Anti-Racism Taskforce

The Taskforce was set up in 2020 by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York with a challenge to begin work on making bold changes to ensure greater racial justice and equality in the Church of England.

It came after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, told the General Synod there was ‘no doubt’ that the Church of England was still ‘deeply institutionally racist’. The nine-member group is a temporary body to make recommendations for immediate action and carry out preparatory work to set up the Archbishops’ Commission to address racism.

As part of its work, it is examining more than 160 formal recommendations made since 1985 on racial justice in the Church of England. The overwhelming majority were made in reports from the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) and its predecessor, the Committee on Black Anglican Concerns.

Co-chairs

• Rev Arun Arora - Vicar of St Nicholas, Durham. Former Director of Communications for the Church of England.
• Rev Sonia Barron - Lincoln Diocesan Director of Ordinands and Vocations, former Adviser to Archbishops’ Council’s Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns.

Members

• Rev Dr Anderson Jeremiah - Lecturer, University of Lancaster, CMEAC member.
• Canon Dr Addy Lazz-Onyenobi - Deanery Lay Chair, Diocese of Manchester, CMEAC member and member of the Anglican Minority Ethnic Network (AMEN).
• Annika Mathews - Lay Representative of the Church of England to the Churches Together England Enabling Group, former Church of England Youth Council member and Synod representative.
• Joanna Moriarty - Partner (Charities and Social Enterprise) Green Park leadership and recruitment consultancy services.
• Ben Nicholls - Youth worker at St Paul’s, Hammersmith.
• Rev Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy - BAME Mission and Ministry Enabler (Leicester Diocese). CMEAC member.
• Ven Neil Warwick - Archdeacon of Bristol.