by Gavin Ashenden
What safeguarding failure, managerial incompetence, and ideological conformity reveal about the appointments procedure in the C. of E.
After my previous article on the protest made at the service ratifying the election of Sarah Mullally to become Archbishop of Canterbury, the Reverend Paul Williamson, the protester who interrupted the service, wrote to me to explain why it was so important to him that the protest should be made.
I thought the perspective he brought to the event was important enough to warrant a further article reflecting his concerns. He explained his position further at length in an interview with Dan Wooton, which can be found here.
“Heckled then pushed down stairs!” New Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally’s confirmation drama
He pointed out that his frustration was based firstly on the fact that the Church made it extremely difficult for anyone wanting to lodge a serious protest to do so. The rules governing when and how a protest would be approved, whether it would be made admissible or public, were opaque, and every attempt he made to bring his documented concerns to the attention of the Church of England authorities was frustrated by them.
There is an arcane law stating that no objection will be countenanced if it takes place after the King has rubber-stamped the appointment. But no indication is given of the date when that is going to take place, and all Mr Williamson was told was that his attempt to lodge the protest was simply out of time and therefore inadmissible.
The Church of England gives the impression with serious admonitions in the liturgy, both at weddings and at ordinations, that if people protest because there is something wrong in what is taking place, it will be listened to. Mr Williamson makes the point that it is entirely unfair and institutionally improper to have different rules for the consecration of bishops and archbishops, particularly in circumstances where there is no openness about what those rules are, or at least no publicity.
Read also: The Tragedy of the Church of England by Aaron Edwards on substack