Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Safeguarding the Institution: How the Culture of the Church of England Facilitates Abuse
Stephen Kuhrt Safeguarding the Institution The refusal to engage with ‘Safeguarding the Institution’
a PCC Member Surviving Church Journeying with Fr Mark: A PCC Member’s Testimony on Institutional Cruelty
Stephen Kuhrt doesn’t call himself an evangelical and openly dissents from the CEEC on the doctrine of marriage as affirmed by the Church of England, so why should he complain that Ian Paul doesn’t give him space on his website? If I read him correctly, Stephen thinks you wouldn’t get homosexual abuse by clergy if they could have same-sex marriage, and therefore he thinks the doctrine of marriage should be changed at a very fundamental level – against the pan-Catholic/Orthodox/Evangelical teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman, intended for life. Like it or not, that’s the doctrine.… Read more »
I should add that from what I know of Stephen’s experience with ‘safeguarding’ in the Church of England, he was very badly treated by the Diocese of Southwark in 2021, when he was suspended for sixth months over an admitted error he made in sharing with a select group a document about historic abuse and not redacting names. This seems to have been the pretext for his suspension, but to take six months to deal with it is highly culpable behaviour. By pursuing the matter, Stephen seems to have secured a conviction of the abuser, while the Diocese, it seems… Read more »
Thanks James. The suspension was completely disproportionate and very cynical. They made it as long as it was by making sure that one of the accusations was out of time (from 2006 but brought in 2020) When this was not allowed, they had a month to appeal against this and took every part of it. I then had a month to counter-appeal and took two days. They then had a month to counter that and again took virtually every bit of this. It was a clear example of the process being the punishment and to end it with a moderate… Read more »
Stephen,
The way you were treated by diocesan functionaries was even worse than I imagined. I know of other cases where ‘safeguarding’ is used as a cudgel to try to get rid of people – like a vicar who hugged a woman in church during covid days who was then pressured by his archdeacon to resign. These people are infamous.
Can you say the diocese?
It was a vicar in the diocese of Salisbuty in July 2021. The details can easily be found online. I do not know what the outcome of the complaints were (which included taking off his mask to sing a hymn and putting out Bibles), but it looks like he resigned that post in April 2023. I think it’s generally accepted now that most masks were useless in containing the virus. My impression from news reports is that the diocese was looking for reasons to get rid of him.
Mask did help during Covid https://www.ukri.org/who-we-are/how-we-are-doing/research-outcomes-and-impact/epsrc/masks-role-in-slowing-spread-of-covid/
Surgical masks worn correctly were useful, but the standard kind as usually worn was fairly useless.
They are not designed to prevent the wearer from breathing viruses, but to prevent the wearer transmitting viruses.
I just keep well away from everybody.
Just a brief note on a technicality. In my view the suspension of a person who holds a public office is not properly a neutral act. It is not an act which necessarily implies guilt, but it is a public act and as such potentially has irreversible consequences. I believe recent guidelines (certainly this is true in education) suggest that suspension should be a last resort. But if this is true, suspension implies risk (or more strictly, possible risk) – it becomes a significant act. Any act which is significant and public in this way cannot properly be described as… Read more »
Suspension of a priest in the context of a safeguarding allegation, and the procedure to be followed, are set out in sections 36 and 36A of the CDM 2003 (as amended). I cannot see that ‘suspension as a neutral act’ is possible in such a context, otherwise there would have been no need for the Church or General Synod to make such specific legislation to authorise suspension. The same provisions are carried forward (I have to say in my opinion) in less clear language in the Clergy Conduct Measure 2026 which has yet to come fully into force.
See the press release about the suspension of the bishop of Salisbury …
To add to what I have said above, the procedure to be followed in sections 36 and 36A is mandatory: it’s positive legislation and not optional.
In many walks of life suspension can be a precaution against the risk of evidence being tampered with or witnesses being colluded with. That is, or used to be, in the ACAS code. Such suspension must be on full pay. It seems from comments the Church may be different.
As explained above, there are specific rules about suspension based on safeguarding allegations. They have statutory force and, e.g., written notices, length of suspension and any renewal period(s) are, among other things, specified and must be followed. Of course there have to be reasonable and proper grounds before imposing suspension. An appeal lies to the President of Tribunals. In cases where the President’s permission is required to commence a CDM out of time, the President’s refusal ends the suspension instantly. I don’t think there is any real comparison with ACAS: I read their code (or their website summary of it)… Read more »
So that seems to be another difference between the Church and modern standards. A suspension under ACAS is (or was) indeed a neutral act, as regards the truth or otherwise of the allegation or suspicion, which must be stated and is about facilitating a rapid investigation. The employee is entitled to full pay including regular overtime etc. My recollection of ACAS was from many years ago. It may have changed. This is also why, going back to a previous thread, I would have expected the Bishop of Salisbury to demand a formal suspension. I think I understand people recussing themselves… Read more »
My changed view on sexuality is essentially separate from the argument of the whole of the book – in fact most of the book was written long before I changed my mind on this issue. Just one chapter – Chapter 7 – is about the influence of church’s confused and dishonest approach to sexuality upon its safeguarding and its argument – that the present fudge must change – could actually be used to support both the affirming and non-affirming position. I only reference fairly briefly my changed position on sexuality on pp 225-7 to be completely open about this –… Read more »
The cultural war currently raging around same sex marriage in the C of E needs a resolution somehow otherwise the risk is that safeguarding will be weaponised against each other. Would a third province help in your view?
Stephen, There have always been people with same-sex attraction, and there has also been culturally encouraged homosexuality, as in ancient Greece (and in Greek-imitating Roman circles in the first century BC, as we see in pots like Catullus), so the idea that the New Testament condemnatory passages were only talking about master-slave abuse, pedrasty and such like exploitation doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. You cannot understand Spartan education, for example, without considering how homoerotic bonding between younger and older boys was overtly promoted as part of thd educational process. A significant homosexual motif runs through so much of ancient Greek… Read more »
James, Can I welcome your informed comment on homosexuality and same-sex active behaviour. It’s nice to see people who have studied the subject offering helpful information. But could I please offer a couple of corrections and some additional information. The key thing is to be careful about definitions, and especially the use of the word homosexual. Does the word homosexual relate to any same-sex active behaviour, or does the word relate only to those people born with an innate disposition towards homosexuality? As far back as 1894 Edward Carpenter wrote (in Homogenic Love) “the leaning of sexual desire to one… Read more »
I wonder how many of those in the second category listed by Carpenter might actually be bisexual, a group of people still today regarded as having an “extravagance of desire”, and regarded with suspicion. I mention this both because you invite us to be careful about definitions, and because this particular group is generally ignored, scarcely being mentioned at all in any of the LLF material, for instance. And I wonder how many people even noticed that last Wednesday was Bi visibility day.
Anon, thanks for your comment. You are right to include bisexuality in the analysis. It might be part of what was going on. But other scholarship more recent than Carpenter’s argues that this “flexible” sexuality was a big but often ignored part of the story.
Arguably, King David is a biblical example of bisexuality, at least in the sense that his story is in the Bible. It’s clear that he was sexually attracted to quite a number of women and to at least one man, Jonathan.
Janet, Obviously one can never be sure about David and Jonathan at such a distance, but I think there are various possible interpretations of the David story, applying modern knowledge. There is strong evidence nowadays that homosexuality and bisexuality is a lifelong innate disposition. But also across history that is clear evidence that, especially when young, men are able to have sexual and/or loving relationships against their disposition for various reasons. Young heterosexual men, in the absence of women, can often have relationships with other men. Similarly, until recently in the UK, young homosexual men would marry women and have… Read more »
“we need to clearly distinguish between these two types of relationship, and think carefully about what we label homosexual.”
No one would quibble, in theory, with such a sentiment. Probably good to distinguish, as a general rule.
The obvious question is just how one goes about this, and whether it is in fact possible?
These sound two distinct categories, with no overlap or alteration.
Then again, what if those being evaluated don’t want to think this way? After all, late modernity and the world of antiquity are themselves quite distinctive cultural realities, as any historian can judge.
Thanks Anglican Priest, These are all good questions and ones I am very aware of. All one can do is put forward arguments with supportive evidence and see if people are persuaded. I think Edward Carpenter’s arguments are persuasive here, but sadly at the time he wrote (1895 to 1914) homosexuality was illegal. The DPP sent police to Sheffield to interview his neighbours about his relationship with his partner George Merrill, hoping to find evidence to convict him. His books were kept behind locked shelves in the British Library, and there was a deliberately scathing review from the British Medical… Read more »
(Continued from previous) Right across history it was common for such people to be the priests, shamen and spiritual leaders of their societies. There are a huge number of reports of gender variant men serving within the mystery religions of Greece and Rome. The “Galli”, priests of the goddess Cybele, were the most prominent. These men dressed and acted as women in the service of the goddess, and some chose to be castrated to serve the goddess better. The image posted shows a gallus’ funerary monument, with their female clothing, jewellery, long hair , and the musical instruments they used.… Read more »
Thank you for these comments, Simon.
Years ago it was Health and Safety and we were terrified as churchwardens of infringing those rules in case the Archdeacon (or one of his visitors (me) caught us out at the Inspection). Now it’s Safeguarding – a really important area, but one that has been allowed to grow out of all proportion to the ‘danger’ and so takes over so much of our pastoral ministries so that many of us are concerned about doing anything. Confession, pastoral counselling all are in danger. Because of few sad and well publicised cases, we seem to be all ‘tarred with the same… Read more »
Don’t walk away John – we need all the faithful minister we can get! At 81 you’ll have a ton of wisdom the church needs! I agree that much of safeguarding procedure (however necessary) can be very tiresome and can often appear (and actually be) a tick-box exercise. Indeed, one of the points I make in the book is that such processes and procedures are at most, 5% of effective safeguarding in churches because if the basic culture remains unchanged, they actually work to increase the danger by lulling people into a false sense of security. But my experience is… Read more »
Thank you, Stephen. I must get your book Every Blessing.
Thanks for your article and your wise responses on this site. It’s really good to see a thoughtful discussion of these challenging issues that doesn’t descend into proving that my tribe is right. I think you make absolutely vital points about both culture and tribalism in the C of E. Tribalism has become much worse in recent years, though it was bad enough when I was at theological college in Cambridge decades ago. As far as culture goes, it’s hugely important because it so often goes unseen and is a part of each tribe’s identity; it often takes an outsider… Read more »
I agree that the ‘safeguarding’ bandwagon has had a terribly chiling effect on normal Christian ministry, leading to absurd and perverse ‘instructions’ from the Church of England, and casting a shadow of suspicion upon ordinary counselling and conversations. The Church has been caught up in the general neuroses and unhappiness of our age, and the spiritual ministry of thd Church has succumbed to the control of “experts”.
‘Because of few sad and well publicised cases’: actually there have been a good many well publicised cases – but even more which have had no publicity at all. I know from hard experience how desperately difficult it was, and still is, to get anyone at all, including the media, to take much notice. There have been far more cases of serious abuse in the Church of England than most people want to know or admit. I agree that the structures and processes around safeguarding seem onerous now, but they are also ineffective. That is because they re largely st… Read more »
Stephen, Thanks for writing your book and I will read it with interest. I partly agree with you. An obstacle to good safeguarding practice is the church’s “confused and dishonest approach to sexuality“. If we could learn to discuss sexuality (both gay and straight) with transparency and honesty and maturity then good safeguarding practice would be easier, even within a conservative setting. But there is a separate but linked issue. Such conservative settings often ask for compulsory celibacy outside heterosexual marriage. And I would argue that enforcing celibacy on those without a true spiritual vocation to celibacy is itself a… Read more »
I fully agree, Simon, and found Chapter 3 of Matthew Vines’ book ‘God and the Gay Christian’ very persuasive on the issues surrounding enforced celibacy.
I do worry about the word ‘ doctrine’ in the context of marriage. For centuries in the C of E it was for those who could afford it, it was a transactional and pr perty based arrangement. The Synod of Verona in 1184 declared it a sacrament, as a rebuttal to the views of the Cathars. When set alongside the Dominical Sacraments, it does seem second rate. Historic Christian Practice to be affirmed – yes, but sacrament no.
As a lay, interested, observer I worry about the word “doctrine” in the context of marriage too. My prescription is that everybody should read, preferably twice, “Lower than the Angels” by Diarmaid MacCulloch. Puts the surely thoroughly non-doctrinal idea of “Christian marriage” into context. We seem entirely to have got over the obsession with divorce, which once seemed so important. Can we not similarly rise above the obsession with homosexuality? People outside the Church think its bonkers.
If divorce truly has become unimportant then perhaps we have apostatized? Important Biblical teaching tells us it really matters.
People outside the church should think it’s bonkers – until they don’t.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.
The analogy between divorce and gay marriage breaks down because it confuses a change of discipline with a change of doctrine. In permitting remarriage, the Church did not rework the marriage rite or change the goods of marriage, but instead pastoral discretion is used where a marriage has failed. In short, it is a concession to human frailty in which permanence still remains the ideal.
We aren’t all agreed that marriage is a doctrine, any more than we are all agreed that celibacy is a doctrine.
So what are our Canons, our HoB documents and above all our worship – foundationally in the BCP but also in our developing liturgical life – if they are not doctrine?
In my view the Canons, many HoB documents, and aspects of our worship are matters of church order. Doctrines pertains to those articles of faith we have in the Creeds. Liturgy often combines doctrine with church order; but it’s a mistake to think that e.g. who is allowed to celebrate holy communion, read the gospel or pronounce the absolution is essential to Christian belief. I joined the C of E because on the whole I prefer our way of doing things, and remain in it for the same reason. But other ways in denominations are equally valid.
“The doctrine of the CofE is grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular such doctrine is to be found in the 39 Articles of Religion, the BCP and the Ordinal.” Canon C5. Sorry for the confusion: my reference to “our developing liturgical life” was to the way CW does not follow the BCP in ordering procreation first. But marriage per se has always been treated as a doctrinal matter – if it were not so, would our debates around gay marriage… Read more »
Canon 5C – or any canon – is not Holy Writ. And it is particular to the (modern) C of E, not characteristic of the Universal Church. The Church has always taught about ethics and morals, but that is not the same thing as doctrine. I am in my 70’s, and a lifelong churchgoer, one of 6 clergy in my family, but I don’t recall hearing of marriage as a doctrine until the last 5 years or so – and then only on TA. Of course debates around gay marriage are fraught, because anything relating to sex stirs deep –… Read more »
Canons/Doctrine not characteristic of the Universal Church?
The doctrines outlined in the major Creeds – with the exception of a clause of the NIceno-Constantinople – are characteristic of the Universal Church. But the canons of the C of E aren’t, necessarily. The canons are general y about church order. Doctrines are the major articles of the faith.
Celibacy is given an honoured place in Catholicism (religious and male priests in the Western Rite), the Orthodox ( religious and bishops who are always monks: priests can marry before ordination but not afterwards) and I think in the Coptic Church.
Yes, but do we hear anyone on TA talking about the ‘doctrine of celibacy’ or the ‘doctrine of singleness’?
I think it is all fantastical. Which of the apostles were married? Was Jesus married? I struggle to recollect anything in the NT about marriage apart from the wedding and wine story. I don’t think there is any mention of Mary and Joseph being married, or what their married life was like, apart from maybe one sentence. Joseph was largely absent.
Yes, it is all fantastical. We read and assume things which are not there.
“Which of the apostles were married?” At the least, Peter’s mother-in-law is mentioned in the gospels.
Both parents of Jesus appear in the narrative at the end of Luke 2.
And Jesus tells several stories about weddings: the wedding banquet is one of his great metaphors of the kingdom of God.
Agreed. My point is that to make marriage and sex central, the thing we live or die on, is very far from the NT and Jesus.
Isn’t there life after marriage?
Oliver O’Donovan, an Evangelical, defends “the delicately balanced interpretation of marriage that has predominated in Anglicanism – marriage naturally belonging to creation, but given a symbolic or ‘sacramental’ function in the order of redemption” – against “the Protestant reaction” in which “repeated emphasis is placed on the purely creational and non-redemptive status of marriage.” If your understanding is the latter, then maybe marriage will appear ‘fantastical’.
I never said nor implied marriage is fantastical (apart from the positive sense). I was commenting on it’s position amongst other doctrines and how we get hung up on sex and marriage. I think most here on TA agree. Funny story – I was in Salamanca in about 1975 visiting a girlfriend. She had a friend training to be a nun – lively girl. It was the week after Easter. She said ‘everybody is very happy’. i asked why. She said ‘it is because all the prostitutes can come back from outside the city walls, and all the husbands and… Read more »
A gift of God in creation AND a means of his grace.
What do you mean by grace? God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense? Or just some woolly expression meaning something warm and fuzzy? Clerical speech can be – well – confusing at best.
Of course! O’Donovan was defending the Anglican understanding of marriage as sacramental through the Christ-Church union and its final consummation. Not to deny creation as foundational, but – unlike “the Protestant reaction” – seeing it through the horizon of Christ’s saving work in which earthly life is oriented towards its ultimate goal.
What would be the sacramental function of marriage in the order of redemption?
Janet, see my answer to Sceptic. Sacramentality is about marriage’s goods being part of Christ’s work of redemption and as signs and instruments of his grace. This fits better with the Anglican understanding of sacramental fruitfulness as ontological than with the more moralistic “Protestant reaction”.
Where does that leave single people, who are without that particular sacrament?
I would say, with Paul, that single people are able, if they so choose, to ‘orient their earthly life towards its ultimate goal’ without the distractions of partner and children, and give themselves wholly to God.
And, Janet, I’m in complete agreement with you on this, and I see examples of it all around me. What I’m really trying to say regarding marriage is that it can be more than the sum of its parts – and I see examples of that too.
Yes.Whatever station or stage of life we are in, can move us closer to God. But not without commitment and work on our part that’s as true of singles as marrieds.
I still struggle with the concept of marriage as a sacrament. What comes first? Some idealised disembodied marriage, consecrated as a sacrament, followed by nooky, the physical expression of the sacrament? Or is the nooky the sacrament, God’s gift, followed by marriage as a public celebration, an endorsement by God? Nooky prior to marriage has certainly not been an exception over history. The virgin bride is a cultural, not theological, concept? Carts and horses. These distinctions surely have an impact on the ‘theological’ view of same-sex marriage? I seem to remember vast number of words being written for GS on… Read more »
‘I very much do call myself an evangelical – I utterly believe in the gospel and the authority of Scripture but no longer believe the passages on same sex sexual relationships in the Bible are referring to anything like what people are arguing for today.’ Stephen Khurt, see below.
Below? Do you mean on previous Thinking Anglicans articles?
No, on this discussion thread – but it should read ‘see above’! Never quite sure where stuff might appear in the sequence.
I would regard a refusal to be offered space on the Psephizo website a badge of honour.
I wasn’t looking for space on Psephizo for an article or even interview. What I’d value – precisely because I respect Ian – is his critical engagement with the book and its argument. He did publish a previous article I wrote on bullying in the church and I remain very grateful for that. It would be a shame if my changed view on sexuality was the reason such valuable engagement didn’t happen.
Thanks for clarifying. I was only winding Ian up! Have just ordered your book, which I did notice when it was published last year. Affirming evangelicals must stick together!
I need to correct that. I now recall I did ask Ian if I could write an article for his website on my story as part of publicising the book. But the point about what I would now want is as above.
Isn’t this exactly how safeguarding is being weaponised? Motives are questioned, critical engagement is closed down, vicars remove themselves from being pastors.
Let’s not forget that Ian Paul was a member of the Archbishops’ Council that sacked the ISB. That may, or may not, have any bearing on his willingness to engage with you on this matter.
Well since you mention it, yes I think that is part of the reason. Before Ian knew that I had changed my mind on sexuality (through a debate at St Michael’s Blackheath where we were both invited to speak on opposite sides of that debate), he did say that being on the Archbishop’s Council was the reason he couldn’t publish an article that I wrote calling for the resignation of Stephen Cottrell over his terrible mishandling/non-handling of the case of David Tudor. Being on the Archbishop’s Council is clearly important to Ian and I did have that a bit in… Read more »
The track record of the Archbishops’ Council (all members) on all this has been lamentable. Shocking even. They have not known what they have been doing. As to holding the executive to account, the core oversight and governance role of trustees, it seems to have been non-existent. The Charity Commission and others know this, and have fired some warning shots across the bows, but I see no signs of change. Only *complete* devolution of *all* non-recent abuse cases to a properly equipped and funded body (with no requirement for any victims or survivors once again to be re-abused through further… Read more »
Exactly the same story can be told many times over in the NHS. It is still a career-ending move to be a whistleblower. Even when history shows the whistleblower to have beeen correct. (Bristol Heart Scandal is the first example I can think of.)
The CofE safeguarding & disciplinary system is truly remarkable. If you are a genuine victim, it fails you time & again, so much so that it effectively re-abuses you, while if you are falsely accused it ensures that you do not even know not what you are accused of, & the CofE can drag the process (it loves process) out ad infinitum. In PR terms it continues to be an absolute disaster for the CofE as case after case is mishandled in one way or another. Overall I cannot think of anyone that benefits from the current secretive system, but… Read more »
Your final sentence would be hilarious if it wasn’t true
The military justice system is by no means perfect. It gets some things right and some things wrong, especially when dealing with sexual abuse and such issues.
But perhaps the real problem is the appalling culture of sexual abuse in the Armed Forces, and even the best military justice system would struggle to cope.
But there is one difference between the military and the church. When things go wrong the military then Government ministers pay attention and instruct the Armed Forces to be better. And such instructions have legal power.
Exactly
From Stephen Kuhrt’s piece:
Ouch. If ever there were a topic that should UNITE people of all beliefs re sexuality, it’s don’t r*pe kids!
I despair of priests like him (I assume). As I have said so often before, that I am being bored by it. Why is sexuality so important now? I’m sure it existed for centuries but a minor issue. My church abides by the Chalcedon faith and does not add anything more. All such things are secondary – unless you believe that the Gospel is comprised. After all, the asexual Ethiopean eunuch was baptised, just on the basis of his declaration of faith. Phillip did not investigate his sexuality – or lack of it. My greatest wish and prayer is that… Read more »
Another cruel and heartless persecution perpetrated on a priest by senior clergy.
All there in Surviving Church above.
How much longer can these things continue for?
Suspension is neutral only in a technical sense, and is in fact very hurtful and prejudicial. But it probably necessary for that right on the part of employers to exist under UK employment law to cope with situations where the employer genuinely fears further offence and conflict. Among UK employees Anglican clergy do have what seems like a valuable defence against spurious use of suspension, that is their right of appeal to the President of Tribunals within 14 days. The maximum period for initial suspension is 3 months and renewal is lawful only if there is an ongoing and unresolved… Read more »
One of most dodgy things that bishops do is unofficially suspend people by ‘asking them to step back from ministry’. They present this as benevolent… with the accompanying (and often menacing) message that cooperation with this approach is best for the person concerned. However such bishops prefer unofficial suspensions because they are outside any formal process (such as the right of appeal, a proper interview before the suspension begins etc) enabling them to make the process up as they go along. My strong advice to anyone in this situation is to always insist that it is official. I had to… Read more »
Sounds like something the new Synod might be interested in.
Agree with Martin. Years ago, working in residential child care, I was suspended with allegations of abuse in the place where i worked. It did not feel like a neutral act at that time but rather a final judgement even though exoneration eventually followed. There must be a more pastoral way, especially as clergy operate outside the normal employment legislation framework.
Maybe clergy should lose the vague freehold and its lack of accountability. If they were Lutheran Scandinavians, I believe (open to correction) that they would be classed as civil servants!!!