Heaven is my Destination

A 'heavenly blue' London Taxi with "HEAVEN IS MY DESTINATION" on both sides is now part of the street-scene - in Berlin!

It's the work of the Rev. Dr Irene Ahrens - now non-stipendiary Assistant Pastor at St George's Anglican Church in the German capital - but until recently curate at St. Luke and St. Philip, Kew.

Irene is well known as a painter and was last featured in The Bridge when her 'angel' design was chosen for the 1998 Christmas stamps. A former artistic director at Saatchi and Saatchi, she bought the London taxi and had it resprayed to order before leaving for Germany.

The Rev. Nick Darby who led a group of Kew parishioners to Berlin for her induction, said "She left an indelible impression in Kew, and will no doubt do much to 'stir up' the former garrison church in Berlin.".

 
Bishop's Blessing

Men and machinery building the new St Mary Magdalene School in Peckham received a bishop's blessing on 9 March.

Wearing hard hat and robes, Colin Buchanan, Bishop of Woolwich, prayed for the men and all the children who will learn there.

The new £1.4 million building, which could be ready in November, is the fruit of half a century of prayer by the school and the congregation of St Mary Magdalene Church. It will replace the present building which dates back to 1858 and which has no hall - children have to cross a busy road several times a day to other sites for lunch, PE and assemblies.

Photo by Phil Gannon: Bishop Colin with Head Teacher Millicent Perkins, St Mary's Vicar, Mike Payne, and pupils of St Mary Magdalene School

"We must all try even harder"

The Report of an independent inquiry into Institutional Racism within the Structures of the Diocese of Southwark was launched on Saturday 11 March at the Diocesan Synod.

Bishop Tom, chairing the launch, explained that while the Synod would not debate the Report at this meeting, there would be time for questions for clarification.

The Report will be sent to parishes and to the Board for Church in Society who will be asked to prepare for the debate at the July Synod.

The Bishop introduced the Rev. David Haslam, former Secretary of the Churches Commission on Racial Justice and now a local Methodist/URC Minister in Southwark, who was a member of the inquiry panel and Paul Riddell from the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) who had helped to support the panel.

Bishop Tom explained that Sir Herman Ouseley who had chaired the Panel had a previous engagement and a third panel member, Glynne Gordon-Carter, Secretary to the Archbishop's Council for Minority Ethnic Concerns who had hoped to be at Synod, was unwell.

David Haslam said that he would be giving a 'helicopter view' of the report. He spoke of the privilege of getting to know Neville and Doreen Lawrence in the wake of the murder of Stephen Lawrence and how Stephen's death had exposed 'institutional racism'.

This term was, he said, not new. It had come to public consciousness in the Scarman Report which followed the Brixton uprising. But the Scarman Report had denied the existence of institutional racism within the police.

"Such denial is no longer possible," he said, "but the use of the term gets away from a blame and guilt culture. The term deals in the collective and cultural nature of racism. This shift is one which the panel had tried to use in the report".

Producing the Report had been 'interesting, difficult challenging and frustrating', he said The Panel began their work in September and had hoped to report by November. In the end the first draft of the Report was delivered at the end of 1999.

David Haslam highlighted two key recommendations in the Report.

The first was a senior committee or team, led by the Bishop and including the heads of Boards and key committees which would have responsibility for equal opportunities. The second was for a Diocesan Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (for details of their work see page 9, centre column).

He invited members of the Diocese to 'phone members of the Panel if they would like someone to come to their Synod or PCC meetings. They were here to help'.

In closing, David Haslam suggested that the right approach is one of repentance -'a dynamic term which implies constant vigilance for those of us from the majority ethnic community to turn and if we do this the minority ethnic people will help us.'

Following questions and comments, Bishop Tom thanked the Panel on Synod's behalf for all their work.