Surviving the Church: Restoring Hope to Your Faith

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Of course the Church of England is entrenched in the Establishment. Society as a whole will take a long time to extricate itself from an archaic heritage it largely still sees as good. That said the tide is coming in, and with tsunami size waves like with the latest Soul Survivor crisis, the speed of decline is hastening. And then you, the good bloggers on Surviving Church and Thinking Anglicans, provided further input on the relationships between governments and religions. Bloggers explained how religions resist ‘interference’ by governments, and how public authorities are reluctant to ‘intervene’. This is because they are part of the same history and culture, which is particularly true for the established Church of England. But when there is a conflict, the law prevails. Victims and survivors are recognised for their time and commitment as individuals and volunteers in drawing on their personal experiences of abuse to support the NST’s work. The Church offers honorariums to demonstrate the value it places on people’s active role and involvement in making changes happen.

This is a copy of a newsletter written by Martin Sewell which helps a reader to understand at depth the issues on safeguarding that are coming before General Synod this week. Previous newsletters have been shared with synod members. ED. A second question allows us to kill two birds with one stone. The Christ Church Review was supposed to have been set up with proper consultation with all parties. Archbishop Stephen said this on the record – twice – at the July York Synod. What does consultation amount to in the CofE? Prof. Percy was told what others had already decided, less than 48 hours before the Fait Accompli was announced. That’s it: CofE ’consultation’. As I ponder the facts and watch the consequences unfold over the next few weeks I am put in mind of the late political interviewer Robin Day who explained late in his career that he usually began an interview with one simple question in his mind. “Why is this bastard lying to me”?

Every Diocese Safeguarding Advisor should also report to a member of the National Safeguarding Team as well as a Diocese Bishop. ES Well, by a sort of grim serendipity, I suppose you could say, we were anyway going to do an item, as you know, this week, about the allegations from some members of the Independent Safeguarding Board you have, who have the job, I suppose you could say, of marking your homework, as it were, allegations that actually their independence is being interfered with by the Church of England. What’s your response to that suggestion?

The Dean must be accountable on ecclesiastical matters to the Chapter and not to the governing body of Christ Church; The point I am making is that it is now impossible to staff the present chapter other than via ‘inventive’ expedients. The present arrangements are, bluntly, played out and have been since the early/mid 1980s. ES But I’m not quite sure what your answer is on the position of Meg Munn. Do you think she should remain, or do you think she should withdraw, or do you think you should withdraw her hiring? What do you think should happen about her?The survey is not about asking questions relating to victims and survivors’ past or present experiences of abuse, harm or neglect but to understand better how victims and survivors would like to be involved in developing the framework, in what ways and what formats. Its purpose is to listen to victims and survivors, including those who have not engaged with the Church previously, about how they would like to be involved in developing and implementing this framework and enable victims and survivors of any form of abuse to engage in different workstreams in the Church, including its response to victims and survivors of abuse.

An independent review of the governance of Christ Church, chaired by Dominic Grieve KC, is underway. Implementing subsequent changes to the governance and statutes of Christ Church will require the approval of the University, the Church of England, the Privy Council and Parliament. This is likely to be a lengthy process. Once it is complete Professor Foot intends to stand down to allow new leadership to take Christ Church forward under new statutes.”

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The Cathedral should conform to the requirements of the Cathedrals Measure except where its future relationship with Christ Church renders this unrealistic.” Arthur Katz wrote Apostolic Foundations, all his written works that read if no one messed with reprints or rewrites. First Edition of Three Battlegrounds by Frangipane was great; anything by Leonard Ravenhill, Austin Miles author, Don’t Call Me Brother. ES Well, what about the hiring of a new chair for the Board, Meg Munn? One of the concerns of some of those on the Board, and indeed some survivors, is that she is actually also the chair of another group within the Church of England, which does make it rather difficult to see how she could be independent. I have been busy at Synod and not following these comments. I have of course, been pressing the case for the survivor interest on multiple fronts including reporting a variety of views upon the proposed Redress Scheme. I abstained, so that nobody felt I was not taking their concerns seriously. Yes, it does seem that being safeguarding is a stepping stone to a diocesan role, much as being Treasury ‘devil’ would all but guarantee a spot on the High Court bench. It is about taking bullets for the team rather more than it appears to be about directing policy (Dr Grenfell admits she does not implement anything, as such, but that she does a lot of steering and comms).

The National Safeguarding Team (NST) is committed to the development and implementation of this framework with victims and survivors. The Team already engages regularly with a number of victims and survivors and wishes to see more people engaged with different strands of its work. Kate Wood’s denial that she ever approved these Risk Assessment, and her written request to have her name removed from the bogus documents. (November 2020). One can only take this at its face value, but as it emanates from Christ Church it appears to state a clear intention for change. All should become clearer when Dominic Grieve’s report is published – some time this year was the indication. It is right theologically and ecclesiologically in the circumstances that Christ Church should remain the Cathedral of the diocese, continuing to be prioritized within its charitable objects, and funded in perpetuity, with the associated Choir School and Canon Professors;

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What I think is clear from this display is that (as many will have suspected all along) it is not really worth anyone’s while to engage with the Church, and that if effective reforms are to be made, they will need to be implemented by parliament and the government without reference to the Church’s wishes (and whether the Church likes it or not). Perhaps survivors’ groups should simply stop wasting time with bishops and Church officials, and should devote time to engaging solely with MPs and civil servants. The behaviour of the Church replicates that of their abusers who told them “ Who will listen to you… you are not important… I can do with you whatever I please”.