Equality Impact Assessment
From the Connexional website:
"All Methodists (and Methodist staff) are encouraged to use this Methodist Equality Impact Assessment as one way of asking ourselves relevant questions about how we do things now and how we might do them differently in the future, so that we can help a bigger diversity of people to grow in our discipleship together.
As part of our Christian response to the commandment of Jesus to ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’ we encourage every Methodist, to get into the habit of thinking who we are leaving out, or ignoring, or hurting, by the way we do things.
You might want to use this Equality Impact Assessment as a formal record of the work that you’ve done and review it to help you see how you are being changed by God."
Equality Impact Assessments Zoom
In July 2025 Stuart Watkin from the Learning Network kindly ran a Zoom session for our District and the BEH District, in response to the feedback from our EDI Needs survey that people wanted a greater understanding of these. It was a good session but not many people attended and it was not suitable for recording. Consequently, in order to spread the content more widely, I have produced the article below for this website.
What are Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs)?
In the EDI training there is a video introducing EIAs which you may like to watch again (assuming you did the training). It can be found here: Link to EIA video
EIAs are intended to be used when you are managing change or holding a new type of event to help you consider what you need to do to be more inclusive so some people are not put off attending. It is a good idea to involve a good number of people in the planning to get varied views. There is the danger that the Church works for those who always come but not for other people!
EIAs are about the process and way of thinking and the paperwork is there to support them. Please do not be put off by the form (the link is above) – you do not have to complete every box. Remember to look at the positives and the negatives. It helps if you consider these exercises as acts of fellowship rather than burdens of paperwork. It is about inclusive decision making in order to include everyone. For example, when planning a Christmas event involving children, do not divide presents into those traditionally “suitable” for a boy or a girl.
The EIA form has a preamble which reminds us that EIAs have been developed because the Methodist Church believes that God’s love is “for all” and that we are called to live this out in our ministry and mission. The Justice, Dignity and Solidarity Strategy is aiming for a profound change in the culture, practices and attitude of the Methodist Church so all Methodists (and others) are able to be full participants in the Church’s life and to attempt to eradicate discrimination.
The preamble also lists the “protected characteristics” that the Equality Act 2010 asks for specific consideration of e.g. age, disability, sex, religion and belief. It would be good to also take into account socio-economic and other factors like checking that an event would be affordable for all. I encourage you to consider any factors that are relevant in your own context that might make the experience of an event/policy different.
The form lists five steps to complete a Methodist Church EIA. This relates more to the introduction of a new procedure or policy. Stuart gave a simplified version in his training:
- Identify the clear and agreed purpose of the policy, guideline or service (or the new event).
- Identify the different groups of people who will be affected by it. You may need to seek input.
- Assess the likely impact of it on identified groups.
- Take (reasonable) steps to mitigate any negative impacts.
Susan Eldridge, District EDI Officer
(July 2025)