Jamaican appointed Racial Justice Director for Church of England
Reverend Dr Evie Vernon O’Brien has been appointed as the new racial justice director for the Church of England in the West Midlands.
A Montego Bay, St James native, O’Brien is expected to take up her new role come July and will have responsibility for six dioceses – Birmingham, Coventry, Gloucester, Hereford, Lichfield, and Worcester.
In the role, O’Brien is to lead a team of people who will support each diocese as they promote racial justice by examining culture, practices and policies to ensure adherence to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion.
“Jesus calls his followers to join him in preaching the good news to the poor, and in bringing liberation to the oppressed,” said O’Brien.
“I believe that the coming together of these six dioceses to set up a unit to concentrate on racial justice is a powerful manifestation of our commitment to our mission as Jesus’ disciples,” she added.
Ordained as a deaconess in the 1980s, O’Brien moved to the UK where she was director of the Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies, later going on to serve as the theological adviser at USPG, an Anglican mission agency.
O’Brien has also served with the Catholic AIDS Prevention and Support.