The Methodist Church has announced that it is to increase its number of state-funded schools over the next ten years, after a long period of not seeking expansion. The announcement comes as the Methodist Conference has adopted without amendment an Education Commission Report, the evangelical tone of which the British Humanist Association (BHA) raised concerns about in March. The BHA has expressed regret at the Methodist Church’s new approach.
In this week’s announcement, the Methodist Church emphasise that the new schools will be based in deprived areas, and state that ‘All the schools… serve their local community and are fully inclusive, welcoming pupils of all faiths and none.’ However, the report states that ‘Critics sometimes talk of the danger of religious indoctrination yet the real danger of indoctrination lies in permitting the young to surrender their thinking entirely to the many secular and materialistic pressures that come from society.’ It also says that ‘we find it hard to understand how promoting Christianity within all schools will be assisted by removing “the privilege” of greater contact with Methodism and therefore with Christianity in 79 schools.’
BHA Faith Schools Campaigner Richy Thompson commented, ‘It is extremely difficult to reconcile the image of inclusiveness and community concern promoted in the Methodist Church’s press release with the evangelical and, at times, combative comments found within the report itself. It is also very difficult to understand how they can claim that their schools are “fully inclusive, welcoming pupils of all faiths and none”, given that this is plainly factually incorrect. There are two Voluntary Aided schools of which the Methodist Church are the sole sponsor, and both of them are able to select up to 100% of pupils along religious lines if the schools are oversubscribed. In addition, many of the schools which are co-sponsored by the Methodists and the Church of England are also able to religiously select their pupils.
‘We regret this new approach from the Methodist Church of expansion and increasing evangelisation.’
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For further comment or information, please contact Richy Thompson at richy@humanists.uk or on 020 3675 0959.
Read the BHA’s previous comments, Methodists risk giving up all their education principles on a wing, 27 March 2012: https://humanists.uk/news/view/1010
Read more about the BHA’s campaigns work on ‘faith’ schools: https://humanists.uk/campaigns/religion-and-schools/faith-schools
View the BHA’s table of types of school with a religious character: https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/schools-with-a-religious-character.pdf
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief.