Christian Concern has accused the Church of England of promoting “woke indoctrination” through its newly revised anti-bullying guidance for schools, claiming it replaces biblical principles with progressive ideology.
The UK-based Christian rights organization criticized the updated guidance, titled Flourishing for All, which was released last month and applies to Church of England schools, calling it an unbiblical “apologetic for woke indoctrination.”
The Anglican body, however, maintains that the document provides a biblical framework for preventing bullying.
In a press statement issued Monday, Christian Concern argued that the guidance promotes critical theory—an ideology that challenges traditional social power structures and is often associated with cultural Marxism—“rather than a biblical worldview.” The group further contended that the Church’s approach is “built on a foundation of intersectionality rather than biblical equality.”
According to Christian Concern, the guidance from the C of E “defines human flourishing as allowing children to fully ‘explore and experience’ aspects of their protected characteristics, such as sexual and gender identity.” They claimed, “The guidance assumes that we are all marginalised or privileged by the intersection of multiple aspects of our personal characteristics and identities such as class, religion, or ethnicity.”
The organization argued, “A Christian definition of human flourishing would be to live out God’s purposes for our lives, which includes living a holy and pure lifestyle. It does not include encouraging children to live out identities and desires which run contrary to biblical morality and to their best interests.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive officer of Christian Concern, said the Church of England’s latest guidance “once again shows its failure to uphold biblical morality in the 4,500 schools under its care.”
She criticized the Flourishing for All guidance as continuing “the same concerning trajectory, advancing a secular and ideologically driven agenda instead of upholding authentic Christian principles on equality and morality.” Williams urged Christian teachers to reject the guidance and to “remain faithful to biblical truth, which is what children need to hear.”
A spokesperson for the Church of England responded to Christian Daily International, stating, “Flourishing For All sets out a clear biblical approach to the prevention of bullying which is rooted in an understanding that all children are made in the image of God and should be treated with dignity and compassion.”
The revised guidance, in section 3.2.1., outlines the legal requirements of The Equality Act 2010, which “protects people ‘from discrimination (both direct and indirect), harassment and victimisation based upon an actual or perceived protected characteristic.’” The nine protected characteristics listed are “age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation.”
The document emphasizes that it is “unlawful for a school to discriminate against, harass, or victimise a pupil or prospective pupil in areas such as admissions, access to any ‘benefit, facility or service,’ the manner in which education is provided, or by ‘subjecting a pupil to any other detriment.’”
