The Scottish Episcopal Church yesterday issued a statement, copied below, regarding the Diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney and its bishop
Statement regarding the Diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney
The Preliminary Proceedings Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church has referred a complaint concerning the Rt Rev Anne Dyer, Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, to the Church’s Procurator under Canon 54, the Church’s clergy discipline canon.
The complaint concerns an alleged breach of the Code of Canons relating to the designation of a pro-cathedral in the Diocese of Aberdeen & Orkney. A pro-cathedral is a church designated to serve temporarily as a cathedral. The complaint is separate to those in the earlier Canon 54 process which concluded in 2024.
Under the Canons, Bishop Anne is automatically suspended from office, without loss of emoluments, pending the outcome of the proceedings. Suspension is an automatic procedural requirement at this stage and does not imply any finding of fault. Bishop Anne has been formally notified.
In accordance with Canon 6, Section 11, during the period of suspension the Primus shall act as Bishop of the Diocese, with full powers. The Primus has spoken with Bishop Anne, and arrangements for his episcopal oversight of the Diocese are currently being finalised.
Bishop Anne announced on 27 August that she will retire in February 2027, upon reaching the Church’s mandatory retirement age of 70.
The matter is now in the hands of the independent Procurator, and there is no fixed timescale for the process. As proceedings under Canon 54 are confidential and ongoing, the Church will be making no further comment at this stage.
Oh for heaven’s sake. I can’t help wondering why these people can’t just live with each other for the short time remaining in the current bishop’s term.
I think there are a lot of hurt people who want the SEC to acknowledge wrongdoing on Bishop Anne’s part and will accept any wrongdoing being addressed in the absence of their specific hurts being dealt with. I think that’s an understandable impulse (while making no judgement on the merits of this case or any other).
Jo B. I entirely agree. The appointment did not have the support of many Aberdeen episcopalians. Very sadly it appears there has been no apology to the many people whose lives have been impacted. Eminent Scottish churchman Very Rev Dr Torrance undertook a far reaching review and suggested she should step aside. Subsequently the Scottish Bishops, other than Acting Aberdeen Bishop, agreed. Undercurrents continue. The SEC have since amended appointment procedures which led to warmly welcomed appointment of Bishop Dagmar Winter to Edinburgh a few months ago. There has been no public indication that Bishop Ann has apologised to Very… Read more »
Who will want to be her successor?
Not the first time that Bishop Dyer has been suspended. I must confess that I don’t know the details around the pro-cathedral. Is this related in any way to the previous investigation into alleged misconduct (included bullying)
I really am concerned about the use of word ‘bullying’ in an adult context. It seems such a too easy word to apply to a complex situation. Bullying is what I experienced as a weedy 10 year old in a minor Anglican public school – like my satchel being taken away and hidden, or ink bolts splatterd on my work. Surely we should be talking about undermining or devaluing ? Let’s be open about what has happened.
You are of course welcome to discuss what has occurred with openness should you wish. In terms of your complaint of the word bullying, you might target your ire at a broader target. I disagree that only children can experience bullying, but I’m using the dictionary definition of the word and the word used in the press discussing this case rather than your specific understanding of the term.
Bullying is a widely accepted term applied to a number of adult behaviours, including at work and in churches. Undermining and devaluing are among the recognised bullying tactics, but there are many more. They can cause severe psychiatric harm and are not to be dismissed or regarded lightly.
If, John, you have not experienced bullying as an adult, you are fortunate. It is all too common in the C of E.
We live in a grievance culture where even moving a table is likely to cause an offence, let alone turning one over.
A few people pursue minor or imaginary grievances. That does not negate the very real harm done to many others. In Bullies and Bystanders (ed by Anne Lee and me), a number of people tell their harrowing stories of being bullied, and there are also chapters by experts on the harm done.
Bullies do enormous harm – as do the bystanders who don’t want a fuss to be made or the boat rocked.
All that what Janet says is true. However, the making of vexatious complaints, which result in severe responses like suspension, is itself a form of bullying. Those complaints themselves are risk-free for the person bringing them.
How we square this almost literal circle is a major problem. If we move the threshold for action to require more evidence, it provides a wall for abusers to hide behind. If we make the threshold for action lights, it provides new avenues for bullying. It is a hard problem.
Yup been on the receiving end of that myself, fall-out from safeguarding action which had to be taken against an individual, which person then made a (risk-free to them) complaint against me under CDM.
Mercifully, the diocesan senior staff in general and the DSO and team in particular were rock-solid in their support of me and it went nowhere, but it was observed that there was no comeback against someone who laid vexatious or malicious complaints short of getting an injunction against them.
A difficult circle to square indeed….
Do you think the response of the diocesan senior staff and DSO, rock solid support for a cleric against a complainant, was appropriate in assuring the complaint went nowhere,? Should it have been properly and impartially investigated?
No wonder Safeguarding is in a mess.
I can’t comment, naturally, on the detail of the case, save that it was a highly unusual one, the complainant being a convicted sex offender trying to get me disciplined for following Safeguarding’s guidance. (This was the latest in a long history of attempted intimidation and brinkmanship – turning up at children’s services and refusing to leave, threatening me with legal action, that sort of thing.) Under these rather peculiar circumstances, investigation and adjudication was carried out by the appropriate person from another diocese, which ensured transparency; I’m sure will come as a relief, perhaps even a surprise to those… Read more »
You’re suggesting the concerns directed at this bishop in particular are unwarranted?
Spot on.
I have been bullied in the workplace as an adult.
As a woman on the other side of the Tiber, I’ve watched this lady’s behaviour and read her statements with interest, then growing alarm. I’m deeply sorry for the hurt she’s caused to the people around her and to those who preceded her. Most of all, I’ve been really saddened that the first woman in such a senior role in the Scottish Episcopal Church should be leaving such a complex and difficult legacy. I wish all concerned healing and peace.
Its hard to see a justification for suspension in such a case (i.e. assuming the rules do require it they should perhaps be changed).
There can hardly be any risk of her purporting to designate any further pro-cathedrals, and she has already had any chance to tamper with evidence that she ever might have.
If the purported pro-cathedral turns out to have been wrongly designated how much extra money did it make and which church should that money have gone to? Another fine mess.
The accusation is, I think, that +Anne used the fact that the main cathedral building needed to close for repairs in 2020 to effectively strip the cathedral of its status, with the Provost Dr Poobalan relegated to an assistant priest role at the pro-cathedral. Who was appointed the Provost of the Pro-Cathedral? The bishop herself. Her husband is on the staff too. The pro-cathedral is still active in spite of the cathedral still operating. There may be, of course, perfectly innocent explanations for all this, but in the context of the other serious issues it seems a pretty serious and… Read more »
This really is a most bizarre case. Worthy of an outrageous TV soap opera.
I wonder if she will see sense and go. I suspect not as she was previously suspended for 2 years during 2 years ago and still came back.
Healing began to happen in the diocese when she was away last. Hopefully fresh healing can occur now.
I do hope she’ll see sense and simply retire earlier than planned. It will be devastating for her to leave earlier than planned, but a relief for the diocese.
I think it entirely possible that the proceedings will progress slowly enough for the Bishop’s retirement date (only 4 months ahead, after all) to arrive before any substantive conclusions are reached.
I suspect that will be the likely outcome. This makes me wonder whether a mandate to look for a new bishop will be issued immediately upon her retirement date as the diocese is essentially in interregnum
Perhaps Bp.Anne might consider retiring now, removing herself altogether, while this new investigation is undertaken. Her retirement now would not mean that she’d be exempt from an investigation. This matter needs to be settled, contributing to the long healing that’s needed so deeply by this Diocese.
She has a right of appeal, I think
Very odd. Shame she was appointed, as it appears there was some evidence against her- twice. According to Wikipedia. But appointments are not terribly transparent.