Retired, not out?

Thursday 12th December 2024

Adrian Alker reflects, in the light of the Makin Report and the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, if he should consider returning his ‘permission to officiate’ as a priest in the Church of England.

I am not a huge cricket fan but the metaphor of having served an innings of 45 years for the C of E, retiring from paid ministry but continuing to serve as priest – retired but not out – seems an apt description. But the question which I am now wrestling with is this: do I return my licence to my bishop since the leadership of the church I have loved to serve has finally lost my respect and support. Let me explore this further.

I was ordained in 1979 in Liverpool Cathedral by a bishop – David Sheppard - whom I consider to have been one of the finest of leaders. A happy ministry in Liverpool, the Diocese of Carlisle and St Marks Broomhill in Sheffield have been richly rewarding. I have seen churches at their best – ministering to people in all stages of life, reaching out to those on the underside of life, encouraging a spirit of enquiry and debate and fostering a multi-layered understanding of community. Only in my final six years in a more ‘senior management’ role, away from parish life, did I more than glimpse some of the power struggles and less than laudable aspects of senior leadership, which have also been evident in the recent abhorrent abuse over decades perpetrated by John Smyth.

Let’s begin with the structural and organisational issues in the church and the whole issue of safeguarding and the wellbeing of young people and vulnerable adults. The Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England amongst other institutions have rightly been in the firing line for the abuses meted out on those in their care and on their radar. Young people in church led care homes, choir children, women who have been bullied and worse, clergy (I know a few) who have been imprisoned for sexual assault. How can all of this have happened unless there were cover-ups, a culture of silence, a hierarchy immune from criticism? How could churches which claim to follow the teachings and example of Jesus end up in such a place of distrust and disgust by those within and beyond its membership?

The sadistic and cruel abuses of boys and young men by John Smyth over decades has ended up with the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury but only after a public outcry. John Smyth was a lay reader in the diocese of Winchester, a man who ran evangelical camps, supported by a range of evangelical leaders and organisations. Justin Welby was once a dormitory officer on one such camp. The Makin report makes it clear that as early as the 1980’s there were many who knew of Smyth’s abuses. It seems to me inconceivable that senior leaders in the Church of England were unaware of the seriousness of these reports. Yet nothing happened. Welby refused to resign. Only one diocesan bishop, Dr Hartley, Bishop of Newcastle, called for him to go. Only after his resignation did any of the other bishops agree. And there are still many other clerics who are implicated in either covering up or at the very least failing to take adequate action who knew of Smyth’s abuses.

As you might expect, critical voices such as those of Giles Fraser and Martin Percy have called for a complete reset of how the whole organisation of the Church of England is run from the top. Despite synodical government, enormous power and privilege still resides in the House of Bishops. I have known some lovely bishops who are caring, compassionate and humble. Sadly there are many others whose ‘embroidered magnificence ‘ to quote Richard Holloway, characterises a sense of power and authority which few feel able to oppose.

When Justin Welby was appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury, his leadership style was said to be like a C.E.O. of the C of E. After all, he had far more experience in the oil industry than in any priestly role. But if you live by that sword of seeing the church as a management organisation, then you should also die by that sword. If any Chief Executive knowingly knew of abuse in his or her organisation, dismissal would be swift. Not so the Church. In my final paid job in the Diocese of Leeds I saw first hand how even a well respected bishop was not to be crossed or contradicted. And in my own diocese of Sheffield, the ordained leader of the scandal -hit Nine O Clock Service still faces criminal charges of rape and assault and is due in court next year. At the time, the senior leadership of the diocese seemed more interested in the so called numerical success of this service than attending to the complaints coming forth of Chris Brain’s actions.

Secondly alongside the dangers of an hierarchical institution comes serious questions and challenges to the theology behind this latest horrendous abuse. In a recent article on the Modern Church website, Professor Adrian Thatcher raises the important question as to where is the line between acceptable evangelical theology and exploitative evangelical theology? Thatcher says : The Church of England needs to learn, beyond the terms of reference of the Makin Review, that many of its members and organisations do hold ideological beliefs that hurt people and are followed at the expense of a core care and regard for every human being’. See https://modernchurch.org.uk/no...

I have no reason to think that many evangelical Christians Christian leaders are other than good people. However the combination of a belief in male leadership at the expense of women’s authority, an overemphasis on sinfulness and the need for punishment and repentance and a literal reading of scripture were hallmarks of Smyth’s behaviour and beliefs. Such hallmarks are typical of the churches and clergy who supported the work of the Iwerne Trust.

Where does leave the reputation of the Church of England? In tatters one might argue. At the time of Welby’s resignation, a YouGov poll of 4,500 people asked if the archbishop should have resigned: 62% said yes, 34% had no view, only 4% disagreed with him resigning. More telling still was another YouGov poll which asked 5800 people their opinion of Welby. The result of this poll showed that 42% had not heard of Welby, 31% had a low opinion, 21% had no views and only 6% had a somewhat favourable view. A third poll of 2000 adults reported that 73% said that the church had no influence on their lives. Welby has now given his ‘farewell speech’ in the House of Lords, a crass, self indulgent, at times flippant oration which failed to mention once, and to apologise to, the victims of abuse. The archbishop then had to apologise for his speech!

It is unfair to blame the demise of organised religion in an increasingly secular society on one resigned archbishop. However church leadership in recent decades has become more and more concerned with management -speak, with throwing money at schemes to increase attendances, nearly all of which ventures have an Alpha-course theological mentality. The deeper questions of theology, a willingness to debate, explore and excite are all too often absent. The Church of England debates endlessly issues of gay sex and who can or cannot be married in church. The world in these islands has moved on. The Church still ordains men who as parish priests or as bishops refuse to accept the ordination of women in its ranks.

So what do I do? Do I return my licence to the Bishop of Sheffield because all of us in ministry are diminished by the scandals and the institutional sexism, the homophobia and indeed racism of the Church we serve? Or do we say and fight our corner? Do we long for a time when the church can leave behind its childish theology and engage seriously with the big questions of faith and belief? Where are those bishops – people like David Jenkins, John Robinson et al – who took theology seriously? It was god to see on BBC Four recently the re-screening of Don Cupitt’s Sea of Faith programmes. It is good to know that Richard Holloway is still writing books which excite and challenge.

And yet the overwhelming feeling I have is that the Church of England has so tied itself to the evangelical mast that we are heading only one way – into a small, cult-like organisation which offers an unbelievable religious take on life to an already indifferent population.

Many of us in PCN, lay and ordained, do our best in our churches to fly the flag of an intellectually respectable, honest and attractive Christian faith fit for this twenty first century. Some of us however after decades of such involvement may find it is time to give our energies to other ways of serving the Master Carpenter in our communities and in our world.

Adrian Alker, Advent 2024

If you would like to respond to Adrian, you can use either his personal or PCN email address.