St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, fears ‘repercussions’ for newly ‘commissioned leaders’
by Francis Martin, Church Times:
THE names of the seven men commissioned as “leaders” at a service in St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, last week (News, 29 July), are not being publicised out of concern about “repercussions”, the Rector of the church, the Revd William Taylor, said on Wednesday.
Mr Taylor told the Church Times that he was concerned that those who had been commissioned might be sanctioned by bishops in their dioceses.
They had not been named outside of the churches and networks in which they would work, and this was to “protect their ministries and that of their incumbents from repercussions”.
“In some of the dioceses where these individuals are serving, there is a well-founded concern that diocesan bishops misuse their power and take punitive action to restrict the ministry of the churches or commissioned leaders themselves,” he said.
A spokesperson for the diocese of London said on Wednesday that the diocese was “conscious of questions raised regarding the recent commissioning services that have taken place at All Souls Langham Place (News, 19 July) and St Helen’s Bishopsgate.
“Incumbents have been reminded before and following these services of their responsibilities to ensure that the law of the Church of England as expressed in canon and liturgy is observed, and that all safeguarding requirements are fully met.”
Mr Taylor said that the parishes where the newly commissioned individuals “are serving their training posts” complied with C of E’s safeguarding procedures, and that “many” of those parishes were contributing to diocesan safeguarding costs despite withholding parish share.
He also provided more detail about the “informal church family meals” that would take place at St Helen’s, and which the liberal Catholic network Affirming Catholicism had criticised, saying that they seemed to amount to “eucharistic services led by lay people in roles not recognised by the wider Church of England”.
See also: Angela Tilby: Schismatics in the C of E go up a gear by Angela Tilby, Church Times
Diocese of London statement on St Helen’s Bishopsgate commissioning service
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