Faith Action Programme

The Church and legacies of slavery

The murder of George Floyd and the death of Sheku Bayoh are just two recent high-profile incidents where issues of race and unfair use of power have been brought to the forefront of public debate.

The culture of power imbalance and racism has a long history. From a White European perspective, the history of transatlantic chattel slavery embedded this culture in Scottish society over many years.

The Church’s own history in this regard is mixed. As well as being part of a movement that argued for abolition, there were parts of the Church that benefitted financially from the proceeds and profits of the slave trade and slavery.

The General Assembly of 2020 instructed the Faith Impact Forum to report on the Church and legacies of slavery, and the Forum brought its findings to the General Assembly of 2023.

The Report reminded Commissioners that New College and the very Assembly Hall they sit in was built by the newly seceded Free Church of Scotland; in 1844 a Free Church deputation was sent to the United States, and raised around £3,000 (worth around £½million today) from southern congregations who admitted slave owners in their fellowship.

A historical survey can be useful to understand context and background, but this work is not just a catalogue of discomforting realities: we hope it is a tool for mission today. This can be in how, as a predominantly White denomination, we hear and respond to the calls for justice from Black Christians and churches – here in Scotland and around the world. There is a conversation our Church needs to have about how it acknowledges its past and to take forward debates around an institutional apology and possible acts of reparation or reconciliation.

The Faith Impact Forum asked the 2023 General Assembly to encourage congregations to research the history of slavery and its connections to their local areas – and to celebrate Racial Justice Sunday in their churches to challenge racism and speak out against racial injustice in our church and society today. The Forum will also be asked to do further work with the Theological Forum in preparing a statement of acknowledgement and apology, building on the Theological Forum’s 2022 paper, Apologising for Historic Wrongs.