BBC News
By Harry Farley
image copyrightPA Media
All shortlists for senior Church of England posts must include at least one ethnic minority candidate, a report has said.
It is one of 47 recommendations made by the Archbishops' Anti-Racism Taskforce, which was established last year after the Black Lives Matter protests.
It said the Church has "an alarmingly retrograde trend" when it comes to ethnic minority senior bishops.
Failing to act would have "devastating effects" on the future of the Church.
The archbishops of Canterbury and York welcomed the report but did not commit to enforcing the recommendation on shortlists.
The taskforce examined 25 previous reports on racial justice over the past 36 years and said that despite hundreds of recommendations, the Church had overseen "decades of inaction" which "carry consequences".