Elliot Review Redux
Readers with long memories may perhaps recall an article from 2020 on Surviving Church by Gilo titled Thoughts on the Elliott Review ‘translation’ by Archbishops Council.
It has taken another three years to begin to get at the truth concerning this. The letter linked below has recently been sent to both archbishops.
The problem with having a ‘bad memory’ and using it as an excuse for not telling the truth, is that eventually the truth does come out. As a gentle reminder to the members of the AC, truth is an important theological principle, and was embodied by Jesus Christ. Our mission as Church can not include deception, because it undermines the reputation of the Church with outsiders (as well as members of the Church family). When we obscure the truth, especially when we do it deliberately, we ‘manage’ the reputation of the Church in a rather different way than the PR… Read more »
I think the Church of England needs more Maungy Vicars to shake it out of its complacency. We are all sinners of course but is it really too much to ask that our clergy at least try to tell the truth and care for the vulnerable ? That is very clearly what Jesus told us to do so why have we ended with senior clergy who don’t even try to carry out Gods will ? Do they have any idea what a devastating effect their behaviour has on ordinary parishioners like me ? Do some clergy realise or even care… Read more »
The phrase that immediately comes to mind is “don’t hold your breath….”
I doubt it will get anything like an appropriate response, if it gets any response at all. But bringing into the light that which is done in the shadows is an exercise that is well worth doing, as well as being something we find mentioned in the Bible on more than one occasion in relation to wrongdoing. Well done, Gilo. I admire your courage and persistence in systematically shaming these people for the disgraceful path they have chosen. None of them who are lay volunteers or who are clergy holding senior leadership roles had to choose this cloak and dagger… Read more »
The only consistent values and behavioural patterns to be found in CofE safeguarding are lies, deceptions, sleight of hand, spin, gross incompetence, constant inconsistency, basic corruption, failings, cover ups and a few more lies thrown in for good measure to see if this will somehow hide the dreadfulness of it all. I think it was Rowan Williams who remarked that if you keep sweeping bad things under the carpet, eventually it will bulge so much you can’t walk on the floor anymore, and the carpet rip and no longer fit. Another rug won’t really help. Next week the Archbishops Council… Read more »
Well said Kit especially the last paragraph. I should like to draw the attention of you all to a petition that Jane Chevous, a victim, has put up on change.org entitled ‘ Safeguard Victims in the Church of England-ask the Charity Commission to intervene now!’ She needs as many signatures as possible for it to be effective.
There is a link to this petition on TA (item 9 in episode 5).
Thank you Simon. That is probably where I found it but had forgotten its source.
A thought that has often sifted through me, that when any Denomination in the Christian Church including my own the Roman Catholic Church, goes down the way of the world and goes down the Road of reputation management and damage limitation, it avoids a Gospel command from Jesus. In the Gospel we are not called as Christians to Reputation management nor damage limitation, but to Repentance and nothing less then Repentance. At the beginning of the Gospel the call from Jesus is “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand” We are also told that Jesus sent his… Read more »
So often senior members of churches (not just the Church of England) forget that the only opinion which matters is the Lord’s opinion.
I’ve been re-reading the case report of Mr X which was produced by the ISB: Reading this report, the dominant thought that comes back at me again and again, is that it is navigating a personal tragedy. My second reflection is that the ISB author(s) of this report have written with refreshing honesty, acute analysis, and the courage to speak truth to power. That makes me think what a loss it is that the ISB has been crushed. Thirdly, the impressions I get of the Church of England’s various actions in this case are that they lacked co-ordination, they lacked… Read more »
Susannah, thank you for these observations, which I have only just stumbled upon. They are extremely astute, in all points – and therefore are difficult to read. I struggled massively with mental health throughout the ISB investigation review. Many days of the 9 months of it, I retreated to bed, fearing yet another manipulation of the facts and impact. I’m a normally active 6’4″ sportsman, with 2 wonderful and demanding kids. The Church’s response to me seeking accountability for the abuse and its impact has been to repeatedly evade – to employ the worst possible tactics. It has broken me… Read more »
This is perfectly observed. And you should know that since that report was presented, absolutely nothing has been done to relieve Mr X’s situation.
Susannah, Wilkinson makes clear that the disagreements arose out of the utterly incoherent conceptualisation of the project shot through with ambiguity and competing claims for autonomy. The responsibility for this lies in two places. A) the Secretary General and his staff : his job description makes it clear his job is strategic envisioning and implementation B) the Archbishops Council House of Bishops who with others run the Synod agenda. We never got to scrutinise the development of the ISB so the inherent weaknesses gave all 5 ISB members “Mission impossible”. Like every shabby employer when things went wrong, those responsible… Read more »
Jaw hits floor (maybe it shouldn’t and is all too easily anticipated!) on Nye’s real(!) presence. “As you may be aware” 😉