alison Parker, Equalities and Diversity Project Worker, says;
'Issues of equality are the business of all Christians; this is
about you and me as much as about 'others'. This campaign is not a
shortcut to an inclusive Church, but should help to support
Christians as they explore their calling to seek equality for all.
The website is a growing resource - there's plenty of material
already there for people to get their teeth into but there's also
much more to come.'
The website will also feature an interactive forum where people
can leave comments and share their own resources and thoughts. The
campaign resources are designed to be flexible and accessible so
that they can be tailored to the needs of different church groups
and communities.