There are two items in today’s Church Times that relate to this subject.
Letter to the editor (scroll down)
The House of Bishops and abuse survivors
From Mr Andrew Graystone
Sir, — At the General Synod in February, the House of Bishops once again promised a “new culture” in the way that the Church relates to victims of its abuse (News, 16 February). Since then, there has been no indication of what that new culture might look like, or how or when it will be realised. Indeed, since February there has been minimal contact between the bishops and victims.
The suggestion in a private letter that the National Safeguarding Team is “in the process of developing the terms of reference for a Working Group on Cultural Change” caused hearty laughter among weary victims.
When pressed, individual bishops have dropped hints that “something is being worked out” and will be revealed in due course. This is inadequate for at least two reasons.
The first is that it fails to recognise that the climate of nods and winks, secrecy, and fixing things up in private, is precisely the environment in which abuse thrives. Bishops working things out behind closed doors is the problem; it cannot also be the solution.
The second is that the bishops have yet to face the fact that they are neither qualified nor equipped to fix the Church’s problems in this area. By definition, many have risen to the top through abusive cultures. They are unable to recognise their own privilege and are unwilling to admit their own victimhood. They are horses trying to muck out their own stable.
Until the Bishops admit their inadequacy in this area and call on victims and independent experts to advise, all they will succeed in doing is spreading the muck around.
ANDREW GRAYSTONE
17 Rushford Avenue
Manchester M19 2HG
And there is a brief news item headed Welby ‘will take no further action’ against Croft over abuse case (scroll down)
THE Archbishop of Canterbury has declined to discipline the Bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft, over alleged failings to handle properly a disclosure of abuse. The Revd Matthew Ineson, who says that he was raped while a child by another cleric, the late Trevor Devamanikkam (News, 16 March), made a complaint under the Clergy Discipline Measure against Dr Croft. Mr Ineson said that Dr Croft did not take any action after being told about the alleged abuse. Mr Ineson said that he had received a letter from Archbishop Welby which said that he “will take no further action”. The Archbishop said, however, that he would ensure that Dr Croft undertook further safeguarding training and understood his responsibilities as a diocesan bishop. Mr Ineson said that he was preparing to appeal against Archbishop Welby’s decision not to discipline Dr Croft.
15 CommentsDavid Thomson, the suffragan Bishop of Huntingdon in the Diocese of Ely, has announced that he will retire in autumn 2018.
Retirement Announcement: The Rt Revd Dr David Thomson, Bishop of Huntingdon
0 CommentsThe four bishops of the Diocese of Lichfield have issued an ad clerum letter on this subject.
Here is the press release: Welcoming and honouring LGBT+ people
The bishops of Lichfield Diocese are calling for a Church where LGBT+ people feel welcomed and honoured.
In a letter sent to all clergy and lay ministers in the diocese, the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Dr Michael Ipgrave; the Bishop of Stafford, the Rt Revd Geoff Annas; the Bishop of Wolverhampton, the Rt Revd Clive Gregory; and the Bishop of Shrewsbury, the Rt Revd Mark Rylands, emphasise that “everyone has a place at the table.”
The letter updates clergy on discussions underway in the national Church on the ‘radical Christian inclusion’ called for by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and draws attention to the work being done on a major new Teaching Document…
Here is the full text of the letter: To all clergy and licensed lay ministers in the Diocese of Lichfield. Part of this is copied below the fold. But do read the entire letter.
There was also an earlier press release: ‘Safe Space’ for LGBT Christians
OneBodyOneFaith has issued a statement: OneBody welcomes letter from Lichfield bishops.
Tracey Byrne said:
“…Much of what the bishops say, shouldn’t really need saying, but sadly it does. Only this week we heard from a gay couple in another part of the country whose vicar has told them they can’t serve on any church committee, and we know too of couples whose vicar has refused to baptise their children. The kind of intrusive and abusive questioning of individuals condemned in the letter really does happen. People feel ashamed, hurt and confused when they encounter this kind of behaviour from people in positions of power and authority. It’s an affront to the gospel, and deeply damaging of individuals.”
Peter Leonard said:
36 Comments“It’s my hope that the work being undertaken by Lichfield diocese, and this clear statement, will send a very strong signal – to LGBT+ people that they’re welcomed and valued on equal terms with our brothers and sisters. And to those who seek to treat us as a problem, to harm and dismiss us and deny our gifts and callings – that their behaviour will no longer be tolerated. What we need to see now is other bishops issuing similar guidance. But this first step by Lichfield is very much welcomed.”
Queen appoints new Bishop of Bristol
The Queen has approved the appointment of a new Bishop of Bristol.
Published 15 May 2018
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Very Reverend Vivienne Frances Faull, MA, Dean of York, in the diocese of York, for election as Bishop of Bristol in succession to the Right Reverend Michael Arthur Hill, on his resignation on the 30th September 2017.
There are more details on the Bristol diocesan website: Very Revd Vivienne Faull announced as the next Bishop of Bristol.
Her consecration is scheduled for 3 July 2018.
The Church Commissioners have released their annual report for 2017 this morning, along with this press release:
The full press release is copied below the fold, but it starts with these highlights:
Hattie Williams has written in detail about the report for Church Times: Church Commissioners remain bountiful despite large drop in investment returns
The full report, and a summary review, are available for download.
Church Commissioners Annual Report 2017
Church Commissioners Annual Review 2017
From the website of the diocese:
The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE has been installed as the 133rd Bishop of London at St Paul’s Cathedral. The service coincided with International Nurses Day, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, echoing Bishop Sarah’s own former career in the NHS as a nurse, including as Chief Nursing Officer, before her ordination.
Clergy, staff and friends, from across the Diocese of London, the wider capital, and the Church of England, came together as Bishop Sarah followed the tradition of knocking three times on the Cathedral’s Great West Door with her pastoral staff, marking the beginning of the installation. The full-service sheet can be accessed here [below].
Bishop Sarah’s sermon, on the theme of ‘being subversive for Christ’, remarked that 105 years ago this week, suffragettes placed a bomb under the same seat in which she had just been enthroned as the first woman to be Bishop of London. She also spoke of the need to challenge injustice and inequality, and of the pivotal role the Church has to play across London.
Order of Service for the Installation
Sermon by Bishop Sarah at her Installation in St Paul’s Cathedral
Her biography and links to some other news articles
60 CommentsQueen approves appointment of Suffragan Bishop of Penrith
Reverend Dr Emma Gwynneth Ineson, BA, MPhil, PhD, is nominated to the Suffragan See of Penrith.
Published 9 May 2018
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Dr Emma Gwynneth Ineson, BA, MPhil, PhD, Principal of Trinity College, Bristol, to the Suffragan See of Penrith, in the Diocese of Carlisle in succession to the Right Reverend Robert John Freeman, BSc, MA, who resigned on the 5 April 2018.
Carlisle diocesan announcement: The Rev’d Dr Emma Ineson named as new Bishop of Penrith
This states that Dr Ineson will be consecrated on 27 February 2019.
Dean of Chester
The Venerable Timothy Richard Stratford, BSc, PhD, Archdeacon of Leicester is nominated to be appointed Dean of the Cathedral Church of Chester.
Published 9 May 2018
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Timothy Richard Stratford, BSc, PhD, Archdeacon of Leicester in the Diocese of Leicester, to be appointed Dean of the Cathedral Church of Chester, following the resignation of the Very Reverend Gordon Ferguson McPhate, MB, CHB, MA, MD, MSc, MTh, on 30 September 2017.
Notes for editors
The Venerable Dr Timothy Stratford is aged 57. He studied at York University for his BSc and also at Sheffield University for his PhD. He trained for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford in 1983. He served his title as a Curate at Mossley Hill in Liverpool diocese from 1986 to 1989 and then as Curate from 1989 to 1991 at St Helen, St Helens. From 1991 to 1994 he was the Bishop of Liverpool’s Domestic Chaplain. He was Vicar at West Derby from 1994 to 2003. From 2003 to 2012 he was Team Rector at Kirkby in Liverpool diocese. Since 2012 he has been Archdeacon of Leicester. He has served the national church as a member of General Synod for fifteen years and the Liturgical Commission for ten years. He has written and edited a number of books and booklets focusing mainly on contextually dependent worship and mission. His PHD was awarded in 2009 for a study of the mid-Victorian Slum Priest Ritualists.
Timothy is married to Jen and they have 3 children and one grandson. His interests include photography, cycling and music.
Chester Diocesan announcement: New Dean of Chester Cathedral Announced
The new dean blogs: A new place to call home
0 CommentsMark Bryant, the suffragan Bishop of Jarrow in the Diocese of Durham, has announced that he will retire in October 2018.
Bishop of Jarrow to retire at next birthday
1 CommentOlivia Rudgard at the Telegraph has now reported on reactions to the letter from William Nye, and her report contains an important new revelation. The article Church of England split over US plan to remove ‘husband and wife’ from marriage service concludes with this information:
…A spokesperson for the Church of England said: “The request was addressed to the Secretary General, as Provincial Secretary of the Church of England, who then consulted both Archbishops.
“It was concluded that as there was not time for full consultation of the House of Bishops – which meets only twice a year – a reply should be sent at staff level.
“Church House staff therefore produced a reply, in consultation with the Archbishops and the Bishop of Coventry, the chairman of the Faith and Order Commission.
“Mr Nye replied as Provincial Secretary.”
That’s rather different from the original letter which simply said:
108 Comments…This response, therefore, reflects discussions among staff of the Archbishops’ Council only.
In his not-quite-so-recent letter to TEC, William Nye wrote:
… we [i.e. the Church of England] were nevertheless broadly able to accept, some dozen years ago, the Government’s proposals for Civil Partnerships for same-sex couples, which conferred all the legal rights and responsibilities of marriage, but did not treat sexual activity as intrinsic to the relationship…
It may be instructive to look at the documents from the period 2003 to 2007 to see if that is really how it was at the time.
When Mr Nye’s previous letter addressed to Andy Lines of GAFCON was published in November 2016, Professor Iain McLean commented here (scroll down from link) to correct him then:
The legislative history is more complicated than Mr Nye makes it sound. I may need more than one post to explain.
First, 2004 and civil partnerships. I re-post something I wrote for the Guardian which has been posted here before:
“The main Lords debate on the civil partnership bill took place in June 2004. Richard Harries, then bishop of Oxford, did indeed signal Church of England support for civil partnerships. But his efforts were contradicted by the five conservative bishops who spoke on the other side. Going by the bishops’ contributions to debate, the score is 5/3 against. Going by the bishops’ votes, it is 6/1 against. Six bishops voted for a successful wrecking amendment in the name of Lady O’Cathain, which made the bill unworkable. Only the Commons’ insistence on rejecting the O’Cathain amendment made it possible to enact civil partnerships”
It is true, as posted in a later comment on that thread, that the bishops voted against the O’Cathain wrecking amendment when offered a second time. But if the Commons had not done what they did, there would have been no civil partnership act – not then anyhow.
The history of the CofE’s dealings with the government over civil partnerships is admirably summarised in a paper prepared on behalf of the House of Bishops for a General Synod debate in February 2007. As this document along with thousands of other archived items disappeared some months ago from the Church of England website, it is possible that Mr Nye wasn’t able to review it while preparing his letter. Fortunately I have found another source for it, and it is available here.
The occasion for its preparation was a synod private member’s motion, from a member who was clearly not supportive of Civil Partnerships- A pastoral statement from the House of Bishops of the Church of England that the bishops had issued in 2005. Here is a copy of the briefing paper he prepared (again from another archive).
The ensuing debate and its outcome was reported here at the time: GS: Civil Partnerships. The original wording of the PMM was roundly rejected but the bishops were unable to persuade the synod to vote to “recognise the House of Bishops’ Pastoral Statement as a balanced and sensitive attempt faithfully to apply the Church’s teaching to civil partnerships”.
8 CommentsUpdated Monday morning
For the original letter from William Nye, see here.
The response from OneBodyOneFaith was reported here.
In today’s Church Times there are three separate letters to the editor:
Jayne Ozanne has published a response on the ViaMedia site, titled Letters to America – Is the End Nye?
The letter which is embedded in this article is also available for public signatures: Letter from Church of England members to TEC on same-sex marriage rites.
Update Monday morning
The letter has been signed by over 300 people, and is being sent to TEC today. See press release here.
17 CommentsIICSA issued an interim report yesterday.
There is an excellent summary of the points relevant to churches at Law & Religion UK titled IICSA Interim Report: Main points.
The Church of England also issued a press release.
The Church Times has a report: ‘A dog collar is like a key to everyone’s front room in the parish’.
Christian Today has this: Abuse victims can feel ‘abandoned or punished by a god’, IICSA interim abuse report says.
0 CommentsUpdated Friday
During the recent IICSA hearings, much was made of the way personal files of Church of England clergy were handled in the past. But what about the present?
The guidelines for bishops and their staff about the handling of clergy personal files are very clearly set out in a document dated April 2013, Personal Files relating to Clergy – Guidance for bishops and their staff which is available online here.
This document reflects the data protection legislation in force at the time it was written. New legislation on this subject comes into force on 25 May 2018, so the document will need to be updated soon, if it has not already happened. But the current guidelines are quite clearly stated and updating to the latest requirements will not be difficult.
However, it’s not at all clear that they are being consistently implemented across all dioceses. The evidence for this assertion is contained in a recently published article by Colin Coward: Clergy Blue Files and the illegal behaviour of bishops and their chaplains. This reports on recent email exchanges between a small number of chaplains to diocesan bishops.
Emails between four bishops’ chaplains asking questions about whether priests can be shown their Clergy Current Status Letter (CCSL) have been sent to me. Clergy Current Status Letters are sent by the bishop of the diocese from where a priest is moving to the bishop of the diocese to which they are moving. The emails show that some bishops and their chaplains have not read or do not understand the “Guidance for bishops and their staff Approved by the House of Bishops on 13th March 2013” concerning “Personal Files Relating to Clergy”…
Update
Colin has posted a follow-up article: The Church of England’s systemically abusive culture which includes a letter he has written to the archbishops about all this, as well as discussing several other recent events.
11 CommentsAndrew Chandler, the biographer of Bishop George Bell, gave the address at a service of fellowship and encouragement for all those who have been affected by false allegations of abuse which was held on Saturday 17th March 2018, at St James’s Church Piccadilly.
The full text can be read here.
First published on the FACTUK.org website and published here with kind permission of Andrew Chandler & FACT.
FACT is a UK based, voluntary, not for profit organisation, founded more than 16 years ago, whose work is focused on providing support to those who have been accused of abuse who maintain their innocence and who have never carried out similar offences or pleaded guilty to such offences. More detail here.
5 CommentsOneBody says “not in our name”: our open letter to William Nye
OneBodyOneFaith has sent a strongly-worded letter to William Nye after the emergence late last week of a letter he wrote last October to The Episcopal Church, on behalf of the Archbishops’ Council. Whilst acknowledging that he wrote only on behalf of members of the Council, of which he’s Secretary General, the wider membership of the Church of England will inevitably be associated by implication with his words – words which again more treat loving, committed same-sex couples as a ‘problem’ or an ‘issue’, not real people, created in the image of God.
OneBody wants to send a clear message to Mr Nye, and the wider Communion: not in our name…
You can download a copy of the letter here. And it is copied here below the fold.
7 CommentsThere are numerous reports in the media about this.
Olivia Rudgard in the Telegraph has Bishop George Bell investigation dropped by Sussex Police
Chichester Observer Police drop sex abuse investigation into Bishop Bell
Church Times Police drop latest investigation into George Bell
12 Comments…The statement makes it clear that the police have no current safeguarding concerns, and that, therefore, no further investigation is necessary.
A spokeswoman for the Church of England’s national safeguarding team said that they had been conducting their own separate investigation since the new information was received in January. “We cannot make any further comment until the investigation is completed,” she said…
Updated again Thursday
Madeleine Davies has a report in the Church Times: Nye letter warns about same-sex marriage rites
PROPOSALS to incorporate marriage rites used by same-sex couples into the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) of the Episcopal Church in the United States will increase pressure in the Church of England to “dissociate” itself, the secretary general of the Archbishops’ Council, William Nye, has warned.
In a letter to the Episcopal Church’s Task Force on the Study of Marriage, which has produced the proposals, Mr Nye writes that, if the rites — written to be used by same-sex or opposite-sex couples — are incorporated into the BCP as the only marriage rite, “the pressure to dissociate the Church of England from TEC [the Episcopal Church], in all manner of ways, would increase”. Such a move would also be “potentially damaging” to work in the C of E to create a new teaching document on sexuality (News, 30 June), he writes….
The 8-page letter is contained in a file of responses from other Anglican Communion churches to a consultation request from The Episcopal Church for comments. This forms part of the materials prepared for the forthcoming General Convention in July.
The response from William Nye is now available separately here.
The response from the Scottish Episcopal Church is here.
There is also a response from the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO).
And there are ecumenical responses too.
Updates
Reports of this letter have also appeared elsewhere:
The Times (behind paywall) Anglicans threaten split over ‘gay-friendly’ marriage rites
Premier American Anglicans would face ‘consequences’ over gender neutral wedding services
Further mentions:
Christian Today Pro-LGBT Anglicans hit back at letter threatening split over US gay friendly prayer book
Episcopal Café Who answers for the Church of England when the Episcopal Church asks about marriage?
Susan Russell Simon Says: “Let’s get the truth of the situation out there”
103 CommentsThe Church Times reports: House of Laity panel upholds Synod member’s seat on Crown Nominations Commission
A REQUEST to invalidate the election of a member of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) has been rejected by an appeal panel, which has concluded that members are not required to declare conflicts of interest…
The full text of the decision of the panel can be found here.
At the time of writing, the final link in the Church Times report is broken, but it ought to be: Synod groupings rebut claims they are taking over the CNC
The O’Donovan report and related documents are linked in this report.
29 CommentsThe Ozanne Foundation, whose formation was announced last December, held a formal launch event on Monday.
This press release was issued: Ozanne Foundation Unveils Strategy to Combat Prejudice.
At the event, Bishop Paul Bayes, chair of the trustees, delivered this speech.
News reports of the event:
Guardian Rejection by C of E has driven LGBT people to suicide, bishop says
Christian Today Bishop and senior clergyman join calls for Church of England to lose equalities exemptions
Telegraph The Church of England should lose its exemption to discrimination laws, Dean of St Paul’s says
40 Comments