Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns

Encouraging and supporting cultural diversity within Chester Diocese and the Church of England

CMEAC “Welcome to the Committee for Minority and Ethnic Anglican Concerns. CMEAC works to encourage and engage participation from the Church’s Minority Ethnic Anglicans at every level in our parishes. It is the primary point of contact in the Church of England for advice and resources regarding ethnic differences, marginalisation, advocacy and racial justice. The Diocese of Chester celebrates the diversity found in its parishes, schools and congregations, and the contribution of this diverse to the life of their communities and churches. CMEAC seeks to harness the God-given gift of plurality evident in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic Christian Church in England, ensuring that all parts of the Body of Christ are equally involved in the mission of the church. The Diocese of Chester as the body of Christ is also aware of its own need to be constantly vigilant regarding racism, marginalisation and all forms of prejudice in its common life and structures.” Rev Canon Lameck Mutete Chairman: Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns

Overview

The work of CMEAC is supported and guided by the Diocese and the National Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns which is directly responsible to the Bishop’s Council.

Vision
The vision of CMEAC is to see a Church in England in which Minority Ethnic Anglicans communities play their full part in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that there is so much the church can give and receive from this engagement with the Minority Ethnic Christians in our parishes.

Mission
The mission of CMEAC in the Diocese of Chester is to work closely with Minority Ethnic Christians in all our parishes with a view to harnessing their rich diversity in the service and mission of the Church.

Strategy
The work of CMEAC revolves around three main strategies:

Stimulating and facilitating networking between Ethnic Minority Anglicans.
Providing a focus for resources for and about CMEAC.
Facilitating dialogue and breaking barriers of worship as a way of bringing authentic witness.

Racial Justice Sunday 2012 - 9 Sept 2012

Being an Inclusive Church ... and not an exclusive club

This year the theme is Being an Inclusive Church. Many of us consider that our local churches as well as our national Church institutions are inclusive but when we listen to those who feel on the outside we learn that we still have a long way to go, particularly those from different ethnic backgrounds.

To access the various free resources to help you hold a special service and download the resource pack click here

Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) 25th Anniversary Events

National
On 1st October 2011, CMEAC invited representatives from every Church of England diocese to its national conference and service of celebration, to celebrate the past, reflect on the present and share dreams for the future.

(Archbishop Rowan with Janice Mason and Vikki Day from the Chester Diocese and the Revd Canon Javaid Iqbal from Leicester Diocese)

This was the start of a number of events to celebrate and recognise the work of CMEAC including a special Evensong at York Minster on 12 May 2012 where the Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Revd Steven Croft urged "The whole Church from every nation,from all tribes and languages is called to be caught up in praise and worship of the Lamb. So…… 'Welcome one another therefore just as Christ haswelcomed you for the glory of God'."

There is also a note of the General Synod Fringe Event that was held on 7 July 2012, York University, at which contributions came from Bruce Dyer (former premiership footballer and Christian motivational speaker), amongst others.

To read more and hear the MP and former Archbishops' Council member, the Rt Hon David Lammy's message to the Fringe in which he challenged us to make diversity in the Church become a reality go to the CMEAC 25th Anniversary information webpage.

Local
As part of the 25th Anniversary celebrations, the Chester and Liverpool Diocesan CMEAC groups hosted an inter-diocesan event on 7 October 2011. It was an evening to celebrate the richness and diversity of our church and community life, through hospitality, sharing experiences and hearing / enabling voices. Renowned sculptor Stephen Broadbent spoke about how through his work, he helps communities voices to be heard, sometimes in response to some very emotional events such as the bombing in Warrington and slave trade in Liverpool. People were asked to bring an object which symbolised their culture or community and it was wonderful to hear about people’s diverse heritage’s.

There is still a lot of work to do to encourage Minority Ethnic Anglicans in vocations, and what is it that is putting people off taking positions e.g. on PCC’s, Synods and licensed ministry?

The work of CMEAC is all about enabling people’s voices to be heard and using our voices to enable others. In Chester diocese we may not have many minority ethnic Anglicans in our churches but our boundaries go beyond our church walls – what about our communities??

Key documents:

Resources:

Church of England: LINK newsletter
'We Belong - Celebrating Cultural Diversity and Living Hospitality' - An Ecumenical Racial Justice Starter Training Pack.
www.ctbi.org.uk - Churches Commission for Racial Justice.
'The Multicultural Ministry Toolkit' - A training resource for growing multi cultural churches. Available from: Racial Justice and Multicultural Ministry Office, URC, Church House, 86 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9RT 0207916 8655
racial.justice.mm@urc.org.uk
'Seeds of Hope in the Parish' - a study pack to help parishioners to reflect theologically and engage with issues of racism and racial justice. Available from CSR: janice.mason@chester.anglican.org
The Solution - Black Mental Health UK's new online digital magazine entitled

News

Chester University – Diversity Festival
Each year in February, the Diversity Festival provides a focus through which the University actively promotes, challenges and develops an understanding of equality, diversity and multiculturalism.

The Unity Centre
“Chester’s first-ever multicultural centre aptly named the Unity Centre - is about to open for business. The former local authority site at 17 Cuppin Street has been refurbished to accommodate various activities being run by local BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) community based organisations.”

Contact:

CMEAC Chair Revd Lameck Mutete - Tel: 01829 770245

If you would like to comment or contribute to this web page please email victoria.day@chester.anglican.org