As consciousness around racial justice increases, and questions around the Church of England’s response continue, the church is discovering that this is not a one-dimensional issue, but requires the engagement of multiple disciplines and lenses. Staying Awake in Gethsemane offers a kaleidoscope of perspectives brought together to consider how a racial justice lense sheds new light on the life and theology of the Church of England. Contributors including Anthony Reddie, Stephen Cottrell and Kwok Pui-lan consider how racial justice might influence how we think about everything from the leadership and governance of the church to the shape of vocation and formation, and from the role of pioneer ministries to the function of the parish.
Acknowledgements
About the Contributors
Preface
Foreword
Introduction
Sanjee Perera
Part One
1. A New Humanity in Christ
Stephen Cottrell
2. Re-Stating the Centrality of a Gospel of Liberation: The Case for Black Theology
Anthony G. Reddie
3. Listening Closely: The Emergence of a Gypsy Voice
Steven Horne, Martin Burrell and Sue Butler
4. A Post-Pandemic Theology within the Church and with the Poor
Mario I. Aguilar
Part Two – The Tangled Narratives of Historical Impressionism
5. A Civilizing Church: Christian Mission and the European Scramble for Africa
Harvey Kwiyani
6. A Cup of Cold Water: Global Mission and Culture Blindness
Rachele Vernon O’Brien
7. Dialectics Across Empires: Echoes of Sixteenth Century Othering in Today’s North Atlantic Anglicanism
Carla E. Roland Guzmán
8. Emigrants of the Empire: Fragmented Legacies that Pluck Up and Destroy
Lauren Banks
9. From the Diocese of Victoria to the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui: A historical survey of Anglicanism in Hong Kong (1841-2025)
David Ho Young
10 Émigrés of Empire and Colonial Homophobia: The Racialized Logics of Exclusion from Past Laws to Present Legacies
Audrey Quay
11. Ambiguities in Anglican Liturgy
Phillip Tovey
Part Three – The Pragmatics of Racial Justice Strategy in the Church of England
12. The Wicked Problem of Racism in the Church of England
Sanjee Perera
13. Voices in the Wilderness: Racial Justice and the Structures of the Church of England in the Twenty-first Century
Malcolm Brown
14. The Hare and the Tortoise: Diversifying Theological Education
Keith Gruneberg and Mike Higton
Canon Dr. Sanjee Perera is a cognitive psychologist and theologian and currently lecturer in Mission and Evangelism at Cranmer Hall Durham. She is also an Honorary Canon of Liverpool Cathedral and holds fellowships In Theology & Religion at the University of Durham and the University of Chester. She was previously the Archbishops’ Adviser for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns in the Church of England.