CofE Church Commissioners Hail African Chattel Enslavement Reparations

The Church Commissioners particularly welcomed the clear-sighted ambition of the Group and its hope for the scale and impact for the Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice. “Acknowledging that suggestions pertaining to wide-ranging research and truth telling were to be taken as seriously as the financial ambitions, reflected in the recommendations.

The recommendations of the Oversight Group were informed by people from all over the world, who responded to surveys or attended focus groups, said the commission.

The Church of Woke has struck again. This time over reparations, which is particularly egregious when you bear in mind that English vicars are vigorously complaining that they are not getting paid enough to keep the lights on, with many of their churches in desperate need of repair.

The recommendations included an initial payment of 100 million pounds ($1.280 million) and targeting with other others increasing the initiative to 1 billion pounds ($1.280 billion.) This should all be achieved within nine years.

The report says: “Crimes against humanity rooted in African chattel enslavement have caused damage so vast it will require patient effort spanning generations to address. But we can start today, in small and large ways.”

The Rt. Rev. Dr Rosemarie Mallett, Bishop of Croydon, Chair of the Oversight Group said: “No amount of money can fully atone for or fully redress the centuries long impact of African chattel enslavement, the effects of which are still felt around the world today. But implementing the recommendations will show the commitment of the Church Commissioners to supporting the process of healing, repair and justice for all of those across society impacted by the legacy of African chattel enslavement.”

Push back was swift. Critics said the move risked putting parishioners off donating to their cash-strapped churches as it would appear the CofE had ‘vast sums to throw around’. The Rev. Ian Paul a conservative theologian argued it was ‘anti-Christian’ and suggested it was motivated by ‘a death wish for the Church of England’.

Let’s be clear. Apologizing for the enslavement of African is appropriate, but to apologize for bringing them gospel, thus liberating them from Animism, full Islamic takeover, and idol worship, is not something Western Christians need never apologize for. Never.

The London Missionary Society sent David Livingstone to South Africa in 1840, where he became one of the first Europeans to traverse the continent. The two things David Livingstone did in Africa as a Scottish missionary, doctor, abolitionist, and explorer was to bring Christianity, commerce, and “civilization” to Africa. He undertook three extensive expeditions throughout much of the continent.

When missionaries for Wycliffe Bible Translators traveled by boat to foreign lands early last century, they packed their belongings in coffins in case they succumbed to cholera or dysentery or locals who took them for enemies. Many of the first white missionaries from England took their own coffins knowing they would die of malaria while making only a handful of converts.

It was Portuguese Jesuits, in the 15th century, who first brought Christianity into sub-Saharan Africa, where it took root and spread. One does not hear the Roman Catholic Church suggesting reparations for missionaries they sent out and died.

And what of William Wilberforce’s life-long crusade against the British slave trade. Wilberforce was a British politician and philanthropist who from 1787 was prominent in the struggle to abolish the slave trade and then to abolish slavery itself in British overseas possessions.

And how has Africa benefited from early Christian missionaries who gave their lives?

In 2020 the latest findings reveal that there are now nearly 658 million Christians in Africa, with 760 million expected by 2025! And they did it without a single pound (or dollar) of reparations.

The Church of England will be lucky if it can manage 400,000 practicing Anglicans by 2025! As of 2020, 62 percent of Africa’s population was Christian. Muslims followed, accounting for 31.4 percent of the total population. By 2050, the number of Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa is forecast to exceed 1.1 billion!

Nigeria has more than 80 million Christians (60 million Protestants and 20 million Catholics), who represent about half of the total population of the country. Nigerian Anglicans, who are solidly orthodox in faith and morals, are the largest province in the Anglican Communion and they are so rich they were able to fund GAFCON III. They certainly don’t need any guilt “reparation” money from the Church of England.

What they would like to see is the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, return to the faith he has abandoned favoring many woke issues including embracing same-sex blessings for people who have rejected the binary male/female matrix for family and children. Perhaps the largest African Anglican province should consider using their growing wealth to send their own missionaries to England to begin the desperately needed reconversion of England!

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CofE Church Commissioners Hail African Chattel Enslavement Reparations
£100m earmarked by Church Commissioners is not enough, say Board of Governors
Commissioners fall short on gospel proclamation which freed Africa from Animism and Idolatry

FOTO: The Rt. Rev. Dr Rosemarie Mallett, Bishop of Croydon

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
March 5, 2024

The Church of England wants to give Africans a 100 million pounds ($1.280 million) and more, to atone for the “appalling evil” of African chattel enslavement.

“In seeking justice for all, we must continue to work together remembering that all are created in the image of God,” said the Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Chair of the Board of Governors. “The Oversight Group’s independent work with the Church Commissioners is the beginning of a multi-generational response to the appalling evil of Transatlantic chattel enslavement. My prayer is that this work will stimulate further visionary and practical co-created action.”