Black Anglican group holds first conference

Moving forward in its goal of strengthening Black participation and representation within the Anglican Church of Canada, the association Black Anglicans of Canada (BlAC) held its first national conference Aug. 14-17 at St. John’s College, University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg.

BlAC vice chair the Rev. Jacqueline Daley said about 30 lay and clergy members from across the country— including representatives from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC)—attended the Disrupt, Heal, Lead Conference 2024. The event marked the first time BlAC, Canada’s national organization of Black Anglicans, has formally gathered in person since its establishment in July 2018.

“It was just beautiful to connect with people,” Daley said. “It was like a breath of fresh air to hear stories and to see what representation looks like.”

The Rev. Wilson Akinwale, national president and board chair of BlAC, said Disrupt, Heal, Lead was an opportunity to discuss how Black Anglicans could make their voices heard within the church. Organizers noted the conference took place at the end of the International Decade for People of African Descent from 2015 to 2024, as proclaimed by the United Nations.

While future BlAC meetings will have a greater focus on business matters— including potentially creating a document to inspire action on Black representation and empowerment at different levels of the church—the main focus of the August conference, Akinwale said, was to bring Black Anglicans together in person “to inspire our spiritual transformation as people of African descent … to live out our faith boldly regardless of who we are or where we come from, and to create an enduring legacy for future generations of Black Anglicans and Lutherans.”

The gathering featured a panel discussion on the life and ministry of the late Rev. Romney Moseley. Born in Barbados, Moseley earned a PhD in religion and society from Harvard and served as an associate professor of divinity at the University of Toronto’s Trinity College. Moseley wrote a report submitted to General Synod in June 1992 that went on to serve as the basis for the Anglican Church of Canada’s policy on multiculturalism.

Two years after his death that same year, Moseley’s report was published as No Longer Strangers: Ministry in a Multicultural Society. Daley said Moseley highlighted the issues of representation, participation, empowerment and belonging that inform the mission of BlAC.

Participants at Disrupt, Heal, Lead heard from a range of speakers. The Rev. Michael Blair, general secretary of the United Church of Canada, shared his experience as an openly gay church leader during a session on diversity, equity and inclusion in the church. Participants also heard from the Rev. Ali Tote, recently elected as the first Black bishop of the ELCIC’s Eastern Synod.

Daley highlighted to the Journal conference remarks by Uzoma Asagwara, Manitoba’s minister of health, seniors and long-term care. Raised Anglican, Asagwara is one of the first Black MLAs in Manitoba history and its first non-binary MLA. Daley called Asagwara an inspiring figure, “rooted in the church, born and bred, raised up and is now holding one of the highest offices in the land as a non-binary person of African descent,” describing Asagwara as “an image of what representation looks like.”

BlAC arose partly out of a 2017 service in Toronto to raise funds for relief efforts after a hurricane swept through the eastern Caribbean. Encouraged by the success of this event, organizers began to talk about how they could work together for racial justice, and BlAC was formed a year later. Among its goals is to give life to the Anglican Church of Canada’s Charter for Racial Justice, approved by General Synod in 2007, which commits the church, among other things, “to support and participate in the world-wide struggle for racial justice in church and society, as advocates and activists.”

In her first primatial address to CoGS in November 2019, then-primate Archbishop Linda Nicholls said she hoped the church would deepen its commitment to the charter. Nicholls said she’d seen discrimination against racialized people in the church. “I’ve seen the pain amongst clergy of colour who are very clear when I ask them, ‘Have you been a victim of racism in our church?’ and every one of them nods,” she told CoGS.

While BlAC receives support from General Synod’s Ministry Investment Fund, Akinwale said the organization strives to be more self-sufficient in financing its operations. To that end, Disrupt, Heal, Lead included a gala and fundraising dinner.

Akinwale said BlAC is looking forward to its next conference and weighing whether to hold the event annually or once every three years.