In 2021, the Methodist Conference (pp916–918 in Report 61) responded to a memorial from the Northampton District Synod ('M22 The Slave Trade'), which opened:
In 1978, the Methodist Church in Britain made the following statement in regard to racism:
“Racism is a sin and contrary to the imperatives of the Gospel. Biblically, it is against all that we perceive of the unmotivated, spontaneous and undiscriminating love of God who in Jesus Christ gave himself for all”.
The Conference acknowledges the impact and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade on British society and the Church. The Conference recognises the resultant injustices suffered by enslaved African people and their descendants as a result of the transatlantic slave trade. The Conference further acknowledges the subsequent inequalities faced by black and brown people in Britain today, and accepts that British society has benefited from the economy of slavery/empire and that its legacies live on today. In addition, the Conference accepts that in turn the Methodist Church would have benefited from the transatlantic slave trade, irrespective of any direct involvement of individuals within the Church.
Accepting the memorial, the Conference acknowledged that the Methodist Church would have benefited from the transatlantic traffic in enslaved African people and acknowledged that there was work to do to understand any direct involvement which benefitted the Methodist Church financially.
The Methodist Church is entangled with the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, including the inequalities faced by Black and brown people in Britain today.
Therefore, the question is not whether the Church should take action in relation to reparation for benefitting from the enslavement of African people; that has been agreed already by the Conference in 2021.
Rather, the question is what actions should the Church take?
The 2021 Conference committed to commissioning work which:
- considered the extent to which Methodist churches might have benefitted directly or indirectly from the transatlantic slave trade;
- explored and recommended the full breadth of reparations required for the injustices suffered by enslaved people;
- considered the scope of any public statements including an associated apology;
- and explored the need for further education and training on the relationship between contemporary racism, identity, colonialism and the transatlantic trade in enslaved people.