Thinking Anglicans

Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney: more developments

We last reported on the Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney in October 2024 here and here. There have been more developments reported this week.

Francis Martin Church Times Concerns about Bishop Anne Dyer disciplinary case continue

Rachel Huston Premier Scottish Episcopal Church under fire for reinstating suspended bishop

Marc Horne The Times Anglican church leader urged to resign as bullying scandal drags on
[behind a paywall]

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Fr Dean
Fr Dean
1 month ago

Is there a retirement age for bishops in the SEC?

Jonathan Jamal
Jonathan Jamal
Reply to  Fr Dean
1 month ago

Yes Father! All Bishops and Priests in the Scottish Episcopal Church have to retire at 70.
Jonathan

SW vicar, formally of Scotland
SW vicar, formally of Scotland
Reply to  Jonathan Jamal
1 month ago

Although, it is interesting to observe that Fr Emsley Ninmo of St Margaret’s Gallowgate in Aberdeen is 72.

Clifford Jones
Clifford Jones
Reply to  SW vicar, formally of Scotland
1 month ago

Emsley Nimmo. He is a great guy.

SW vicar, formally of Scotland
SW vicar, formally of Scotland
Reply to  Clifford Jones
1 month ago

Sorry to Emsley for misspelling his name last night.

Emsley is a great dean and has done amazing things in the diocese, especially when he was dean of the diocese

Jo B
Jo B
Reply to  Fr Dean
1 month ago

Yes. 70, per Canon 62, with a pension age of 65. Unless I’ve misunderstood, Bishop Anne could retire at any point without conceding the accusations against her. It’s hard to see her remaining in post as reflecting well on her or benefiting the diocese at this point. It’s not like the situation, barring a demonstrable miracle, is going to improve in the next 21 months.

SW vicar, formally of Scotland
SW vicar, formally of Scotland
Reply to  Fr Dean
1 month ago

It is 70. I was speaking with friends when I was last up in Aberdeen and they were saying, “only 2 years to go.” And the diocese needs someone like BP Dorsey to bring some healing and reconciliation to the diocese. When Bp Anne was suspended the diocese was never healthier under leadership (ironic)

SW vicar, formally of Scotland
SW vicar, formally of Scotland
Reply to  Fr Dean
28 days ago

Even if +Anne goes to 70, no one is likely to join the diocese. In a diocese of 42 charges and roughly 20 parishes/ joint charges, roughly 6 have incumbents with at least half of them retiring in the next few years.

Whoever comes in after +Anne will have to literally rebuild the diocese. Lord, have mercy.

Interested Observer
Interested Observer
1 month ago

I presume that this comment, added three months after the original posting, is very relevant:

https://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/bishop-of-aberdeen-orkney/#comment-481530

G Harper
G Harper
1 month ago

What do the SEC expect? They didn’t follow their own rules on safeguarding and are now working overtime to mask that truth. Mark Strange is a nice man but he’s so weak a leader that it would seem he’s been pulled into being part of a dishonest cover up. I think their evidence against Dyer speaks for herself – she is a bad egg. BUT, even those who fervently support Dyer irrespective of concerning the findings against her must be able to see that it’s simply wrong for the SEC to ignore what’s arguably the most important part of its… Read more »

Jo B
Jo B
Reply to  G Harper
1 month ago

I rather got the impression that the SEC got trapped by its own process – they did the right thing by bringing in an independent person to oversee the process then that person returned with a decision that left them unable to move forward or back. The bishops then tried to get +Anne to fall on her sword and failed. It’s not clear what route they have out of this impasse.

Paul
Paul
Reply to  Jo B
1 month ago

If that were true, it’s just as concerning in my view as the SEC’s response to finding itself in a bind seems to be to ignore legitimate questions and lie. As it is, I think you’re right about the SEC getting trapped. However, I think its trapped because officials don’t know what the safeguarding rules actually say, not because it has been failed. The Procurator says in his decision words to the effect that he intimated a draft copy of his decision c. two weeks before he actually made it. SEC officials could and should have said something at that… Read more »

God 'elp us all
God 'elp us all
Reply to  Paul
1 month ago

What? Church ‘authorities’ not following proper procedures; whatever next? Aberdeen, Bangor, Canterbury, …?

Ears to hear; eyes to see; lessons to learn; prophetic voices …

Move along; nothing to see here …

Jo B
Jo B
Reply to  Paul
1 month ago

Saying “get a grip” sounds great, but what can they actually do that fixes the problem and avoids massive legal problems?

Paul
Paul
Reply to  Jo B
1 month ago

What massive legal problems? The SEC has policies in place to safeguard its members from abuse. Is Dyer going to sue the SEC for following those? The SEC should accept that the Procurator’s decision was flawed as it did not deliver on the requirements of the Safeguarding Policy (and Canon 65) and revisit it. Dyer could and should be suspended in the meantime, including because the SEC is currently processing other allegations of abuse against her as I understand it. If Dyer objects to that, she can take it to an employment tribunal at her own cost and risk. How… Read more »

Susanna (no ‘h’)
Susanna (no ‘h’)
Reply to  G Harper
1 month ago

House! (Bingo term, sorry)
A full set of Archbishops … Scottish Episcopalians, Church in Wales and Church of England- one down , one to go
How can we not be truly ashamed ?

Fr Dean
Fr Dean
Reply to  Susanna (no ‘h’)
1 month ago

I agree with the sentiment Susanna but would point out that the Archbishop of Armagh seems to keeping their nose clean.

Susanna (no ‘h’)
Susanna (no ‘h’)
Reply to  Fr Dean
1 month ago

Help! Sorry for the omission and apologies Archbishop John McDonnell

Fr Dean
Fr Dean
1 month ago

I wonder if part of the difficulty here is that men who secured their status on the rugby pitch (as discussed in a recent TA post), don’t know how to engage with women leaders (good or bad) who played lacrosse or netball. The men in this unfortunate situation, the other bishops, don’t seem to know how to deal with this other participant who appears to have a different set of rules for the match. Whether Bishop Dyer is hunkered down hoping that the furore will fade away or whether she is being obdurate I’ve no idea. Either way, this standoff… Read more »

Realist
Realist
Reply to  Fr Dean
1 month ago

I have some experience of Bishop Dyer in a previous role, and though I always found her courteous and professional to deal with, that wasn’t an experience everyone shared, as I both heard and, on occasion, saw. I don’t think it’s beyond the bounds of credibility to suspect every stage in this sorry tale – events occasioning the allegations (taken as a whole) and handling since has at least some degree of ‘six of one and half a dozen of the other’ about it, and any serious and genuinely independent investigation may find truth on both sides. But that’s pure… Read more »

Paul
Paul
Reply to  Realist
1 month ago

I think the case against Dyer is stronger than that on the basis of the Procurator’s decision and the evidence that has been shared online. Something that sums it up all quite neatly for me is Dyer’s attacks on complainers. Her response to allegations that she bullied and abused people was to bully and abuse the complainers in the press repeatedly over months. Those allegations are untrue, as the SEC has accepted but won’t publicly confirm. There’s something about leopards (or perhaps alley cats, in this case) and spots… That aside, the point is simply that the SEC has not… Read more »

Jo B
Jo B
Reply to  Paul
1 month ago

From what I’ve seen there was certainly a campaign against +Anne from the start, from people in the diocese clearly well connected with the national press, and they leapt on the allegations of bullying and milked them for all they were worth. It may *also* be true (and it seems likely) that +Anne behaved badly, and it is certainly true that no-one involved at province level comes out of this well.

Alastair (living in Scotland)
Alastair (living in Scotland)
Reply to  Jo B
1 month ago

Jo B I wonder if you are aware that initially the Bishops commissioned an independent report from the highly respected The Very Rev Professor Dr Iain Torrance. His conclusion, after listening to many submissions was clear; she should go. It is not a case of there only being a “campaign”. The Bishops failed to act on this. God continues to weep until Bishop Anne is 70.

Jo B
Jo B
Reply to  Alastair (living in Scotland)
1 month ago

Yes, I read the Torrance report, it seemed to tell only half a story to me. I’m not disputing that +Anne has a case to answer or that she should resign. What I don’t understand is the apparent claim that the college of bishops is empowered to order a redo of the disciplinary process or otherwise force her out. It seems to me that this would be held by any court in the land to breach both the rules of the church and principles of natural justice, and embroil the church in costly and lengthy legal battles that would last… Read more »

Marian Birch
Marian Birch
Reply to  Alastair (living in Scotland)
1 month ago

I thought that the Torrance report tied with the C of E Makin report for the lack of professionalism with which both were written. In both situations (Anne Dyer; John Smyth) there may well have been a case for the respective Church and for individuals to answer, but in both cases the sheer amateurism of the respective report did not help to sustain it. I particularly thought that the way in which Torrance snuck into his report (near its end) a reference to Anne Dyer’s time at Cranmer Hall was completely unacceptable – went well beyond his terms of reference… Read more »

Alastair (living in Scotland)
Alastair (living in Scotland)
Reply to  Marian Birch
1 month ago

Iain Torrance is a highly respected academic known for the depth of his research. May I suggest that to say that his report is invalidated because of the inclusion of one statement, you consider inappropriate, is not a valid conclusion!

Marian Birch
Marian Birch
Reply to  Alastair (living in Scotland)
1 month ago

I am afraid that in my reading of Torrance’s report, the fact that he chose to include clearly inappropriate material that did not directly relate to the situation in the Diocese, seems to give the game away that his report was intended to be a hatchet job on Anne Dyer. However eminent he may or may not be I actually think to choose someone such a part of ‘City of Aberdeen’ society to do the report was a mistake which meant the process was flawed from the start.

Realist
Realist
Reply to  Marian Birch
1 month ago

I totally agree with your second paragraph. Prof Torrance, as an eminent academic with a superb reputation in his field, should have been able to take a more rigorous view of real and perceived conflicts of interest and refuse this commission. Aberdeen is a small place, and ecumenical church circles make it even smaller. Add to that the smallness of the academic theological world in the UK, and Scotland in particular, and you have multiple layers of perceived, if not real, conflicts of interest. No report produced by anyone in his position would have been able to be viewed as… Read more »

Last edited 1 month ago by Realist
Janet Fife
Janet Fife
Reply to  Paul
1 month ago

Paul, I’m not sure what you intend by the reference to alleycats, but the term is commonly used to imply loose sexual morals and promiscuity. I don’t think that accusation applies to anyone in this case.

Bob
Bob
1 month ago

I have followed with interest all these comments about Bishop Dyer, yet no where have I read in this thread on TA any mention of the victims or survivors. Are they forgotten?

Alastair (living in Scotland)
Alastair (living in Scotland)
Reply to  Bob
1 month ago

Bob I understand they were offered counselling but I am not sure how this progressed. There remains great need here.

Jo B
Jo B
Reply to  Bob
1 month ago

I thought it was implied that everyone wants +Anne to be removed precisely so that those who feel she bullied them can feel listened to and some sense of justice, however delayed, being done. However, it’s good to be reminded that the needs of victims and survivors should be explicitly centred.

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