The official Church of England website page, which is being updated regularly, is here. It shows the date and time of the most recent update.
It also says:
This page contains guidance, particularly for the Church of England:
- If you have health concerns and for the latest health advice, please visit the NHS website.
- For the latest Government advice and action plan, please visit GOV.UK.
Scottish Episcopal Church advice
9 CommentsThe Church Times has published further details of the Christ Church saga. Do read the entire article:
‘Weaponising’ of abuse victims in Oxford row ‘beyond contempt’ Christ Church dons told.
SENIOR members of Christ Church, Oxford, have been accused of “weaponising” the suffering of abuse victims in a further attempt to oust the Dean, the Very Revd Dr Martyn Percy.
On Wednesday of last week, a message accusing the Dean of safeguarding lapses was posted on the college website (News, 6 March). Dr Percy issued an instant rebuttal. (Elements of his rebuttal were then challenged by lawyers working for the college.)
The Diocesan Canon Precentor, the Revd Dr Grant Bayliss, has written to all members of the Governing Body to object to the message, which was circulated to the press by the PR firm Luther Pendragon. Canon Bayliss, who is not a member of the Governing Body, has filed a complaint against the small “press group” at the college responsible for the rushed and “staggeringly inadequate” consultation process on Wednesday of last week, when the safeguarding statement was posted on the college website.
He goes on: “I find the fact that no comment or mitigating defence from the Dean was included in the House statement bewildering. . . Moreover, how is it that our website has still not been updated with the Dean’s response, and that its existence is only evident in the Guardian and Church Times?”
He concludes by considering the view that the safeguarding statement was an “intentional attack” on the Dean. “Like some colleagues, I have spent many hours supporting and counselling victims of abuse and violent crime, and to ‘weaponize’ such suffering in any way is beneath contempt…”
The Guardian report mentioned above is this: Oxford dean accused of failing to report child sexual assault claim.
The “rebuttal” message issued from Luther Pendragon can be found online only in the Cherwell student newspaper, see Christ Church dean accused of mishandling child sexual assault case and scroll down…
24 CommentsUpdated
Suffragan See of Sherwood
11 March 2020
Queen approves nomination to the Suffragan See of Sherwood.
Published 11 March 2020
Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Doctor Andrew Neil Emerton BSc, BTh, DPhil, Dean of St Mellitus College, in the Diocese of London to the Suffragan See of Sherwood, in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, in succession to the Right Reverend Anthony Porter BA MA who is due to retire on 22nd March 2020.
Andy was educated at York University, and Queens College, Oxford and trained for ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He served his title at Holy Trinity Brompton in the Diocese of London and was ordained Priest in 2006.
In 2008, Andy was appointed as Assistant Dean, St Mellitus College and in 2015 Andy took up his current roles as Dean, St Mellitus College and Principal, St Paul’s Theological Centre
Update
There is more detail on the diocesan website, including the consecration date which is Ascension Day 21 May 2020.
45 CommentsStephen Parsons Surviving Church Safeguarding, Compassion and the Law
BBC World Service Religion apps: Daily Prayer and the Devil’s Data
Sophia Smith Galer investigates the world of religion apps – from prayer hacks to actual hacks
Episode 1 of 4
David Walker ViaMedia.News Taking Advice – Gentlemen vs Players
This refers to the advice Duty to “have due regard” to House of Bishops safeguarding guidance recently published by the Church of England.
Press release from the Church of England
Meeting of the House of Bishops
10/03/2020
The House of Bishops met today at Lambeth Palace.
The bishops heard from the Reverend Professor Gina Radford and the Reverend Dr Brendan McCarthy on the developing situation with regard to the spread of the Coronavirus. They also heard about the Archbishops’ decision to update the latest guidance.
The bishops also discussed the Living in Love and Faith project in advance of this summer’s publication of the teaching and learning resources.
0 CommentsThe archbishops of Canterbury and York have this evening issued revised advice in relation to Coronavirus COVID-19.
Their latest letter is here: Coronavirus letter 10th March 2020 – Archbishops guidance on common cup and the full text is copied below the fold.
…It is our view, in light of the continued increase of Covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom, that it is now necessary to suspend the administration of the chalice as well as physical contact during the sharing of the peace, blessing or “laying on of hands”.
We therefore advise that all priests should:-
- Offer Communion in one kind only to all communicants i.e. the consecrated bread/wafer/host, with the priest alone taking the wine;
- suspend handshaking or other direct physical contact during the sharing of the peace;
- suspend direct physical contact as part of a blessing or ‘laying on of hands’…
The full Church of England advice can be found over here.
Rosie Harper ViaMedia.News The Whitewashing of Spiritual Leaders – Is Vanier Like Weinstein?
Jeffrey John St Albans Review Loving and remembering
Nick Bundock ViaMedia.News Uganda’s Unholy Trinity & the Forgotten Martyrs
15 CommentsThe Church Times reports: Lid comes off Christ Church dispute. Do read the entire article if you can.
After recounting recent events (see previous article and in particular Update 3) it has the following new information:
3 Comments…In response [to the latest Christ Church statement], Dr Percy issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon denying the accusation and citing a police statement. He writes: “For the avoidance of doubt, the Dean dealt correctly with three historic cases of reported sexual assault in the academic year 2016-17, and the information on these were shared with the appropriate college officers at the time. One of these individuals had already made a report to the police, which was already known to the college officers concerned.
“A fourth historic disclosure was made by an individual who had never reported the matter to the police, and only agreed to talk about the alleged assault on the condition that there was no further disclosure. Their position of this individual has not changed.
“No person making a disclosure was still a minor — all were over 21. Three of the cases took place before 2014, prior to the Dean taking up office. None of alleged perpetrators posed a safeguarding risk.”The Dean goes on to state that, in 2017, he raised concerns that college officers were ignorant of their safeguarding duties, and were untrained, something borne out by an email from Professor Johnson at the time, quoted in The Times.
The Guardian reports this today: Lesbian priests to lead church service on eve of Anglican summit.
LGBT+ campaigners will hold a church service led by two high-profile married lesbian priests on the eve of the Lambeth conference, a once-a-decade assembly of Anglican bishops from around the world that is expected to be dominated by conflicts over sexuality and marriage.
The move is likely to rile conservative bishops who maintain that homosexuality is a sin.
An “inclusive” eucharist at a church in Canterbury will be presided over by the Rt Rev Mary Glasspool, an assistant bishop in New York. The preacher will be the Rev Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth, a daughter of Desmond Tutu, the veteran South African anti-apartheid campaigner.
The service is intended to send a strong message to up to 1,000 bishops from 165 countries who are due to gather at the University of Kent at the end of July for almost two weeks of prayer and discussion about issues facing the worldwide Anglican church…
The press release about this is copied below.
The Telegraph has now covered this too:
First married lesbian bishop to lead service ahead of global Anglican summit to protest ban on gay partners
Mandy Ford ViaMedia.News ‘Dirty Bodies’, Dust and Ashes…
Robert Thompson ViaMedia.News A Call to Repentance – A Lenten Reflection
Giles Goddard ViaMedia.News Living in Love & Faith: Will the Deer Scatter?
Women and the Church Women in Ministry, the Church of England and Statistics: A closer look
2 CommentsThe Ozanne Foundation has released the results of a new YouGov poll.
Here is a link to the research results summary with graphics.
This has been reported in the Telegraph: ‘Most’ Anglicans believe gay couples have right to marry, YouGov poll suggests.
The full YouGov survey results are available in a spreadsheet here. (Another version shows only the Anglican numbers. There is also a Handout in pdf format.)
Click here for chart of Anglican Men Under 65 vs Over 65 and Anglican Women Over 65 vs Over 65.
Results from the 2013 Questionnaire and 2016 Questionnaire are summarised here.
The full text of the press release (without diagrams) is copied below.
50 CommentsUpdated Monday; updated again Tuesday, and again Wednesday (scroll down)
We last reported on this long-running saga on 16 February. Today The Times carries a lengthy article by Andrew Billen which contains a great deal more detail, and names of individuals involved, than any previous report. You will need to register with the website to read this. It’s well worth the trouble.
Christ Church scandal: Lavinia Woodward, college dean Martyn Percy and the censors
…It is the story of how a professor at Christ Church blew the whistle on an archaic and inadequate safeguarding regime that had failed her, and claims of how a cabal of academics conspired first to thwart and then delay his proposed reforms before working to remove him from office. The whistleblower was not a junior employee, a naive young don, but the head of the college, the dean of Christ Church himself, the Very Rev Professor Martyn Percy…
There is also a leading article: The Times view on Martyn Percy: Low Table.
Update 1: (Saturday 29 February) there is a revised (from earlier 14 February) statement from Christ Church here:
There has been a clear attempt, through the media, to disrupt the ongoing mediation process that the Governing Body is funding to resolve the current dispute with the Dean. Confidential legal information has been leaked and presented in a deliberately-misleading fashion, aimed at damaging the reputation of Christ Church and a number of its former and current trustees. This account of the dispute is simply not true. Even in the light of such pressure, we remain committed to the mediation.
There is categorically no link between safeguarding and the complaint over pay initiated by the Dean. Christ Church is focused on providing a safe environment for all, and to giving safeguarding the highest importance. Christ Church has been reviewing its safeguarding processes over the last three years and we are confident that all relevant policies met statutory requirements throughout the period in question.
Legal advice has been provided to trustees and officers, acting on behalf of Christ Church, throughout the dispute with the Dean. Those trustees and officers are, and always have been, committed to working for the good of Christ Church. In December 2019, a vote of no confidence was put to the Governing Body. 38 voted that they had no confidence in the Dean, with only 2 against the motion. Frustrations conveyed about the Dean, exacerbated by the dispute over his pay, have also in the past been expressed in some private emails – however, again, none of these related to safeguarding matters.
Mediation with the Dean, funded by Christ Church, is due to continue next week. We very much hope that we can find a way forward through this process.
Update 2:(Tuesday 2 March)There is a new report in The Times: Christ Church Oxford tries to silence defence of dean
The headline in the paper edition reads: Don’t read it! Oxford college tries to silence defence of dean.
…On Sunday evening all 60 members of the governing body of Christ Church were emailed an unredacted copy of the judgment delivered in secret last summer by Sir Andrew Smith, a retired High Court judge.
The emailed copy was sent by the Rev Jonathan Aitken, the former cabinet minister who was once an undergraduate at the college……Within half an hour of Mr Aitken sending his email, Geraldine Johnson, the senior Governing Body member …wrote: Please immediately delete the email from Mr Aitken… It is extremely important that we retain our united front on this matter…
Do read the full article if you can. There is also a letter to the editor from Jonathan Aitken.
Update 3: (Wednesday 4 March) There is a new statement from Christ Church: Update on Safeguarding
On 7 February 2020, we received a media enquiry regarding the two Employment Tribunal claims, which the Dean has lodged against Christ Church. This included an allegation that a former student had been sexually assaulted during their time at Christ Church, whilst still a minor. Upon further investigation, it is apparent that this allegation was disclosed to the Dean, but never reported by him to the police, the local authority designated officer, Christ Church’s safeguarding officers, or the Church of England’s safeguarding officer.
This allegation has now been reported to the police. Internal investigations have subsequently raised serious concerns about the Dean’s handling of four separate matters reported to him. All relate to allegations of sexual abuse or assault, two involving a minor. On legal advice, we have also made a report to the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Office, and they have opened an investigation.
There is no implication whatsoever that the Dean himself has been involved in any form of sexual misconduct.
Protecting our students, pupils, staff, and all those who live, work, or study at Christ Church is our highest priority. We are assisting the Church of England and the police in their enquiries, and we are putting in place measures to ensure that our safeguarding obligations continue to be met.
Christ Church’s Governing Body is fully committed to safeguarding and has robust policies and processes in place. Our thoughts are with any survivors of abuse affected by this news. If anyone requires immediate support, they should contact Christ Church or the police.
March 4, 2020
Miranda Threlfall-Holmes Ethical Evangelism
Lorraine Cavanagh Church Times Jean Vanier’s misuse of power
“Spiritual direction can be dangerous. It requires a radical rethink.”
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Idealisation of Church Leaders. Problems for the future.
8 CommentsEach day during Lent 2020 Clare Hayns will be posting on her blog about a different woman from the Hebrew Scriptures, and each post will end with a guide for personal prayer. She starts today with Hagar.
Simon Butler ViaMedia.News The Darkness Within…
Martin Sewell Archbishop Cranmer Welby brings peace and reconciliation to South Sudan
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Christian Celebrities and Betrayal
3 CommentsThe All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group in the UK Parliament has today published a report on Religion or Belief in the UK Parliament: Time for Reflection. Much of it is devoted to the 26 Church of England bishops in the House of Lords; the report calls for an end to their automatic seats.
There is a comprehensive summary of the report on www.politics.co.uk which starts
MPs, peers call for overhaul of place of religion in Parliament
Humanist MPs and peers have today called for a major rebalancing of the relationship between religion and state in the Westminster Parliament. Their new report calls for parliamentary prayers to be replaced with a ‘time for reflection’ inclusive of all, for the Commons speaker to consider introducing additional forms of religious and pastoral support alongside that provided by the Anglican chaplain, and for an end to automatic seats in Parliament for Anglican bishops.
Time for Reflection: A report of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group on religion or belief in the UK Parliament examines these matters in more detail than ever before, uncovering issues which have restricted non-Anglican parliamentarians from fully participating in the life of Parliament as equally as their Anglican colleagues…
Other coverage includes:
The Guardian Report: C of E’s right to 26 seats in Lords should be repealed.
inews Why the UK has the only parliament with reserved places for clerics – aside from Iran
26 CommentsJen Williams A Church Funeral can be a Moment of Radical Hospitality
Anthony Archer ViaMedia.News Church and State – The State We’re In!
Janet Fife Surviving Church Being a Witness
Cherry Vann was interviewed on BBC Radio4’s Woman’s Hour; it’s the first item.
39 CommentsUpdated
Here are a few online articles relating to last week’s meeting of the Church of England General Synod.
Business Done [the official summary of business]
Video recordings of all the Synod sessions are available to watch on YouTube.
Tim Hind Open Synod Group report of proceedings
Church Times General Synod highlights [12 minute podcast]
Subscribers can read the detailed reports of all Synod debates here.
The Tablet CofE synod commits to ambitious green targets
David Pocklington Law & Religion UK “Public health funerals” and “direct cremation” – an update
The rules and related items for the forthcoming General Synod elections are here.
3 CommentsGiles Fraser UnHerd Churches are closing down – I won’t let mine be one of them
John D Alexander The Living Church The Bishop Who Foretold Dresden
Richard Peers Oikodomeo Growing the Church: parish weekends and events
36 CommentsUpdated again 29 February
The Mail on Sunday reported: Revealed: The emails dripping in poison that dons at Oxford’s most prestigious college tried to cover up – including one which read, ‘Think of the Morse episode we could make when his wrinkly body is found!’
There are later reports (£) in the Telegraph: Oxford College dons in ‘poison’ email row over attempt to oust Christ Church Dean who was labelled ‘little Hitler’
and in The Times: Oxford dons and dean of Christ Church in feud over email slurs
Oxford Mail Christ Church dean Martyn Percy was ‘labelled little Hitler’ in leaked email
Oxford Blue: Very Reviled: Dons damn the dean in Christ Church email scandal
Christ Church has issued this statement: Christ Church statement in response to media interest 14 Feb 2020
In response to recent media interest, we can confirm that we are in receipt of two Employment Tribunal claims from the Dean of Christ Church. We are all too conscious that a disagreement over pay and remuneration with the Dean has led, over the last two years, to significantly-heightened tensions between him and Governing Body. Personal relationships have undoubtedly suffered, and we all regret this deeply. We take our responsibilities towards all members of our community very seriously, and believe that we have acted in the best interests of Christ Church, including its students and staff.
While the specific matters being raised by the Dean should be left to the Employment Tribunal to consider, the Governing Body remains committed to achieving a satisfactory resolution. Christ Church expects members to show respect towards one another at all times, but equally we acknowledge that individuals are entitled to their personal opinions. Frustrations conveyed about – but not to – the Dean, exacerbated by the dispute over his pay, were in the past expressed in some private emails. However, mediation with the Dean, funded by Christ Church, resumed in November 2019 and is now ongoing. We very much hope that we can find a way forward through this process, and avoid considerable further cost.
The Diocese of Oxford has issued this: The Very Revd. Professor Martyn Percy
79 CommentsSunday 16 February: following media reports this weekend the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, has issued this statement:
“Martyn is a close and valued colleague, widely respected across the Diocese of Oxford and the wider Church. What happens next is for the employment tribunal to determine, but it is never too late to begin a process of reconciliation. This will require acknowledgement of responsibility, and also transparency on all sides. Recent events, while painful, are but a moment in the lifetime of this historic and unique dual foundation which contributes so much to the University and to the Diocese of Oxford. My thoughts and prayers are with all involved.”
+Steven Oxford
Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley Ten Top Ways to Get the Church to Carbon Neutral
Erika Baker ViaMedia.News Living in Love & Faith – a View from the Pew
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Living in Love and Faith – what are we missing, what are we not understanding?
David Walker ViaMedia.News General Synod: The Highs & Lows
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Listening to the General Synod Safeguarding Debate
20 Comments