Are People Who Are Concerned About Illegal Immigration Welcome in the Church of England?

Are people who have concerns about illegal immigration into Britain welcome in the Church of England? The question is raised by a statement from the bishops who lead the Diocese of Southwark, which covers most of south London.

The Acting Bishop of Southwark, Rosemarie Mallett, the Bishop of Kingston, Martin Gainsborough, and the Bishop of Woolwich, Alastair Cutting, have issued a proclamation complaining that

Some members of the ‘Patriot Platform’ movement have been attending worship at one of the churches in our diocese. Concerns have been raised with us about the language and actions of this group and how they are proclaiming the Christian faith in association with anti-migrant rhetoric.

This whinge comes from leaders of a church denomination that is in numerical meltdown. In 2003, the average weekly attendance across the CofE was 1,126,000. By 2024 that had fallen to around 700,000.

When I was a CofE vicar in a South Yorkshire commuter village with a small congregation and hardly any men under the age of 40, I would have been delighted if a group of younger males had started turning up to church. If I had heard any racialist rhetoric I would have challenged it. I would have tried to explain from the Bible that each and every one of us, irrespective of our racial, cultural or financial background, is a sinner in need of the salvation that comes through Christ.

I did not see it as my business to censor or complain about lawful conversations on current affairs over coffee in the Parish Centre or anywhere else. If I had seen anyone engaging in unlawful behaviour on the church premises or elsewhere, I would have reported the matter to the police and told the diocesan authorities that I had done so.

Judging by the bishops’ statement, all these men appear to have done so far is turn up to church.

And in fact, it turns out that the vicar of the church in question doesn’t agree with the bishops who issued their statement after reading in a Left-wing magazine that members of Patriot Platform were going to his church.

The Church Times reports:

The incumbent of a church in south London which is attended by members of the far-Right group Patriot Platform has spoken of his commitment to keeping its doors “open to everyone — full stop”.

The Team Rector of Morden Team Parish, in the diocese of Southwark, the Revd David Heath-Whyte, who has served there since 2014, said on Tuesday: “Welcoming people through our doors does not mean condoning their actions or agreeing with all their views. But we do believe in the transforming power of the gospel to change and to heal us, and we continue to preach the gospel to that end.”

He spoke after the magazine Searchlight — which says that it “investigates and opposes fascism, antisemitism and racism in Britain and abroad” — ran an article last month drawing attention to social media posts by the leader of Patriot Platform, Daniel Thomas, commonly known as ‘Danny Tommo’. It mentioned his attendance at St Lawrence’s, Morden, and was headlined ‘The Christian church with an open door for the far Right’.

Heath-Whyte, who turns out to be something of an evangelical hero, went on to say: “As pastors, our responsibility is to nurture those who are new to the faith. Our conversion is a lifelong journey, as we work out our salvation.”

Asked what he would say to somebody who suggested that the church should not be open to members of Patriot Platform, he said: “If a church were to ban one particular kind of person because of their sin, where would we stop? We are all guilty of sin — as the Church of England liturgy says.”

Would the Southwark bishops have issued their sanctimonious statement if they had found out that members of Antifa were turning up to a church in the diocese?

Julian Mann, a former Church of England vicar, is an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire.