Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin

A passion for people

A spirit of determination runs through everything Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin does, both in her parish ministry at Holy Trinity Dalston and All Saints Haggerston in north-east London, and in her work as chair of the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns.

'In Haggerston, for example, there were only 12 to 15 people there when I first went nine years ago,' she says. 'We now have over 100 - but that's been hard work.'

Recognising that fundraising to refurbish and equip churches must, inevitably, take place alongside projects to reach out to the local community to build congregations, Rose takes the view that churches can attract more parishioners when they put together a long-term plan for survival.

'I think when we close churches,' she adds, 'we're not just saying oh we're being practical, etc, we're actually saying something about our lack of vision, our lack of passion for the gospel.'

Earlier this year, Rose demonstrated her own passion for people by speaking at General Synod, where she presented the report Present and Participating: A Place at the Table by the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns, which highlights some the committee's many achievements over 20 years, and spoke of a forthcoming review of everything the committee has done to date.

'We're really wanting to look at what impact have we made on the Church,' she says. 'Where are there signs that the Church is actually acting upon the recommendations that we have made to them throughout in the various dioceses that we have visited?'

Although the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 is drawing to a close - a chance to remember the past and focus on the problems of modern slavery - Rose is determined that lessons learned from history should remain at the top of the agenda, particularly so that children can continue to understand the origins of inferiority and superiority in society.

'The reality is we're still living with a legacy of slavery,' she says, 'and as long as we live with a legacy of slavery - and in particular some of the negative aspects of slavery - then I think we do have to have those things to mind; we need to call them to mind, so we can have a sort of blueprint that says actually this is not the right way to live and behave, but this is.'

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