I was disappointed with the content of the service at Westminster Abbey today.
It was a privilege to be there, it was great to see the Abbey being used to bring together people to mark the end of the worst atrocity this country, and indeed our church, has been involved in. But still, it was disappointing for a number of minor and one very major reason.
The minors –
1. style of music: very white, very classical with little bits of African input
2. processions: very white, very pomp and circumstance with little bits of African input
3. theatrical ceremony: standing for certain people and not for others; notably sitting as Archbishop John Sentamu, a man who has experienced oppression due to his belief and colour, while we needed to stand for the queen whose ancestors need to take responsibility for what we were remembering
4. singing of the national anthem at the end (which I did not take part in as I never have, nor ever intend to, sing the national anthem)- I think this could be seen insensitive at the end.
The service today had 3 parts: remember, reflect, respond.
The only response was to pray.
The response I was hoping for, a chance that we could apologise to our African brothers and sisters for the slave trade was missing.
A powerful opportunity to show the Christian ability of admitting mistakes was missed.
This is why Toyin Agbetu made his protest, and it was very understandable of him to do so.
I do not know if I am correct, but Toyin Agbetu seemed to start his protest at the start of the confession where the Dean said ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Let us therefore confess our sins….’
What the Dean said was correct, but I have to ask if anyone read through this service to see how it would be heard. I heard, and I am sure others did, by implication of these words that all of us have a part to play in this atrocity. I’m sure that is not what was meant, but it could be heard that way. I wonder if it was this that outraged Toyin Agbetu in particular this afternoon.
Archbishop Rowan, however, spoke excellently as we would expect. He said that there was still hope, and that the hope of Jesus was the only thing that could bring transformation to our country. There were a few ‘amens’ around the Abbey when those words were heard. You can see his sermon text here.
I feel the service was not complete wit such a major gap and believe strongly that Blair needs to make this stand and formally and fully apologise for the part we played in this.
I don’t understand the difficulty.
Why is it so hard to say sorry?
The Shiny Headed Prophet 
Interesting post… The thing that always challenges me when I think about the abolitionists, is when I think about how difficult it must have been for them to challenge an accepted norm… I mean, people really believed that it was morally justifiable to have slaves, that the African race was inferior to the European one… I’ve even heard that they were only taught Christianity because Paul instructs slaves to be obedient to their masters (although I rather like the theory that Paul thought the Second Coming could happen any minute and even though there is no “slave nor free” in Christ Jesus, it was pointless getting caught up in abolition campaigns… pity really).But to be honest I am not sure I personally see the point of apologising for what my ancestors did to someone else’s ancestors. Granted, we are still living in the legacy of the slave trade, making an apology more meaningful, say, than the Dutch apologising for raiding the Medway in 1667, but I don’t really see the use or the logic of making all white people responsible for the slave trade.My main problem is that it is very easy to make a relic out of something dead and beat our chests with symbolic repentance, but it’s a lot more useful to get about setting right injustice rather than mourning over the injustices of yesteryear (though Rob, as someone who supports Stop the Traffik, please don’t think I’m getting at you ’cause I’m not… more at myself, I guess). Just like the people of times past tolerated and even supported injustice and oppression, do we also let injustice happen to others? It chills me to think that the people who allowed slavery, the people who tolerated the Holocaust, and in fact the people who support the use of torture in Guantanamo bay, are normal people. Ordinary people, who are just like me, when I went to buy a bottle of Coke the other day. It’s easier to believe, for example, that asylum seekers are opportunists who want to “steal our benefits” (to use John Reid’s charming turn of phrase) than people who have been suffering persecution and require our compassion. It seems to me that an appropriate response would be to consider what we can do to help the oppressed minorities and to highlight the causes of forgotten peoples… i would have sent them all home – including the Queen 🙂 – with some “Stop the Traffik” and Amnesty International info…
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