Church of Scotland regrets Role in Slavery News

*Delegates from Nigeria, Ghana and Jamaica present at General Assembly

“Healing begins when truth is spoken”-Foster-Fulton

On Saturday The Church of Scotland made history as it issued a formal apology for its role in slavery.

The apology was adopted at the church’s General Assembly in Edinburgh.

According to the BBC, the church acknowledged the injustice meted out through the apology said that the Kirk is “grieved beyond telling by the extraordinary suffering we have inflicted – through our actions and our inaction – on our brothers and sisters”.

“We repent, committing ourselves to changing course and bearing fruit worthy of repentance,” it added.

It also recognised that historically some of its members would have benefited from direct and indirect participation in the slave trade.

The Very Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, who presented the apology to the General Assembly, said: “The history we consider today continues to shape our world in ways we cannot ignore.”

She added: “Its consequences touch communities near and far, influencing the structures, attitudes and inequalities that persist around us.

“The legacy of slavery stretches like a shadow over our local, national and global landscape.

“Naming that is not about blame, but about faithfulness – about recognising that healing begins where truth is spoken.”

Particularly, Rose Wedderburn, general secretary of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, praised the apology.

“While the process has understandably evoked deep emotions – the effort invested in truth-telling and honest engagement is worthwhile,” Wedderburn

It is on record that a number of institutions in Scotland have issued apologies for historical links with slavery, including Edinburgh and Glasgow councils, which did so in 2022.

It is also noteworthy that, before the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in the 1830s, some members of the Church of Scotland had offered a theological justification for chattel slavery.