Press release from the Church of England
Bishop of Bristol to take up national safeguarding role
29/07/2020
The Bishop of Bristol, Bishop Viv Faull has been appointed a deputy lead bishop for safeguarding, with a focus on liaison with diocesan bishops on behalf of the National Safeguarding Steering Group (NSSG) and with the wider Anglican Communion, and to speak on safeguarding in the House of Lords.
She will work closely with the lead safeguarding bishop, the Bishop of Huddersfield, Jonathan Gibbs and the other deputy lead Bishop Debbie Sellin who took up their roles earlier this year. All three bishops will continue to work closely with Melissa Caslake the Church of England’s national director of Safeguarding to continue to develop the Church’s safeguarding practice.
Speaking about her appointment Bishop Viv said:
“I was a Chester Diocesan ordinand when Victor Whitsey was Bishop, and a Deacon in Gloucester when Peter Ball was Bishop. Though they did me no individual harm I have seen the great harm done to others and the whole Church of God. Safeguarding has therefore been an urgent concern throughout my time as Dean in Leicester and in York where I led changes of process and culture and learnt much. I am aware of how much the Church still has to learn and will do my best to contribute to debates and to enable fellow diocesan bishops to participate fully and be supported in their roles.”
Bishop Jonathan said: “We are delighted that Bishop Viv has agreed to take up this role bringing her long experience of ministry and absolute commitment to good safeguarding. She will play a key role as a link between the NSSG and other bishops, as well as with the wider Anglican Communion.”
What a ridiculous idea! The person responsible for the bell-ringing debacle which as a church story, caught the public interest in just about the most memorable and damaging way in recent times and eventually distilled itself into ‘a safeguarding issue’ naturally.
A sign that ‘the Church’ is putting more ‘resource’ into safeguarding … and that Bristol doesn’t need a full-time diocesan? Worshipping Community 18,200, not that much more than Hereford (another thread relates).
Bristol has long been a largely pointless diocese, and may have been created chiefly to satisfy civic amour propre: “On 4 June 1542, the diocese of Bristol was established, consisting of the city and county of Bristol (taken from Gloucester and Bath and Wells dioceses), together with the county of Dorset (from Salisbury diocese) and the parish of Leigh or Abbot’s Leigh, Somerset (from Bath and Wells), which had formerly been a manor of St. Augustine’s. Although Bristol was now united as a single diocese, one part was separated by forty miles from the other main part, the county of… Read more »
This may be a smart move. And I suspect has been at the request of Bishop Jonathan Gibbs. Bishop Viv Faull is known for independence of mind, and is probably worth at least half a dozen average diocesan bishops. I am told she has a reputation for not being being particularly hoovered up into the purple circle – but standing somewhat apart from it. She was one of a tiny handful of bishops who spoke out after IICSA’s report last year on Chichester hearings and Peter Ball hearings, when the rest of the senior hierarchy ran for the hills… Read more »