Hope City Church pastors resign in racism row allegations

Jenny and Dave Gilpin have resigned from their roles

Two senior pastors who founded a contemporary Christian church have resigned amid allegations of racism.

Dave and Jenny Gilpin are the founding pastors of Hope City Church, which has its headquarters in Sheffield.

The couple resigned after trustees said they had created a "leadership culture that allowed [racism] to happen".

In a recorded statement, Mr Gilpin said he had "contributed and added to generations and centuries of racism". An investigation is taking place.

Hope City Church said it was taking allegations of racial discrimination within the leadership of the church in Sheffield "very seriously".

It added a detailed internal investigation would be carried out and new lead pastors had been appointed for the Sheffield congregation.

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In an official video statement on Hope City Church's YouTube channel earlier this month, Mr Gilpin said: "I've always had a vision of creating a diverse, multicultural church.

"Because we were getting fewer white people attending in Sheffield, I tried to make the church more appealing to what white people wanted. I realise in the past week that this is completely racist.

Hope City Church said it was taking allegations of racial discrimination "very seriously"

"That I have contributed and added to generations and centuries of racism over the earth, and I have hurt many people in the past and the present, I am deeply sorry."

He added: "I want to learn, I want to listen, I want to work with people around me to make things better."

Mr Gilpin, who made his comments after the death of George Floyd in the United States, also posted on his Instagram account, addressing a young adult from the black community in Sheffield who had reached out to him.

He explained in this post that trying to make the church more appealing to white people was the wrong approach to making the church multicultural, and he acknowledged that this had hurt many black people.

The church, which was founded by Mr and Mrs Gilpin after they moved to South Yorkshire from Australia in 1991, meets at 12 locations, mainly in the UK but also in Ghana, Malaysia and Germany.

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