In response to a media enquiry about one of the recommendations of the recent report of the Oversight Group to the Church Commissioners on African chattel enslavement, relating to missionary work, a spokesperson for the Church of England said:
“This recommendation addresses complex matters of history and theology and can be interpreted in a variety of ways but we do not believe it calls for the Church of England to apologise for spreading the Christian gospel around the world. However, we need to be transparent that appalling abuses took place in the past, supposedly in God’s name, which have absolutely nothing in common with the gospel of God’s love. For 2,000 years Christians have sought to share the gospel around the world, as Jesus commissioned his disciples to do, and will continue to do so.”
- The question relates to recommendation 32 of the report.
- The comment above was provided to The Spectator for an article but not quoted in full.
