Surviving Church Jane Chevous reflects on IICSA
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church An ethically challenged Church? Bullying and threats
Paul Bayes The Guardian Rough sleeping is not only a moral issue – it’s the measure of a just society
Georges Staelens Blogue de Georges Messes vespérales/Evening Masses
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love True and untrue images of God in the church
How devastatingly and tragically right Stephen Parsons is about “professional bullies” controlling the Church of England. This bears out what Revd Graham Sawyer – and others – said last year: “The sex abuse that was perpetrated upon me by Peter Ball pales into insignificance when compared to the entirely cruel and sadistic treatment that has been meted out to me by officials, both lay and ordained. I know from the testimony of other people who have got in touch with me over the last five or 10 years that what I have experienced is not dissimilar to the experience of… Read more »
Stephen Parsons: just when you think things can’t get any worse, they do. What a naive fool I am. In the RCC, popes can dismiss. In the CoE it’s silence, and business as usual. “Don’t worry, chaps, it’ll blow over before long. Have another sherry.”
I cannot help but compare the “professional bullies” controlling the Church of England (CofE) with the “professional bullies” controlling the State’s Department of Work & Pensions (DWP). In the DWP case, disabled people have been – and still are – driven to suicide by the iniquities of ‘austerity’ policy, implemented by “professional bullies” brought in by the DWP. The only way to stop this “cruel and sadistic” bullying has been by taking the DWP to a Court of Law. In the CofE case, victims of abuse have been – and still are – driven to suicide by the iniquities of… Read more »
Nice piece by Colin Coward. With my Greek Orthodox background, “God as Mystery” resonates strongly for me. My encounters with the Divine in prayer reinforces that sense of mystery, love, and healing. It has provoked me to respond in a loving way in some difficult situations, and to know that I’ve failed at that quite often. For me, when I ponder the liberation movement of LGBTQ+ in CoE, it will forever be colored by the testimony of Matt Ineson at the recent hearings, and the general writings on CoE’s treatment of victims of abuse. It seems to me that the… Read more »
Well said. Thank you.
Is it possible that, on balance, the Church of England does more harm than good?
‘Do-gooders do the most harm’ if they can’t admit they were wrong themselves, and do nothing about it – or not enough – to right that wrong.