A Black trainee vicar has been denied a position by the Church of England because the demographic of the parishioners in the area he had applied to work was ‘monochrome white working class’ and it might make him feel ‘uncomfortable’.
Augustine Tanner-Ihm has hit out at the ‘institutional racism’ in the church after the the statement was listed as one of two reasons why he was not a ‘match’ for a curacy role in the Hertfordshire area.
The row erupted in February after Mr Tanner-Ihm, was turned down for a curacy in the diocese of St Albans, despite being told that he had ‘obvious gifts’ by local church leaders.
But the The Masters student, 30, has only made it public now following the supportive reaction of the Church of England to the Black Lives Matter protests. Alongside his criticism of the church, Mr Tanner-Ihm, whose ancestors were slaves has also called on the church to ‘use actions not words’ after several senior church leader backed the recent protests.
Today a spokesperson for the Church of England said the dioceses of St Albans had ‘recognised its failure’ and sent a written apology to Mr Tanner-Ihm, while the writer of the email also expressed regret and offered an apology.
But upset turned to anger when an email informing he had been rejected said it was party due to the fact that the demographic of the parish was ‘monochrome white working class’ and it might make him ‘feel uncomfortable’.
Distraught Mr Tanner-Ihm, who claims the parish had not interviewed him over the phone or in person before rejecting him, said he was left ‘bitterly upset’ and felt ‘broken down’.
He said when he complained he received a response ‘along the lines of ‘sorry you took it that way.’ Speaking about the church’s supportive response to Black Lives Matter, Mr Tanner-Ihm, who had been studying a masters in theology at Durham University, said the Christian narrative was about ‘actions not words’.
He said: ‘It’s really nice they said ‘black lives matter’, but they need to do something about it.
The Christian narrative is not just saying nice words on a piece of paper and then acting as everything is good. It calls for us to do way more than just taking a knee. The Church of England owned plantations, and all they have said is ‘sorry we did that’.
You have to do something about it I love the Church of England on the ground, but the institutional, systematic racism is still there. I’ve experienced it.’
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Replaced!