On Saturday 22 April, the diocesan Racial Justice Forum hosted a screening of the film 'After the Flood: the church, slavery and reconciliation' at St John's Church in Redditch. People attended from the wider West Midlands region as well as the Diocese and there was an interesting Q&A session afterwards with Alton Bell, Chair of the Movement for Justice and Reconciliation.
Chair of the Racial Justice forum, Kashmir Garton said:
“The film was an hour long and thought provoking. It set out in documentary style the history of slavery going back to Old Testament times. The film is intended to be used as an educational tool to raise awareness of slavery and how this has influenced attitudes about race, and the place of forgiveness and repentance. Churches are encouraged to use the film in discussion meetings to inform their understanding about racial justice and explore ways of responding locally in their parishes.”
Bishop Martin said: "This was an excellent event organised by Kashmir and the Racial Justice Forum. It was good to see people from across the Diocese and to hear what people are already doing and would like to see more of in the future. We are committed to being a church that is younger and more diverse and racial justice is a key part of that."
The Racial Justice Forum will be preparing for their next event in the summer so please keep an eye on the diocesan website for further details and join us as we invite the author of Ghost Ship, Azariah France-Williams, to talk to us about his book.
If you have a passion for racial justice, why not come and join us and help our Diocese to live out its values of love, compassion, justice and freedom. For further details contact Bishop Martin.
Churches can also rent and show ‘After the Flood’ themselves for just £5 – details can be found here: www.mjr-uk.com/aftertheflood.html
