Regular readers will recall the publication last February of The Wilkinson Files.
Martin Sewell and Clive Billenness have now produced a further video series: The Jay Files which explain very clearly what is in Alexis Jay’s report on The Future of Church Safeguarding.
The first of three videos was published this morning, and two further episodes will be published on successive Fridays. I will link all three of them in this article as they become available. These are strongly recommended viewing, particularly for General Synod members.
A press release says
…The Jay Files are a series of 3 short documentary-style films which highlight the key findings of Professor Jay’s Report and are a sequel to The Wilkinson Files which examined the report by barrister Dr Sarah Wilkinson into the investigation of the closure of the Church of England’s Independent Safeguarding Board. Each film will be no longer than 15 minutes in duration. The Wilkinson Files have been viewed thousands of times by people both inside and outside of the Church.
These films are presented by Martin Sewell and Clive Billenness, both Members of the House of Laity of the General Synod and both very active in matters relating to Safeguarding. Martin is a retired solicitor specialising in Child Protection. Clive is a Certified Auditor who is still in practice and is also an elected member of the Audit Committee of the Archbishops’ Council.
Clive said “Like the Wilkinson Report, Professor Jay’s Report is packed with detail, including the results of a substantial survey that included abuse survivors as well as members of Safeguarding Schemes. She spoke with over 180 people in multiple dioceses, and it is clear that her recommendations were based on the evidence from her work and were not confined to any one parcular group of interviewees.”
“Members of the General Synod are given very little time to discuss in depth the details of these complex reports which lie at the heart of creating a Church which is safe for all before being asked to make critical decisions on how we will move forward. We are all in agreement that there must be proper measures to prevent a repetition of the abuse scandals of the past, as well as the means to care for existing survivors of past abuse. Martin and I hope that these films will help Members to better understand the issues before making decisions.”
The Church of England issued the press release below yesterday. The Church Times has a report with further information: New LLF-group members to gather in hotel for talks.
Membership of LLF groups announced
08/05/2024
Three working groups will include bishops and members of General Synod
Following an update last month on the membership of the Living in Love and Faith Project Board, membership of the three working groups has now been confirmed.
The three working groups are looking at specific questions connected to implementation of the Prayers of Love and Faith, and the pastoral guidance and pastoral reassurance accompanying this.
The Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, the Lead Bishop for the LLF process, said: “I am hugely grateful on to all the members of the working groups for offering their time, energy and broad experience to supporting this process.
“I know that this comes at some cost for many people but I am confident that these groups will be fruitful both in terms of good relationships, and that they will enable us to make real progress in the LLF work.”
The groups will feed into the Programme Board, helping to shape recommendations to be presented for consideration at the House and College of Bishops ahead of bringing an outline proposal to the July meeting of the General Synod.
The group membership, which includes bishops and members of the General Synod, is as follows: (more…)
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26 CommentsThe Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, the Rt Revd Martin Seeley, will retire on 28 February 2025. He will be 70 on 29 May 2024, but has given an extension by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The CNC meetings to choose a successor will be held on 4 March 2025 and 28-29 April 2025.
So far as I am aware this has not been publshed anywhere online, although I understand that diocesan clergy were advised of the date in an ad clerum some time ago.
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11 CommentsThe Archdeacon of Auckland, Rick Simpson, gave written evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, which provides the detailed facts concerning baptisms of refugees or asylum seekers in Darlington.
Read his evidence in full here (dated 5 April).
The Church Times reports on this: Archdeacon of Auckland rejects claims of ‘conveyor-belt’ conversions
…In Febuary, the Home Affairs Committee heard evidence from a former Church of England priest, the Revd Matthew Firth, who repeated claims that he had made in the media about witnessing a “conveyor belt” of cases, in which asylum-seekers were being baptised so that they could say that they risked persecution if deported (News, 16 February).
Mr Firth was Priest-in-Charge of St Cuthbert’s, Darlington, between 2018 and 2020, before leaving the C of E to become a minister in the Free Church of England.
Giving evidence to the committee, he said that he had been approached every two to three weeks by groups of six or seven asylum-seekers who wanted to be baptised, but had turned them down, after which they did not attend church again…
On Thursday 25 April, Mr Firth issued this statement on Twitter in rebuttal.
The original Daily Telegraph reports, dated 8 February, in which Mr Firth first made his claims are here (£):
The transcript of the committee hearing on 12 March can be found here.
36 CommentsThe National Redress Scheme is for survivors and victims of Church-related abuse. See here for links to earlier press releases about this.
Details of the proposed financial award framework for the Church of England’s national Redress Scheme have now been published. If approved, the framework would be used to calculate offers of financial redress to survivors and victims of Church-related abuse. Details of the proposed approach to funding the Redress Scheme have also been announced.
The Redress Project Board has agreed the recommended financial award framework for the national Redress Scheme. If approved through the Church of England’s legislative processes, the framework would result in individual awards of between £5000 and £660,000 in rare and exceptional circumstances. For more details read the latest press release: National Redress Scheme: Proposed financial award framework and approach to funding.
Church Times report: Survivors could be paid £660,000 in C of E’s four-stage redress scheme
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[This is the paper referred to in the comments to last Saturday’s Opinion piece.]
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Appointment of Dean of Lincoln: 23 April 2024
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Canon Dr Simon Jones, Chaplain and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, to be appointed as Dean of Lincoln.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street and The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP
Published 23 April 2024
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Canon Dr Simon Jones, Chaplain and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, to be appointed as Dean of Lincoln, in succession to The Very Reverend Christine Wilson following her resignation.
Simon was educated at the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham and also at Selwyn College, Cambridge.
He trained for ministry at Westcott House, Cambridge and served his title at Tewkesbury (St Mary the Virgin) with Walton Cardiff and Twyning, in the Diocese of Gloucester. He was ordained priest in 2000.
In 2002, Simon was appointed Chaplain and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He was installed as an Honorary Canon of Christ Church, Oxford in 2015, and as a Wiccamical Prebendary of Chichester Cathedral in 2016. He is a consultant to the Church of England Liturgical Commission and chairs the steering committee of the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation. He served as Interim Dean of Lincoln for nine months in 2023.
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Church of England press release
Independent co-chair for safeguarding Response Group appointed
Lesley-Anne Ryder, an experienced CEO and chair who has worked in national and local government and the health and charity sectors, has been appointed the independent co-chair of the Response Group looking at two important reports on independence and safeguarding in the Church of England. These are from barrister Sarah Wilkinson and former IICSA (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) chair Alexis Jay.
Lesley-Anne brings a proven track record in leading complex change management and restructure programmes involving safeguarding professionals and volunteers in diverse organisations and is an experienced leader, coach and mentor of senior teams. She has more than 20 years’ experience of work supporting vulnerable adults and children and has played an active role in shaping Health and Social Care policy at a senior level in the NHS, worked on a Government department merger and continues with a range of charity work which has included being a supervisor for Cruse Bereavement Care and chair of a local charity.
An independent recruitment firm was responsible for the selection of candidates and Lesley-Anne was interviewed by members of the Response Group including meeting with survivor representatives. One of the key criteria for selection was a professional, external voice who had not previously worked with the national Church. She will start work this week.
Speaking on her appointment Lesley-Anne said: “I am delighted to bring both my experience of leadership and managing complex change in a variety of settings, along with my personal experience and qualifications in engaging and supporting those whose trauma and circumstances have in some way stopped them having a voice. I believe that I inspire confidence, commitment and focus for those that I am called to lead and support, and that this role provides a unique opportunity for me to use my skills to the full. I have chaired several multidisciplinary boards, and I look forward to working closely with Bishop Joanne and the whole of the Response Group. I am an active member of my local church and work to support vulnerable people in my local community”.
The Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop and co-chair of Response Group, Joanne Grenfell, said: “I welcome this appointment and the wide-ranging professional experience Lesley-Anne will bring to this role. It is vital that we have an independent voice that can offer challenge and scrutiny while the work of the Response Group moves forward on these two important safeguarding reports.”
The ToR for the group have been updated to include this: Wilkinson and Jay Reports Response Group Terms of Reference
Some additional information is available at LinkedIn and at Anume.
The Church Times reported it this way (scroll down):
New independent co-chair for Response Group
THE independent co-chair of the group responding to recent reports on safeguarding in the Church of England (News, 15 March) has been appointed. It is Lesley-Anne Ryder, a former charity chief executive with experience of work supporting vulnerable adults and children. She has worked on social-care policy in the NHS, is a supervisor for Cruse Bereavement Care, and chairs a local charity. The other co-chair of the Response Group is the Bishop of Stepney, Dr Joanne Grenfell, who is the lead safeguarding bishop. It is understood that the Response Group will conduct a consultation on responding to the recommendations in the reports by Professor Alexis Jay (News, 23 February) and Dr Sarah Wilkinson (News, 15 December 2023). The announcement on the C of E website, on Tuesday, says that an independent recruitment firm was responsible for the selection of candidates, and that Ms Ryder was interviewed by members of the Response Group and survivor representatives.
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A report by the Independent Reviewer, Canon Maggie Swinson, on the process leading to the nomination of the Bishop of Blackburn, Philip North, was published yesterday. The report is here.
For two rather different views of the report read
The Church of England has published this: LLF Programme Board update.
Details of LLF Programme Board membership confirmed
Following an update last month on the new Programme Board to steer the next steps of Living in Love and Faith (LLF), progress has been made in forming this Board, together with the three working groups.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has agreed to Chair the Programme Board, supporting the Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, in his ongoing work as the lead bishop of LLF.
Additionally, the Bishop of Stockport, Sam Corley, the Acting Bishop of Coventry, Ruth Worlsey and the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich will also serve on the Programme Board, with a further member to be appointed.
Ex Officio members will be Jamie Harrison, Chair of the House of Laity, Alison Coulter, Vice-chair of the House of Laity, Luke Miller, Prolocutor of the House of Clergy and Kate Wharton, Prolocutor of the House of Clergy. They will be supported by staff from the National Church Institutions (NCIs).
Full details of the membership of the three working groups – Pastoral Guidance, Pastoral Provision and Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF) – will be shared once all members have been appointed.
Together for the Church of England has published this Public Statement on LLF from Together (April 2024) (This organisation is an amalgamation of GSGSG (General Synod Gender and Sexuality Group and MOSAIC (The Movement of Supporting Anglicans for an Inclusive Church).
34 CommentsThe Bishop of Aston, the Rt Revd Anne Hollinghurst, is to become the new Principal of the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham. Aston is a suffragan see in the Diocese of Birmingham.
Details are on the websites of the Diocese of Birmingham and the Queen’s Foundation.
19 CommentsOn Easter Day, the Dean of Llandaff announced his retirement:
On Easter 2, one week later, the Bishop of Llandaff announced his replacement:
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