While Humanists in other parts of the country struggle to be co-opted onto their county’s Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE), I was promoted from being a co-opted member of Suffolk County Council’s SACRE to full membership at its meeting on 5 June, with the agreement of all those present.

The reasons given were:

There is varied practice with other SACRE membership for Humanists across the country, some of whom have full membership.

With the NSFRE (National Framework for Religious Education) requesting religions and beliefs being included in new agreed syllabuses it is hard to justify humanists not having full membership of SACRE.

I’ve been a member of Suffolk’s SACRE for years – I forget how long – and feel this is a vote of confidence in me and my contribution to the development of RE in Suffolk. It’s also significant because Suffolk, which has a particularly harmonious SACRE, is showing the way to other local authorities who appear to be less enlightened, and who are resisting the involvement of Humanists and secularists in RE.

I’m grateful to my fellow SACRE members. 

Tags: RE, SACRE, Suffolk+County+Council, Humanism